Pricing guidance for a '65

[Guest Rick R.]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new member and I'm looking for some help on pricing a '65. My father in law was the original owner and my wife now owns the car. There are 38K miles and all numbers match. The body has no damage except rust on the rocker panels and there is some rust underneath. Chrome is perfect. The interior is original and in good condition except for a tear on the drivers seat caused by a mechanic with a tool in his pocket when the car was almost new. The trunk is in very good condition with only a couple stains. The paint is the original color but is a repaint. Why my father in law painted it is a mystery to me. I'll try to attach a couple photos. I have others if more are needed.

I'm sure there must be a forum for sales, but we are not sure we want to sell the car. Just looking for an idea as to price. Hagerty's values it at $11,000, but that is probably not realistic.

Any thoughts would be very helpful.

Thanks

Rick R.

[gungeey]

Verde green and saddle interior, nice color scheme!

With some documentation of the low miles you may have a good bargaining chip for the right buyer.

This is HEAVILY reliant upon the extent of the rust you mention. If you look in the trunk at the base of the wheelwells where the staining is, there is likely a significant amt of rot there. I almost bet I can stick a screwdriver right through it.

With the limited pictures, I would see it as a #4 (driver) and would try to lowball you at $4K... That's ME. That doesn't mean there's nobody out there willing to pay 11K for it.

Now you see what a good deal it is for you to keep it for yourself and family enjoy the hell out of it for years to come.

Good luck, Steve

[JZRIV]

Rick,

What part of the country are you in?

I can't tell you what your car is worth but can provide information that should help you determine it. Generally speaking though, yes $11k is probably high as the car sits now.

A good way to get a general idea on current market pricing is to watch the completed listings on ebay. Not sure if you are familiar ebay or not so apologize if this is not news to you. Once an abay auction is completed, the listing will be visible for a couple weeks afterwards. Once you search completed listings you can see cars that sold because the price will be green and it will say "sold". Prices that are in red means the car didn't sell but you can see what it bid up to which ususally is good indication of what it could have sold for. The only problem is you won't find auctions for cars that match your cars condition and mileage exactly but generally you'll find some close enough to get a good idea. Lately I've seen a lot of completed auctions that didn't sell in part because of the time of year and asking prices are too high considering the economy.

A couple things that are very important to know for anyone to suggest a price and that is if the passenger compartment floors, and trunk floors are rust free as well as the exact extent of rust in other areas. Your car looks fairly low optioned which will hurt the price but the mileage and condition could easily offset that if rust is very minimal. If you can document that 38k is actual mileage that will be another big plus towards boosting asking price. Any time you advertise a car with such low mileage a buyer with any sense at all will want documentation to prove it. If no documentation and there isn't obvious signs the mileage is actual then the buyer typcially assumes it has turned over and the price they are willing to pay reflects that.

If you are willing to detail the paint, shine the chrome, scrub the tires and spend 4-5 hours cleaning up and detailing the engine bay that will help you get more out of it. It is human nature for people to like to buy shiney things.

Price can vary quite a bit depending how much time and creativity you put into marketing the car, what area you are in, the overall condition of the car including its road worthiness and/or any problems it has that are not corrected.

Lastly the end of May, June and July are the best times to sell a classic car.

If you want to post more details I'm sure someone here with more experience on the 65s may provide an asking price range for you.

Edited January 17, 2010 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[Guest Gee_Rydes]

Hi Guys,

I'll offer up some opinions too if that is cool.

First, if this is truly a 38K car and you have good documentation to prove it, this will be one of the very valuable parts of selling this car and I would be beating that drum hard.

Assuming the mileage IS true, I would seriously consider bringing the car back up to a high standard including the rust repairs. This may be beyond what you are willing to do if you are simply trying to sell it and be done with it, but if you invested a couple grand, and ended up with a very appealing 38K car, I think it could be a mid to high teen car.

If it only worth $5K now (and I am not saying that), get all the buyer's potential concerns handled bewfore they are used to devalue the car and possibly get $15?

Now if it IS 138K, just pay a couple hundred to detail it and try for $8-10K (again huge assumptions on my part as to the detailed condition of the car) maybe settling for $6K?

The mileage can be a huge factor in my humble opinion

[Guest Rick R.]

The 38K on the odometer is true, and actually I'm surprised it's that high. I started being around the family in '67 and married into the family in '69. From '69 on my wife and I have pretty much been the only ones who have driven it. It only gets driven a couple weeks a year. We live in Virginia and the car lives in the U.P. of Michigan. When we aren't there it stays in the garage. The logistics of caring for it are great. We only see it a couple weeks a year. I pretty much change new oil for new oil every year as soon as we get there.

