Resale Question: What is my Bronco really worth?

[Bronco_Nole]

Other than the (very accurate) old saying “it’s worth what someone else is willing to pay for it…” I am having a hard time coming up with a true value for my 2023 Black Base 2-Door 7MT. Especially with the market on Bronco’s dropping as of late.

Zero factory options, purchased end of March 2023, sitting at 4,350 miles (it sits in my garage mostly). I have added some cosmetic upgrades: running boards, roof rack, sill plates, bronco badging, 31” MT’s, bronco floor mats, Mabett seat covers, and shorty antenna. It’s also been rust proofed prior to this winter. Wanted to do just enough to give it a cool original bronco look, and I love it!

Less than a month after purchasing found out my wife was pregnant, and now that the baby is here and 5 months old, crawling through the back seat to get her in the car seat isn’t going to work for much longer!

What should I realistically be expecting as far as the market goes for my bronco? I am sure most feel this bias, but I genuinely feel like there’s some uniqueness here that is making it hard to value. Here’s just a few of my thoughts and would love some opinions from the forum!

1) this was a 1st half of 2023 bronco, so the msrp was something like $34,700. Within a month or two of me purchasing, Ford raised the pricing on the same spec about $3k if I remember correctly.

2) You can’t buy a base model currently of course, and unless I’m doing something wrong the absolute cheapest 2D 7MT you can build new on Ford.com comes in around $42k

3) I’m located in Minneapolis, MN and there is only 2 new/1 used 2D 7MT in the entire area (within 50 miles): the cheapest and only used one is a 2022 Badlands non-SAS 7MT with 15k miles asking $42.5k. Within 250 miles there is one 2022 Big Bend with nearly 30k miles listed at $3

4) KBB, which I don’t trust is accurate at all especially in this scenario, is spitting out $39k trade and $41k+ private party.

Where should I value this thing as far as trade/private party? Whats it REALLY worth?

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[Montana Bronco]

Your Bronco is identical to mine except for color. Those of us who bought these under $30K Broncos hit the jackpot. I bet you sell it for roughly what you paid. The people who paid twice as much as we did are the ones really getting hurt.

Your Base is the perfect starting point for a hardcore wheeler. Why pay for Sasquatch only to remove most of the upgrades. Just buy a Base and upgrade to the Dana 44 and Dana 60s. For under $40K someone could have the baddest Bronco in Moab.

Love your Bronco BTW. Steelies With MTs FTW.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Have you tried the online options yet? Carvana and the like will give you a cash offer, from there you can go visit your dealer and see what they'll give for a trade in value. Outside of that you can post it here in the classifieds and see if you get a bite at the KBB price.

 

[PWillette]

You have the 2-door factor going for ya but otherwise not super unique IMO. In this case I'd say the KBB values are reasonable but interest rates still suck.

 

[Bronco_Nole]

Have you tried the online options yet? Carvana and the like will give you a cash offer, from there you can go visit your dealer and see what they'll give for a trade in value. Outside of that you can post it here in the classifieds and see if you get a bite at the KBB price.

I messed around with Carvana a few weeks back and they were at $36,600 but have since dropped that to $34,600 which I still feel is a fair number at this time. Just haven’t been really ready to pull the trigger on letting her go.

I should have mentioned this but dealers have been all over the place. Sight unseen one said they’d be around $25k trade, admitting they would “need to see it” for a more accurate price. Another was around $30k, Carmax $31k, Carvana currently $34,600, and the only dealer I have spoken to who seemed to appreciate the fact that it’s a base and would look good on their lot at or under $40k was around $34-35k trade (if I ordered a new truck at msrp).

 

[JT58Bronc]

Two door works with a baby! I had 2 door vehicles when my kids were young and we got by, no problem. Mustang GT and Chevy S10 Blazer. It was not until we had 2 kids that we felt we needed a 4 door. In fact my son and his wife are planning a family within the next year or two. As I approach retirement I will most likely part with my 2 door Bronco. (I can't afford it mainly). My son loves my Bronco, so I informed him of my plan and asked him if he would still be interested in my Bronco figuring he would want a 4 door. He said a hard YES and that he would want it and preferred it over a 4 door Bronco. I am glad as it would be great to keep it in the family. I'll probably downgrade the Bronco to an eBike, will be much more affordable or retirement income.

 

[Bronco_Nole]

You have the 2-door factor going for ya but otherwise not super unique IMO. In this case I'd say the KBB values are reasonable but interest rates still suck.

Absolutely agree with you. To be honest I don’t think there’s anything unique about my bronco specifically at all, I’m more referring to the fact that there’s 4 million people in my immediate area, and there isn’t a single low mileage 2D bronco with a manual transmission under $42k.

I personally feel as though wanting $35k for a trade isn’t unrealistic. I’m trying to sell these dealers on the fact that you give me $35k as trade, and you list this thing under $40k at $39,999 and you’ve now got the cheapest bronco on the lot with low miles that someone who can’t afford or qualify for the $50k new one can jump into this one for a fair amount less. But so far I can’t get anyone to see my vision, go figure!

 

[Bronco_Nole]

Your Bronco is identical to mine except for color. Those of us who bought these under $30K Broncos hit the jackpot. I bet you sell it for roughly what you paid. The people who paid twice as much as we did are the ones really getting hurt.

Your Base is the perfect starting point for a hardcore wheeler. Why pay for Sasquatch only to remove most of the upgrades. Just buy a Base and upgrade to the Dana 44 and Dana 60s. For under $40K someone could have the baddest Bronco in Moab.

