Selling a car

[HalcyonDays]

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?

[Jim Brierley]

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

[alexiskai]

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.

[Bob Bidonde]

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.

[Keith True]

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.

[HalcyonDays]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

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?

[alexiskai]

Originally Posted by HalcyonDays

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?

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

[rackops]

Originally Posted by HalcyonDays

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?

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.

[nkaminar]

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.

[mhsprecher]

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.

[Keith True]

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.

[Synchro909]

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"

[ModelA29]

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.

[Wick]

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.

[AKJurnee]

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

[Big hammer]

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 !

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by rackops

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.

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.

[Seth Swoboda]

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.

[ronn]

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............

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by ronn

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............

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.