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logdog
logdog Dork
4/23/14 8:46 a.m.

I think the main reasons people give are "no money" and "arrgh! Too far away!"

rotard
rotard Dork
4/23/14 8:46 a.m.

Oh, and clean the damn thing up a bit.

alstevens
alstevens New Reader
4/23/14 9:19 a.m.

Whenever anything doesn't sell, its always too much money. What else could it be?

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 PowerDork
4/23/14 10:19 a.m.

Not sure what is wrong with Curtis' truck, but this guy's asking price would seem to contradict the notion that Dakotas aren't worth much. Or is this year considered a "classic?":

http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4436161610.html

"Dodge Dakota - $230000 (Obo Richmond ) "

trigun7469
trigun7469 HalfDork
4/23/14 11:27 a.m.
curtis73 wrote:
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.

That makes sense, I am currently in the market for a truck but am debating, about getting a F150 or a Ranger. Ranger is nice that I can park it in my driveway easily, as I have a skinny driveway close to my house. On the other hand it would be nice to have a truck with towing and room, which I can just park on the street. Problem is my budget and I really only need the vehicle a couple times a year. Your truck is nice, but way out of my price range. I guess I can always buy a trailer for a few hundred but driving a truck is cooler

yamaha
yamaha UltimaDork
4/23/14 11:31 a.m.
z31maniac wrote: "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

QFT

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 11:54 a.m.
Datsun1500 wrote: The general consensus seems to be it's a well used, undesirable truck, at a hard price point. You don't think so, so I'll ask you, why do you think it's not selling?

In terms of use, it has had very little. I'll buy that its an undesirable truck (I have hated every second of owning that truck). After years of doing this exact thing with vehicles just like this, I'm baffled.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 11:56 a.m.
rotard wrote: 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."

Not sure how you're arriving at those figures. Is it just for insult purposes? Have you seen the actual truck? Have you driven it? Like I said, I've been offered $4500 in trade. I could understand you might say its worth half of KBB or NADA, but a quarter?

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:14 p.m.
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.

Ok, I'm going to say this one more time. I have my phone number on the truck with no price listed. Someone said "nobody will bother with a truck that has no price on it." So I have a CL ad with the price on it and you are all telling me to sell it for a massive loss at one quarter of NADA value.

Somehow I don't see that as good advice. Some of you are giving genuine feedback, the rest of you are just saying "it has dirt and a dent so its worthless."

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.

No, I'm running an ad with honesty that answers most of the questions. I'm weeding out the tire kickers. When you put an ad on CL for a vehicle without all that information, you get 30 calls a day from 15 year olds who are daydreaming, people with a zillion questions that you have to answer all the time, and other assorted bullE36 M3ters. Some of you are saying I need less information, and someone criticized why I didn't include more information about the radio and heater.

So I'm now supposed to take a perfectly good, low-mileage vehicle and basically reduce it to just above scrap value? I should just roll over and take a bath and lose all my money?

I will not take less than $5500 for it. Its worth it, I know it, and the few people who have come to look at it know it. Its not a matter of whether or not YOU think its worth $5500, it IS. I promise you it is not price that is scaring people away. And no amount of you guys saying that its "a 2-3k truck at best" is not going to change my mind.

The rest of you, thank you very much for your objective help.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:20 p.m.
moparman76_69 wrote:
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.

What car doesn't have a few dents in it at 88k miles?

I think the truck is worth $6500 all day everyday. This truck on a used car lot would have $7950 in the window. I happen to know that because I saw dozens of them when I was researching. I had a few strong bites when I had it listed at $7000.

The fact that I'm down to $6000 is stupid. Going to $5500 is only possible because I want rid of this truck and I didn't pay much for it.

dj06482
dj06482 Dork
4/23/14 12:20 p.m.

