Selling a car

[ronn]

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


double down on that "well said" !

[jb-ob]

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.....

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by jb-ob

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.....

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.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

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.

[ronn]

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.

[Seth Swoboda]

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Originally Posted by ronn

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.

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.

[alexiskai]

Originally Posted by Seth Swoboda

The best deals are the ones that are not advertised.

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

[Mike Peters]

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.

[ronn]

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

[Tinbasher]

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

[Sunny the Model A]

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

[Steve_Mack_CT]

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.

[nkaminar]

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

[Gene F]

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

[gdmn852]

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.

[jb-ob]

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

[gdmn852]

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.

[HalcyonDays]

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

[Steve_Mack_CT]

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!

[ronn]

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!