1975 Lincoln Town Coupe $12,750 34,200 miles ** More a Rant **

[B Jake Moran]

Marketplace - 1975 Lincoln Continental · Town coupe | Facebook

 

1 owner garage kept all original everything works from the heated rear window to the radio with eight track. Feel free to call or text me with any questions you might have

 

**

 

For some reason I have started to save a lot more of these Facebook marketplace ads and I am seeing some, well most - like this one go on for 6-8 months unsold OR - drop off facebook when the seller simply gives up and takes down their listing. 

 

On my facebook marketplace feed, I can even delete an ad I have given up on and for some reason it pops up in my "messenger" that the post has been removed. 

 

More and more, I am sending a message "SOLD?"  and the reply is NO, I just took down the listing. 

 

So my takeaway from this is that (1) a lot of cars are over-priced and not selling and (2) the sellers are for some reason not paying attention and wanting to price adjust cars TO SELL.  

 

Meanwhile, some cars priced realistically and fairly are finding new owners.  Anybody else saving located for sale cars finding the same thing and what does that really say about the "driver class" or "project class" sector of the car market?

[John_S_in_Penna]

15 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

...I have started to save a lot more of these Facebook marketplace ads and I am seeing some, well most - like this one go on for 6-8 months unsold OR - drop off Facebook when the seller simply gives up and takes down their listing....More and more, I am sending a message "SOLD?"  and the reply is NO, I just took down the listing. 

That's a good observation, Jake.  It's a commentary,

not a rant!

 

I've noticed that the market is not as strong as most dealers'

ridiculous asking prices would mislead one to believe.

Dealers, being in the market full-time, should know what sells;

the one-time inheritor of an old car may see exorbitant

asking prices and, not knowing better, think they are realistic.

 

I'm glad there is sanity in most measures of the market.  

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[EmTee]

These and the similar Cadillacs are a tough sell these days.  Unless someone owned one previously or had someone close who did, there's little demand given the sheer size and reality of ~$4.00 per gallon gasoline.  Too bad, as this particular car looks like a nice, low mileage survivor.  It might find a home for $8 ~ $10K...

[John_S_in_Penna]

Here is a perfect case to illustrate Jake's point:

Another Lincoln, this one a 1979 "Williamsburg" Edition

town car with tan-and-yellow 2-tone paint, took a

long time to sell.  (And we don't know whether it even

sold;  its ad was merely taken down.)

 

Its last price was $9000--realistic.

 

Then, a dealer offered (and still offers) a nearly identical

car--with MORE mileage--for a greedy, insane $33,000.

If it's a consignment, shouldn't the dealer tell the consigner

what realistic prices are?  If the dealer owns it, why does

he harm his own business by pricing it skyward?

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Here's another case, in which the unrealistic asking

price of $21,000 came down drastically.  The seller--

probably a misled private party--accepted $9750 on

Ebay just 2 weeks after we noticed his $21,000 ad.

 

It's heartening to know that there are good cars for

affordable prices!

 

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

The Facebook ad is now marked "Sold."

 

For the record, the car was in Bennington, Nebraska.

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad:

 

 

[Rivguy]

Looks like a nice car. This week I was planning a post on my blog about over priced project cars. I went looking on CraigsList for examples and was surprised. i found a bunch of cars realistically priced with sellers willing to negotiate. In this case i was glad to be proven wrong.I'll admit that  I'm stuck on prices from over thirty years ago, a 1,500 car from back, then is going to be around 7,000 today. The buyer always has the power, make a fair offer and if the buyer doesn't take it, leave your contact info. The seller might become more realistic over time. 

[George Smolinski]

On 7/3/2023 at 7:46 AM, John_S_in_Penna said:

Here is a perfect case to illustrate Jake's point:

Another Lincoln, this one a 1979 "Williamsburg" Edition

town car with tan-and-yellow 2-tone paint, took a

long time to sell.  (And we don't know whether it even

sold;  its ad was merely taken down.)

 

Its last price was $9000--realistic.

 

Then, a dealer offered (and still offers) a nearly identical

car--with MORE mileage--for a greedy, insane $33,000.

If it's a consignment, shouldn't the dealer tell the consigner

what realistic prices are?  If the dealer owns it, why does

he harm his own business by pricing it skyward?

This is the main reason why I have issues with collector car dealers. I know there are honest ones, but it seems like they are few and far between. On a side note, it would be interesting to know what some dealers actually paid for a car they are flipping on the tv shows.

[B Jake Moran]

The seller of the Lincoln and I remained cordial.  He did lower the price from time to time.  I assume he took an offer in the $11,000 range. But not sure.  

[John_S_in_Penna]

14 hours ago, George Smolinski said:

This is the main reason why I have issues with collector car dealers. I know there are honest ones, but it seems like they are few and far between. 

One AACA past national President (now deceased)

told me that he knew of only 2 collector car dealers

he could trust.  I don't know which ones.  I'd like to

think there are many more.

[Matt Harwood]

No car dealer sets out to be dishonest, but the clientele often pushes us into a no-win situation where the less said, the better. It is often mistaken for deceit or ignorance. I used to provide detailed descriptions and tell people everything I knew about the cars. Several lawsuits later, well, I'm a little less detailed and a lot more reliant on agreements and disclaimers. I'll tell you that it has tires and doors and a windshield, but if you want to know more, you'd better come see it for yourself. 

