a) We'll be selling my wife's 2010 Tahoe (approx 95K miles currently) in the near future. A friend of hers did a few hundred bucks of body damage to it when moving it a few weeks ago. They will pay for the repairs (plus rental car) out of pocket.

b) There is some other minor damage to a quarter panel and a fender for which repairs would be another few hundred bucks.

c) The dash is cracked which is common for Tahoes/Yukons/Suburbans. Don't plan to replace it as that is a very labor intensive project so quite expensive paying shop labor rates.

d) The windshield is significantly cracked from road debris. It passed inspection but is unsightly. We haven't priced a replacement but I imagine somewhere around $400-500.

e) My wife had a fairly costly accident a few years ago, hitting an immovable object in a parking lot. Primarily damage to the suspension/undercarriage which was all repaired. But that will be on the CarFax report.

My question is, generally speaking what would be the return on vehicle value if the repairs in b and d were done vs leaving those issues as is?

Picard said:

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HumbleAg said:

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e) My wife had a fairly costly accident a few years ago, hitting an immovable object in a parking lot.

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v

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I know, and she wasn't even drinking! Whadda ya gonna do?

The Lost said:

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I would never purchase a vehicle with a cracked windshield. If you can't fix something like that, no telling what other maintenance you were like eh I can deal with that.

You're gonna get a lower class of people looking at it or people wanting even more off the price.

Without knowing what you plan on pricing it at can't really help with the return. It will definitely attract different buyers though. No way in hell I'd give you near the 20k a few popped up for on Craigslist. So if that's closer to your goal, at least fix the windshield.

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Have not even looked at pricing it yet. Will probably see what Texas Direct Auto, et al will offer. I am guessing it will be closer to 10K (or less).

Pay to fix the windshield

Then I would DIY this stuff as appropriate:
- broken interior trim
- anything causing a code/CEL
- oil change
- filters
- brake rotors/pads (if needed)

Wash, wax, vacuum the hello out of it.
Re-dye obvious worn leather (had good luck with Colourlock - $35 on Amazon)
Shampoo stains on carpet/seats.

That stuff may not get complete return on your investment, but it will make it a LOT easier sell -- and time is money.

HumbleAg said:

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The Lost said:

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I would never purchase a vehicle with a cracked windshield. If you can't fix something like that, no telling what other maintenance you were like eh I can deal with that.

You're gonna get a lower class of people looking at it or people wanting even more off the price.

Without knowing what you plan on pricing it at can't really help with the return. It will definitely attract different buyers though. No way in hell I'd give you near the 20k a few popped up for on Craigslist. So if that's closer to your goal, at least fix the windshield.

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Have not even looked at pricing it yet. Will probably see what Texas Direct Auto, et al will offer. I am guessing it will be closer to 10K (or less).

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With that plan, id 100% leave as is. No way you're getting anything back investment wise. They can fix what they want for cheaper than you can.

Same boat as OP. Have a cracked windshield and my plan is to fix upon obtaining a buyer. I daily drive this car and dont want to risk another chip or crack under my watch if I get it fixed now.

If the wreck shows up on carfax, they will hammer you on value. Thus, I would fix the windshield and be done with it. You will not recover the other costs with a wreck on record.

TDA will likely pay more than anyone,
if you get close to nada.com rough trade value tell them to cut the check

don't fix anything , they can fix it all for a fraction of what it costs you

aggiepaintrain said:

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TDA will likely pay more than anyone,
if you get close to nada.com rough trade value tell them to cut the check

don't fix anything , the can fix it all for a fraction of what it costs you

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After my FIL passed 3 years ago, TDA gave us a really good price for his pickup. They also made a really good offer for the Tahoe when we were looking at selling a couple of years ago.

Maybe windshield. Hard to tell without seeing damage on rest of car. Probably no on anything besides ws.

a07nathanb said:

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Maybe windshield. Hard to tell without seeing damage on rest of car. Probably no on anything besides ws.

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Other than what my wife's friend did to the front end, not that noticeable.

Post pictures and let us know what TDA offers. I may have a home for if they offer what you are thinking.

If you have repair records showing the damage was not significant, a wreck is not going to hurt the price too much - especially for an older truck.

Lord knows TDA isn't bothered retailing cars with accident history.

Apparently, the wreck my wife had previously was significant enough to have a fairly negative effect on the value. I don't recall the repair cost but it was several thousand. She got the Tahoe back out of the shop this morning and took it by the nearby TDA location for an estimate. They are currently offering $7500 whereas bluebook trade value is around $10K in "good" condition.

HumbleAg said:

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Apparently, the wreck my wife had previously was significant enough to have a fairly negative effect on the value. I don't recall the repair cost but it was several thousand. She got the Tahoe back out of the shop this morning and took it by the nearby TDA location for an estimate. They are currently offering $7500 whereas bluebook trade value is around $10K in "good" condition.

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Craigslist.

If it is a 4WD with under 100k, and you are willing to take Trade-in value, it will sell quickly.

Where are you located? I'm interested

I told you. They kill your value on collisions. It sucks, but they do it now.

I guess folks are paranoid of alignment issues.

It really cuts down on potential buyers.

Windshield - I got my Suburban windshield replace for less than $150 all-in in Houston

We are in SE Montgomery County. The Tahoe is not 4WD but does have the heavy-duty trailering package with 3.42 rear end (rated for up to 8500 lbs but I wouldn't pull anything near that). We bought it used to pull our travel trailer. Traded wife's Hyundai Santa Fe (which she still misses) for it. My son-in-law helped me install air-bags (manually inflated, no on-board compressor) at the rear to level it up for towing. Wife likes the ride better with those installed even for everyday driving. Also has an aftermarket trailer brake controller installed.

We did not get the windshield replaced after my wife discussed with TDA (before appraisal). They said not to bother as they can get them so much cheaper. This Tahoe is an LS model but we got the seats (including 3rd row seat) re-covered in leather a few years ago and also added power folding mirrors. I bought those from a guy on a Tahoe forum and got a local dealer to install.

Tahoe is sold and replaced with a 2016 F-250 FX4 Lariat (diesel) with 30K miles purchased from Sewell Cadillac (Houston). Salesman (Aaron Mushinski) and his "shadow" were both Aggies. Very pleasant experience start to finish with everyone we dealt with at the dealership. Highly recommended, would not hesitate to deal with them again.

Where'd you end up selling at?

agdaddy04 said:

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Where'd you end up selling at?

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Traded to Sewell.

For those that have bought from Sewell, are Sewell dealerships willing to work with you on listed prices? Or do they hold hard to the listed prices?

From our one and only experience, it seems like they hold pretty firm on the "internet price" on used vehicles. We were able to get a little bit off that even after the salesman stated "I've never really seen them come down that much", but seemingly only because I pointed out some extra expenses we were going to incur purchasing the specific vehicle we wanted. These were an extra key (there was only 1 with the truck), SD card for the navigation system (the original was faulty) plus a bed liner (most of the trucks we were looking at already had one).