Thursday, September 22, 2011

What would the average retail price be for '98 Camry with consideration to options etc?

Ok. So I was in an accident this last Friday and I want to make sure that when my car is appraised that I'm actually getting a fair price. I'm hoping that by asking this question I could get some answers from either someone who currently sells cars at a car lot of some sort, or someone who used to sell cars at a car lot, or someone who just knows a LOT about this stuff, so here's everything I would consider pertinent to the price of the car if I would've sold it myself (I've looked at a lot of used cars private party before):



1998 Maroon (Dark Red) Camry LE, 4D (not the V6)

It has about 102,000miles on it, and 75% of the last 13,000miles were highway (driving from Spokane, WA to Seattle, WA)

It came with all of the standard factory options, it's additional options are:

Gold package (it has the gold emblems instead of the silver)

Fog Lights

Moon roof that slides and tilts (and has sun/wind reflector cover)

Alloy Wheels

Mud Flaps

The upgraded entertainment package which includes AM/FM radio, cassette, Single CD player, 6 speakers (I believe 4 are regular and 2 are tweeters, but it's all manufacture Toyota stuff)

Toyota VIP Security System (I have the beeper for it)



Other additional information I would include would be that I have 4 Yokohama iG20 snow tires for it which have only had one season and the current tires are all weather and still in good condition. I have ALL the owner's manuals (the owner manual, supp owner manual part 1%26amp;2, the VIP owner manual). I also have a Haynes Repair Manual for it. The spare tire is still intact. Before I bought it in Feb 2008, the car had only had one owner (ie I'm the second owner) and it has a clean title, all of which can be verified by carfax. I have kept a record of all the oil changes it has had since I bought it in Feb 08, it had 85,456 when I bought it, I changed the oil at 90,989 in Aug 08, I changed it at 94,917 in Jan 09, I changed it at 98,895 on May 15, 09.



Also, on May 15, 2009, I had a TON of tune-up/service work done. The spark plugs were replaced (iridium plug, dual tip), the fuel filter was replaced, the air filter was replaced, some sort of wires were replaced, the invoice sheet says Tailor Mag Cor Wires, it has a Minor tune up of Electronic Ignition, the transmission fluid was replaced, it says Belt ALT which I would assume means the Alternator belt was replaced?, it says Belt STG which I would assume means the steering belt was replaced?, the timing belt was replaced, the engine front oil seals were replaced which I believe includes the camshaft and crankshaft oil seals, the water pump was replaced, and the antifreeze/coolant was changed. I have the invoice for all of this and the receipt showing I paid for it; the total ended up being $1053.26.



As far as it's interior and exterior condition, I would obviously shampoo the carpets and clean everything if i was selling it, but I'm not sure if the appraiser will take that into consideration, the drivers side carpet has a fair amount of dirt stains due to the fact that the car was missing the floor mats when I bought it and I spend my winters in muddy, sandy, snowing Spokane, WA. However I have no idea how much of that would come out. Other than that the interior is in good condition for it's age. The exterior shows some minor wear and tear, the driver door was keyed but it's not too bad, very light and superficial, I have one fairly bad scrape with a dent, someone at the University obviously scraped me while parking, however, I would estimate no more than $500 repair, other than that the only other exterior issues are two small dings in the windshield and some teeny, tiny paint dings on the front and hood area just from lots of highway driving and driving on sanded roads. Speaking of sanded and salted roads, while the roads were salty and sandy here in Spokane this last winter I took my car in to be washed, with an undercarriage wash about every other week. Oh, I also have a set of regular tire chains with some rust on them, but they're still good, only used them this last season, oh, and I would include a set of jumper cables.



I have 1 clicker for the alarm system and I believe I have at least 4 sets of keys to the car. In my humble and biased opinion, the car is worth at LEAST $7,000, I mean, I paid 6,030 for it back in Feb 08, but that's because I had cash on hand and the guy selling from a small used car lot it thought it was a CE, not an LE (which it is, a Toyota dealership verified based on the VIN) and the guy didn't realize it had only had one owner. They had their listing price as $7,995.



Truly, I want my car to be fixed and not declared a total loss, but that's going to be difficult considering both the airbags deployed. However, it seems that the only non-structural damage (ie the front bumper destroyed, the hood slightly crumpled) the only damage they think is sustained is a broken windshield washer reservoir. So, if ANYONE can help me figure out hoWhat would the average retail price be for %26039;98 Camry with consideration to options etc?
The car also is 11 years old and has 102,000 miles. If you paid $6,000 for it a year and a half ago from a dealer, what makes you think it is worth more than that. I was a car dealer and in my opinion it is not worth more than $5,000. Usually insurance companies pay more than cars are worth so just wait and see what they come up with. You might be surprised.