18 mpg. Some environmentalist.

Barack Obama's old car fails to sell

Listing agent hints $1 million asking price may have been too high

What's the value of a car used by Barack Obama? Apparently not $1 million.

An eBay auction for a gray 2005 Chrysler 300C leased by Obama before he became president closed late Wednesday with no bids meeting that minimum asking price, after which the listing agent hinted that $1 million might have been too much to expect.

Lisa Czibor, the eBay seller conducting the auction on the behalf of the car's owner, Tim O'Boyle, said O'Boyle wants to relist the vehicle closer to this fall's presidential election.

"We're trying to talk him into rerunning it now and making some changes to (the listing)," Czibor said. "Lowering the price, and contacting Obama to find out if there's a charity he'd like us to donate some of the profits to.

"In the end, it's (O'Boyle's) car. It's up to him."

The auction listing stated that Obama leased the vehicle late in his term as a state senator, in 2004, and during his time as a U.S. senator, from 2005 to 2007.

"We have the original Illinois title showing this vehicle was actually used by Barack. 19,000 miles driven when this vehicle was Obama's," according to the listing, which included a photo of the title for verification.

Obama later traded his 2005 Chrysler 300C for a 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid while the 2008 presidential candidates' vehicles of choice -- and their fuel economy -- were under examination.

A 2005 Chrysler 300C with a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine and automatic transmission, such as the one listed for auction, gets a combined 18 mpg (15 in the city, 22 on the highway), according to FuelEconomy.gov. By comparison, a four-cylinder 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid tops out at 30 mpg (29 city, 31 highway).

A vehicle history report on the car shows that it has been retitled twice since its last plate renewal as a leased vehicle, in 2006.

O'Boyle, who manages a restaurant in Hillside, also listed the vehicle for sale in 2009 after buying it the year before, but Czibor said that auction was pulled after "some joker bid $1 billion."

Though there were not any bids this time, Czibor said at least "a couple dozen" people had been preapproved to participate in the auction and interest seemed to pick up near the end.

The Kelley Blue Book value on a 2005 Chrysler 300C like the one for sale and in good-to-excellent condition is between roughly $14,500 and $17,000.