Sales price on a J

[J-Owner]

Hey guys,

I am thinking of selling my J30 and I was wondering if any of you thought $5,500 was am unfair asking price.

Here are some details:

1995 J30t/ Maroon exterior with Black leather

130,000 miles. Interior is immaculate. Looks like it just came off the factory floor. Leather has been well taken care of and there are no cracks or wears on the drivers door panel like so many J's have.

The exterior has a few dents and scratches, but it is a 10 year old car so that comes with the territory. nothing major on the exterior. Never wrecked. ALWAYS GARAGED!

I have always had it serviced at the dealer here in Plano so I have ALL of the service records.

The timing belt, tensioner, idler pulleys, water pump, and thermostat were all changed at 98,000 miles.

The car does need new struts but the shocks are fine and the A/C compressor has started making a knocking noise when in use but still blows ice cold air. The dealer said that since I was about to sell it and as long as it blows cold air, he wouldn't fix it and since it is about to be winter I agree with him. Also, the sunroof still works but is on its last leg probably as it sticks a little but the sunroof on the J always go out so that is nothing surprising. The sunroof HAS NEVER leaked a drop!

Those are the only three things that are wrong with the car.

It has new front brakes and rear brakes are fine. It does have the original rotors and the dealer said that this was probably my last resufacing so the new owner would eventually need to replace the rotors. Tire treads still have 70%. I have recently had the upper turbine sensor replaced as well as the relays for the headlights.

Now I realize that I do not have pictures and you are going on what I say but I assure you this car has ALWAYS been pampered and absolutely lives up to what I have told you. There are some things that need to be replaced as I mentioned but I have not done them because I do not want to put alot of my money into that I will not be able to recoup.

Based on the above, does anyone think $5,500 is an unfair price?

I am trying to get into a 2005 G35 Coupe and they offered me $2,500 for my J as a trade in and considering how much time I have put into keeping this car in good condition I told them to kiss my A$$. I am not about to give this car away to someone.

I have been monitoring E-bay for the last 4 months and none of those J's compare to mine. I am VERY anal retentive and the E-bay J's sell for virtually nothing but none are in as good of condition OR as well maintained as mine is so I haven't put much stock into the E-bay prices.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I am about to hit this full on and would like some advice so that I get a fair price.

Thanks,B

[elwesso]

Whtas fair and what youll get are 2 VERY different things....

If you got the AC compressor fixed, sunroof.. Maybe 5000... Thing is, i dont even think a Q, unless proved NICO worthy, would go for that much.....

The timing belt helps, so there really isnt anything wrong with the car that has to do with its driveability...

The color combo will help, very nice...... Service records are a plus, do you have them since the car was new, or bare minimum since it was out of warranty..

I think 4500-5000 would be a fair price assuming that you got the above items fixed, or AT LEAST included replacement parts in the sale.. WIthout, I would say 4000-4500

[J-Owner]

Thanks for the reply Wes.

Yes, I have all records back to 3,000 miles on it.

I wasn't sure what a fair asking price would be based on the fact that some things need replaced as they have worn out over time. I am not that mechanically inclined but someone else may be and able to at a cheaper cost than what a dealer would pay.

I haven't fixed them because I didn't want to sink alot of money into something that I wouldn't get back. The car is in great shape otherwise.From the dealer offer, which we all know isn't worth anything, trading it in for $2,500 when it was a $36K car new and giving the fact that I have taken good care of it was an insult.

So, if they offer $2,500 and I want $5,500 then obviously I need a happy medium in there somewhere and that is what I am trying to find out. I could probably live with $4 -$4,500. I will start out at $5K maybe and see what I can do and come down ONLY if I have to.

In the worse case scenario, I will get the G coupe and keep the J and drive it til it falls apart. I don't have to sell it period but if I do I want to feel comfortable with the price I get.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

B

[elwesso]

Service records will help... HUGE if you want to sell the car here on NICO... Might recommend that...

Why not keep the J??? Use it as a daily driver... Prolly worth more to you than it is to get rid of it..... IMHO.. I konw that how my old Q was, and how this Q is now......

[docsmile71]

my experience with selling an old infiniti.

