16V--What They're Worth

[mensanguy]

There's been a lot of discussion about what our coveted 16v'S are worth in past postings. 

 

Supposedly. something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, so here are some recent actual recent  sales figures to support it.

 

1989--70k miles--$5500 ( last year)

 

1989 -37k- $6100   6/02

 

1989- 52k-$6000  6/02

 

1989-3k-$????     6/02

 

From the data above, it indicates that as of now, they are worth at least   $5500-6000 in any condition. 

 

I haven't seen any 8V break that ceiling ( yet)

 

 

ps  I purchased my current 16v  w/20k on it for $5000 in 2016

 

[HghCmdr]

Purchased my 16V, 21,500 miles $6,000.  So that seems to be the market. 

[AdamsTC]

I bought a 91 6cyl for 5250 in Dec '21.  Mileage says 27K and it seemed right based on condition, but with the odometer issues these have who knows.  The way used car prices are right now, it's crazy these are so cheap! 

[marty14]

I bought a running 8 valve about 25 years ago for 1,200.00 and sold a headlight off it for what I paid for the car and then parted it out.

[Hemi Dude]

I remember well having to search for a new right side headlamp for my 89 TC back in ‘99. $1,400.00 as I remember.

I remember to this day, the chuckle in your voice when I inquired about that headlamp.

[gymowner]

Rick from Florida (16v_guru) here as a member, may be valuable at chiming in on this subject. He has known and been a part of these cars from the beginning and has multiple clients that he exclusively services their 16 valve TC's. All  are supposedly with ultra low miles. I think he knows this market price pretty well. One thing i've had on my mind is how close the "big 3" car makers  come to making legends then blow it at the last minute and cripple cars productions and success.  Example as with the TC. Think about this. The 1989 base corvette came with a v8 that produced 245 ponies at about 3200-3300 pounds. The 1989 Mercedes was about 3600 pounds with a huge v8 that produced about 270 ponies in the states.

 

The TC could have easily been rolled out as a  2.2 turbo, a 4 speed automatic instead of the 3 speed and with a few easy bin modification parts, produced 200 ponies at under 3200 pounds instead of the paltry 160 horsepower. The 16 valve could have been the " super halo" TC.  According to Rick, it can easily produce 260-275 ponies with some mods and upwards with more mods into the 300 horsepower range having the 5 speed Getrag manual... all while still being a 4 cylinder!

 

What  an easy marketing job and down right success these cars could have been! Chrysler could have made the '87 LeBaron's looks an evolution of the '86 model and postponed the TC likeness till about '92 or so. Trickle down is always preferred over down up in the auto styling departments. Throw on a power convertible top, have a digital dash option like the Allante ('87 LeBaron) and now a "sporty maserati" made for chrysler could have matched the Cadillac Allante's horsepower as an automatic and matched the SL560's ponies with 500 or so less pounds as the 16v. The TC has a much more luxurious interior than either the Allante or the SL560. Ive had 2 Allante's and one "87 SL560. Their interiors where not what i would have expected.  Chrysler could have even marketed the 16v as having more horsepower than a base '89 v8 corvette... all with a very fuel efficient lighter 4 cylinder! Sporty, luxurious, nimble, an Italian roadster with a much better stereo system than either the Allante or SL560 (ever hear the Becker in a SL?) at about 2/3 the price of the Allante and half the price of the SL 560. The MSRP could have even been in line with the Corvette convertible of $36,780 for the automatic and bumped the 16v into the $38-40,000 range (with correct marketing). These TC's would have sold like hotcakes!

 

I bring this up since these are the sorts of issues that keep cars like the TC from legendary status. Now these wonderful cars dont support the prices on the market that they truly deserve.

Edited June 29, 2022 by gymowner (see edit history)

[Does185]

Maybe an outlier, but I sold my 89 red 16v last year for $10k. 

Car had 42k miles and was in great shape.  Sale included quite few accessories that my father (Chrysler dealer) had accumulated like hardtop rack, dealers books, pewter model, TC cover, etc.