Claudia's Story
Claudia joined our Carma Services Insider program in January of 2024, not long after we announced our complimentary senior residence snow removal offer. Along with a handful of her neighbors at the Warrenville Horizon, Claudia was able to respond to my email notifications prior to expected snowfall and I would come clear vehicles as a promotional offer to help out local seniors while introducing them to Carma Services.
In early 2025, we launched our Cost Per Mile program (CPM), which helped local vehicle owners see approximately how much it was costing them to drive their vehicle one mile. Claudia was one of the first to sit down with me for 5 minutes as part of this initiative and she learned that driving her 2014 Chevy Spark only 2000 miles per year was costing her about $1 per mile, most of which was a result of her $1440 annual insurance premium. I let her know that this was about double what our average CPM was up to that point and asked her to please let me know when she was ready to sell her Spark, as I would be happy to consult her on how to get more money for it.
As we closed out 2025 with an early cold snap, Claudia reached out in response to our offer to help local Insiders with our new jump box when their car battery proved unable to handle the coming winter chill. After making my way back out to her residence I was able to help her get back on the road the same day. She contacted me not long after my visit to thank me once again and let me know that she needed to replace her battery along with a reservoir tank that had cracked causing the power steering to fail.
Fast forward a few months later, and Claudia responded to our Insider email announcing our upcoming Detailing for Donations promotion informing me she was ready to sell her car. She told me she had recently had surgery and was driving even less. On top of that she was told the brakes needed work, and she was not looking to put anymore money into it if she didn’t have to. I let her know that I would be happy to help and reminded her that CarMax is a great place to start when selling a car. They would give us an inspection on her car, as well as a 7-day offer that we could use as a guide for selling it privately.
Later that week, I met Claudia and her daughter at CarMax and they gave us an offer of $2000 for a vehicle with only 24,000 miles on the odometer. At first, Claudia was seriously considering this offer. Before she could do anything rash, I told her I could give her a little more if she needed to sell it right away, but if she could hold on to it for a few weeks, I could likely help her get $1000 more without too much effort. She thought it over and wisely decided to hold out for a better offer.
The next day I put up her ad on Craigslist and sent her a link to see what she thought. She responded that it looked good, but was concerned that our asking price of $5800 was too high. I told her that this was a starting point that would give us some room to negotiate and if nobody expressed interest at that price I could drop it in the coming days until we found a buyer.
Within a few hours, I received a message from a potential buyer that was interested in coming out from the city to take a look at Claudia’s Chevy. The fact that they were willing to drive nearly an hour was a good sign, and I let Claudia know we might have a buyer. She told me that she was available the following day and I set an appointment with the prospect.
I arrived about a half hour before the meeting time to prepare Claudia on what to expect and do a quick detail on the interior of her car. With my Dyson in hand, I removed some debris and wiped down the dash and cup holder, which needed a little attention. The prospective buyers arrived on time and spent about 10 minutes looking over the vehicle, starting inside the vehicle, then moving under the hood and finally inspecting the areas of paint on the body that had started to peel away.
There was a bit of a language gap as English was not their first language and Google Translate came in very handy during this process. I came to learn that Diana had come with her father to help find a car for her daughter, who did not make the trip out. During their inspection, they used the VIN to pull a vehicle history report of their own and inquired about the 3 accidents reported. Fortunately, none of them were of a serious nature, and they quickly moved on to talking price, which is always a good sign!
They wanted to know if Claudia would take $5000 and I reminded them that we had just listed the car the day before and were confident we could get closer to our asking price of $5800. After an awkward pause, I suggested that perhaps Claudia would consider taking $500 off and settling for $5300. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement. I told them I would need to go check with Claudia, who was comfortably tucked away in her apartment preparing her dinner while we were out being battered by the winds and cold.
They agreed to wait in their car while I made my way into the building to share the good news with Claudia. She was overjoyed to learn that they wanted her car and that she would be getting far more than the dealer offered her hours before. I told her not to get too excited, as the deal was not yet sealed, but I would contact my wife to print off a bill of sale and make her way to finalize this transaction. Also, I told her that it was odd that they were making an offer without having even taken the car for a test drive.
I went back outside to let Diana know that Claudia had accepted the offer and that now we just had to wait for a bill of sale that would be delivered shortly. She too was happy to learn that we reached a deal and we took this opportunity to go for a test drive after I insisted we do so. Diana’s father hopped in the driver’s seat and took me for a ride in the parking lot, barely getting the speedometer to 20 mph. He seemed satisfied and refused my offer to take the car onto Butterfield road to get it up to speed. While this again seemed strange, I figured I could not force the issue and had done my best to help make sure they were going to be satisfied with their purchase.
After the abbreviated test drive, we waited in our respective vehicles until my wife arrived about a half hour later. Upon my wife’s arrival, we went into the Warrenville Horizon game room to start signing some documents and counting some cash, which is always the best part. At the end of dotting our I’s and crossing out T’s, we all made our way outside for a quick photo op, basking in the after glow of another Carma Services sale. Not only did Claudia take home double what the dealer had offered, but there was enough money to make another donation to the West Chicago VFW for hundreds more.
On top of that, our buyer saved several thousand dollars over the dealer markup that would have assuredly been tacked on had they acquired this ultra low mileage vehicle. You can see here that the same year vehicle with over twice the miles would have cost over $14,000 after adding taxes and dealer fees. Boo!
When all was said and done, this transaction was a breeze, with the exception of one rusted on license plate bolt that caused me great frustration freeing Clauidia’s rear plate. Despite that drama, this was a great deal that shows how quick and profitably Carma Services can turn a low dealer offer into something to be celebrated!
Congratulations to Claudia for giving Carma Services a chance to help you not only double the amount of money you were able to get for your vehicle but the many thousands more you will save in the years ahead, just in insurance costs alone. It was an emotional time for her as she shed a few tears saying goodbye to her car, but after following up with her after the sale, she said she had no regrets working with Carma Services. In fact, after completing our post sale survey, she reported that not only was she very satisfied on all accounts and would recommend us to other used car sellers, but she commented:
“I really think you and your wife do a wonderful job helping us seniors.”
This made me smile and I can’t wait for more opportunities to unlock even more value in the months ahead and to be able to share more success stories that are sure to follow.
