Best strategy for quick car sell in Buffalo?
February 16, 2015 11:40 AM   Subscribe

We're going to drive to the Buffalo area to sell the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid mentioned in my last question, "How to sell our Ontario-registered never-imported American car". The car has 111,000 miles and is missing its front bumper cover due to a collision with a deer but is otherwise in good condition.

We are planning to visit the three dealers I found online with the least horrible Yelp ratings: West Herr Honda, Zeigler Honda Amherst, and Northown Automotive. Our current plan is to see who will give us the best rate. I know MeFites love CarMax, but the closest one is a further 75-min drive away, and when we phoned them, they said they would not buy a car registered in Ontario because it no longer has a title from a U.S. state.

How do we value the car? Any other suggestions?

Selling this car in Canada is not legal.
posted by grouse to Shopping (11 answers total)
 
I bought my Fit at Zeigler, and they were okay. They took my dead 1997 Civic for $500 trade-in. But I have no idea if they will deal with Ontario DMV, which they'd have to. Did you call them to ask this question?

You can use the Kelley Blue Book site to see what your car's value might be.
posted by Riverine at 11:56 AM on February 16, 2015


Response by poster: No, I wanted to get recommendations before phoning individual dealers.
posted by grouse at 12:06 PM on February 16, 2015


craigslist, ebay? offer delivery to the buffalo area.
posted by arnicae at 12:09 PM on February 16, 2015


I have relatives in Amherst who have had a very good experience with Northtown. They have purchased multiple cars from them. I am pretty sure it was Toyotas, but if the same group owns and runs the dealership they will be forthright and "fair". They liked the service department too, but not sure if you will be dealing with them. I am also pretty sure that the Buffalo dealers deal with this sort of transaction often enough. It is not a one off hassle to them.

If you are in Amherst, go to the Duff's for wings and beers.
posted by 724A at 12:15 PM on February 16, 2015


Can you register it in NY? If yes, how much would it cost? Just wondering because I just went through the selling a used car thing (in Los Angeles, though) and the price CarMax offered was almost 25% higher than the local dealers. YMMV.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:33 PM on February 16, 2015


You might check out AutoNation. They were prepared to offer me a fixed purchase price for a used car based on my verbal description. Was nice to have that in hand before visiting a dealer to talk sale.
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 10:15 PM on February 16, 2015


Response by poster: Can you register it in NY?

It's technically possible but is probably very difficult. We would have to get New York liability insurance. State fees are about $120.

You might check out AutoNation.

The closest AutoNation is in Wickliffe, OH, 160 mi away. I did use their Trade-In Appraisal feature, which was useful. Unfortunately, with the missing bumper cover it is not even in fair condition, but I figure a fair valuation might be $1000 off the good condition value.
posted by grouse at 6:24 AM on February 17, 2015


I have purchased and leased vehicles from both West Herr and Northtowns. They are both volume dealers and will most likely offer you the same price for your car. They did this with my trade in last year, both places valued it almost exactly the same.
posted by LightMayo at 8:38 AM on February 17, 2015


Response by poster: I've emailed West Herr, Zeigler, and Northtown. West Herr asked when they could call me on the phone (ugh). Northtown said they would not be able to buy the car, but and did not specify why.
posted by grouse at 8:43 AM on February 17, 2015


Response by poster: Northtown clarified that they do not buy cars of that age with extensive damage. Full points for at least letting me know promptly in a way that wastes a minimum of our time.
posted by grouse at 9:42 AM on February 17, 2015


Response by poster: I called West Herr and couldn't get through to their used car manager. Zeigler said they would give me $200 for it. So did one of the salvage yards we called.

A family member has offered to fly up here in a few weeks and take it off our hands for a bit more before the 45-day deadline to import the car so looks like that's what we'll do.
posted by grouse at 9:12 AM on February 21, 2015


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