Cars For Sale?

Discussion in 'The Bench' started by knucklebusted, Dec 5, 2017.

  1. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    So, there seems to be several cars for sale. If I had a place to store them, I'd own a warehouse full of them and the one I'm selling would be off the market. Are people restless with the onset of cold weather? Are prices too high or is money too tight?

    The one I was making room for by selling 71 GS 350 4speed is gone so I don't have to sell it now and may take it off the market after the holidays are over.

    Inviting comments on my particular sale but if you have a general response, I'm curious how the market is right now.
     
  2. JZRIV

    JZRIV Platinum Level Contributor

    I’ve made the best buys on old cars and really anything motorized including motorcycles, farm tractors and excavating equipment in December. It’s a buyers market for all but the very high demand items. People don’t sell this time of year unless desperate for money. May June seems best for sellers worst for buyers
     
  3. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Point taken. Mine doesn't have to sell so I'll probably delete mine. The garage is already heated for the 70 so the 71 gets to stay warm by default.
     
  4. 71gs3504sp

    71gs3504sp Well-Known Member

    The way I look at it is how many 71 GS350 4 speed car do you see? Best part you don't see many since only 358 were made and I had two of them. The one I still have and love I purchase in 1985, no option car, still wears the original paint and interior! The second one I stripped and junked since I purchased it totaled because the owner decided to hit a telephone pole head on, engine was pushed into the firewall and frame was bent!
     
  5. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    There is that.

    Since I can't drive two cars at once, a lot of folks think I only have "the red Buick" and don't know I have two. I'm tempted to have this one painted original 71 Red (75?) like my 70, put a wing on it and really mess with people even more!
     
  6. George D.

    George D. Platinum Level Contributor

    There's a host of things going on.. Most of which is the holiday/money angle.. And another being the performance out of modern cars pulling SOME out of the "old" car hobby. The market is on an upswing, lenders have eased restrictions for mortgages, etc.

    Like you, there are MANY cars I want to buy- your 71 4 speed being one of them. However, work / family commitments = no time to work on a project.
     
  7. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    The other "angle", is that the market is flooded with cars, driver's, and especially project cars.
    Many of the baby boomers have reached the age where they don't use them, they are liquidating and that is going to continue over the next 5-10 years.
    I think we are in the first couple years of a huge market adjustment in prices heading down.
    Anyone who hung onto cars with the thought of selling for big bucks to be their retirement missed the bus by a couple years. Prices are going down.
     
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  8. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Then it will make one heck of a parts car for my '70 Stage 1 then.
     
  9. I have been thinking this very same thing. lack of available restoration parts and the cost of the parts that are out there will really hurt the off brands such as Buick and Olds. with modern performance cars being so plentiful I feel the newer generations will go that direction.
     
  10. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Just imagine, 5yrs from now 460hp 11sec Mustangs will be on used carlots for 15k ha, were doomed

    You can pick up SS camaros for 10500+ and first gen SRT Challengers for $15k+
     
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  11. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    If the trend continues I’m going to be one fast old man!
    Patrick
     
  12. Ryans-GSX

    Ryans-GSX Have fun, life is short.

    I think a lot of people that are selling are older and getting out of having multiple cars that they don't won't to leave behind for children/spouse to deal with. I also believe many are tired of paying high prices or struggling to find the parts needed to restore cars that often they only leave it in the garage when done to afraid to drive it. Buy a new car and enjoy it or restore one just to look at. How many times have we seen people restore a car only to sell it off. Thats not to say everyone does this but it happens and you asked for reasons about the current market. I also think the prices are way to high right now and a lot of people view this as a hobby not a investment. When you see cars in such poor condition as some costing as much or higher than a new car I think the market needs to be adjusted. There will always be cars that bring big money and people to buy them but on average some cars are pricing themselves out of selling.
     
    Tom Miller likes this.
  13. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    They have no soul though. Writing a check is not as good as building it.

    Although I'm looking at a GS 350 as a daily driver... a 2013 Lexus GS 350 AWD.

    You and me both!