 

I also haven't lived with the car for the last 10 years. Maybe the last two weeks. I don't know the detailed intricacies of how it works or what every part it has or where it spent its life. I only know what I can see, and since more than 230 cars a year pass through my shop, I don't have time to get intimate with every single one. You have concerns, it's YOUR job to protect YOU, not my job to be a safety net.

 

Worse, people tend to ignore what we DO tell them, because they just figure we're crooked dealers trying to make a buck. Never mind that I have 40 years of experience with old cars and insights that few others share--I'm just a shady car salesman; you can't trust me, right?

 

Adjust your expectations for what a dealer can know and understand that buyers tend to blame dealers for problems far more often than they blame individual sellers (see gwells' post about his drive home in a Model A that was rife with undisclosed problems). For the hassles, yeah, we expect to be compensated.

 

No dealer sets out to be dishonest, but I can probably understand how a dealer would get to the point where he doesn't care much about the clientele anymore.

[Rivguy]

Dealing with the public can often be a headache, and dealing with car aficionados, who might be naive, mis or uniformed, but expect perfection, would have to be particularly stressful. Then add that you are dealing  with what I consider high priced collectible cars, and I can't say that I'd  want that job. But collector cars are all about enthusiasm and dreams, I can't imagine a dealer lacking in enthusiasm and commitment selling many cars.

As I always say, no one needs a vintage car. You can take that same money down the street to the new car dealer and buy something that will delight and satisfy you ,and it comes with no miles and has a warranty. I imagine that most customers don't need much convincing, they just need their Wife's permission and a financing plan. 

I appreciate all your contributions to the forum, and try to learn everything that i can.  

[George Smolinski]

9 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

No dealer sets out to be dishonest, but I can probably understand how a dealer would get to the point where he doesn't care much about the clientele anymore.

If you are/want/have to be dishonest to sell ANYTHING, or if you don’t care much about your clientele, then it’s time to find a different occupation.

[John_S_in_Penna]

12 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

...but the clientele often pushes us into a no-win situation where the less said, the better.

Matt, thanks for the answer from your perspective.

It gives a good balance to the discussion.

 

I can see that some dealers are trying to avoid giving

detailed written descriptions about their cars' conditions.

Instead, they drone on about the history of the marque,

and then merely list the options the car has!  But from

the customer's perspective, a forthright dealer will do his

best to describe all the pluses and minuses;  then,

protect it with a disclaimer.  That's the best of both worlds.

 

And we still haven't addressed why too many dealers

price their cars at double the actual value, or more.  Is it

because an occasional car can truly sell high, and they

want to catch that possibility?  Prices so optimistic turn

me away, and I don't even try then to negotiate.

[B Jake Moran]

I did not start this thread to bash dealers.  99% of my "saved" cars from facebook marketplace are from the private sector. Many of them are family members placing cars on facebook marketplace and many provide the phone number of the actual owner.  These transactions or facebook set ups are fraught with issues.  

 

You call the actual family member and they seem confused or can offer little information about the car.  

 

Or a wife places the car on facebook marketplace for a husband and both pretty much forget about the ad.  I am somewhat guilty of that too. I placed an ad selling my living room chair I use several weeks ago and finally received an inquiry and thought oh yeah, I do have that on facebook.  

 

I do not always look for older collector cars on my searches.  I would not mind getting a newer Mercedes or similar car.  I can't tell you how many times these are offered by dealers.  So now I can almost spot a newer Mercedes dealer ad from a mile away, as the saying goes.  

 

I ask " Let me guess, you are a dealer and this has a salvage rebuilt title?"   Answer: Yes.  "Do you have any repair or maintenance history on the car?"  "No".  I just bought it at auction this way.  They buy them to drive around on their dealer plate for awhile looking cool driving an S Class Mercedes.  

 

As for Matt's comments regarding getting sued for misinformation and now providing less information (my paraphrasing) this has been my experience.  It's a big risk buying a $65,000 old car.  All I want are paper records of work done.  That helps inform me of what the car has and may need.  One of the last cars I sold was a 1990 Buick Reatta convertible.  It had a crapload of repair and maintenance documents, which were provided to the next owner, and so on.  

 

What's wrong with that?  Instead I believe some dealers - even on simple used vehicle trade ins of modern cars and trucks - the 1st thing they do is toss all the saved records.  There is now some digital footprint, but Carfaxs are $25 each and dealers don't like you bothering them for past records on line.  

 

I would not decribe Matt Harword or Tom Laferriere as "bad" dealers.  we just play in different sand boxes.  Anyway, this rant was not about dealers but about watching the marketplace from my saved finds.  This fellow with the Lincoln, he did drop the price, but there is another Town Coupe very close to me where he is delusional and wants $20,000 after 7 months of crickets.  

As the old saying goes "it's his car." But then - what is point here?  If I really want to sell my living room chair, and I don't, I'll drop the price from time to time.   If sellers really want to sell their car, they should price adjust once per month in my opinion. 

 

The fishing expeditions drive me nuts. Greed.