You will NEVER get what YOU think the car is worth. Infiniti's are very nice cars but are only appreciated by Infiniti owners. I sold my 95Q45t with only 73K miles on it recently for $5000. Interior was perfect, always dealer maintained, but it had some dings and scratches. I listed the car for $6500 but ended up selling to a NICO member for less cuz he had to pay $1000 to ship the car. I just wanted the car to go to someone who will appreciate the car as much as I did.

I think that you should try to sell it for $5000 but don't hold your breath. The J is not a very popular car so there is not really a demand for it on the used car market. You can usually get a similar year/mileage Q for the same price as a J because all older Infiniti's have poor resale value. Most people will go for the Q due to the more powerful engine and flagship status.

If you want to sell it for about $5000, you may have to wait 6-12 months.

[PalmerWMD]

I would keep it as a poor weather/errandriver

Fred..

[dareo]

Be patient, have good advertising (lots of pics on autotrader, forums, possibly Ebay) And keep it if you can't get what you need out of it. The best way to buy and sell cars is to be patient and not need to sell/buy real fast.

[J-Owner]

Docsmile,

I don't think I would say that the J is not a popular car because I highly disagree. We have people who like J's and we have people who like Q's. I personally have never liked the older Q's which is why I never bought one.

But Q's are highly admired here as are J's. Numerous times when taking my car to the infiniti dealer I have gotten calls from a sales person stating that a wholesaler is interested in purchasing it. I have never taken them up on it because it has always came at a time when I didn't want to sell.

I have also has some of the service techs at the infiniti dealer ask me to let them know when I decide to sell because they were interested. Probably because they have worked on it and know that I take good care of it.

So those are two avenues I will explore to sell it.

I agree with Fred and Wes I may just keep it. I am in no hurry to sell it but I just don't need two cars. That is why I was considering selling it.

I plan on getting an '05 G coupe and I don't need two cars. Of course, I could keep the J and therefore keep the miles down on the G so I guess it goes both ways.

By the way, I like the subtle changes on the interior of the G coupe for '05 but now you can't get a white exterior with black leather, only tan leather. I HATE tan leather, I guess I will get the Diamond graphite w/ black leather. Anyway, I am rambling it is just my philosophy is if it is not borken don't fix it.

Thanks you guys for the reply you have given me some good insight. If I decide to sell it I will definetely put it on here and on E-bay with very detailed pictures.

Take care all,Brandon

[pito11213]

Honestly you are looking for too much money in real world terms. Infiniti's just dont hold value other that street credibility. In NY if your Q looks good you can get good money for it, just the moron who doesnt know anything will suffer. IE(chain guides, fuel injectors.)

The J is nice but is small. Kind of looks like a longer wheel base altima to me. Good luck in selling yours.

[elwesso]

1.5 years ago, it would have been a fair asking price.... Now it seems you can get a J30 for under 4 grand that looks and runs decent... not nearly as good as yours, but the way I see it.. I can go out and get a decent VG for under 1000, they are a dime a dozen beacuse of the Z car..... If i bought a J, thta would be a factor.. if it had a decent transmission I wouldnt really care, because I could get a decent VG swapped in cheap.....

I dont know what that was for, but id keep the J.

[pito11213]

So are you going to have any pics. Lets see this beauty.

[DAEDALUS]

Yeah, of the NEW G

[AlabamaDan]

I'd just keep it. Flat out. Where are you going to get another "classic" car like that that you know everything about.

If I had room in my garage I'd buy it just so you'd know it would be loved and taken care of. But alas, my garage is full.

Keep it.

[J-Owner]

I will probably list it just to see if I get any nibbles. I will likely just keep it in the end if there are no bites.

I just don't want to give it away and if I do sell it I would want it to go to someone who would appreciate it like a NICO member.

As for pictures, I do plan on posting some. Unfortunately at this time we have had about two weeks worth of rain here in Dallas and it will continue for the next four days.

I need to have it washed and the engine dressed and it is also time to have the leather treated and cleaned. I usually do that every six month. So when the weather clears up I will get some pics up.

Of course, I will have to borrow a digital camera from a friend as I don't have one. I have every other electronic gadget known to man but for some reason I don't own a digital camera. May buy one for Christmas.

Anyway, thanks for the input.B