Just wondering how some of these things will help selling and value.

My local body shop said they could fix my paint chip in the front driver fender by sanding about 1/3 of the fender and feathering it out for about $250. And he said he could remove all the scratches from the front bumper cover and repaint the whole thing for about the same, the cover has some minor scratches and bug stains that won't come out but doens't look too bad when cleaned up good, but would look nice w/ some fresh paint.

But I don't know if it's worth the $500 to fix those things before I sell it. The paint chip doesn't bother me but it might bother someone else. It's about the diameter of a pencil eraser so not tiny but not huge. I plan to put some touch up and see how it looks. I'm also concered that having paint work on the car could decrease its value instead of increase, but it might make it easier to sell if it looks brand new. There are also two tiny door dings but I don't plan to fix those, they aren't too noticable.

I also plan to put my first new set of front tires on it, they lasted 58k miles so not too bad & the dealer says I could get 5k more out of them. But I want to have matching rubber all around, selling is easier w/ 4 new tires & it will cost me about $250, I think that's worth it.

I put new ceramic front brakes & don't know if I should do the rear, they don't need it yet but will in about 5k. Is it ok to put semi metalic on the rear w/ ceramic on the front? I love the ceramic on the front cause there is no brake dust at all. all other maintenacne is up to date including new belts & 60k service.

Thanks for any ideas, we really hate to sell but have too.

 

Having a car for sale with no scratches and chips will get you top dollar. You always get a higher offer if a car looks good. You don't have to put new front tires on, but just make sure you tell the buyer that they are going to need replacement and factor that in when negotiating the price. You may have to take off $250 from the start.

Whenever I see blemishes on a car, I usually give a lowball offer. Yeah I'm a ***** sometimes, but I usually get the car for somewhere near my intended price. So, unless you want people like myself causing you grief, get the repairs done and you'll have an easier time selling the car.

 

Have you considered just getting the area touched up and having the whole car detailed for say $150-250 as opposed to paying $500 to have it repainted? Sure it's nice to have a new looking bumper and etc but that still leaves the rest of the car dull. I rather use the $500 for a detail job and new tires. You never actually get your asking price if you're looking for top dollar. Make the car look good overall rather than focus on sections unless the damage is really noticable.

 

Definitely going to sell it myself cause I'm buying a truck and they probably wouldn't want this car.

Anyway, I'm going to wait until I can touch it up and see what it looks like. The rest of the paint still looks new so if I had the bumper repained it would match good I think.

I'll definitely detail it first, or there is a good place that does it for about $100. But I kind of enjoy detailing myself. Just need to find a good leather cleaner & engine cleaner. Any tips there??