Ok, so I need help from folks up in PA, as I am in FL and apparently things are different up there. My son just relocated to Philadelphia and is looking to get a newer vehicle. The dealers have offered him squat but so have the salvage yards apparently and I am trying to find out if they are being cheap or if his car truly has such little value. It is a 2002 Honda Accord with about 128K miles. Mechanically, it is in nearly perfect condition. All the power windows and doors work great. The only issue is the passenger door has been hit and dented enough to need repair although not smashed to bits. Window and such are still intact, etc..



The thing is, the dealer offered him $250 on an $18,000 purchase (might stretch it to $500 if he is willing to sign today kind of thing), and the salvage yard he called only offered hid $150. Neither of is are expecting thousands for the car because of the cosmetic damage but still, the engine alone should be worth well more than these offers. My son is not in a position to part the car out himself, so that is out. He needs to move the car as a whole unit. He has clean title and has owned the car for 3 or 4 years so we know the history.

So the question is, would you take the dealer's offer or do you think he can do considerably better (at least a grand) selling it privately? I do not know the car market and know even less about life in Philly (except that the hills and alley sized roads are nuts...) so any insight would be welcomed.