Selling a car
 

Market seems to be very soft/slow. I am trying to sell a car and am getting no interest. Price may be a factor, but I am seeing similar cars with similar prices on the market for what seems like years. Any thoughts on where to market a car today?

Re: Selling a car
 

Try on this site if it is an 'A', or Facebook. Price is always a factor.

Re: Selling a car
 

Somebody told me to sell on Craigslist and that was really good advice. I got close to asking price on two cars – one a driver and one a project. This was just a couple months ago. As always, the more information & photos you provide, the more serious buyers you'll get.

Re: Selling a car
 

Discretionary cash for buying toys is not plentiful these days. The costs of insurances, drugs, gasoline, fuel oil, Blue State taxes and so forth is dampening the market for Model A's and their parts.

Re: Selling a car
 

It does seem to be slow right now.Kind of normal when things are going on around the world.High quality stuff never seems to be much affected though.In 02 I sold an A to a guy,he has developed health problems and won't be driving it.I got over a dozen responses when I sold it to him,it was priced fairly at the time.I had it priced cheaper this time,and the only responses are offering 1/4 of the asking price.He told me to pull the ads,he is done with lowbawllers.I want to sell my 31 Coupe and my 28 Phaeton,but unless I'm interested in giving them away,I am going to sit on them for a few more years.I've sold stuff all my life,and while right now is far from the worst,it is the strangest.I 100% attribute that to FB.Lots of weird people come out of the woodwork there.I really don't like to sell something unless they have laid their hands on it.Be it a rusty pile of iron or something nice,I want you to know all you can about it because it is,what you see is what you get,and what you don't see you get anyway.If I know it,you will know it.

Re: Selling a car
 

It's not an A, 1933 Chevrolet coupe that has been in the family for over fifty years. I just put a new interior in it came out very nice. Has anyone had any experience with Bring A Trailer?

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Friend of mine sold a VW Beetle on BaT, said he was very satisfied.

Re: Selling a car
 

BaT is good. The only issue I had with them was they really didn't want to allow me to have a reserve on my car (1931 Victoria). They kept pointing to comps that were in poor condition and mine (honestly) wasn't (and it had a new Burtz engine). They didn't care...best reserve I could get was $9000. Obviously, they make their money on the front end and on the back end when the car sells, so having cars that sell is important.

Sometimes cars go for crazy money on BaT. Sometimes they don't. I didn't want to risk that. I ended up going on eBay and sold it to a fellow who saw it on there.

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I agree with Bob Bidonde on this one. The economic conditions are making everyone nervous. People are not committing to large purchases like cars and houses, especially hobby cars.

Aside from that, Model A's sell easier than same era Chevrolets. A 33 Chevy is a good car but parts are harder to come by. That scares some people away.

Re: Selling a car
 

You never know where one will sell. I sold a T recently on CL to a guy from the Netherlands right after I listed it. I had an A for sale for a year and finally sold it. It was listed here, on the club sites, CL, AACA, Hemmings and FB Marketplace. The widow wanted a higher price at the beginning, which didn't help. It was a good solid car and finally sold.

Re: Selling a car
 

I all but refuse to sell anything sight unseen.I did sell a 400-A around 2004 by mailed pictures and mostly phone calls,and he wrote me a few letters.(no emails)It was not advertised for sale,and an elderly collector friend of mine was a friend of his.Took about a month to 6 weeks,and toward the end he flew a man out to look at it.Less than 5 minutes after looking at it he called his man and just said,yes,you want this.

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Prices are very soft here too and for the same reasons listed above. We don't have access to some of the sale sites mentioned nor is the market as big. That works both ways but I can't see things changing for a few years yet. It is frustrating that we (over here) can't do anything about the cause of the situation.
I have a 1930 CCPU that I'd like to sell but I think it will be in my shed for a long time yet. It should be a desirable vehicle because they were not brought here in the day yet all of the mechanical parts are readily available - unlike other brands.
To quote our most famous bush ranger just before he was hanged, "Such is life"

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In uncertain times people sit on their money. Everybody trolls Craigslist and Facebook for bargains. I picked up a nice 28 Tudor for $9500. I've noticed that the flippers on Craigslist would buy the same car and add 10 grand to the price to resell but I beat them to this one.
BAT is a real crapshoot some clean up and others get cleaned out. The hoops and pricing would discourage me from using them. You also have to deal with the keyboard warriors who have never seen your car sniping at it.

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No response or sale in 3 days.....price too high.
List on the Hemmings site, this is where you will find your buyer for the Chevrolet.

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Small Airplane sales are in the tank if that helps any.

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Gasoline sales are in the tank also, no pun intended, people around here are only driving if they have to ! When egg prices got so high we didn’t eat egg !

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The buyer fees for these auctions is also getting expensive. BAT is a place for wealthy guys with no car knowledge to see who has a bigger wallet.