Go on Edmunds.com and appraise it. I couldn't get an exact match on the model (I used the Sport Model and picked out the obvious options based on your ). I selected average condition and I came up with a Private Party value of $3,150 and a Dealer Retail of $4,100. Trade-in was $2600. I may have missed some options (I got the wheels, front bucket seats, LSD, Hitch, Auto, and radio), but I'd recommend going in and filling out the correct info for an appraisal.

I haven't relied on KBB pricing on used cars for a while, I've found that Edmunds TMV is usually very close to what they're actually selling for.

The rule in real estate is that if you're not getting traffic, you're asking too much. I think that car sales often fall into the same category.

Ian F
Ian F UltimaDork
4/23/14 12:28 p.m.
curtis73 wrote: In terms of use, it has had very little. I'll buy that its an undesirable truck (I have hated every second of owning that truck). After years of doing this exact thing with vehicles just like this, I'm baffled.

And we're baffled that you're baffled.

Again: it's a 12 year old truck. NADA ain't worth ca ca.

Price is set by supply and demand. Not by some book of random numbers that is by definition a 'guide'. If you really want to get interest and sell the truck, lower the price. Simple as that. If you refuse to lower the price for whatever reason, then you are bound to sit there stewing and wondering why nobody is interested. Will you eventually sell it? Probably. But who knows how long it will take. Could be tomorrow. Could be next year.

I know from my own experience, if I see an ad for soemthing with an asking price way more than I'm willing to pay, I move on. I'm not interested. Why would I call? I just look for something in my price range.

Rob_Mopar
Rob_Mopar SuperDork
4/23/14 12:32 p.m.

Curtis,

Be patient. Maybe list it at $5900 instead of $6000. There is a psychological aspect to having the asking price below the next thousand dollar mark. Also being a 3.9 vs the 5.2 is hurting it from the guys that like those generation Daks. The V8 trucks sell for the same money.

Spring Carlisle is this week. Go get a parking spot outside the fairgrounds or along the main drag and put the sign in the windows. It might cost you $20-50 in parking but you'll get more exposure from car people that might have interest in a mid-sized parts chaser/winter truck.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:41 p.m.

I'm re-doing the ad now. It totally rubs me the wrong way, but I'll do it per a suggestion. Less stuff, just a couple idealizing photos that don't show dents or rust and we'll see how many people I can piss off when they come see it.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:52 p.m.
Ian F wrote:
curtis73 wrote: In terms of use, it has had very little. I'll buy that its an undesirable truck (I have hated every second of owning that truck). After years of doing this exact thing with vehicles just like this, I'm baffled.
And we're baffled that you're baffled. Again: it's a 12 year old truck. NADA ain't worth ca ca. Price is set by supply and demand.

So you're saying that the demand has dropped by 75%? I don't buy it. If you suggested that "yeah the truck market it tough with the new gas prices so you should drop the price $500" that's one thing.

Everyone is just calling me an idiot because my carpet was dirty.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:57 p.m.
Rob_Mopar wrote: Curtis, Be patient. Maybe list it at $5900 instead of $6000. There is a psychological aspect to having the asking price below the next thousand dollar mark. Also being a 3.9 vs the 5.2 is hurting it from the guys that like those generation Daks. The V8 trucks sell for the same money.

Good advice. I'm really kinda ticked with being patient right now. This has been on CL since February.

Spring Carlisle is this week. Go get a parking spot outside the fairgrounds or along the main drag and put the sign in the windows. It might cost you $20-50 in parking but you'll get more exposure from car people that might have interest in a mid-sized parts chaser/winter truck.

