Selling SUV becomes bumpy ride

This is a cautionary tale about selling an SUV at a time of soaring gas prices, and letting a principled stand on car ownership be undone by great acceleration.

My wife Corey and I are accidental SUV owners. Until last year, when we inherited a sport utility vehicle, we smugly chuckled at the overt testosterone of the Explorer, Yukon and Trailblazer and their 5,000-pound (2,250 kg) promise of smashing towering snowdrifts or roaring across icy rivers on the way to the local cub scout meeting.

Our boxy Scion xB, bearing one of Corey's provocative political bumper stickers, endowed us with a bit of suburban panache as we zipped about New Jersey, guiding our Mini Cooper-sized minnow past lumbering Expeditions.

Then early last year, my wife inherited her father's 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe with a mere 317 miles. Our first instinct was to return it and try to recoup the $23,000 (Dh84,410) price tag.

The maiden SUV voyage changed that. Its zip meant we could safely merge into the galloping herds on congested interstates. By comparison our Scion combined the thrust of a lawn mower with the aerodynamics of a refrigerator. Now we could blissfully glide over potholes without clattering teeth or sloshing coffee.

With petrol prices around $2.90 a gallon, it seemed an affordable luxury.

Corey affixed an unusually tame bumper sticker that reflected her more mature status and we quietly settled down as SUV-owners.

"We'll only use it for camping and long trips," she said.

"Besides, we can always sell it."

TOO SMALL?

Keith Bradsher observes in his book High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV that adverts for sport utility vehicles never show children because their makers seek to promote the idea of emancipation from mortgage payments and parent-teacher conferences.

Or it could be that the typical mid-sized SUV, like our Santa Fe, doesn't actually accommodate three children easily. The arrival of a newborn forced us to a car dealer in April for a quick sale.

A wheezing, barrel-chested appraiser greeted my offer to sell with: "Why do you want to lose $10,000?"

A bit shaken, I rejected his price of $15,000.

Relying on internet car pricing sites such as Kelley Blue Book and dealer

listings, and ignoring news about $3.50-a-gallon petrol and fears of a recession, I lulled myself into thinking I would sell the Santa Fe for $18,500.

I listed it with eBay Motors. An online auction offered the promise of a decent price without distasteful haggling or test drives. A week of tepid bidders produced an offer of $10,000.

Even an apparent con artist only offered $14,000. Petrol prices had risen to about $3.85 a gallon.

My neighbour suggested the free online classified ad service, Craigslist, where he had sold his 15-year-old Volvo in one day.

I acknowledged that petrol prices were climbing and cut the price to $17,000, which generated two lukewarm inquiries – including the apparent scammer.

By June, I had placed a half-hearted ad in the local paper and a spruced-up listing on Craigslist, both cutting the price to $16,500.

Petrol prices crossed $4.00 per gallon, and the only inquiry I got was the now familiar pitch at $14,000.

Had internet pricing services let me down?

"Kelley Blue Book is not going to buy your car," said Bill Seng, a senior buyer at Burns Honda in Marlton, New Jersey. He described the current market for large used cars the worst he's seen in 35 years and cheered me with tales of distressed sellers unloading nearly new SUVs for a song. Recently, he said a Tahoe owner accepted $30,000 for a car on which he owed $48,000.

Prices were falling so fast the dealership still lost money on the SUV, which is among the biggest on the road. "You can make more money selling bicycles, toasters and toys than we make on cars," said Seng. While dealers still make a profit servicing the cars they sell, Seng said some won't take large vehicles to free their lots of money-losing cars.

Used SUVs and pick-ups have lost more than a quarter of their value over the past year, according to a monthly index of prices compiled by Manheim Consulting.

I called Kelley Blue Book.

"We're seeing values drop like rocks for SUVs," said Robyn Eckard, Director of Public Relations.

The flipside is that small car prices are rising. She also had advice for me.

"From a purely financial perspective, you could probably sell the Scion for more than you paid for it and you should hang on to your SUV and stick it out with petrol prices." But by now for me this is an emotional transaction. More than ever, I need the touch of flair bestowed by the Scion.

Because to accommodate the growing family, I had jumped at an eight-person, Honda Odyssey minivan for a knockdown price. The Scion will help offset the minivan's stain of uncool.

The final step to selling the SUV was realising that getting a great deal on a minivan meant giving a good deal on the Santa Fe. Seng said it was clear the appraiser was trying to steal the Santa Fe out from under me with his $15,000 offer.

Dispirited, I admitted I had finally sold it to an acquaintance for about what the appraiser offered.

"You got the money," he told me. "That same appraiser would probably offer $12,500 today."