Model A guys are the most hard core collectors. They will put an $8,000 Burtz engine in a $8,000 model A and end up with an $8,000 model A. They don't care, they love their cars. That is great. There just aren't enough of us.

Re: Selling a car
 

The market for Model T, Model A, Early V8, 50's era and even the 60's muscle cars are weakening. This trend will continue. The first gen Broncos are even softening a bit now. Street rods and hot rods see the same decline.


I've had some deep discussion on this with my friend at 3rd Gen.


First you have the younger generation that has no connection to the cars I mentioned above. Sentimental or emotionally. They did not grow up with them and they don't care. They are a generation that needs instant gratification and are addicted to their electronic machines.


Moving on to cost. These folks can not afford them, especially at the prices we still have in our minds from the 1990's through the early 2000's. Those days are gone and they will not return. The cost of a home, energy cost, cost of an education, to raise a family, is simply too much of a burden to own one or more of these cars for the majority of young folks.


Let's talk about parts supply chain.The supply chain for Model A parts is the best out there. All others, early V8 and beyond is drying up. This makes restoring and maintaining these cars more difficult and expensive. Now, I'll warn you that the Model A parts supply chain is drying up slower but it is happening. Vendors quit, retire and manufacturing goes away with that.
There will always be folks interested in all these cars. However, it's becoming a much smaller crowd.


Think about the lack of skill set in the younger folks that it takes to own, maintain and operate these cars also.
I'm 45 years old an I have been here in this hobby for nearly 30 years. I'm an exception. I do see what is happening here and it can't be denied.


I understand that there are young folks here and they will continue the tradition. There are few of us, it will continue to shrink and that is just the facts.

Re: Selling a car
 

well said Seth. mkt is soft on most classics. exception is porsche mercedes ferrari etc.


when a young fella cant afford a mortgage, well that shows you where the car mkt is.
salaries havent gone up substantially since the 1970s but houses have. expectations are also high. young women expect 4 bedrooms 3 baths 2 fireplaces and a 3 car garage. I grew up in a 1000 sq ft rancher, 4 people and 1 bath.


a collector car is never as important as a house, understandably.


a house in the 70s was maybe 40k today the avg is closer to 500k. do the math............

Re: Selling a car
 

I'm a loan officer at a community bank. In rural Southern Illinois, a starter home, 2 bedroom, built in the 1940-1950's is going to cost $150,000-$175,000. That is cheap compared more populated areas. Now, for a conventional loan you need 15-20% down. Start saving in high school.
You want to build a new home, say 1800 sq ft? It'll cost you $550,000+ for a basic build. Again, you put 20% equity in it to start. Make that payment, raise 2 kids, buy groceries, pay your power bill, make a modest car payment, pay for your kids sports, dance and other activities...... you better have a damn good job.


If you're trying to sell your early Ford car at 1990's - 2000's prices, won't happen. If you want to get young folks into the hobby, quit trying for these prices. Nothing like hey join our club, oh I'll need $40,000 if you want my car or one like it. You don't have to like it. You will adapt or everyone suffers.

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Seth, Ive been in real estate for over 40 years.


double down on that "well said" !

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While that might be conventional wisdom, why does the seller always seem to have a huge pole barn garage, latest, largest tool box, and in the back ground a Harley motorcycle, a Mustang or Corvette, with a monster truck in the driveway ?

Bless him if he can make the payments.....

Re: Selling a car
 

Because there are folks with a lot of discretionary income. They are not the norm.


Also, just because you see folks with a big house, new Tahoe, a boat and many cars, doesn't mean they aren't living on credit cards. I've seen this many times. I've seen folks with a $1,200 monthly car payment, for 1 car. They tell me they need to consolidate debt. Yes, indeed.


The folks that don't need the latest and greatest and drive 10 year old cars are my favorite customer. They cash flow well.

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A lot of good observations already here.

I sold my 30 Standard Roadster quickly but as said a strange market. My strategy was to price it around 15% under what I felt true value was. 1st guy was an A guy - we spoke on the phone, and I explained that while rust free it needed a lot of cosmetics but had a strong engine and I had around $8k in front end, brakes, steering box etc. He sends an uncle to look at it who never even bent down to see basically a 100% sorted car underneath. Next guy was new to As and bought it after 20 minutes. He got a very good car. I was happy to have room for our 31 Deluxe roadster - a car I grew up with and knew for 50 years.

I have been tracking just 30 - 31 roadsters on BaT and prices seem pretty strong over past 8 or 12 months. Actually good As in general are doing well on BaT. That said, I have to agree with rackops that no reserve is a bit scary(Rackops have seen your great input on comments - I do like the BaT format..) I wouldn't be too quick to give a good car away based on those results. Someone is buying them. $20k on the black coupe on BaT today - not bad.

