Mike728

So, my ES just turned 8 years old on Saturday. I have put on almost 23k miles in that time. 15k the 1st year, so it's kind of just taking up space in the garage. I posted last year that I was offered $23,500 by Carvana in August, after they only offered ~$17k in Feb 2020. I just ran it through a few sites again. Vroom offered $16,800 and Carfax was about the same. Carvana again is way higher at $22k. I looked online for current listings for UL ES 350's and don't see very many. Some have 100k miles and they're asking well below $20k. Anyone know why Carvana would be offering so much?

I set up an appointment to meet with them this week to hand it over. Does this seem almost too good to be true to anyone else? I don't need the money, but I also don't need the car sitting in my garage depreciating, either. What would you do?

bc6152

Used cars are bringing big money currently. The price offered by Carvana, if a genuine offer, is a good one. When I sold my 2013 privately in December 2018 the dealer offered me $17k. I sold it for $22k. It had less than 20k miles and was in absolutely pristine condition. So my car was actually 6 years old at that time as I bought it in September of 2012. Now, yours is 8 YO and they're offering you more. I'd take it unless they try to BS you into taking less. Sounds too high for a wholesale offer. They may just be trying to get you into the office. GOOD LUCK Mike and let us know how you make out.

rmak

Carvana is almost always higher than anyone. They have a huge business and will be sold shortly after they pick it up. A friend of mine sold his F-150 to them for almost what he paid for it new. As always, supply and demand. Not all vehicles will fetch a premium. Your mileage is a huge factor in price.

lesz

Mike,

As I said in the reply to the PM that you sent to me, I had considered selling my 2017 ES last fall. The best offer that I got was from Vroom, and it was the best by a good amount. Ultimately, I read on-line reviews of Vroom and other similar options, and they were not good. I became concerned that they would send someone to pick up my car and the title, and, after they left, they would contact me with an excuse for reducing their offer. They would then have the car and title and I would not have the car, the title or the money that they had initially offered. So, I didn't sell the car.

Unless I was desperate for money, I find several nice things about keeping a car that is several years old, that has been well-maintained, and that is in outstanding condition. I can still enjoy driving such a car. While there have definitely been technology and safety improvements since you bought your 2013 ES or since I bought my 2017 ES, Your ES and mine still have a good amount of technology, and they have what I consider to be the essential safety features, including automatic collision braking, lane departure alert, and blind spot monitoring.

Once such a vehicle is several years old and its value has significantly depreciated, I figure that insurance premiums are much lower, and the multi-car discount that I get makes it such that the cost of insuring two vehicles is only minimally more than would be the cost of insuring just one vehicle. Plus, if I divide me driving between my two vehicles, I end up, with both of the vehicles, paying premiums that are rated in the lowest annual mileage category, as opposed to putting all of my mileage on one vehicle and, thus, having to pay an even higher premium because of the higher mileage. Similarly, spreading my driving between 2 vehicles and putting fewer miles on each means that, when I do decide to get rid of each, they will both have fewer miles on the odometer and will have somewhat higher re-sale/trade value.

So, while I know that the ES continues to depreciate, what I would be able to sell it for is a relatively meaningless amount to me, and I'm more than happy to keep and enjoy a vehicle that is in outstanding condition.

Mike728

Thanks for the reply, Les. I don't know what it is about my ES that Carvana likes over Vroom and the others. Maybe I'll find something out later this week. With Carvana, they either hand you a check, or deposit the money directly to your bank account. From what I've read on this and other forums, they appear to be legit. I have not read about anything like changing the price, or the likes. The only thing I've seen is if you misrepresent the vehicle, they will just stop the transaction. That is determined in a short drive and walk around.

The reason I don't drive my ES is because my job moved to the city and I started commuting via rail. My wife does not like to drive it, so either I take it out on my own, or we just take her CX-5 Signature. That Mazda has more luxury than my ES, minus the sound system. It also has all the new safety features, which I do not have in the ES. I only have blind spot monitoring and parking sensors. The CX-5 has everything, including 360 camera, radar cruise, pedestrian detection, HUD, etc... It's also more fun to drive. Our insurance is a little over $500/yr for each vehicle, but now I wonder if it will go up on the Mazda after dropping the ES. I wasn't really thinking about that until you brought it up.

