mikewest Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I was selling a Auburn sedan that had been around the block a few times around here. A buyer came to look at it and after a short visit said " I know what you paid for it!" I responded " My dad gave me the farm where I live , does that mean its worth nothing?" I told him," Get the hell out of here, Ive got work to do!" It was easy to see he was a heckler..... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Luddy Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I'm currently up to my neck in a project car that I paid too much for. Problem is now it's apart and has been draining my wallet for close to a year with no end in sight. A week after I bought it a friend (also in the old car game) told me "Take a $5000 loss on it now before you start, because it's going to be far less than the loss you will take later" He was so right, and of course I didn't listen! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Said it before. Any car has one price. Can either pay it now and enjoy it immediately or pay in installments (with vig) and may never enjoy it. Prefer to buy nice cheap and sell reasonable but then what I find interesting is rarely what is desirable. Rebates are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewest Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 On 12/9/2020 at 10:27 AM, Restorer32 said: Years ago Dad and I went to look at a Model A Vicky that was advertised in the local newspaper. As we got to the seller's house another fellow pulled up and followed us as we walked up the sidewalk. He said "You guys were here first so you get first chance at the car. We're standing there talking price with the seller. Seller said he wanted $1300 for the car. Fellow who followed us to the car said, in a voice loud enough for the seller to hear' "If these guys don't buy the car for $1300 I will". Now Dad would not pay asking price for anything. He looked at the seller and said "I'll give you $1100". The seller accepted the offer, knowing full well the back up buyer would pay $1300. The back up buyer just shook his head and walked away muttering to himself. The OTHER buyer was his cousin Wallace.... It was a setup deal and your dad was smarter than they were. He recognized the rat in the room. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Auctions have many shills. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89tc Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 On 12/12/2020 at 6:02 PM, padgett said: Said it before. Any car has one price. Can either pay it now and enjoy it immediately or pay in installments (with vig) and may never enjoy it. Prefer to buy nice cheap and sell reasonable but then what I find interesting is rarely what is desirable. Rebates are good. Or do like I do and restore it barely enough to be street legal, and then have fun driving the hell out of it while you finish restoring it. I've seen "projects" that were up on blocks for thirty years... that's thirty years of time wasted that they could have been driving it while working on it too.. Back in 2012, my 1965 Corvair was so beat up that the shredded convertible top canvas was blowing in the wind, the back seat crumbled when you touched it, and the gas came from a red plastic gas can bungeed in the trunk. But boy I had a hell of alot of fun driving it all over the city, putting it in car shows, bar hopping, meeting with the Corvair club, and going on first dates with it. That beat up $500 p.o.s. gathered admirers and picture takers wherever it went. I bought it out of someone's back yard in very bad shape, got it legal, and then eventually sold it to someone who restored it. I'd say I got my money's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 "gas came from a red plastic gas can bungeed in the trunk" too much Roadkill. Back in the early 70's had a $500 Corsa 'vert. Added trombones, quick steering arms, and replaced the 4 carbs with a QJ on a spider. Won a lot of autocrosses all over the midwest (rules for stock class were a lot looser then). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 On 12/12/2020 at 1:19 PM, Ed Luddy said: I'm currently up to my neck in a project car that I paid too much for. Problem is now it's apart and has been draining my wallet for close to a year with no end in sight. A week after I bought it a friend (also in the old car game) told me "Take a $5000 loss on it now before you start, because it's going to be far less than the loss you will take later" He was so right, and of course I didn't listen! Typically, the first loss is the best loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 (edited) What is the value of the car or any other product, It is very simple. The value of the product/car is: what the price a willing seller will sell to a willing buyer. Everything else does not matter. If the price of the car/product is more than what you want to pay for, then walk. Knowing when to walk can be the best piece of knowledge you can posses. Knowing when to walk has a lot of inputs including what you can afford? What is your hobby budget, $500.00 or $50,000.00, what is your time available, technical ability, storage availability, tools you have to maintain/put together the car, network of friends to help you enjoy your car, etc... and the list goes on. Any misjudgment on any of the above can put you in over your head and end up with a vehicle that becomes a parts donation piece that is sold for a fraction that you bought it for. Edited December 16, 2020 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Miller Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 I’m sorry this is a lot like saying “ hey I know you were really smart buying that Tesla stock in March for 200 and it’s now at 625 but you only paid 200 so I’ll give you 250” what someone paid has little to no bearing on what something is worth. And let’s be honest pretty much everyone in this hobby tries to get full market value when selling a car-this isn’t an “evil dealer” thing. All you have to do is check out the prices in the car corral at Hershey to realize that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Fan Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Shawn Miller said: I’m sorry this is a lot like saying “ hey I know you were really smart buying that Tesla stock in March for 200 and it’s now at 625 but you only paid 200 so I’ll give you 250” what someone paid has little to no bearing on what something is worth. And let’s be honest pretty much everyone in this hobby tries to get full market value when selling a car-this isn’t an “evil dealer” thing. All you have to do is check out the prices in the car corral at Hershey to realize that. Not the same at all. You are comparing an illiquid asset vs a liquid asset. If you have to sell the car today, what do you get for it? Probably much less that you paid for it. I can do that (sell it) with my Tesla stock every day all day long. There is actually a real market for Tesla stock, at least for now. It takes months and sometimes years upon years to sell some cars. That tells me there is no market at that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Miller Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) I don’t think that’s true anymore, that’s one thing the internet has changed-old cars are a lot more of a liquid asset than they used to be. Same with real estate-at least currently. Could be a function of low interest rates too though. every car has what I call a spot market-what you can get for it today. Of course that’s lower than it’s peak value normally-unless its a real hot car that touches off a bidding war no matter where or when it appears. which is why there are deals to be had if one pays attention and takes the time to go. in a normal year there’s an event or auction just about every weekend. the market has matured The point I was trying to make is one factor of why it’s immaterial what someone paid for a car at x auction is that there may have been other things in play that allowed a lower than expected result to occur- bad timing- bad promotion-bad presentation-wrong venue-bad juju whatever Edited December 18, 2020 by Shawn Miller (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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