Topic: Selling a Used Car - Safety and E-Tested?

[tortoise]

I'm privately selling them Mazda 5.  I figure it only needs rear brakes to pass a safety.

I presume it's way easier to sell a car that is safetied? 

But what's the cutoff?  Say I need to put $500 into it. Or $1000. 

What's a good threshold for just selling as is?    Based on Kijiji the upper limit is $5k.

I'm also thinking of having the mechanic sort out what's wrong and then see what the buyer wants to do.  That could range from me dropping it off at their place to them being a pain in the ass about any repairs.   Not sure the risk of the latter is worth the former.

[Noto]

I'm privately selling them Mazda 5.  I figure it only needs rear brakes to pass a safety.

I presume it's way easier to sell a car that is safetied? 

But what's the cutoff?  Say I need to put $500 into it. Or $1000. 

What's a good threshold for just selling as is?    Based on Kijiji the upper limit is $5k.

I'm also thinking of having the mechanic sort out what's wrong and then see what the buyer wants to do.  That could range from me dropping it off at their place to them being a pain in the ass about any repairs.   Not sure the risk of the latter is worth the former.

I sold the Corolla via autotrader.  I consider myself lucky that I found a fresh-out-of University student who just wanted reliable, simple, clean transportation.  The transaction was easy.

Every responder to my ad wanted it safety tested.  I didn't list it as "as is", but I suspect offers would be lower if you do.  You can find mechanics on kijiji who will do a safety test for about $75-80.  I would call 'em up and see what you can do - they'll often not try to overblow what repairs are necessary, if any, in order to pass the safety test.  Dealerships and/or CT on the other hand, I read that they want the business to do the repairs and jack up what's necessary.  I can't verify the latter, but it seems like reasonable advice.

That all said, I HIGHLY recommend that you get the safety cert done yourself.  For one thing, you're not getting hosed by the mechanic the buyer wants you to go to.  For another, and this is the far more important, the car is legally registered to YOU until the buyer changes that over.  The changeover can't happen until the safety certificate is done.  If you sell it as-is, and the buyer can't get the safety done (or the cost to do so is prohibitive, so they try to resell it), you may find yourself legally on the hook if there's any accident or other incident involving the car.

For $80ish, I say safety the car.

[tortoise]

Well, it's $80 plus the cost of repairs, but I get your point.   I would have the shop I bring it to do the safety.  They're trustworthy and know the car well.

I was giving it some more thought.  I will hold off doing the actual safety until I have found a buyer.  If someone from the QC side wants to buy it the Ontario safety is worthless.  But I will advertise it as safetied and e-tested. 

[Noto]

I was giving it some more thought.  I will hold off doing the actual safety until I have found a buyer.  If someone from the QC side wants to buy it the Ontario safety is worthless.  But I will advertise it as safetied and e-tested.

Fair enough - but I suspect those on the QC side won't offer as much cash as the Ontarians would - cars be cheaper there.

In any event, it's a good strategy to advertise it as safetied since once you have a buyer you can get the safety done /any repairs before the sale.  If it falls through, the safety is only good for 36 days.

Good luck!!

[rrocket]

People are asking for safety to be included now as the safety standards changed for 2016 and are much more extensive now....Which means a failure is more likely

[ArticSteve]

First, get the e test done because if it doesn't pass then it's an  "as is" vehicle.

Assuming the e-test is a go, then safety, even a $1000 one  ,  is worthwhile.   A running Mazda 5 will always fetch $5000 from a seller such as yourself.

[mmret]

People are asking for safety to be included now as the safety standards changed for 2016 and are much more extensive now....Which means a failure is more likely

But is it still likely? If your car is a reasonable age and in reasonable running order, what could actually be wrong? Maybe you need new brakes/tires....which are wear items, but nothing "serious".

Unless things have really gotten strict.

EDIT: planning to get the GLK transferred back to my parents soon. I believe it will require a safety if I am not mistaken......can't imagine a 2011 GLK with 42k on it has any real chance of failing.

[Noto]

People are asking for safety to be included now as the safety standards changed for 2016 and are much more extensive now....Which means a failure is more likely

But is it still likely? If your car is a reasonable age and in reasonable running order, what could actually be wrong? Maybe you need new brakes/tires....which are wear items, but nothing "serious".

Unless things have really gotten strict.

EDIT: planning to get the GLK transferred back to my parents soon. I believe it will require a safety if I am not mistaken......can't imagine a 2011 GLK with 42k on it has any real chance of failing.

Transfer between parent and child, including "in law" is tax exempt, and etest is not necessary if you're transferring the plates with a valid sticker, but correct, safety certificate still required.

Ask me how I know

[Cord]

I'm also thinking of having the mechanic sort out what's wrong and then see what the buyer wants to do.  That could range from me dropping it off at their place to them being a pain in the ass about any repairs.   Not sure the risk of the latter is worth the former.

Since getting your own independent used car inspection is part of Used Car Buying 101, you need a way to to make it more hassle than it is worth. First, get an inspection done by a credible shop. Best case scenario is that it passes with flying colors. Worst case is you find out what repairs it needs to pass. Second, for any potential buyer that still wants their own inspection done, you negotiate the price first and make it crystal clear that no matter what their inspection finds you will not be negotiating further. You will require either a yes or a no on the purchase. There are a lot of yahoos out there that count on their inspection to be a negotiating tool. This filters them out.

[Gurgie]

Too bad you weren't selling it back in December, my buddy from Toronto actually bought one here in Ottawa... I went to look at about 7 of them for him until he decided on the one he bought. Took the train up on a Sunday night & drove it home on Monday. He said they seem to sell for about $1k more down in the GTA.

As others have said, get your mechanic to check out what it needs for the safety, if it's not much (like rear brakes as you stated), do the stuff yourself & then you can state in the ad that you will get it safetied. And for sure get the e-test done, but if you did it in the past 2 years, it still should be valid & a new one won't be required as far as I remember? Unless that changed very recently?

[rrocket]

Unless things have really gotten strict.

They have. Can fail for any fluid drip now. So if you have a weepy oil pan gasket? It can fail.

Can even fail for rust now too.

Went through the list with mechanic friend and the number of new things for fail is extensive...some even minor (like the drip).

[mmret]

Unless things have really gotten strict.

They have. Can fail for any fluid drip now. So if you have a weepy oil pan gasket? It can fail.

Can even fail for rust now too.

Went through the list with mechanic friend and the number of new things for fail is extensive...some even minor (like the drip).

I am finding new ways to hate the Ontario Liberals every day.

[tortoise]

Soooo. I still have the Mazda.  With the truck issues we needed to keep it around. Then vacation happened.

It needed a new exhaust, that was fixed.

Now, at a minimum - it needs new brakes all around.  The fronts were fine but there's now a large pulsation when you apply them.  Ugh.

I figure it's worth $4500 fixed up. Putting $2k into seems crazy.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Soooo. I still have the Mazda.  With the truck issues we needed to keep it around. Then vacation happened.

It needed a new exhaust, that was fixed.

Now, at a minimum - it needs new brakes all around.  The fronts were fine but there's now a large pulsation when you apply them.  Ugh.

I figure it's worth $4500 fixed up. Putting $2k into seems crazy.

$2K for brakes?  That can't be right.  Parts (pads/rotors) should be a few hundred bucks AT Most.  And you can do the job in your driveway in an afternoon quite easily.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  Just go with the bargain-bin, cheapest parts from PartSource.

[tortoise]

$2k for everything.  Ish.

The exhaust is about $700.

But yeah, I will source some cheap brakes.  Still leaning towards getting it certified.  At the very least it will be miles easier to sell.