The keys to resale on a…
The keys to resale on a Subaru?
First, get some skills, or kiss loads of cash goodbye
Second, be responsible with the "crappy" paint...it's not crappy. Do not go crazy polishing. Do NOT waste massive cash on "paint correction" & pro applied ceramic coatings. Polishing & correcting wears away modern thin clearcoat. Instead, claybar 1-2x per year. If you develop swirls, get a D/A polisher and use aggressive polish/pads. If you dare, get a rotary polisher. And get affordable DIY ceramic sealant and just apply it each year. My all black (yes, black) Oitback XT, driven year-round in Wisconsin looked new after 17 years.
Third, keep the seating surfaces and carpet clean, use floor liners in winter. Use a sunshade to protect the plastics/dash. Don't pick at the steering wheel. Regularly check the headliner for spots. Don't scratch up your boot. Use PaintScratch touch up on chips, because it fills/blends paint.
Finally, use some skills and think outside the box! Brakes are not hard to replace or bleed. Pads are maintenance. But quality rotors and calipers are not expensive. Install new ones. Nuts? Hardly. They may need it anyway, and flushing the brake fluid should be done anyway. The look of bright, spotless brakes has massive curb appeal. Get underneath and use an aggressive abrasive pad to clean the worst layer of rust off the pipe from the axle back. Clean the muffler and polish the tip. Power wash the wheel wells and struts/springs. Use the pad again to get rust off. Idea isn't to hide the rust from a buyer, but make it more "patina" than "corrosion."
And under the hood, clean it thoroughly, or at minimum spray cleaner/degreaser on visible areas of the engine and plastic and rinse it off. Super Clean is the best. In the last stages of preparing for sale, use something like Stoner Trim Shine on all plastic under the hood. Not thick. Spray it, let it sit for an hour, then wipe down areas. The idea isn't gloss, but satin black. And when you wash the car - wash out all the door jambs! Then spray Trim Shine on exterior plastic. Even tires. But again, wipe all of it to leave a flat or satin finish.
And get rid of crap like sunshades, excessive aero shite like vortex generators, even window tint. Get all the stupid "overlays: off lights and emblems. If you de-badged the car, order and install OEM badges. I always get OEM floor mats (or keep them aside if buying new) and put them in when listing the car. If "carpet" trunk liner on the sides is in bad shape, replace it. If you haven't been using one, put a trunk mat in.
The idea is making it look like a grown-up owned it. Even younger buyers are more attracted to this because it lights up their brain with mods THEY want to do.
I have sold my cars FAST and for insane prices. I bought a used 2011 STI in 2014 for $32k...sold it in 2022 for $29k. I was in a rush to sell. Easily could have sold for $32k or more. I bought a black 2006 Outback XT in Nov 2005 for $32k, road tripped it and it went hrough 17 winters. Sold it in 3 days to a 20-something who paid my list ($11k) within 15 minutes.
Also, bought.a 2001 Audi S4 in January 2001 for $40,500. Then sold it after a phone bidding war to a Porsche mechanic who flew one way from Connecticut, paid $32k and drove it home.
All three buyers = "It looks better than the photos" - and I'm a good photographer.
What I described here - it's a long read - but not a lot of work and money saved in many areas more than covers things like my new brakes suggestion. Consider the math. I got 32.5 years of ownership out of three cars, and my net cost (purchase-resale) was $104k - $31,500 = $2,231...or $186 per month. And they're all top of the line models.