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Beautiful 63 Riv on Ebay


Guest Steeleco

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Guest Steeleco

I am very excited about this car on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Riviera-Base-Hardtop-2-Door-1963-buick-riviera-base-hardtop-2-door-6-6-l-/301037000186?forcerrptr=true&hash=item46173415fa&item=301037000186&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

The car looks great and looks to be restored very well. The bids are up to $23K. My 63 has the same color scheme so looking at the car on Ebay gives me incentive to restore mine.

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OK, time for me to critique. Upon first look, it looks fairly nice, however I immediately see a number of things that look wrong. 1. The air cleaner is not painted with the correct finish. 2. Power Steering Pump Cap should not be red. 3. Non correct radiator cap. 4. Deteriorated foam around the HVAC Muffler. 5. Why would they not install a correct reproduction battery if they went this far, and are looking for top dollar? 6. "Chevy" Floor Mats???? Really??? WTF???? 7. Non correct trunk material. 8. Incorrect Master Cylinder, although I'll give that one a pass due to safety. Other under hood items are incorrect.

Bottom line, if I see this many discrepancies immediately, what other corners that we can't see were cut? For a frame off restoration, I expect it to be nicer in all honesty.

My 2 cents.

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The A/C evaporator is an old used one. The fins are bent in different directions. The coolant overflow hose is pinched under the fan shroud bracket. Generic radiator cap. Underhood wiring re-wrapped poorly (unless that's the way repro stuff looks like)

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OK Riviera People: This has been for sale for 32K for a very long time. Yeah, it's not bad by a long shot but I suspect it's worth much less. I also have my doubts on the legitimacy of the bids too but what do I know?

When I boil out all the */^ the right price seems to sum it up every time. Mitch

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Guest Steeleco

So I was excited about this car on ebay because I thought it would be great to see one get sold for 20 or 30K, but It looks like what you guys are saying is what is happening.

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The next bid gets it! Better scramble in there only 3 hours left.

It is for sale by a Harley and GTO guy who has sold a few Chevy bits in 10 years on Ebay. This is his big score. Push that bid button.

If you remember that you have to keep what you buy the 25 grand is a good deal in the long run. I'm figuring I will cash out around 2060 so we will have recovered from our upcoming political/economic crisis by then and the money I spent from the 1970's to this decade will look quite small.

I didn't bid, already have one. My next big toy will be a 2017 Bentley or ocean front rental property in the Cayman Islands.

Buy young, keep them a long time, and be sure your wife knows the realistic cash price.

Bernie

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OK Bernie: Old cars are like going to a burger joint. You walk in hungry, pay the money and when you walk out you ain't hungry......and have a smile on your face. Classic cars are absolutely no different. They are a commodity you purchase, use, (hopefully) enjoy and if there's something left over it's all gravey.

Please quote me on this and if one does a harsh judgement so be it. "Anybody who thinks cars are an investment that appreciates is gravely mistaken". Like real estate has proven, anything can happen.

In the case of a white First gen Riv, as much as quality really matters to some, a straight white washed old beater can look almost as good as this one. Sure, we love our Rivs but to pay all that? Mitch

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http://autos.shopnearbuy.com/111238094416.html

You can look for deals all over the U.S. by searching www.searchalljunk.com/

They show listings from Oodle, craighslist, and other local shopping networks.

Just type in what you're looking for in the search window.

https://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/4242272855.html Not factory correct, but not bad for the $.

http://cars.oodle.com/detail/1963-buick-riviera-gg/3557938698-alma-wi/?cm_mmc=OODLE_PREVIEW-_-www-_-NA-_-NA Worth taking a look at or at least making a phone call.

Edited by RivNut (see edit history)
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I have purchased cars, enjoyed them, and given them away, completely happy with the experience.

When I bought my Riviera in 1978 I was ridiculed by a couple of "experts" for paying way too much. I don't remember if it was $1900 or $2100 now. They said "You fool, you can buy those for $1,000 all day long."

I figure I get $1,000 of enjoyment per year. There is a lot to enjoy; going out to lunch, day trips, a few cruise-ins, doing various preservation jobs, learning the technology and design history, just a whole ton of things that come with the "privilege of ownership".

One thing I do avoid is logical decision making on an old car purchase. Any time I tried that (its few) a short time later an illogical deal came along and tore my heart out.

If you want it spend the money.

Cars are a big investment.... in mental health, either improving it or maintaining status quo.

Bernie

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Jim is right on (as usual.) It would only take a couple of hundred bucks to take care of the flaws that have been pointed out. However, are these flaws an indicator of other flaws that are not so visible?

Caveat emptor

Ed

Yes, I realize not a lot of money would fix the issues that we see, but IMO this lack of attenion to the small details we can see, would concern me if I were really an interested buyer in this car for the reasons you stated. What I can't see is the scary part.

Says reserve not met, wonder if it actually sold.

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An Ebay car with a reserve; who needs pictures or a description to figure that one out?

This one pulled a trick from the circus collector car auctions and put in a note "the next bids wins". How many times have you seen one of the auctions where the auctioneer waves his arms and shouts "the seller has lifted his reserve. Yes, lifted his reserve, the car will be sold to the next bidder!" The auctioneer is so excited one would think he will wet his pants and the crowd yawns at yet another reserve lifted in desperation.

Its enough to make you want to join the old Kruse "Sip & Bid" club.

Bernie

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The next bid gets it! Better scramble in there only 3 hours left.

If the seller was really prepared to remove the reserve, he could have accepted the current bid of $24,900 and not insisted on "one more bid".

That makes me suspicious that the bids were not all legitimate. If that last bid of $24,900 was real, then he would have taken it. But if it was a buddy of his, shill bidding it up, and bidding had stopped on a fake bid, then he needs to have "one more bid" to get out from under it.

Buyer beware.

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The car itself looks very nice, like Jim said most of those things can be corrected fairly easily. But if I was selling that car, I would have taken the 24k and ran. Haven't seen too many 1st gen non-GS cars selling in the 20's.

Ed - thanks for that link for searching multiple sites. Now I have a higher likelyhood of getting into trouble with my better half by finding more things I want. LOL

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