Lahti35 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) I ran across this REO for sale and am wondering about value... REO is said to run and drive on a good non-rebuilt original engine/tranny. Looks like they did a cosmetic resto on the old girl. NADA says $9700. Edited July 31, 2019 by Lahti35 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV Puleo Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I would want to hear it run but generally I have far more faith in the factory to have put things together correctly than I do in just about any engine rebuild shop. Quite a lot of extremely well preserved cars got just a cosmetic restoration 30 or 40 years ago. They may be the best buy out there... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 You probably looked up the NADA value on the internet. I don't know whether they have an explanatory preface there; but in their printed book, which I saw at the AACA Library, they explain that their values are higher than most other guides'. Their values, they say, are for all-original cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) Lots of discussion in another thread about value of a nice, complete, presentable Model A sedan. I put it (A)between 10 -11k. This car is a little more unique, more powerful, larger yet still fairly well supported. Tough to say but low teens feels fair Lahti. Surely you saw the coupe in the for sale section. Stings a little, as a 29 or 30 REO coupe sold a few years back out of my neighborhood. Older resto, never knew it was there as it was basically stored... Nice cars. Edited July 31, 2019 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 7 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said: You probably looked up the NADA value on the internet. I don't know whether they have an explanatory preface there; but in their printed book, which I saw at the AACA Library, they explain that their values are higher than most other guides'. Their values, they say, are for all-original cars. I did look it up on the net... You are correct I did not see a preface there. Usually I can look around and find sold cars to get a feel for actual value but REO's seem to defy my efforts on a regular basis, I just can't find many for sale. I recall seeing this car for sale awhile ago the more I think about it. Seller is asking 20k which I thought was high in the current market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Steve_Mack_CT said: Lots of discussion in another thread about value of a nice, complete, presentable Model A sedan. I put it (A)between 10 -11k. This car is a little more unique, more powerful, larger yet still fairly well supported. Tough to say but low teens feels fair Lahti. Surely you saw the coupe in the for sale section. Stings a little, as a 29 or 30 REO coupe sold a few years back out of my neighborhood. Older resto, never knew it was there as it was basically stored... Nice cars. I did see the Model A and have been watching the thread... hopefully it sells soon! I had a '24 REO Speedwagon, my first antique car... Always had a soft spot for REO, especially since I live just north east of Lansing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Nice! One more thought, compare this to some 20s cars Matt H just listed. They are nice but this seems equal or maybe a step up. So maybe mid teens or say 17.5 is not out of whack? Assuming some small window of negotiation on his 3 at just under 18k. Or, check those out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) 1. I never get tired of posting that everyone should ignore price guides unless it is for a Mustang or Camaro. I've never seen another one of these for sale, so I wonder how the price guide guessed a price? Also, condition is so variable as to be impossible to gauge with a simplistic system of 1,2,3,4. 2. The Model A sedan is a good comp. This car is more interesting, but the wider audience of the Model A probably makes it easier to sell and hence probably more valuable. 3. I disagree with my good friend Steve, and do not believe this car would ever bring mid to high teens. Closer to the 10k than 15k. Market is soft for sedans in general, and the more obscure makes are harder to sell. Edited July 31, 2019 by alsancle (see edit history) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) By the way, the car brand, Reo, does not need to be in all capitals, even though it was formed from Ransom Olds' initials. The company itself often wrote it as "Reo." So when you get this car, you'll already be an expert! Edited July 31, 2019 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 1 minute ago, alsancle said: I've never seen another one of these for sale, so I wonder how the price guide guessed a price? You may be right, Al, but if you or I or anyone here can give an estimate, why can't a price guide-- especially if they properly consult Reo experts who know more than we do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 3 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said: You may be right, Al, but if you or I or anyone here can give an estimate, why can't a price guide-- especially if they properly consult Reo experts who know more than we do? Because we have spent 10x the time thinking about it than a price guide ever would. They are valuing 100's if not thousands of different models. Impossible to give low production or obscure cars any time or thought. Plus, you will never go broke betting the under on any car value questions. Everything is worth less than you think when you go to sell it. Sadly, that includes my junk too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 The buyer is the only one who gets to decide what the right price is. That said, fear of "over-paying" keeps a lot of guys out of cars they would otherwise enjoy and instead they waste years of precious time waiting for the ideal combination of perfect and inexpensive. If you like the car and you can afford it, you should buy it--who cares if it's "book value?" This isn't a used car lot where you're financing a 2014 Hyundai. If you don't like it after you own it, you should sell it and take whatever you can get for it, which will probably be most of your money. No matter what you buy or what you pay for it, you will lose money, either on resale or on repairs or maintenance or storage or insurance or gas or all the other things that require money when you own a car. This is a hobby, not a dollars-and-cents "I can make a reasonable decision" kind of thing. There is absolutely nothing reasonable or logical about anything any of us do here, so don't try to talk yourself into a situation where you believe you're making a "wise" or "reasoned" decision. Do it because you love it or don't do it at all. Money is secondary to all that. I can't tell you how many guys have walked out of my shop over a few dollars on a car they really wanted, then called back a week later to buy it only to find it already gone. If you can afford it and you like it, those are reasons to buy it. Numbers in a book or opinions online are not reasons to buy it. