Rant. Why won't anyone buy my dang truck?

SVreX wrote: Speaking as someone who is currently in the market for a $6K vehicle, it's a crappy price point. Banks don't like to finance anything that old. Finance companies want to ream you for credit card-like interest rates. For cash flow reasons, $6K is a bit more than I comfortably want to part with in cash. So, my choices appear to be: 1- Pay cash, and take the risk of having nothing left in the bank for an emergency. 2- Borrow at usury rates. 3- Put $2K down on a new car, make the payments (which I can afford), and get a much better warranty, while keeping $4K in the bank for an emergency fund. 4- Move down the price scale and buy an older $3K car. All bad options. Your buyers have the same issues.

I'm in the same boat as SVreX, as I assume are many other people; we're sitting on that much or more cash but are loathe to spend it. When I was laid off we got down to the nitty gritty, my checking and savings accounts were nearly empty. Even though I'm making damn good money I still live like a miser. I still drive old cars, eat cheap foods and wear cheap/old clothes. I'm a bit gun shy from the whole layoff thing and, truth be told, more than a little apprehensive about the economy and hesitant to take on a payment.

A while back I put my blue Lincoln on craigslist for double what I thought it was worth and I didn't get a single call. Not very surprising but I thought at least one person would low-ball it and offer half of what I was asking. Apples to oranges with respect to the appeal of my Lincoln vs your truck (yours having a MUCH more widespread market) but I believe the similar results are indicative of our current financial situation; the vast majority of people are either broke or too scared to spend what they have on anything less than a sure thing.

curtis73 wrote: And I never said the exterior was flawless. I specifically put those photos in of all the possible damage. I find that works very well for two reasons. 1) you have accurately conveyed any damage and many people don't overly scrutinize the little things in the photos, and 2) it saves my having to say negative things like "it has dents." Otherwise people would show up expecting perfection and tuck tail and run. I'm not looking to screw anyone by hiding things. Having a hundred people show up only to leave disappointed is not something I have time for.

Right. You did not say the exterior was flawless.

You said "This is a extremely nice truck with a flawless interior. Clean inside and out."

Which is clearly untrue based on the pictures. It does not have a "flawless interior", and it is not "clean inside and out". Therefore, Mr. Buyer is well within his rights to assume the truck is also not "extremely nice", which is proved when he sees pictures of dents.

You have given too much information. You can be honest without sharing every little detail. You don't need a list of the brake parts when "New Brakes" will suffice.

Your ad is not designed to generate calls. By your own admission it is designed to try to eliminate calls so you won't have to waste your time talking to tire kickers.

It is succeeding perfectly.

At this point you are going to have to start over. You have to let the ad lapse, clear the noise, take new pictures with different background, write totally new copy. Otherwise, anyone who looks will say, "Oh, I remember THIS truck". It would be best to sell in a totally different venue, like an out of area CL, or CarMax trade-in.

You are in a tough price range. My friend was shopping for a car to replace his 1st Gen CR-V when the engine died. He had about $3-4K to spend, and was hoping to get a loan for the remainder. We started off at some dealers (he was hoping some kind of warranty), and there was really nothing great in the sub $8k range. At $8k, the vehicle had too many miles/years to be financed, so he'd have to come up with the whole amount.

Finally, we went and looked at Kia Souls. For something like $15k (with 0% financing or close to it), he was able to get into something where he could comfortably afford the payment, and it had the full powertrain warranty for 100k. It was an easy decision for him.

Once people are spending more than a couple grand on a car, most want to get some kind of warranty with it. Once you're looking at a warranty, you're very quickly looking at a payment.

Most guys looking at a pickup are using it for work. When a full-size and mid-size are in the same price range, they'll generally go full-size.

I see a lot of rust along the bottom edge of the body. I would not buy a rusty truck for $6000 no matter the mileage. I would rather have a 200k mile truck with no rust.