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Steve, 20k was way overpaid for blue fenders.............BAT does bring out people who have no knowledge. they arent your usual tire kickers!


that car was prob worth closer to 12k under a normal sale.

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I agree with Ron. If you really look at the history of sold cars on BAT, you can find Roadsters that sell for over 30k, which is way over the current market, and you can find them that sell for $12,000. Some of the high-priced ones are not even that nice. BAT can be used for guidance when pricing but look at that price range. You have to toss out the highs and lows and think realistically. BAT is a place for buyers that have a lot of money to spend and no car knowledge.

It comes down to this. If you are looking to buy an early Ford, time is on your side. The values will continue to decline. I'm not suggesting they become so worthless that you can't give them away. Although there are project cars that already fit that description. There is simply no logical sense in buying a project sedan and restoring it when you can buy a really nice one for $10,000.

I have made fair offers on cars for sale and the owners decline. That's fine. There are many more cars out there just like it and I have time to wait for the price to come down because it will.

Finally, remember this if you disagree with everything else, I have said. The best deals are the ones that are not advertised.

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This is true and the inverse is also true: If you advertise your car you are likely to get more money for it!

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Last August, I bought an original unrestored 31 Model A station wagon at a local estate sale for what I thought was well worth the money paid. To make room for it at home, i had to sell our 52 Chevy business coupe. That was difficult for all the reasons stated above. After many lookers, it sold for the same money I paid for the woody wagon. Buying is easier than selling.

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Mike, I would say buying is 10x easier then selling. just my experience.

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Things are slowing down and people are tightening up there spending. I would say the first thing to do is get a true value on the car. I was a appraiser for 10 years and what I would do is look for 5 comparable vehicles. Same mileage, condition body style etc. then average that out. You may not like the price but that's how it is. Then advertise the car. Hemmings is always been good. Pictures of all areas of the car. And see what happens. JP

Re: Selling a car
 

I'm in the same boat as Y'all.
I'm trying to sell my 53 Chevrolet 210 4 door.
it has a few add ons and ever since i got it i've sunk far too much
into it and frankly i will never recover what i put into it. just trying to sell
is extremely difficult. Had it on Craigslist for a while, only people that called were scammers and tire kickers. so i have on the roadside with a for sale sign on it praying that some one will take it off my hands so i can be rid of it. if it was a 55, then people would be fighting over it and would pay anything for it.
let's just say that car made me a Ford person:D:D:D

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Ronn totally agree. BaT is a resource but not the only source. That coupe wasn't a $20k car in my mind either.

I get the fact the audience may be new to Model As but find it hard to believe they all are. Honestly I was as surprised the "experienced A guy" on my last sale didn't buy as the car was what he claimed to be looking for and I know price was right. I was more surprised at the guy I sized up as less experienced/serious bought it. In any event first time A folks buying in is a good thing.

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How to get top dollar on BAT: Hack saw the roof off and paint the car red.

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I saw Hemming mention in these comments for comps. Since American City Business Journals bought them it is just not the same. I dropped my membership of 25 or 30 years. American City bought a small local newspaper in my hometown area, and it is barely hanging on too. Even the electronic delivery service of it is a mess. It's not always that newspapers are dying. People need to feel like there is value.

Auctions are not representative of collector car values. Little local auctions are sometimes not a bad representation of value. Although the process to participate in collector auctions is turning into a giant PIA

Re: Selling a car
 

Hello, as I have a 1931 Deluxe Roadster, somewhat follow what is out there for sale. See a number of incorrect “ restorations “ a mix between deluxe and standard features, but some one unfamiliar with Model A s would see shiny paint.I also follow Classic website, for Approximate values but with Model A they aren’t broken down as to body style just what sold at auction or private sellers. Also noticed the lack of mechanical ability in younger people.

Re: Selling a car
 

Younger people never had to fix their bicycle to honor their commitment of having a newspaper route. (What is a newspaper ??)

If you follow the auctions & classifieds, I wonder if you are missing a portion of the market that never is advertised. If you belong to a club the better cars are sold among club members and outsiders never hear about them.

My $.02

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Hello again, I am a member of MARC and agree with you, better quality cars in general, are listed with them . Internet sales are often from dealers with limited knowledge of Model A or pre war cars, plus they add on their profit to sale price.

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I ended up putting the car on Bring a Trailer. Wish me luck someone may get a great deal.

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Good luck but also a smart move IMO. BaT results continue to be strong. I think today's price on the tan roadster was fair on both ends. Car presents well but glass fenders and a 30 gas tank aren't small things to correct. I suspect the blue one will do better. Will be interesting to see if Brookville body is a factor at all.

If the pick up is yours it's very nice.

Good luck!

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the biggest issue is its a 33 chevy coupe. Though I prefer chevys to fords in the early 30s- I know sacrilege- they arent generally bringing anywhere what a 33 ford will bring.


so best of luck and we''ll see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!