I just sold my car, a Mitsubishi Mirage vintage 2000 with 90K miles on it. It was a good deal for me and the buyer. I got it for a good price so I let it off at a good price too. I know my car is reliable but I was thinking of how I could make sure that my car is in peak condition when buyers came to test drive. This is the list I came up that I think might help you get a higher price for your car.
1. Polish, wash and clean your car’s exterior and interior
First impression counts! This is important!
2. Inflate all tires equally
This reduces any chance of alignment issues. Sometimes you feel that your car is drifting. This is usually not an alignment issue but one where tires are either infliated to a different amount. In case you do any an alignment issue, you can try to hotfix the alignment issues by custom inflating your tires to “balance” it all out
If you under inflate your tires by a bit, it also helps for a less bumpy drive. However this comes at a cost of reduced mileage
3. Fill it up with premium gas
Premium gas helps a little bit for smooth acceleration. Use pump this one time!
4. Oil change and clean the engine
Bring it to a mechanic for an oil change. Oil changes will make for smoother transmission changes and acceleration. If it is due soon, bring the car in yourself. Alternatively if you are a scrimper, let the first interested buyer bring the car in for an inspection. Large auto repair chains usually bundle oil changes and 50+ point checks together for a cheap price.
Ask for the mechanic for help in cleaning the engine dirt off. The engine will look well maintained when the hood is opened
5. Change the tyre covers
30$ from Costco. This helps to improve first impression lot if you are like me and scratch the covers on the kerb when doing a parallel park,
6. Warm up the car before the buyer comes
So that the engine has the power for quick acceleration which buyers like to test
7. Get your documentation ready
a. New Smog Check
b. Service records
c. The title
d. Carfax report
e. Vin Number
8. Get a cheap mechanic check from a honest mechanic (I use a highly yelped mechanic)
You can share the cost with the first interested buyer. A recent check report will help push in decisive buyers to real buyers.
Be aware that mechanics usually tell you to change everything. So get the mechanic to highlight only the things that really need to be changed.
9. Take lots of flattering photos of your car(photoshop???)
No need to highlight the flaws. The buyers will see them when they come for the test drive. But the goal of an ad is to get response and not to close the deal. The test drive and you are the deal closer.
10. Test the market valuation
Other than checking KBB and other similar car prices, you can do a market price test.
Post a ad on Craigslist with some information. No pictures or vin number and see how many people email you to setup an appointment. Once you have 3-5 people emailing you in a week, you are probably are at a good spot.
Now post the real ad with photos and bell and whistle. Add a few hundred dollars to the price where you got response. Now people will be contacting you and you know how much your car can fetch
Bonus:Never let bird shit stay on your car for too long. After a while it starts to corrode the paint and past that point, there isn't much you can do :(
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10 Ways with Salad Dressing
It's not just about lettuce. Add a splash of this bottled flavor booster
to potatoes, eggs, burgers and more.
Did you know? Italian is the number one dressing choice for Americans
followed by Ranch and then Blue cheese.
1. Dressed Up Corn: Brush corn on the cob with a layer of your favorite
vinaigrette (try roasted red pepper or white wine varieties) before
grilling. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and Parmesan cheese while it's
still pipping hot for some Latino fair
=
2. Creamy Dreamy Spuds: Pour on a good glug of Blue cheese dressing into
a simple mashed potatoes for a cheese packed punch.Top with some chopped
chives or minced red onions.
=
3. Standout Slaw: Replace half mayo in your go to cole slaw recipe with
honey mustard dressing and mix thoroughly coat.Toss in chunks of avocado
for a super creamy combo.
=
4. Salad Burgers: Mix a few Tablespoons if thousand island dressing or
sun dried tomato dressing into ground meat before shaping into patties,
Grill, broil or saute as you like.Serve on crusty rolls topped with a
heaping pile of shredded lettuce
=
5. Magic Marinade: Coat chicken breasts or fish fillets in Italian or
Asian sesame dressing and let it marinate (refrigerated) for at least 30
mins before coking. Drizzle more dressing over the top right before
serving
=
6. Top Notch Toast: Pour a bit of Caesar dressing over sliced of french
bread ( or another crusty loaf) and broil until golden. Serve as an
alternative to garlic bread. Cut into croutons or crumble into homemade
seasoned bread crumbs
=
7. Cheese Lover's Pie: Top a store bought or homemade pizza crust with a
layer of three cheese dressing instead of your standard sauce. Sprinkle
with mushrooms and shredded mozzarella and bake as directed,
=
8. Mediterranean Medley: Cook rigatoni according to pkg directions.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Combine rigatoni with a splash of
greek dressing as the basis for a homemade pasta salad. Toss in some
chopped roasted red peppers, sliced olives and a handful of crumbled
feta cheese
=
9. Picnic Chicken: Dip drumsticks and bone in chicken thighs in a tangy
buttermilk ranch dressing. Then roll in seasoned bread crumbs to coat.