In reply to dculberson:

Add "Rusty Doge" to that and you'd be happy with a half million mile 66 F100 with no a/c.

your craigslist area also turns over very slowly. I looked in the 5500 to 6500 price range and there's only about 10 ads per day.

in atlanta metro is about 100. south side atl alone turns over about 10.

logdog wrote: Maybe you are facing the same issue the OEMs do. People SAY they want smaller trucks but when it comes time to vote with their dollars they buy fullsize.

+1. The truck is 14 years old. You can't go by 'book value'. Prices will be all over the map depending on where it is, how much you need to sell it, and which way the wind is blowing.

Spring is usually not a great time of year to sell of 4x4 truck. Fall... or right after a snow storm.

Why do you think I sold my E30 for $2013? I probably could have gotten a lot more for it given how clean it is for a northeast car, but I was tired of looking at it and just wanted it gone. Even then, it still took a few weeks for someone with cash to show up.

As others have pointed out, you're competing against full sized trucks in the same- or lower price range.

Those trucks are not orphans, either- the Dakota is.

http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4424649944.html

http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4434480232.html

curtis73 wrote: My big curiosity is why I'm getting almost no response.

I think you've had that answered numerous times now. No one thinks it's worth what your asking, and pretty much no one wants it. You and kbb may think its worth a fortune, but the buying market disagrees, and is showing you by the lack of interest.

I'll also agree with the others, that when you run an add to discourage interest and calls, you really shouldn't be surprised when people don't call or express interest.

If you want to sell the truck, give people a reason to come buy it.

foxtrapper wrote: If you want to sell the truck, give people a reason to come buy it.

Exactly. And for the record, a vehicle can be in E36 M3 mechanical condition, but as long as it runs and drives (even crappily), it is worth its weight in gold if the exterior is pretty. Your truck, with the dented tailgate and the mismatch door (that also isn't hung properly and sticks our like an eyesore with the mismatched bodylines), does not fall into this category.

And all the other stuff people have said. Dakota's naturally aren't worth anything.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

Wow, 2 f150's of that vintage that didn't have shift on the fly 4wd.

dculberson wrote: I see a lot of rust along the bottom edge of the body. I would not buy a rusty truck for $6000 no matter the mileage. I would rather have a 200k mile truck with no rust.

Dude... you live in Ohio. There is no such thing as a 200k vehicle with no rust unless its a frame-off restoration or has four gallons of Bondo

foxtrapper wrote:

curtis73 wrote: My big curiosity is why I'm getting almost no response.

I think you've had that answered numerous times now. No one thinks it's worth what your asking, and pretty much no one wants it. You and kbb may think its worth a fortune, but the buying market disagrees, and is showing you by the lack of interest. I'll also agree with the others, that when you run an add to discourage interest and calls, you really shouldn't be surprised when people don't call or express interest. If you want to sell the truck, give people a reason to come buy it.

So why has it generated almost zero response sitting in my front yard with just a phone number? I live 4 miles from the Carlisle Fairgrounds and a few zillion people pass by it every day this week with the huge upcoming Spring show. I don't post the price, just a phone number.

Brett_Murphy wrote: As others have pointed out, you're competing against full sized trucks in the same- or lower price range. http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4424649944.html http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4434480232.html

After nearly 20 years in and out of the retail car business and selling dozens of vehicles in my front yard, I couldn't possibly disagree more.

The difference between "little" trucks and full size trucks is like the difference between a Civic and a Caprice. Saying that no one wants a compact truck because there are full size trucks in the same price range is like saying you can't sell your Corolla because you could buy a Town Car for the same price. If you're shopping for a Dakota, you won't be swayed by F150s in most cases.

I'm not saying "you guys are all wrong," I'm saying that this is what I've done for 20 years. Why is this one so insanely different?

mtn wrote: My guess is that you're going to have to wait for someone who is looking for that exact truck more or less. Seems like a lot of money to me when I can get an F150/Silverado/RAM 1500 for the same price. But I'm not looking for a truck.

I have noticed on Craigslist that folks are asking more for there ranger, Dakota, s10 then the cost of a f150, ram,Silverado not sure why, especially when some of the smaller trucks are in poorer condition.

