Tryign to sell '98 Plymouth Breeze.

Metallic silver. Paint and body completely mint, scratch free, speckles of metallic glisten in sun! - except (typical)passenger rocker panel completely rusted off!!! Otherwise mint interior and exterior. Car runs like a bat out of you know where! Very snappy acceleration with the 2.4 16 valve (4 per cylinder) engine.

What is this worth, as is, in Wisconsin? I see similar Dodge/Plymnouth cars of that size (not the Breeze, or sister cars Stratus or Cirrus specifically, otherwise I would not be posting this!), selling for just under $3000 at dealerships! My dad was thinking maybe $1100 as is. But the car looks soooo sporty and nice! It has 129,000 miles on it I think. (If I learn differently I will update this)

And would you advise selling as is?, or getting the rocker panel fixed? If so, what might that cost?

For now, I have been spraying it repeatedly with rust converter/primer spray(Extends), turning the orange to black. This also is a good base for paint, as I did that to my own car, and the paint really sticks, and goes on smoothly and uniform with good first coat coverage.

 

Could probably get $1000 down here, but maybe more where the rust-outs are more common.

 

Hmmm. Something just doesn't seem right. Back in '71 I bought a used car fro $650. I thought it was a real deal. Only 5 years old and had 39,000 miles. But it was already rusty in several areas!!! Also cars back then were real basic.

This car has way more stuff, and is 38 years into the future. That means that if costs have gone up say 4 times since then, that car(the '98), if bought in 71, would sell for $250! (For comparison, minimum wage was $1.60 an hour then - so based on that, 4 times more is a fair assessment considering what minumum wage is now, and other prices for stuff.) That would have been like a give-a-way, even for back then -especially for a car that looks more futuristic than the ones from back then.

Aw, come on! $1000! Even if it has all those miles, and is older, cars last way longer now. Like 250 -300,000 miles. That car could actually last again as long as a new car would back then! If I were to leave the quarter panel rusted out and simply spray the area metallic silver, you would not hardly notice. Your eye is not really drawn down that low. That car looks super shiny, clean and sporty.

 

I was talking about the market here. I wouldn't have to look far to find one without a spot of rust on it.

You're Dad's a smart guy; you didn't know that???

But, I was probably a little pessimistic. I did a search on AutoTrader and the results based on 44 hits were:

Highest Price: $4,999
Lowest Price: $250
Average Price: $3,136

Here's one for a grand in rust country Michigan:

1998 Plymouth Breeze in Dearborn, MI 48126: Sedan Details - 262718351 - AutoTrader.com

I don't know how much to knock off for rust damage.

 

Thanks TG for taking the time. You should get a raise, or a promotion.

And the seller says nothing about rust. Hmmmm. Car looked pretty nice from what I can tell. 5 speed compared to my dad's floor shift automatic?; any price difference there?

Maybe the seller is desperate for money? A grand is not worth all that much today, as I mentioned.

If you think Wisconsin or Michigan are known for rusty vehicles, try looking at one that tools salt water beaches sometime.

 

Usually the automatic would bring more $. I rather suspect the $1000 one in Mich wouldn't look as good on close inspection as it does in that pic.

 

When I sit in my dad's car, after having sat in mine, I could say, "Now that's a car", like Crocodile Dundee said about his oversized Bowie-like knife, when that dude pulled a jacknife on him. I loved that scene!

My dad's car hardly seems like it has 10,000 miles on it, to look at it, inside or out! It is just that rotted out rocker panel on the one side.

Today, when walking to the parts store to buy a 7mm allen wrench for the calliper bolt, I noted two different make cars parked on the road that had that same problem going on. One was a sporty Pontiac, and the other a Chev.

I pump oils and rust neutralizer into mine, and the doors, (hoping some weird spark from a bad speakers connection does not set it off ). I hate rust.

 

I know it's late in the conversation, but: PartsTrain.com - Hard to Find Auto Parts and Truck Parts - Rocker Panel - For 1998 Plymouth Breeze Expresso might be a place to start. Pay $400 to replace the rocker panel and sell the car for $2000 more.

Just a thought.

 

I will check out your site when I get the chance. Have to go off and do some work.

Oddly, you suggest $2000/$400 for part. And we were thinking listing for maybe $1600, and then knock some off so the buying party feels good. I am noticing that dealers around here are getting in the ballpark of $2700. But they are dealers that give like a 100-point checklist or whatever, and a warranty. Private parties are 'as is'.