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 It kind of boils down to do you want this or a Model A? Same money, quite alot more car for the same. When I try to figure out what something is worth, that's a little more obscure like this, I take a look at say in this case what I could buy if someone gave me 10G and said find a car that fits this criteria, early 1930's Sedan that looks good and can be driven with good interior and paint. I search alot of craigslist, facebook, ebay etc. ads every day. 10G is about baseline for a nice looking sedan that would comp with this. Yes I have posted stuff over on my bargains thread, but remember those are bargains, not the hundreds of ads not worth reposting or flat out overpriced compared to everything else I see for sale. Some will argue the A is more popular so an easier sale, but then again, much more common to find, thus the reason that sedan is still sitting there for sale. It's unexciting and needs work ( including paint which will make guys run away as soon as they see it) like a hundred other cars for sale. To sell it has to appeal to someone either through price , value of what's there to the buyer so they won't have to spend the money (like nice paint, interior etc) or uniqueness. It also boils down to style. They don't sell C1 Corvettes all day long because they are great touring cars for old fat guys, they sell them because of the style. This Reo definitely has style, so I think a car like this might be an easier sale. (my biggest hangup is the painted bumpers, that really distracts for me) I can tell you right now if i told the car guys in town, I just got a Model A sedan, one might come up and look at it, but if I told them I had a Reo sedan then I bet just about every one would come take a peak. Now granted they may not want to own it, but the interest in something different is there . There is always someone looking for something different, but again it has to have style which this does. I don't know if it's correct but I really like the interior in this. Let us know if you buy it. In today's old car world there isn't much with nice paint and interior that you can drive older than 1960 for much less than 10G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 What my friend Matt states about cars - to buy or not " can also apply to automobilia, parts, literature etc. 1) how bad do you desire it ? 2) will you feel good every time you look at it ? 3) If what you think it is worth ( compared to the price listed) that far apart? is it worth walking away and later thinking - I should have bought that 4) Life is short , very short , tomorrow is not guaranteed so be happy while you are here . Hershey is but a few months away and each year with all the effort to pull stuff out, pack it, haul it, pay for the spaces in the flea market, motel, gas, food etc. I know that when someone looks at something no matter how fair I price stuff ( at least i think the price for stuff 80+ years old is ok) I will get someone asking me to 'take less' or 'do better' . that question seems to prevail more and more the past few years then it ever had before. Some people just don't get it no matter how nice the parts are. A decade ago I had NOS hand operated turn signals in the original sealed boxes from 1924-26 era , had one on display that you could work to see how it went , and it was amazing how many people wanted me to open the sealed box up so they could check the condition to make sure it was good before they then would decide to buy. My answer was NO. It had been sealed when new, stored in dry storage ( I got them from the house of the fellow who was the dealer in them when new) since the mid 1920s. You can't believe the indignant look I got from a few people because I wouldn't cut the box open for them to decide if maybe they would buy one. A lot of that attitude was made up for by a guy from Belgium who came up , saw them and said he wanted to buy 10 of them! I was amazed and he said if he bought one for him and went home and his friends saw it that they would then be mad that he didn't think of them and get one for them. These are the good Hershey memories. ( and no I don't have any of the signals left!) WG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Can't say I'm a huge fan of price guides myself... they are just that a: a guide. I've never taken one as gospel, rather sold cars at real prices. Same thing with the antique firearm world which I've been a part of for decades... guides are nice but prices do vary, sometimes considerably. It's the rarer stuff that seems to give the most fits... not as many comparable sales out there to establish a baseline price. While I'll pay a price I'm happy with and sleep well at night I don't want to get burned for 8 grand either. Nothing wrong with Model A's but I've never been attracted to them... always preferred the more funky stuff. A double edged sword sometimes... cool car, but can you get parts for it! I've been down that road a few times. It seems hard sometimes to get sellers to wrap their heads around "rare does not equal big bucks", especially if they aren't active in the antique car market and see what things are going for on a regular basis. I've been following a number of 20's sedans and open cars (Dodge, Pontiac, Chrysler) and they are selling slowly or not at all... While I see sellers consistently telling me their asking prices are "undervalued"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 You may be right, Al, but if you or I or anyone here can give an estimate, why can't a price guide-- especially if they properly consult Reo experts who know more than we do? Old Cars price guide is notorious for listing Stutz Bearcats around 140k in #1 condition Ill take 10! that's how useful price guides are................