    I blame Barret-Jackson, Mecum and the like for inflating expectation. Everybody with a rusty hulk thinks it is a high dollar car, worth $50,000, just needs a little paint, new carpet and some exhaust work. LOL
     
  14. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

     
  15. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    I look at this way, most younger people that now have the means to buy stuff want the latest and greatest, same as they do getting a new phone every 6mnths and refrigerators that talk to you,..last thing they will spend they're money on is "old technology"
     
  16. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    Bottom line is that inflation of the cost of materials to refinish and restore these old cars is exceeding their value, or simply put, a person CAN'T restore one for less than you can buy one done.
    That is why so many project cars are for sale, people are bailing out realizing the dream isn't financially achievable anymore. A person will be WAY upside down even doing a simple do it yourself amateur restoration.
    But.....
    I'm in the beginning stages of a restoration on a 69 GS400, and I too will be way upside down, but I can't teach my 12 year old son how to fabricate and weld a patch on a restored car, and I can't teach him how to do bodywork on a restored car, or rebuild the engine, brakes, adjust a clutch, install a carpet set,etc. Plus, you can pick whatever exterior color and interior color we want.
    So there are still some of us dummies out there restoring, even when we know better.
     

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  17. Buicksky

    Buicksky Gold Level Contributor

    I agree with Tom , I think we will see a drop in most cars the next 5 to 10 years. I think the drop will be a higher percentage on the driver , project cars , and the fringe cars. The low production cars, low mileage cars, and the highly documented cars will do better from a pecentage standpoint. As we age the demand will decrease and the supply will increase.
     
  18. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    I do agree with the point on newer cars being affordable and having much to offer. However I grew up with pictures taped on the wall in my bedroom of cars from an era gone by. So that is what I like to play with :cool:
     
  19. schlepcar

    schlepcar Gold Level Contributor

    Prices are just a depreciation of the dollar bill as far as what it will and will not buy us. For example,20 years ago you could buy the nicest 57 Chevy convertible around if you wanted to spend 50k. Now the 57 is in less demand because those who wanted one already bought them if they wanted a top notch original. However,if you still have that top notch original it has not really lost any value because of inflation. In other words,even though it may not be on the top of this generation of popular sellers,it still would cost that much or more to duplicate(because of the previously mentioned labor,materials,parts,etc...). I get a kick out of people who call a hellcat,Camaro,corvette z06,etc...a better alternative to our old hot rods. These cars will all be recycled because of air bags,emissions,corrosion of wiring,and just plain lack of people with a $5,000 scanner or other necessary tools and/or knowledge to keep them maintained. So,mathematically I would predict that if it costs 80k to build a retro catalogue 57 Bel Air(give or take)....and 50-75K to buy a low mile Hellcat or Z06.....I would say that our old cars are cool just to keep around and drive and will at the very least "maintain" a realistic resale compared to a modern hot rod by comparison of cost vs. resale value down the road. On the whole picture I would think that too many people have paid too much for too little on the larger scale,and that may have scared off many that do not necessarily know what they are looking at. Nice old cars are fairly expensive and probably always will be as long as we can still enjoy them and keep them on the road. I personally have not seen very many cars that I thought were as nice as the seller stated them to be. When you do see one out there it is generally three or four times the price of the typical EBay or Craigslist car.
     
  20. TurboCrazy

    TurboCrazy Well-Known Member

    Tom Miller, I applaud you for taking the time (& expense involved) to pass on to your son the knowledge you have of our car hobby. Unfortunately, that is an uncommon thing now days.:( My son was underneath a car with me since he was 2 yrs. old! Of coarse, for many years he just wanted to "get gweesey with Dad".:D When he got older, I used to get on his case a lot. I didn't think he was paying attention when we worked on cars, or I showed him how to do things.:mad: Guess what!:rolleyes: Guess who is the go to guy with the guys his age, when a car is broke down, or they have a vehicle project?;) Yep, my son that never paid enough attention to what we were doing(according to me!):p
    In my line of work (maintenance). It is easy to see very quickly, both in maint. & production, the young guys that had a Dad that worked on things & taught them stuff!:cool: The rest just played video games.:confused: They don't last long.o_O Keep doing what you are doing with your son! He is learning skills that will help him the rest of his life.:)
     
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