2009 Pontiac G8 GT with 181,000 miles for 10 grand. Yay or nay?

Here's a quick link to this car, your decision, seems overpriced to me. That's a lot of miles for a 2009.

Angryvet - OK, here's another value for you, see next couple pictures, by the way NADA is another great barometer, but, I'd still be cautious. Once you pass 200,000 miles, it's much more challenging to keep up a car.

Here's the picture if the car only had 90,000 miles,

Not sure how its being sold, but if it seems like a decent car except for the miles I'd try a real low ball price. Do it diplomatically and in such a way that they can come back to you later if they change your mind. Offer them $4500?? I picked up a Cutlass convertible for $500 that was being advertised for $2100. The seller just wanted it gone and was getting no interest in it. It turns out to be a great car. This one might be too. Those are likely highway miles which aren't particularly hard on a car although I agree with my co-gurus that its likely to need some maintenance due to the mileage. Having said that the car overall should be good for another 50,000 as is.

Oh, nononononononono!

munron - I don't know how you can say that a car you haven't seen is good for another 50,000 miles as is. It's all based upon condition and if I were seriously considering this car, I'd want to know WHY they're selling it. A lot of cars in this mileage range have transmission failures and many other things that can and do go wrong. If this person selling it can provide ALL the maintenance records, then, maybe that would be a different story. It's not a bad car, but, I'd still be cautious at this mileage point. As for price, if this car is really clean and you want it, I'd think that $6,000 to $6,500 would be a fairer offer to make. Sorry, but, $4,500 is an insult. http://www.carcomplaints.com/Pontiac/G8/ http://www.edmunds.com/pontiac/g8/

Glad to hear you agree with what I said on all points except price. Why is $4500 an insult but $6000 is not? You might want to re-read that part of my post again. As far as the mileage goes, properly maintained cars typically go around 200,000 to 250,000 miles. A highway driven one is likely to go to the top end of that scale.

munron - Hi, thanks for your answer. In answer to your question about how I determined the offer of $6,000 to 6,500, I took the value of Kelly Blue Book of $7,500 and figured that 80 percent of that, so, I really think $6,500 is actually a more respectable offer. And, the NADA price of around $10,850 ,is much higher. The actual value of this particular car is somewhere in the middle, at least I think so. And, this is just a starting point for a conversation, everything is negotiable. You got extremely lucky purchasing the Cutlass you did for such a low price plus how motivated they are to sell. Maybe they were desperate for cash, it's hard to know every situation. Anyway, it's all about condition and as someone else pointed out, regional price variations. I can tell you that cars in Southern California command much more than parts of the Midwest. The only reason this car is so depreciated is the excessive mileage, which, is pretty BIG negative. I wouldn't purchase this car for many reasons, insurance, fuel-efficiency, possible repairs and hard to resell. But, that's just me. Hey, the insurance on this for most people will be a show stopper, let alone a kid in his 20s, that will be cost prohibitive. I don't need or want a super fast car, but, if I wanted one, I'd be looking at a Subaru WRX STI. I understand that most highway vehicles are less likely to show signs of wear, but, again, you really don't know the back story on this car. Sure, it's possible for cars to go 250,000 miles, but. can they show all the service records and receipts. When I sold my 1995 Honda Accord EX station wagon after 19 years with just under 150,000 miles on the car, I had every receipt for all the work done including the original bill of sale and I got $3,000 for the car. My car was in remarkable condition and only sold it because it had trouble pulling my trailer, the car was too low to the ground. Like I said, the person considering this car needs to find out more information and why they're selling it.

Don't go there

Angryvet ----OK, are you going to pursue this car? If some of my answers have been helpful, please mark one of them helpful or best answer. A number of us have provided information for you, please advise. Thanks, -----Mark

Its kind of funny that people that don't understand what the NADA value means but yet know what cars are worth! Mark I thought your post were very helpful. I mean you showed two examples with the pics of the NADA value. Thats the way the market works. If you get a private owner maybe you can act dumb and pretend you dont know what the car is worth and low ball them. But come on my lot and offer 1/2 of what I have it listed for I would laugh at you!