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I gave up on price guides years ago when I saw a #5 or #6 Cadillac V-16 Roadster was valued at under $10k. I don't think there is any such thing as a V-16 Roadster parts car but if someone has one I'll take it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Looks like a very decent Reo you could enjoy. Its worth noting it the smaller Flying Cloud Mate which has a Continental 15E 214.7 ci engine, not a Reo manufactured engine. That takes nothing away from it, just good to know if you are apprehensive about an eventual engine rebuild. Continental engines were engineered for low stress, steady power and built for longevity, and rock-solid durability. Bets if you buy it and maintain it properly, it will never give you major trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 BTW, if you buy it, please repaint the wheels a darker red if you like the contrast or to match the green on the molding and wind reveals, maybe a tone or two darker. Would look much more period correct and quite elegant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I think just adding some pinstripes would really make it pop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Might check to see if the older work included installing safety glass. If not, that extra cost would take a high priority. Price guides and random speculation are all you have for assessing the value, lots of post asking how much something is worth but these car collectors are adamantly tight lipped about how much they paid and got for a car after the deal. To to a chapter outing and ask someone how much they got for a car they sold or paid for one they just bought. The hemming and hawing around that can be downright entertaining, especially if you bring a friend and tell them you are going to do it. Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said: I think just adding some pinstripes would really make it pop. That and chrome bumpers , even if you could find replacements as chroming these might be a fortune, and it would take on a whole different much more finished look. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Walt nailed it - how much do you like it? Walt, I've got a couple of your neat turn signals displayed in my old auto parts store, and one is still sealed in the box. Will see you at Hershey this year, please excuse my question about taking less, it's a built in recording, but please do bring some neat spark plugs for me to see. Counting the days- Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Agree with Matt and Randy on the bumpers. Rears almost look like Model A but I know they likely are not. AJ always reminds me I tend to be optimistic price wise for any car that is interesting. I will say I could have bought a nice, older restoration 30 Marquette two door sedan with some local history a while back, for a little less than I paid for the A roadster. I think they were asking 9,000 or 9,500. So my thought pattern was: Marquette Pros Decent looking car overall I know people who restored it in the 70s did a very good job. Unusual car. Cons Vs. Model A: Parts and support Body style - roadster vs. sedan (even a two door) Resale Existing knowledge of the A - so no learning curve Went with an A. No message here, just that in rethinking a bit it kind of validates some of the comments above. I do love the fact that we get over 20 replies to a prewar inquiry - shows if one of us raises a car worth discussing, we discuss it. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalowed Bill Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) I'm amazed at how often people on this forum agree on most thing automotive! As Matt says it all "if you like the car and can afford it buy it." If you want some positive reinforcement you certainly have it here. If you're worried about an audience for a orphan car, just ignore it, people will love it. If we on the forum like it, then others will like it too. I like the car, I wish that I had the room in my building for it. Edited July 31, 2019 by Buffalowed Bill (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I love that car! For some reason it just speaks to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I somehow missed what the guy was asking until rereading stuff. I was working off that 10G value. Now with 20G in hand there are alot of cars available. Namely the 29 Peerless that sold for similar money. If you love it buy it, but I think as presented it's on the high end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 35 minutes ago, auburnseeker said: I somehow missed what the guy was asking until rereading stuff. I was working off that 10G value. Now with 20G in hand there are alot of cars available. Namely the 29 Peerless that sold for similar money. If you love it buy it, but I think as presented it's on the high end. Nevertheless, you have to admit that Peerless was crazy cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 25 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said: Nevertheless, you have to admit that Peerless was crazy cheap. Which makes one wonder was it you that bought it? I agree, it seemed like a very good buy, but they keep saying the market for old stuff is failing , so maybe that's the new market adjusted prices we will be seeing. I did see a Franklin sedan last fall that was priced in the mid teens that blew this Reo away. It sat for a month I think before it sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 No, I didn't buy the Peerless. I gave it some serious thought but it had needs I wasn't ready to address (the issue was too close to the problem that finally killed The Car That Shall Not Be Named). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) I inquired about making an offer and the seller said he loaned it to the local community college and that its "apt to be there for a long while"... guess its not for sale at the moment. I never can figure out some sellers, lol. I think some folks just like to dangle carrots and enjoy folks pursuing their valuables. Is it for sale or isn't it? Maybe. I got my chuckle for the day anyhow... Edited July 31, 2019 by Lahti35 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 The primary reason to consider a Model A over this Good looking Reo is buying the "A" gets you into the Model A club which in many parts of the country is the most active and fun club around. The last two AACA clubs I belonged to limited their activity to "finding a place to eat" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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