How do I price '88 Sedan DeVille with 28k Miles, runs?

[Jason Baker]

How do I price '88 Sedan DeVille with 28k Miles, runs? Has a leathery top, no moon roof, CB radio, better sound system, oversized "gold" grill and fake tire on back (all from dealer). Original chrome wheels are blistered but in the trunk. Single-owner. Father just died. It sat outside for a few years, and I'm not sure why, yet. Started with a jump. I let it idle for a good while, with old battery and it didn't charge, so replaced battery and it started fine. On the road it seems to drag hard when off accelerator, like a lot of friction. I took it to a shop that will be slow to fix it, but possibly economical. I can't keep it, but I'd be willing to sell it for peanuts if it was fixed up nice and I got to drive it for a couple of weeks per year!

[Cadillac Jim]

The brakes are probably dragging. You may be able to clean them up without doing a full brake job.

The oldest KBB goes is 1994 models, six years newer than your car. The same model goes for $2K as a 1994 model. I did use the extremely low mileage in the online wizard on kbb.com. The extras are worth something to the right buyer. The blistered chrome wheels are a problem. You can probably get an idea of what replacing them would cost by browsing Cardio-Doc on Wheels; see the Caddyinfo Vendor section.

Your last sentence seems a bit contradictory. You will sell it for peanuts but you want to be able to drive it occasionally? That *has* to be to a close relative. If I bought an older, low-mileage car as a project, or for an inexpensive daily driver for a college kid, I wouldn't want others driving it, even the previous owner.

If you want to drive it a couple of weeks a year, check out the tires, then change the oil, coolant, and spark plugs, service the transmission, drive a tank of gas through it, check out the brakes and power steering, and just keep it in the garage. Use synthetic oil if you aren't going to put enough miles on it to change it for a year or more between changes.