In reply to trigun7469:

And considering a same vintage 4.6/5.4 powered f150 gets similar milage to the v6 Dakota...........they also don't rust as fast.

trigun7469 wrote:

mtn wrote: My guess is that you're going to have to wait for someone who is looking for that exact truck more or less. Seems like a lot of money to me when I can get an F150/Silverado/RAM 1500 for the same price. But I'm not looking for a truck.

I have noticed on Craigslist that folks are asking more for there ranger, Dakota, s10 then the cost of a f150, ram,Silverado not sure why, especially when some of the smaller trucks are in poorer condition.

There is a niche market for them. The public likes the idea of trucks. They're big, safe, carry a lot, and look good with 22" wheels. The bottom line is; some people want full size trucks, some want compacts.

There is a huge compact truck market. Many people want the utility of a truck, but since they only use it as a truck twice a year, they seek out compacts. I see more compacts used as contractor trucks than I do full-size (of course, it depends on the type of contracting). Compacts are cheaper to insure, register, and cheaper to fill the tank, but they still carry all the paint, lumber, topsoil, copper pipe, romex, or shingles you can stuff into them.

yamaha wrote: In reply to trigun7469: And considering a same vintage 4.6/5.4 powered f150 gets similar milage to the v6 Dakota...........they also don't rust as fast.

My 99 4.6L F150 never even got close. F150 would get 13-16 mpg. I'm getting 18-20 mpg in this Dakota

Can't speak about how fast they rust since the F150 was in TX and my Dakota is in PA.

"why won't anyone buy my overpriced truck?"

"No one wants a Dakota."

"guys I know what I'm doing but I'm getting no interest."

"no one wants a Dakota."

"But guys....."

Ad infinitum

curtis73 wrote: So why has it generated almost zero response sitting in my front yard with just a phone number? I live 4 miles from the Carlisle Fairgrounds and a few zillion people pass by it every day this week with the huge upcoming Spring show. I don't post the price, just a phone number.

Spring Carlisle didn't start until today, and very few trucks or vehicles at all actually get sold there, or in the town while the show is going.

Most folk ignore an add without a price because they don't know where you are starting from, and don't want to bother asking. Some will, many will just skip it.

You're selling a Dakota. Like I said before, they've earned a reputation, both as a Dodge, and as a Dakota.

Size wise, it's neither small nor large. It sits right in that awkward size in between. Neither fish nor fowl.

Don't know what it looks like in person, but the pictures show dents and misaligned panels, that will spook most folk off.

You're trying to sell a vehicle people generally don't want. That makes it hard.

Happened to stumble across two at a used car dealership the other day. Both a little older than yours, few more miles, comparable condition. Maryland state inspected, dealer price, $2k and $4k. Both are still on his lot.

At some level, it's supply and demand. If you're asking too much, no one will be interested. I know you don't have a price on it I'm your yard, but I would guess that having no price is scaring people off, as well.

I'd reset with a new ad, new pictures, and lower price and see how you do. And if you can get $4500 for it, I'd price it at $4.9k and see if you can squeak out a few more bucks. If you can't, take the money and run.

curtis73 wrote: Its priced right, its nice, clean title in my name... I don't get it. http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4368986389.html

That is easy it is over priced for one. KBB has it right around $5000.00 and they run a tad high.

This is a extremely nice truck with a flawless interior. Clean inside and out.

But the second picture shows the dented tailgate. Reading the ad my first impression is that you think the truck is in better condition than it really is. That means you'll be less willing to budge on the price and might be offended when I point out the flaws. Therefore I'd either pass or shoot you a lowball offer through email.

Here's a couple of local comps for you.

http://chambersburg.craigslist.org/cto/4405504863.html

http://york.craigslist.org/cto/4429546723.html

http://frederick.craigslist.org/cto/4375569127.html

http://frederick.craigslist.org/cto/4425527477.html

It's a $2-3k truck, assuming it runs well. From the pictures, I'd assume that there was more wrong with it. Lower the price and list it as: "Slightly rough body, but runs well. $2500."