Hot Rods Low mileage claims from sellers -WTF?

"Yeah, but how many non-original miles are on it?"

 

Hello,

Sometimes the seller is telling the truth. Remember “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena…” Well, my mother told us to sell her 1973 Nova so she could get a smaller car to fit in the 2 car garage. She was the same old lady, but from Long Beach. We bought her car, as requested by her, in the fall of 1972. She picked it out from several colors and models at the local Chevy dealer. (V8, Auto, A/C, Power Steering, blue color, factory SS style wheels, etc.)

Since both brothers were now gone out of the house, she wanted her own car to do errands and shopping. She did not want a foreign car at the time. We all had USA made cars for years of driving around So Cal. Plus, she liked my dad’s blue 57 Buick the best, except that it did not have A/C.

After 13 years of driving the Chevy Nova, now, she wanted a smaller foreign car. Her friends all sold their big Chevys, Oldsmobiles, and Fords to get the smaller foreign cars. She told my wife and I that if we sold her car, we could keep any money we get from the sale. At the time, the sale came at a great time in our lives…a young couple with a toddler can always use money.

So, I drove the big lug of a car back to our house and proceeded to make up an advertisement in the local Pennysaver. (that was the hottest “for sale” section vs the big newspapers.) The AD had all of the usual stuff in it. But, the sales person at the Pennysaver said, “What????” A 13 year old car WITH ONLY 16000 miles. 16k divided by 13 years = 1230+ miles per year… She immediately called her friend, while I was still standing at the counter.

NOTE: My brother borrowed the car for a vacation to Wyoming for some camping and fly fishing. He put on 3000+ miles all over the Western states after the camping trip.

My family borrowed the car for an all-California Coast to the desert vacation trip in this Nova. We put on another 1400 miles of all kinds of elevation driving.

So, subtract 4400 miles from the total 16000 miles on the odometer, then my mom actually drove 11600 miles from her house, to shopping, friends, and the grocery store, etc. This works out to 11600 divided by 13 years (equals) grand total driven to 892 miles per year. Just think if she had bought a Corvette, Porsche or had actually kept the 58 Chevy Impala?? Nahhh…the Impala was an automatic, but, did not have A/C.

Jnaki

Hey, the internet says the 1973 Chevy Nova was one of the favorite cars for the year. So, what is not to like? In 1986, when the young couple came over on the day the AD came out, they brought cash and were amazed at the low mileage. The car was pristine inside and out. The car/motor just had a full detail and tune up, so it was running and looking perfect. It sold in one hour of the ad coming out locally.

Asking 18k, we took 16k , $100 dollars for every mile on the odometer. We were happy and so was the young couple on their first car together. To them, it was a new car. To us, it was plenty of old memories and an influx of much needed funds at the time.

 

Miss Belvedere (the '57 Plymouth buried in the time capsule in Tulsa) had low mileage and ran when parked.

 

Mileage, schmileage, who cares?
If you're in the market for a '36 Plymouth coupe, that is a very complete, straight, apparently rust free example. Obviously you'd want to see the car in person, if it's as good as it looks in the pictures the asking price seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

Any machine that sits idle for a long period of time is going to have problems, no matter the mileage. The longer it sits, the more it will deteriorate.

A many years old, well maintained, low mileage machine that has been in continuous use is a completely different deal. I have two vehicles like this and they are a couple of may best driving cars.

I bought my 1965 Ford Country Sedan (wagon, 352 V8, 4bbl, cruisomatic trans.) about 8 years ago with 81,000 miles on it. It ran and drove beautifully, everything in it worked, the original paint and interior were in very good shape. I drove it home to Phoenix from Pamona when I bought it (400 miles). Now, 8 years and12,000 miles later, I have replaced the fuel pump, replaced the Holley carburetor with an Edelbrock, and maintained the vehicle. The paint shows a small amount more wear (Arizona sun), the radio quit working and there is a rip in the front seat on the driver's side. I can drive this car anywhere, any time, any distance at freeway speeds with no worries.

