<p>I found this 2000 Camry LE v6, 38,000 miles, one owner. The owner is an elderly lady who lives in a retirement home. Asking $10,000. Is this a good deal?</p>
<p>Sounds good to me but this link is probably more objective… [What’s</a> My Car Worth - Blue Book Used Car & Trade-In Values - Kelley Blue Book](<a href=“http://www.kbb.com/whats-my-car-worth/]What’s”>Instant Used Car Value & Trade-In Value | Kelley Blue Book)</p>
<p>The proverbial “only driven by a little old lady to church on Sundays.” </p>
<p>That’s a very old car to have such low mileage. If it’s true, it’s a good deal. Check the Carfax to make sure all is as it appears to be.</p>
<p>$10K is a fair value for this car. You’re not “stealing” it, but it is a fair price for a private party sale, assuming it is in good condition overall. You can look it up on kbb.com, to see what they say it’s worth.</p>
<p>Be careful with low mileage per year cars (about 3,000 miles per year in this case). The miles could be all city miles, or the car would have been subjected to mostly cold start short trips, either of which are generally considered “severe service” driving. And check the maintenance records for scheduled maintenance by time, not mileage (since many maintenance intervals are specified as “every _,000 miles or _ months, whichever comes first”).</p>
<p>Rubber items like tires, wiper blades, hoses, and the like may need replacement due to age related deterioration even with low use. Batteries and brake fluid may be similar in this respect.</p>
<p>That year, model, and engine also appears to be among those which tend to get oil sludge under lax oil change habits. Use of synthetic oil while following the maintenance schedule carefully may reduce the risk.</p>
<p>[Engine</a> Sludge](<a href=“http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/01/the-black-death-of-sludge/index.htm]Engine”>http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/01/the-black-death-of-sludge/index.htm)</p>
<p>BB range is $9,658 -10,958 for a private party sale depending on condition (fair-excellent).
Most folks expect to take a little less than they ask–if you check out the car and it’s in good condition and mileage is legit, offer her 9K and see what she says.</p>
<p>My elderly uncle just passed away. His 2001 Buick had about 22,000 miles on it, but he had replaced the tires. There was also a brake problem that had not been diagnosed in a recent check-up. So I am just agreeing with ucbalumnus in that sometimes parts are a bit dried out from non-use so you may have some early maintanance costs.</p>
<p>Ten yr old cars with low miles do exist. We have a 2000 truck with less than 40K miles that has mostly been driven to the places of Mr. B’s “worship” - HD and local lumberyards. I make sure the beast sees a mechanic at least 2 a year for an oil change and a quick checkup. OP - make sure that you see all maintenance records for the car and do check the Carfax.</p>
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<p>In Pasadena by any chance?</p>
<p>Keep in mind it’s 12 years old so it could be going ‘bad’ just due to age. I bought a 12 year old car when I was 16 with only about 70k miles and it had so many issues that it was awful.</p>
<p>Thanks all! Coureur, no, I am over a thousand miles from Pasadena!</p>
<p>We recently traded in our 2001 Toyota Avalon w/ 132,000 miles. It had 80,000 on it when we bought it in 2005. It still ran great, never had any problems out of it. </p>
<p>Bought S2 a 1996 Toyota 4WD truck w/almost 200,000 miles in 2006. He put another 70,000 on it over three years before we sold it for $3000 to CarMax when S2 left for college.<br>
DH drives a 2005 Tundra that has been great…no major probs. and my new cutie is a 2012 Prius. We are sold on Toyota quality.</p>
<p>We have my car that is a 2005 with <25K on it & S has a 2000 that also has <25K on it. Both cars have been meticulously maintained but both have done more city and urban driving than highway/freeway. </p>
<p>Both continue to run very well, though S says there is a gremlin in the electrical system that needs to be fixed in the 2000 car–makes the malfunction on tail lights flash on & off for control panel periodically. Since both are luxury cars, blue book value for them is $15K+. I’d have a mechanic thoroughly check out the car. </p>
<p>We recently turned down two luxury used cars that loved ones wanted to gift us. We drove them for a bit & the mechanic agreed that they had A LOT of mechanical issues that would be VERY expensive to fix and were dangerous to drive unless PROPERLY repaired.</p>
<p>JVT, think the reference was “Little old lady from Pasadena.”</p>
<p>(hijack) -</p>
<p>PackMom:
When you sold the car to Carmax was it a sale only or did you buy a car in return? I’m a little surprised they’d buy a car with 270K miles. How were they to deal with if it was a straight sale?</p>
<p>We sold CarMax the '96 4WD Toyota T100 then bought DH’s 2005 4WD Tundra from them. </p>
<p>Several years prior to that we sold a '98 Honda Accord to CarMax without making a purchase. We were satisfied with the price they gave us.</p>
<p>We bought a very low mileage but older car once upon a time. We did OK with it, but I agree that some of the parts just age even without miles. The exhaust system needed to be replaced due to rust and some of the hoses.</p>
<p>Check it out carefully – especially any maintenance records.</p>
<p>I once read that you should beware of a seller (or in this case, perhaps the adult child of the seller) tinkering with the odometer to dial back the number of miles driven.</p>
<p>That said, we just bought a 2000 Honda Accord with 45,000 miles for just under $10K, including all the taxes, transfer fees and so on. It fit right into a sweet spot for pricing: used car shoppers who want more modern design features might not consider something 12 years old. By being happy with 12-y.ol design styling, we weren’t paying $15K or such for other low mileage cars on the market from (let’s say) 2006 and newer. The used car dealer verified that the car was accident-free, with one owner, but “just got a new set of brakes.” Had we bought from an individual, we would have had our mechanic check the car over to increase our confidence before buying.</p>
<p>As soon as we bought this car, we got it undercoated with gloop to help improve its chances of fighting the rust that comes with rough northern winters and road salt. We did try to find a car from a Southern state, without luck this time. We crave Southern-driven cars and consider them “pampered”</p>
<p>Plastic and rubber parts deteriorate due to the exposure to the atmospheric oxygen, become brittle and need to be replaced after certain time even without any use.</p>
<p>Yes, we are finding that. Heat and cold and age are not kind and add up over the years. We are replacing things that are aging, even though we have very low mileage on the vehicles and they have been well-maintained. It still can be a good deal, especially if you have a mechanic do a thorough check BEFORE you commit. If you buy from a dealer, sometimes it’s worth getting an extended warranty. I know folks who have gotten them when purchasing from Hertz & other rental agencies. I know others who STRONGLY recommend that folks never purchase from a rental agency since there is so much abuse by renters & poor servicing & maintenance.</p>
<p>Just inherited my FIL’s 2000 Avalon with 85K miles on it. Sat in his driveway the last three weeks, and of course, wouldn’t start when we tried to take it home. Wound up overheating and fluid leaking all over the driveway. He had had a lot of work, a couple of thousand worth, just in March, but since the car has not been driven since then, a lot of work needs to be done and redone.</p>