I am wondering, I have a friend who has a Chevy Malibu for sale.

[dwade1881]

I am thinking of buying it. he is asking 4.4k for it. its a 2012 chevy malibu with 200k highway miles on it and he said he has kept the car in excellent condition and well maintained mechanically. I am wondering would this be worth the buy or not?

 

[G0ldengirl68]

Are you thinking about it for resale value or maybe camping? I would look at the bluebook value, and I'd look on a couple of other sites like Auto Trader (see what one might be going for), and I found one on Classics the other day, can't recall the name of it. I'd look at the gas mileage, especially where I live, gas is very high, over 4.30 a gallon last I saw. I'm not saying it's a classic, but I saw newer cars and trucks on those sites, pretty sure.

 

[dwade1881]

lookin to keep an use as a daily driver around town doing stuff like mystery shopping, door dash etc. it was very very well maintained and hardly no mechanical issues done to it. the bluebook value he would get 4.9 k for it. trade in. but willig to sell it to me for 4.4k because he knows i need a vehicle and hes trying to help me.

 

[user 423]

It's not possible for anyone on the forum to know if that's a good deal or not. You would need to have it checked out by a mechanic. Cars these days are much more reliable than they used to be but 200k is still a lot of miles.

The book value can vary a lot because there are different models with various trim options. Also 4-cyl. and V6 versions. Location makes a difference. A 'hot' used car market makes a difference,etc.

Here's a link to NADA Guides that show the trade-in value of one particular Malibu model and you can see it's much less than $4400:

https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2012/Chevrolet/Malibu-V6/Sedan-4D-LT/Values

Note that $1600 is deducted for the high mileage.

Driving in city traffic a lot doing Door Dash,etc. would be hard on any vehicle. You will have higher maintenance costs and increased chances of needing expensive major repairs.

 

[G0ldengirl68]

I agree with Slow2today, and I am not educated on anything more than "driving" a vehicle, pretty much. For my little pickup I've had to replace some things when it got up around 100 k miles on it. I'd have to look at the paperwork. I'd definitely go with Slow2days input on your question. I'm pretty sure I have seen some rigs that would be better on gas mileage for that amount of money, But I'll leave it to the more knowledgeable folks on it all

 

[user 423]

Here's a link to NADA Guides that show the trade-in value of one particular Malibu model and you can see it's much less than $4400:

https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2012/Chevrolet/Malibu-V6/Sedan-4D-LT/Values

Note that $1600 is deducted for the high mileage.

OK, the info that I pulled up on that link has been reset. You would need to plug the zip code, the mileage, the model and options to get an accurate figure.

 

[highdesertranger]

For me personally I would never pay 4k+ for a car. Mind you I said a car. For the right 4x4 or van maybe. Be patient find a deal they are out there. Highdesertranger

 

[jacqueg]

lookin to keep an use as a daily driver around town doing stuff like mystery shopping, door dash etc. it was very very well maintained and hardly no mechanical issues done to it. the bluebook value he would get 4.9 k for it. trade in. but willig to sell it to me for 4.4k because he knows i need a vehicle and hes trying to help me.

It may be a good deal, I dunno.

But the first question to ask is - would buying it get you closer to where you want to be?

In my area, $2500 will get you an older econo-box that is still reasonably reliable.