I'm putting it in a buddy's front yard close to the fairgrounds. Free parking, but I'll toss him some coin if it sells.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 12:58 p.m.
Datsun1500 wrote: I will give you objective comparisons, you can decide from there. Running Auction reports only 13 have gone through the Eastern Region Auctions in the last month, 7 of those were club cab, all 4x4. 2100, 2900,3600,2050,2850,3600,2500. The 2 $3600 ones had 68K and 78K miles, the rest had from 102K to 176K Based on those alone, I would conclude that there is not much desire for them or there would be more going through in a month, and the $4500 offer was a solid one. Retail comparison within 200 miles of me, there are only 13 for sale, again 2002 club cab 4x4 169K miles for $3450 has been for sale for 138 days - private seller 158K miles for $4579 has been for sale for 28 days - Dealer 140K miles for $4995 has been for sale for 74 days - Dealer 242K miles for $5495 has been for sale for 333 days - Dealer 120K miles for $5855 has been for sale for 218 days - Dealer 121K miles for $5995 has been for sale for 57 days - Dealer 88K miles for $6500 has been for sale for 19 days - Yours (with 3 offers on Ebay) 146K miles for $6500 has been for sale for 174 days - Dealer 120K miles for $6995 has been for sale for 2 days - Dealer 76K miles for $7900 has been for sale for 21 days - Dealer 102K miles for $7900 has been for sale for 61 days - Dealer 96K miles for $9900 has been for sale for 32 days - Private seller Based on these results, those trucks are sitting on Dealer lots for a long time as well. It could be no one is looking for a Dakota at the moment

Thank you for that awesome comparison. It shows that I'm not crazy with my asking price, and that others are having trouble unloading theirs too.

Ian F
Ian F UltimaDork
4/23/14 1:01 p.m.
curtis73 wrote: Everyone is just calling me an idiot because my carpet was dirty.

Well... there is something to be said for perception. When I sold my Cummins 4x4 last year with an asking price of half your truck, I did what I could to make the truck look as good as possible. The exterior was a lost cause (shot paint and rust), but the interior was freshly vacuumed and essentially spotless.

I was inundated with calls and the first guy who looked at it made me a deal (and commented how clean the interior was ). I don't recall if I even looked at a pricing guide. I set a price based on what I was willing to accept in order to get it out of my driveway, knowing I grossly overpaid for the truck in the first place.

curtis73 wrote: Thank you for that awesome comparison. It shows that I'm not crazy with my asking price, and that others are having trouble unloading theirs too.

Yes and no. It also shows that supply is exceeding demand, which tends to drive down prices.

curtis73
curtis73 UberDork
4/23/14 1:06 p.m.

New ad: http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4436538466.html

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof PowerDork
4/23/14 1:08 p.m.

I've said many times, people who ask for advice on forums usually aren't looking for an answer. They just want you to agree with them, and there's only ever one reason why something doesn't sell, and that's price.

I think both apply here.

Ian F
Ian F UltimaDork
4/23/14 1:11 p.m.
curtis73 wrote: New ad: http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/4436538466.html

Much better. Good luck!

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof PowerDork
4/23/14 1:17 p.m.
curtis73 wrote: I think the truck is worth $6500 all day everyday. This truck on a used car lot would have $7950 in the window. I happen to know that because I saw dozens of them when I was researching. I had a few strong bites when I had it listed at $7000. The fact that I'm down to $6000 is stupid. Going to $5500 is only possible because I want rid of this truck and I didn't pay much for it.

How much did YOU pay for it?

foxtrapper
foxtrapper PowerDork
4/23/14 1:27 p.m.
curtis73 wrote: So I'm now supposed to take a perfectly good, low-mileage vehicle...

Previously, this was a wrecked truck you got from a friend, and you've complained rather harshly about it.

You asked for feedback from us about why we think it's not selling. We told you. I'm sorry you chose to upset yourself so much over our words.

I see you had it up on ebay the other week. You got three offers. None were high enough?

Much better CL add btw. At least in my opinion.

TRoglodyte
TRoglodyte SuperDork
4/23/14 1:42 p.m.

Needs moar trucknutz, thats why it ain't sold yet.

z31maniac
z31maniac UltimaDork
4/23/14 2:07 p.m.

A+ thread

Would read again

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