It seems like what I'm seeing here is if we can get 8K to 10K we should take it and be happy, or keep the car and get it to Virginia where I can turn it into a retirement project. The rust is, from what I can see, very slight. Nothing above the rocker panels. The trunk is as solid as the day it was new, and the floor pans are solid as well. I'm not sure where the rust is underneath, but I know where it isn't. I must confess when we're on vacation I'm not much into car fixing. I change the oil, check the brakes, check the hoses and coolant and drive it.

Rick R.

[gungeey]

Rick, to verify a prospective buyers questions you would want to have repair receipts trail...Year: 1968@ 11K miles, 1974@14,600 miles, 1981 oil change@ 16800 miles... that way, no miles recorded at 55K. 78K. 92K...

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's hard to say low miles just cause " I was there, so i know".

RUST:

A BIG four letter word! Hard to gauge it without being there. What's it look like if you peel back the front and back carpet and reveal where the seat hold down bolts are? Is it solid?

I also reread your initial post, not noticing before that it is a repaint..this in my mind would temper a lot of the steam of the low miles...Why, the guy that is going after the lo miles car wants a factory original.

Why not have an appraiser come by? They will usually assemble a value based on a concoction of price guides anyway.

OR

Join the ROA and have a fellow club member in your area well versed in that era Riv come give an opinion for you..

Again, Good luck! Steve

[Mr Riviera]

The best way to find out what the car is worth is to put it on Ebay with a reserve . If it does not sell - not out much . You must post excellent pictures and a good documented discription . Get pictures from all angles , eng. compartment , interior , trunk and so on. By doing this the world wide appraisers will tell you what the car is worth and it cost you very little . With the rust factor and the fact that is is a low optioned car , Std. Interior , no A/C , no power windows and so on it will not bring the numbers you are thinking . This is my opinion but , you are only looking for that one buyer that may step up ! Good Luck , if you keep the car you might want to join the Riviera Owners Association ( ROA ) . You may get more enjoyment out of the car if you bring it back- Enjoy this Classic !

[Lapham3]

Dick knows the early Rivs better than most anybody-sending a PM-Dan

[1965rivgs]

The points raised regarding rust and the absence of options are valid. However. everything I see in the pictures indicates to me this is a legitimate 38K mile car. Absent the large stain in the trunk, this is a VERY nice original trunk-very hard to find these days except in a well kept garage queen. The driver`s door panel isn`t warped like a potato chip and the carpeting retains good color; as does the wood insert. This is the condition in which an experienced collector wants to find an old car. Apply a liberal amount of elbow grease, a set of nice Buick rallyes and a good going thru mechanically (like a set of new radials) and I can envision this car at the 10K mark. This would make an EXELLENT driver with a minimum of fuss.

Tom Mooney

[cjp69]

Did anybody on here look at the car? I thought I remember a couple of members from MN maybe were going to check it out? Curious how bad the rust is?

[bb1970]

I gave 6k for a seafoam green '65 Riv last Aug. It had a fresh 401. And many receipts to prove the work. 94,000 miles. Rusty quarters on both sides. Interior is ok. Mine is low optioned as your car is. But mine has a/c that works. I'd say the value of yours would be a little more due to low mileage. I'd pay between 7k-8k. Only if it is mechanically sound and drives OK. Here is a before and after photo.

[tim63riv]

Guys,

I know the two Minnesota Riv guys who looked at the Michigan car. It was VERY rusty on the lower part of the body. The first generation Riviera's managed to sprout rust in warm climates, wet and snowy climates with road salt and constant moisture cause really significant rust issues on these cars. We all like to think that a car just neds some fluffing and buffing to be a show car, but this is not the case with the original northern cars.

If you are ever thinking about buying a car, make sure you have the seller take pictures of the bottoms of the quarter panels, rocker panels and front fenders. If possible, some photos of the car up on a lift would help determine the condition, too. Rust is hard to stop and very expensive to repair and should factor HEAVILY in any appraisal of a vehicles worth.

My 2 cents,

Tim

[Guest Rick R.]

Everyone,

Thanks for the good replys. Yes, someone drove over to look at the car. The result was not too good. Much rust underneath!!! I guess it's not good enought just to keep the car in a garage.

This being said, we are presently in Michigan where the car is and have it listed in the local paper for $5000.00 or best offer. The car is becoming an anchor around our necks. It's not worth it for us to drive it to our home in Virginia and we don't want to rent storage for it here. Everything above the rocker panels is in good shape including chrome. It is at least good for parts, or as dan said, "just to drive around". A "driver" I guess it's called.

We are in town for two more weeks. Anyone interested in a good looking, great running, low mile car that needs a bottom side shoot me an e-mail or call 703-901-6497.