Bake at 350 until crust is golden and meat is cooked through about 50
mins.
=
10. Better Breakfast: Add a splash of french dressing to scrambled eggs.
Then spice them up with a bit of shredded pepper jack cheese. Garnish
with sliced green onions.
The beauty of life is not how happy you are but how happy others can be
because of you.
Should YOU Mobile? - Opportunities & Challenges in the Mobile Space
Hi,
I just wanted to post this great event that is happening. There will be speakers from Storm Ventures, Intel and Qik.com(of course the event will be qiked live too) and Nokia.
Date: Jun 27, 2008 (Friday)
Time: 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Wilson Sonsini
More information about the event can be found at http://www.nusea.org/rainmakers2008/index.php
http://rainmakers2008.eventbrite.com/.
Top 10 Location Based Startups to track
1. Whrrl http://www.whrrl.com/
Whrrl is a new mobile network that lets you aggregate information as you visit different places in life. It’s generally like a location review service that’s wrapped up in a map mashup and a social network.
2. Brightkite http://brightkite.com/
The service, a device agnostic, SMS-based application, lets you "check in" at various locations out in the real world and then see who else is there, has been there, and who is nearby. You can check in via text or via the web, but text is easiest if you're mobile.
3. Loopt https://loopt.com/ 
Loopt is a mobile social mapping application. Using cell phones and mobile devices, it displays the locations of a user’s friends along with their presence status (available, away, etc) visually on maps or on lists. Based on GPS and related data, users can request alerts when friends are within a certain distance, send messages to groups of friends in particular area, and be able to tag and blog physical locations in a way that’s accessible to friends through Loopt. Users can also take pictures from their cell phones and tag them; these pictures will be available to friends and others on the Loopt network.
4. Rummble http://www.rummble.com/
Rummble users build their social network on with a basic relationship (i.e. friend, relation or business) but then apply tags to that. Users can review almost anything (restaurants, stores, coffee shops, etc.). Rummble has an algorithm that works out which reviews by others in the user’s network to trust, based on user’s behavior and relationship to them. Rummble functions across Web and mobile and Facebook.
5. LOcle http://locle.com/
Not much is know about this startup. Here is what i have gathered
Locle is the hottest mobile geo-social networking app, showing your location and if friends are near, without a need for GPS or operator LBS.
Locle [2] is an application for Java Mobile, Symbian S60 and S80, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry phones that allows users to share their location using either GPS or cell-tower. The application integrates into Facebook and other social networking websites with open APIs (application programming interfaces). Locle is developed by Leprecian, Ltd., who also own GSM-Tracker [3], a cell-tower semantic tagging community website.
6. PublicEarth http://www.publicearth.com/
PublicEarth’s goal is to become the premier data source for this next generation of location specific data and content. They define next generation location specific data and contact, in its essence, in the same way that the Google Maps Mashups work: “content attached through geographical coordinates to relevant points of interest in the physical world, describing in organized detail the attributes of those points of interest, accessible through a simple intuitive web mapping interface.”
7. uLocate http://www.ulocate.com/index.php 
uLocate is calling WHERE a platform for mobile LBS widgets because you can personalize which services you choose to use on your cell phone and you can use the Where.com website to drag-and-drop new services to your phone.
WHERE is also the world’s first mobile location-based services (LBS) platform built with both consumers and developers in mind. The WHERE platform offers easy access to global positioning system data (GPS), a simple programming paradigm, and a unique go-to-market opportunity for mobile application developers.
8. Citysense http://www.citysense.com/home.php
Citysense, a location-based service that the company calls "social navigation." The first Citysense application is a mobile map that shows the busiest nightlife hot spots in San Francisco. Citysense is currently available only for the BlackBerry, but an iPhone version is promised.
"Citysense demonstrates the power of combining anonymous, aggregate location data for social navigation," said Sandy Pentland, chief privacy advocate and co-founder of Sense Networks.
9. RadiusIM http://www.radiusim.com/ 
RadiusIM relies on location-based features to differentiate it from other web-based instant-messaging services. It offers access to key IM services such as AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Google Talk, and it lets you search for other RadiusIM users based on their location.
10. My own?
I haven’t really named my startup yet. Suggestions on the name are welcomed.
My startup(in a few words) will be on the topic of
• Discovery of Mobile generated Content
• Creation of Content on Phone
• Community Conversation
Think of it as Digg on your phoneJ
if you want one of the limited invites when it launches, just leave a comment below. Thanks!
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