Do new brakes and new tires make a used car more desirable/easier to sell?

[bertha katzenengel]

I'm not selling my 1995 Toyota Tercel yet. But it's in excellent shape. The upholstery needs to be cleaned, and maybe I should get the hail dents removed. It has 140k miles on it.

So do the brakes & tires add any value in the used car market? Not for trade in; for resale.

??? Thanks.

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. Yes.

But I would not go overboard on the tires. Cornell from Pep Boys of similar would do.

It lends a degree of confidence in reliability in the buyer.

[bertha katzenengel]

2. Great news. The tires are already on. Goodyear. Not premium, but

good ones.

Thanks, O.R. :hi:

[Deep13]

3. Yes, but you won't recoup the cost.

Not with 140,000 miles already on it.

[bertha katzenengel]

4. Nah, not worried about that.

According to Kelley Blue Book, its private party value would be $2,160. I'd be willing to take $1,750. It's perfect for some kid's first car.

In a perfect world, I'd save it for my 15-yr-old nephew. But he'd have to work practically full time to afford the insurance, and his mom can't pay for it. :( Oh, well.

[LeftyMom]

5. It helps but a small car with good fuel economy should sell well right now

so since you're not really looking to maximize it's value I don't know if I'd bother assuming the current brakes have some life left in them.

[bertha katzenengel]

6. oh, no, they were gone

we already replaced them & the tires. we still need the car for a little while. :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Anything you do to convince a potential buyer

that the car was well-maintained adds value. Maybe not much, but it adds value.

This works both ways. Before I bought my El Camino, I took all my diagnostic equipment to the guy's house. I ran a compression test on it and found one cylinder slightly lower than the others. It meant nothing, really, but it was enough for him to go down to $2,250 from $2,500.

[Derailer]

9. haha

I might've dropped the price $50 over that

[jobycom]

8. More like, old tires and bad brakes make it less desirable/harder to sell

People mentally deduct how much new tires will cost them from what you are asking, and if there's a similarly priced car with good tires, they'll give it the edge. A car like yours will sell faster with new tires but won't really get the full price of a good set of tires back. Still, it could make the difference between selling or not selling the car.