Customer's son called the shop asking for me...

[DieselDan]

Hey guys,
This was just an interesting story, so i'll share. There is a guy that has been coming to the Ford dealer that i work at since I've started there. One of the service advisors told me today though that he has been coming there for almost 7 years. His last name escapes me at he moment, but his name was Gary. He has a White 94 that his wife drives, and his car is a 97 Black LSC. Well, anyway I am a diesel tech so I am usually in the back of the shop, I dont usually get to work on the cars, but I usually keep an eye out for the occasional M8 or SHO, so over the past 2 years I've done all the work to his cars. I usually gave him freebies and would just talk Mark 8s with him. Well anyway, his son called his father's usual service advisor and told her she wanted to speak with "the nice tech that he says always works on his car". He also wanted to tell her that his father passed away last week in his sleep. So, she gave me the number...

Anyway, this guy's son called to see if I would be interested in buying his fathers car. I'm not really in a position to purchase another Mark, but I think I will call him back just to ask what he is looking to get for it. A few things that I know about the car is that he was in a few weeks ago when I wasnt there saying his HID lows werent working, he didnt repair anything that day. The car has 181k on it and is black on I think gray. Everything works from what I can recall but the telescoping column is screwed up and the seat track on the drivers seat is tore up too.

I have no idea what the car is worth, maybe I could work out doing auto repair for them or something. Any ideas on what I should offer, just based on the stuff that is wrong with it and the mileage?

The paint is good, and ALL of his work was done at the dealership. He took really great care of the car, and oh yea, it smells really bad of cigarette smoke.

Thanks Guys

 

[k9t8m]

honestly, I wouldnt give a dime over $1500 for it. The high mileage and smoke smell kills it for me. Its good that you know the history, but face it, its a 12 year old car.

 

[twinbopilot]

An ozone generator left running in the car for eight hours will remove the smoke odor. Most professional detailers own a portable ozone generator for this purpose, but there was one here on CL for $25 recently. Your used car department may have one if you check.

Regarding value, I'd say maybe $2000 only because you know the car's history.

But heck, I just got through paying significantly more than $2000 for a '98 LSC, but it had fewer miles.

Look at the Edmunds valuation, and offer her the private party value. That should be fair for both of you:

1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC 2dr Coupe
Trade-In Private Party Dealer Retail
National Base Price $1,340 $2,116 $3,409
Optional Equipment $26 $37 $62
Heated Front Seats $8 $11 $19
Compact Disc Changer $18 $26 $43
AM/FM/Cassette $0 $0 $0
Color Adjustment Black $-1 $-1 $-2
Regional Adjustment
for Zip Code 75023 $-23 $-36 $-58
Mileage Adjustment
181,000 miles $-670 $-670 $-670
Condition Adjustment
Average $-277 $-429 $-675
Total $395 $1,017 $2,066


WOW, I had no idea it would be this low! I just ran this. I find Edmunds usually is artificially low on Marks, and this would tend to prove it. That car would bring far more than $1017, no doubt.

But its a nice place to begin your negotiations....

 

[kustomizingkid]

I am not a fan of ozone generators at all... not even the least bit...

 

[topher5150]

febreeze

 

[twinbopilot]

I've only used one once but I was very surprised how well it cleared the smoke odor out of a Cadillac I bought. I had never heard of ozone (at least for this purpose) before I went to a bunch of car detailing websites and read up on smoke odor removal and several pro's swore its the only way to really get the smoke odor out - everything else is just masking the odor. I've also heard that you need to scrub with soap and water the carpets and headliner, then clean all the inside surfaces thoroughly - meaning seats, windows, dash, door panels, etc. Febreeze is OK but don't use anything like Lysol - you'll regret it.