truck to good home

So, who needs a battered pickup truck? What would be a fair price for it? It's never broken down, has all its checkups, but looks like crap - like, scratched, dented, missing its front grille protector. I could donate it and I guess get the blue book value written off our taxes. Or I could sell it cheap to someone I know who needs a basic vehicle or a work truck for hauling.

Blue book value is $2700. Based on cruising craigslist truck ads, around $1000 would be about right for a small unbeautiful truck that runs well. Actually, most of the $1000 trucks "need work" or have a transmission problem or "smoke, but get the job done" or have another notable major flaw. Mine actually does run great with no engine/transmission problems. 105,000 miles on it. It just looks nasty.

Its specs: short bed Mazda B2200, A/C, power steering, ABS (anti lock brakes), no other frills.

flaws:

- No radio.
- Missing front grille protector.
- Passenger side door lock is hard to pop up. (I almost never lock it anyway, because who would want to break into this truck or steal it? No one!)
- Passenger side can't be unlocked from outside (the lock is bent from a breakin attempt 10 years ago)
- Drivers' side window sometimes jumps off its rail if you slam the door really hard with the window down. (Window repair place can fix this for 20 bucks.)
- Tendency for one of the taillight fuses to blow, but when it happens I replace a $2.00 fuse in the dashboard. Due to the awesome climate here, the truck is not at all rusty.
- carpets are scungy to the extreme.
- huge rips in driver's side seat. I have duct tape and a seat cover on it.

Virtues:

- oil changed regularly
- tires are pretty new, i think most are from last year but one is a bit older
- it's *never broken down*

Comments

[Heather]

I hope you get a good price but that's a $500 car in Minnesota on a good day. Looks are that important when selling used cars. Almost no one ever gets blue book value anyway. Didn't you have problems with an emissions test?

[toobeaut]

I would advertise it for $1500 and be prepared for someone to negotiate you downward, because everyone haggles over a used car. This will enable you to basically give them the truck for the price you think is fair for them and you both.

I asked a friend on the board of a local nonprofit child care center if they had a program I could donate an old vehicle to, and he said yes, "but someone did that once and we (the child care center) ended up getting such a tiny check that it was hardly even worth it, and when the donor found out, he said he wished he would have just sold the car and donated half the sale -- which would have been more than we got." So the vehicle-donation thing is not a very efficient way to give money to a group.

[me]

It was close to the edge with emissions the first time, but passed handily the 2nd time. The only trucks for 500 bucks around here are ones that say "needs new transmission" or "must hand-adjust crankshaft intake valve twice daily..."

[e]

no, 105,000 miles, runs good, that's gotta be over a grand. i sold a car awhile back for $500 which would have been $1000 if the air conditioning worked, and it didn't even make it until the payments got finished. i bet you get a grand.