When you’re selling a car, it can be tempting to keep driving it until it sells, whether out of necessary use or simply saying goodbye, I get it. Closure matters, and when your time with a car is coming to an end, it can be tempting to send it out in a memorable way. However, it’s probably best to temper your use of a collector car you’re selling and leave it mostly parked if you can.
Now obviously, parking it if you can serves a few good purposes. Mileage on the odometer will stick pretty close to what’s written in the listing, low use may mean lower probability of a mechanical issue cropping up, and if you had a car detailed, keeping it in the garage should keep it fairly tidy and presentable. However, there’s another reason why you might want to park it — each time you drive a car, there’s a slight possibility of it being damaged.
Usually, this results in some really minor stuff. A stone chip here, maybe a door ding there, little cosmetic things that you might expect on a used car, and that probably won’t drastically affect resale value, assuming you’re selling something in pretty average condition. However, there’s also the possibility that worse damage can occur, as one Bring A Trailer seller recently found out.
It all starts with a 1993 Corolla DX wagon, a shining example of economical ’90s transportation. It’s a Corolla so it’ll never break, it’s a wagon so you can camp in it and put paintings in it and all that. What’s more, it had been owned by the same person in California since new, and with 159,000 miles on the clock, was only getting started.
Sure, it might’ve had an automatic transmission, but it looked properly clean. It’s easy to develop a soft spot for cars like this because they’re just so perfectly fit-for-purpose, sophisticated enough to be relentlessly reliable, yet basic enough to be easily fixable with common tools. All was going well until the calendar flipped around to 2025, when the thing no car owners wants to happen happened. As the seller wrote in a comment:
Yesterday evening, while stopped at a red light, the elderly driver of the car behind accidentally rolled forward and dented the rear passenger side of the bumper. Fortunately, no one was hurt. There is no mechanical damage; the car runs smoothly, the brake lights work, and the trunk opens and closes as expected. I’ve uploaded plenty of pictures and a video to provide you with an honest, detailed look at the current condition of the car—please take your time to review them. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Alright, let’s take a closer look at the pictures to … oh. Oh, that’s more than just a love tap. Yes, the bumper’s caved in, but the more concerning thing here is the obvious crease in the quarter panel. That means important stuff back there is definitely bent, and it might cost more than the car to fix. While the high bid prior to this was $4,000, Bring A Trailer reset the bidding process and let bidders start from scratch.
The result? A sale price of $3,500. Not only did the damage reportedly done by another driver hurt the resale value of this Corolla, but it’s damage that’ll take some serious money to sort by the next owner. Considering comparable Corolla wagons have traded for $8,300 and $10,250 on Bring A Trailer last year, this crash damage could’ve left a lot of money on the table. It’s hard not to feel bad for the person selling this Corolla. Thirty-plus years of care taken to preserve it, only for one driver to reportedly undo it.
At the end of the day, let this serve as a reminder that if you’re selling a car, looking to get the most for it, and are able to use another car in the meantime, it’s probably a good idea to leave the car you’re selling parked for the most part. One last ride may feel great, and it probably won’t hurt anything, but you have to be prepared for the unexpected.
(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer)
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They made this generation Corolla a wagon?
*instinctually opens up facebook marketplace*
Many years ago, I had just detailed our 1980 626 coupe and hung a for sale sign in the window and had it parked on the street while moving other vehicles around. I new driver in a Fastback Clydesdale pulled into the neighbor’s driveway across the street to turn around. Backing out he ran into our car while I was walking into my house.
So just parking it can be dangerous.
In this case it actually turned out pretty good. This was back when an insurance adjuster would be sent out to asses the damage. Turns out the adjuster they sent had been a paint and body guy before becoming an adjuster. He wrote me a check for the dented qtr and broken tail light and handed me cash for the difference between that and the asking price. A couple of month later I ran into him driving the car. He had repaired the damage and did a complete paint job. It was red but he changed it to a metallic grey and did the jambs, underside of the hood and trunk and it looked great.
On the drive to the dealer to trade in my 1999 Grand Cherokee (with 200k) it blew the rear transmission seal leaving a trail of ATF+4 in its wake.
I had an employee who sold a Honda motorcycle, but couldn’t find the title. He decided to take it for one last ride and managed to clock a deer. Broke a bunch of bones, cracked his helmet (which probably saved his life). $15,000 life flight.
One last drive….not a good idea
The first few listing photos I went to take of my Tacoma last year show some splotches on the ground that turned out to be power steering fluid from the pump shitting the bed right then and there. It always figures, doesn’t it?
When I visited Peru ~10 years ago, Corolla wagons were the default taxi. Many in questionable condition. But I had never seen them on the roads here. Until years later I was in the car and telling someone about my trip to Peru. Mentioned the Corolla wagons and just as a I said “I don’t think they sold them here though” one drove right past us.
Not really related to the point of this story, but it was such a spectacular coincidence I felt that I needed to share it.
I’ve never NOT sold a car by driving it around with a phone number or custom Gmail address listed on a sign in the window (in addition to parking it on weekends in a nearby church or grocery parking lot). What better way to sell a car than to literally show it to thousands of people a day who can see that it’s in decent physical shape and actual capable of being used for car stuff?
Yes, I realize I’m representing the 99% here, so criticism noted.
Why not just let the insurance company pay you the $8k and take $3k on a salvage title?
Maybe because you’d be lucky to get $1,000 from the insurance co for a ’93 Corolla?
This just made it into an authentic toyota. “Camry” dent and all
People pay HOW MUCH for a 160,000 mile, 30 year old Corolla wagon?!?
Well, they do have a trailer full of money they bring to every deal. That’s the intent of the site, right?
Someone tell Toyota that could be their money Toyota Corolla Touring Sports | New Cars | Toyota UK
Well he’s getting $3.5k plus whatever insurance is paying him. Bumper, hatch, fender, that’s going to be a few thousands more.
And he has good comps from BaT if the insurance co tries to low-ball him. But for SURE, if you have a car like this, you need agreed-value insurance to protect you. Harder to find, but it’s out there.
Unless he’s got agreed-value classic car insurance, he’s not getting squat for a 30 year old Corolla with six digit mileage, regardless of it’s physical condition.
Other people hit him so what coverage he has doesn’t matter unless the other party has no insurance.
BTW I got 4k for my 40 year old Corolla when someone rear ended it just like that. They don’t worth much but they’re not worthless.