Love your Bronco BTW. Steelies With MTs FTW.

Agreed! Thank you for the kind words!

 

[Bronco_Nole]

Two door works with a baby! I had 2 door vehicles when my kids were young and we got by, no problem. Mustang GT and Chevy S10 Blazer. It was not until we had 2 kids that we felt we needed a 4 door. In fact my son and his wife are planning a family within the next year or two. As I approach retirement I will most likely part with my 2 door Bronco. (I can't afford it mainly). My son loves my Bronco, so I informed him of my plan and asked him if he would still be interested in my Bronco figuring he would want a 4 door. He said a hard YES and that he would want it and preferred it over a 4 door Bronco. I am glad as it would be great to keep it in the family. I'll probably downgrade the Bronco to an eBike, will be much more affordable or retirement income.

I am certainly making it work right now! Part of this decision is the need for a truck for work anyways and the baby seat issue helps justify. I’d 100% keep it if I could but I also have a mustang and that one’s here to stay!

 

[JT58Bronc]

I am certainly making it work right now! Part of this decision is the need for a truck for work anyways and the baby seat issue helps justify. I’d 100% keep it if I could but I also have a mustang and that one’s here to stay!

Ah, that makes sense. Hope the Mustang is a GT. I completely understand the need for a truck. I have three vehicles now while I am working full time and need to get down to one (in addition to an eBike). It will need to be a truck- to support kayaking, hauling bikes, paddle boards. Bronco roof racks and carriers are too damn expensive, not easily removeable and with me getting older, a lot easier to load kayaks and paddle boards in the bed of a truck. And they pretty much come 4 door so that will be good for the grand kids.

 

[Beach_Bum]

Seems like you are focused on selling/trading to a dealer in lieu of a private party sale. Knowing that you have to leave 'meat on the bone' for the dealer, you should be focused on seeing what parts you can sell individually. Remove the steps and sell them on the Marketplace. Buy a set of OBX takeoffs and swap wheels/tires. The 18" gloss black with a machined face is a perceived upgrade to dealers compared to the steelies. If you can get some money for the rack, then sell it separate. With the Carvana offer of $34,500 and the separate sale of parts on the marketplace, you should garner the extra cash value that you are seeking.

 

[Bronco_Nole]

Ah, that makes sense. Hope the Mustang is a GT. I completely understand the need for a truck. I have three vehicles now while I am working full time and need to get down to one (in addition to an eBike). It will need to be a truck- to support kayaking, hauling bikes, paddle boards. Bronco roof racks and carriers are too damn expensive, not easily removeable and with me getting older, a lot easier to load kayaks and paddle boards in the bed of a truck. And they pretty much come 4 door so that will be good for the grand kids.

I am actually very fortunate I have a 2011 Shelby GT500 with 14k miles, bone stock! Bought it many years ago from the original owner and have enjoyed it since, albeit half the year due to MN winters. And I hear you there! I cannot simply have 3 vehicles my wife might kill me!

 

[Bronco_Nole]

Seems like you are focused on selling/trading to a dealer in lieu of a private party sale. Knowing that you have to leave 'meat on the bone' for the dealer, you should be focused on seeing what parts you can sell individually. Remove the steps and sell them on the Marketplace. Buy a set of OBX takeoffs and swap wheels/tires. The 18" gloss black with a machined face is a perceived upgrade to dealers compared to the steelies. If you can get some money for the rack, then sell it separate. With the Carvana offer of $34,500 and the separate sale of parts on the marketplace, you should garner the extra cash value that you are seeking.

You’re absolutely right! I will certainly entertain the private sale, I just haven’t gotten TOO serious about it yet and I’d prefer to get the few grand tax credit via trade if it made sense, say trade at $33k and the $2k in credit gets me to that $35k number.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Absolutely agree with you. To be honest I don’t think there’s anything unique about my bronco specifically at all, I’m more referring to the fact that there’s 4 million people in my immediate area, and there isn’t a single low mileage 2D bronco with a manual transmission under $42k.

I personally feel as though wanting $35k for a trade isn’t unrealistic. I’m trying to sell these dealers on the fact that you give me $35k as trade, and you list this thing under $40k at $39,999 and you’ve now got the cheapest bronco on the lot with low miles that someone who can’t afford or qualify for the $50k new one can jump into this one for a fair amount less. But so far I can’t get anyone to see my vision, go figure!

Why restrict yourself to Ford dealers? Plenty of Toyota and other dealers would love to have a Bronco on the lot as it implies somebody traded for something better.

25 years from now (barring a plethora of more vabies) you will wish you kept the Bronco. Especially if inflation follows history. Every day I think about our 1974 Firebird we bought new in 1975 off the lot and traded in 79 for a full size 2 door for trade value of more than we paid. Pay 4k get 4.5k on an 8k and it is hard to pass up. Kicker is that due to inflation the average price of a family car has gone from $3500 in 1970 to $7500 in 1980, $15,000 in 1990 and $40-$50k today.

Will cars cost an average of $250k in 30 years? Probably not but certainly more than what they are today. I remember predictions of $100 loaves of bread by the turn of the century. But I also have seen 12 Oz bags of Doritos now carrying an msrp of nearly $7

 

[BleednBlue]

KBB saying 39K seems reasonable to me. Per Car Edge (create an account to see market supply) says there is a 100+ day supply of new base 2023 throughout the nation. This will most likely be the biggest reason for a dealer low ball trade-in value.

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