I'm worried that the longer I keep it, the more likelihood it gets some rodent infestation that costs me a bunch of money to fix. I already found a mouse looking for a home in it a couple years ago, but luckily it didn't cause any damage. I think I said this before, but if I'm going to have a Garage Queen, I want something that's fun to drive. I still haven't figured out what that is, so selling my ES may push me to do just that.

bc6152

Another thought depending on how the Carvana meet turns out is to sell the car in the CL market place. That's where I sold my car - at retail - when I bought the 2019. The buyer drove up here from Maryland and handed me $22,000.00 cash... A sweet deal for us both. If you're not driving it the value just continues to go down and you lose. I'd unload it and buy a Corvette...

lesz

Mike,

You make some very valid points, especially if you pretty much are not driving it at all and if you are not happy with its technology and safety features. For some reason, I thought that your ES did have the radar cruise control and automatic collision avoidance braking

I just checked my most recent insurance premium notices. State Farm used to itemize the amounts for all of the discounts on a policy. Now, they only list the discounts and give a total value of all of the discounts. When they did itemize the amounts of each of the discounts, I figured that the total additional cost for me to insure 2 vehicles with them was only about $100 a year more than the cost of insuring just one vehicle. That included the amount of the multi-car discount and the fact that, with 2 cars, both policies are rated at under 7,500 miles per year. With only 1 car, I'd be putting about 14,000 miles on that car annually, and the policy would be rated at over (I think) 12,000 miles, which results in a higher premium.

On the other hand, about a year ago, Illinois increased its license plate fees by 50%, and there is the additional expense of doing annual required maintenance on an additional car (that you would be rarely driving).

When I sold my boat a number of years ago, I recall the old joke about the 2nd happiest day of boat ownership being the day you bought the boat and the happiest day of boat ownership being the day you sold it. I found that to be quite true, and I suppose that the same thing can apply to a car that you are not driving. As I've aged, I've come to realize that having more things can mean that you just have more things that you need to spend energy and money on to take care of them.

Mike728

Looking at what is on the market now, I would have the highest priced 2013 out there. That probably wouldn't get me much action in the FSBO world, other than spam calls. I don't have the patience, or trust in strangers for trying to sell myself either.

Unless the new gen 'Vette has grown in the driver's seating position, it's still a no go. I will be checking, though, as I have every other modern gen. For some reason, they're not made for someone 6'4" and 200 lbs. I mean it's not as bad as trying to squeeze into a Miata, but still too cramped with my knees bent into the wheel the whole time.

TheRas900

I had a great experience selling to Carvana, I think you’ll be impressed. I think selling an 8 year old ES for that amount to get something fun is a no brainer. Good luck!!

Poppa

Honestly from reading your posts, I get the feeling that you're really leaning toward selling it. I think in your case, given your particular circumstances, I might go ahead and sell it provided the offer you were made is legit.. I'm on the other end of the spectrum, I've always liked having a car that was paid for and have enjoyed driving them for several years after they're paid for. Since I became an adult, and that goes back to the Gerald Ford administration, I have kept every vehicle I've ever owned for at least 10 years, with the exception on one. In your case, you're not driving it very much at all, and when you do you seem to not enjoy it as much, and it's sitting in your garage depreciating a little more each day. If the offer's a solid one, go for it. That's just my opinion. Good luck with your decision.

Roland

Nelexus88

I have also been starting to think about trading my '14 ES 350. I typically drive my cars 10 years or more, so this discussion peaked my interest.

My experience with auto insurance rates is that they do not go down as the vehicle gets older. My '14 ES has increased almost every year since I bought it new. Two years ago wife bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee (similar features & cost to ES) and the insurance on it was about 30% less than the older Lexus. Granted the ES gets driven more miles on vacation trips than the Jeep, but it seems to have little to do with current value of the vehicle.

Another possibility is that the rates may be increasing do to the age of the driver 😁

lesz

Insurance premiums, especially the comprehensive premiums, should be going down as the value of the car goes down when it is getting older, but I think that much of that decrease is offset by the fact that insurance rates, in general, have been rising. One factor contributing to those increasing premiums is likely the increasing amount of technology in modern cars.

Mike728

Hi Roland, This is by far the longest I've personally kept a vehicle. My previous best was almost 5 years. I had 2 that barely made 2 years. It was like pulling teeth to convince my wife to trade in her 8 year old Honda CR-V for the Mazda. She's happy about it now, but she hates change.

Mike728

My ES has stayed right around $520/yr since I brought it home. I have never seen any vehicle go down in cost due to its age, only mine. When I turned 25 about 100 years ago it cut in half. I guess I'm about to find out if it goes back up on the other end.

lesz

I just checked the premium history for the 2 Generation 6 ES vehicles that I've owned. The premium for the 2013 ES dropped from around $450 to $350 during the 3 1/2 years that I owned it. The premium for my 2017 ES has dropped from around $475 to $400 during the 4 years that I've owned it. Similarly, the premium for the 2005 GX that I owned for 15 years dropped from around $350 to $200 during the time I owned it.