Thread: 1999 Grand Prix - Questions about Selling

Hey all.. so hopefully this will end up in the right section of the forum here..

I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GT that I'm trying to find out the value for. Basically, I'm debating on either selling it or getting it fixed, but as it's our third car, I'm really not looking to put a lot of money into it.

It ran great up until a year ago. It had minor transmission problems, but nothing major....and it looks like a car from 1999; the paint is faded, leather seats faded, etc, but again, nothing major. A new paint job (or some heavy duty waxing) and a little Armor All would really bring it back to life.

About a year ago, it started losing massive amounts of water. I'm not a mechanic, but from where the water is leaking I believe that one of the freeze plugs is out. It was losing a bit of water before that, as well, but I was still able to drive it, just had to put water in every now and then. I'm sure the hoses need replaced, and some radiator work, but beyond that, I think the car would run fine.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it right now. If I can get some, I'll be sure to post them. Overall, the car is in decent shape, but as it's one of those that seem pretty common in the 1990's I don't know what it's value would be now.

Since you guys are the experts, I figured that you'd be able to give me some sort of hint as to what the value on this car would be.

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Originally Posted by postalc38

These cars aren't worth much now. Depends alot on mileage and condition........But don't be surprised if you don't get much.

I basically figured that, but I have absolutely no ballpark figured to go from. Motor-Trend listed it at $1650 for trade-in value for rough condition, but I don't know if that relates any at all to what I have. Really, I don't know if it's worth 10 bucks, 100 bucks, or 1,000 bucks. If it's worth more than it costs to fix it, then I figure I'll hang on to it in case if something happens, but otherwise someone with a little more mechanical ability than I have can buy it and give to their kids or something. Right now, it's just sitting around.

If I had to describe it's condition, I'd say somewhere between rough to average. The mileage is right at 157,504.

Postal, thanks for the help!!

Originally Posted by Bio248

coming from people that see them and work on them all the time we know how to nit pick them to death and a car that isnt in exceptional form isnt going to get much of a buzz out of us. knowing that it is losing coolant and not seeing it on the driveway is very concerning since one of the big problems we have is the lower intake manifold gaskets going out and that putting coolant in the oil which, if left unchecked, will destroy the bottom end. burning it is very uncommon because head gaskets blowing out are extremely rare.

from your description i would say it's a $2000 car, plus or minus a few hundred based on mileage.

<grins> See, all of that is way beyond me.. One of these days, I'll learn were the lower intake manifold gaskets are. Is there any way for me to check if that's something that's happening with this car? Once it started to lose a lost of water, I stopped driving it. When I crawl under, I can clearly see the water leaking out of a hole at the back of the engine, which is why I assumed that it was a freeze plug. For all I know, the plug could have been going out for awhile, which would explain why it was slowly losing coolant before.

I was hoping to be able to sell the car for around $1,500, but figured I'd be lucky if I got $500 for it.

The last mechanic I talked to sounded like he was going to charge me quite a bit to fix it, so if it's only worth around $1,000 to $2,000, then it may be better off to sell it and be done with it.

Bio, thanks for the help.. you guys have been awesome!

....if I decide to sell, does anyone know of a good place to put it up for sale at?

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

The best way to determine the value is to take private party book value from KBB, Edmunds and NADA for good condition, then go by the lowest price given between the 3. From there total up the cost of the necessary repairs needed to restore the car back to good condition.

Great advice here - I looked it up in the Kelly Bluebook before, but never thought of Edmunds or Nada. Thanks for that!

Here's what I came up with:

KBB - $2,755
Edmunds - $1,134
Nada - $2,050

- The research was based off the car being in "poor" condition. I don't know what the standards really are, so I figured I'd look to see what the low end values were based off of those websites.

As I mentioned before, I think that a good starting price would be $2,000. I don't expect to get that, but with some negotiating, it may end up to be more than I thought I'd get for it.

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

Make some more posts around the board so you can post it in the for sale section here, or try craigslist. I've had some good experiance selling on craigslist in the past for more than I thought the vehicle was worth.

A couple questions with that..

First, how many posts do I need to advertise?

Second, my concern is if someone bought it that's nowhere near me, I have no idea how to get it to them. I've sold stuff locally before, but never over a wide area.

I've gone through Craigslist before, but wasn't impressed. It seems like there were a lot of "fake" people on there. Still, I know a lot of people have success that way, so it's definitely worth a shot.

You guys have really been a lot of help. I truely appreciate the time you've taken to help me out!

I'm still kinda-sorta looking for a late 90s GTP

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

Here's a good article to help you get started How to Sell Your Car on Craigslist

Craigslist doesn't allow the same ad multiple times, but I usually post a few times a week by this method: Craigslist Tips & Tricks: How To Post Duplicate Ads | Website Design, Content Management System And SEO | Blog

I would make anyone from out of town drive to you to see the car so you don't waste your time or effort. It may take some time to weed out the tire kickers and hood rats, but if you wait it out, you can find good buyers.

Explicit, thanks for all the great help here.. I read through those articles last night and it all made sense. It all seems like it's pretty straight-forward, just have to be careful so that I do things the right way.

I really appreciate all the time you've taken to help me out here. Many thanks!

Originally Posted by Justintiime

I'm still kinda-sorta looking for a late 90s GTP

Just kinda-sorta looking? If I get time today, I want to get it all cleaned up and everything. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures. It's not a bad car, it's just something that, frankly, I don't really feel like messing with. With my work schedule, It seems like I have to beg for a second off during the day. If I get some pictures then I'll post them..