20180331_131907-jpg by Mike posted Aug 29, 2018 at 1:51 PM

I bought my wife's 1964 1/2 Mustang Coupe (289 V8, 4bbl, cruisomatic trans.) about 10 years ago with 67,000 mile on it. Mechanically all it needed was tires and a front end alignment, it had an ok repaint and the interior was partially apart. Now, 10 years and 4,000 miles later, I have put the interior back together, I have replaced the water pump, replaced the Holley carb with an Edelbrock, and maintained the vehicle. The clear coat on the paint is now peeling badly (Arizona sun). Again, I can drive this car anywhere, anytime any distance at freeway speeds with no worries. Sorry, no pic for the Mustang.

 

I bought my 37 car from a little old man from Pasadena. The low miles were on parts that fell off 60 years ago.

 

18k for a '73 nova in 1986? are you sure it wasn't $1800?

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but something doesn't seem right here.

You sold a '73 Nova for $16,000 in 1986?
$1000 for every mile on a car with 16,000 miles would be $1,600,000.
I think there might be some typos there.

 

Hey Mike,
Thank you... a TYPO it is. It was 3:30am when I typed this story and I will go back to correct the biggest error I have seen. If it were 1.6 mil in 1986, we would have been extremely happy with a house on a oceanfront cliff in Laguna Beach !!! After that, we still would have plenty of left over for the necessities. HA! Thanks for the heads up.

Jnaki
Maybe I should type the day before and re-read it several times for those errors. It was one of the cleanest 13 year old Nova sedans around for 16k and it made someone happy for the price... a "plus" in our book.

 

Hey T,
There were other Novas for sale around 14k to 18k at the time. It was a going price for a popular car. My wife commented that my mom had to pay a little less for her new Honda Accord sedan with all of the extras. So, yes, it was 18k not 1800. The new Accord was around 15k. Market value and local extra charges made it different in other parts of the country.

Jnaki
So Cal retains high value for a super clean and well tuned/kept up, conditioned Nova or just about any car. This was one of them. If it had been any other car that we valued and liked at the time (A 73 RSR Porsche, Detomaso, or BMW 3.0 CSI), then we would have kept the low mileage car, despite the value. It was hard to drive such a wide car, even with power steering and A/C.

 

A story told to me by a customer, so believe or don't:

About 20 years ago, an elderly gentleman called wanting a carburetor kit for a 1931 Lincoln. Since that was a horrible carb that was generally replaced in 1932, I asked him to verify that it were original. He said the car only had about 600 original miles! Seems his Grandfather bought the car in spring 1931, and promptly died without a will. His uncles and aunts could never agree on the estate, and the car sat in a barn for 70 years! His Dad was the only one who married, so when the rest were gone, he was the lone heir. He got a lot more than just the car!

Car wasn't for sale, so I really had no reason to doubt the story. If true, too bad family got along so poorly.

Low mileage is important to some. To me condition is more important than mileage.

Jon.

 

I've owned dozens and dozens of vehicles over the past 5 decades, stopped counting years ago. I still have 6 or 7 out in the garage. One out there, an O.T. 70's muscle car reads around 89,000 miles. It looks like it has far far less. It actually has 289,000 miles. Nobody believes me when I tell them the actual truth. It's all about how you care for them.

 

Selling a '73 Nova for $16,000 in 1986 is a total mind blower. Original MSRP for a '73 Nova was $2618 (according to NADA), selling a 13 year old Nova (even a pristine one) for 6 times its original MSRP is mind boggleing. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just saying it's a total mind blower. Good on ya.

 

Sorry, but the price sounds too high to be true. In 1986 I bought (off a Cadillac dealers lot) a mint condition 1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille with 33,000 miles on it for $14,500.

 

You took the word right out of my mouth halfdozen. My first attempt at a "hotrod" back in '62 was a 35 Plymouth coupe, never got it finished, would like to take a stab at this one.