Hot Rods Cars for sale, or are they?

This could be a never ending discussion. When talking with the wife about buying, selling, or building cars, she always says I will never get my investment back when I sell. I always tell her to stop looking at them as an investment and that I build cars because I love doing it and it makes me stay active and engaged. Otherwise the couch would be growing out my ass! My philosophy is simple - priced too high ignore it - priced correctly someone will buy it pretty quickly. An example is a 56/57 Tbird I saw. It was a complete car in pretty good condition but was not running. Didn't need a lot to be running. Looked like the body was good and was pretty complete. I think it was priced @ $8500. I would have been all over that car if I wasn't just coming to the end of a build already. It sold quickly. And so it goes...

 

When I had my Ford first driving around in 2016, I was offered $25k for it that first week. I had about $19k in it at that point. Since then I have seen similar-ish cars with nice paint and interiors going for $12-15k. Now my break-even is closer to $25k and I know it would be hard to recoup 3/4 of that. So I drive it.

I look at the cars here, there are a few that have been for sale for over a year and they bubble to the top now and then. I have done a lot of buying and selling and I look for the red flags with these cars and they seem to pass the sniff test. I still question why seemingly nice cars are not selling for a good price. Things to consider, maybe they are not trying too hard, maybe this is the only place where the car is for sale, maybe not too many people outside of members know the classifieds exist. Possible the cars have sold and the ad is still up too. Maybe the cars have fatal flaws that are not covered in the ad.

Being retired opens up new scenarios, I can go fly out, buy the car and drive it home. I can have it shipped, buying sight unseen, which I have done and not been disappointed. Of course something local is a much more attractive deal on all fronts.

 

Hard to have "matching vin's on cars that didn't have actual vin numbers that started being required in January of 1969 That is when the states had to go to actual designated vin numbers rather than taking their pick of engine serial number or body serial number. I don't know how many "matching numbers" Chevrolet Advance design trucks adds I have seen but the numbers didn't match when they rolled off the assembly line.
As for high prices I think that is universal. there are always those who think that what they have is worth far more than it is simply because they see top quality cars bringing big bucks on the auction shows.

 

I know guy's who have built their own cars and spend in excess of $60,000 to $80,000 dollars doing it only to drive over to Daytona for their big Turkey Run car show and see cars very similar to theirs selling between $25,000 and $32,000
When my friend saw the caliber or cars for sale turned to me and said Jim these cars are even nicer then mine for half the money I spend to build it.
Right now it is cheaper to buy your dream car then it is to build it unless you love simply saying I build it myself over the past few years.

Jimbo

 

I guess that depends on the car, and your abilities. Some folks can still build stuff themselves that is worth more than they have in it. But if you have to farm it all out, and you gotta have the latest trendy stuff, then yeah, you're far better off buying one already done.

 

What most sellers don't seem to comprehend is if you had your car built, or built it yourself, once you drove it, it became a used car. Everybody knows that when you buy a new car and it hits the street it becomes a 'used' car and the price drops dramatically. Why should your hotrod be any different? Once that 100k Merc hits the street it's a 65,000 car. Why shouldn't your 100k built1932 Ford not take the same hit. Used is still used.

 

Try Racing.

 

car listed on here last october... asking price is every thing he spent restoring the car ...
not a bad car but not really a HAMB car
bumped 56 times ...the guy who posted it ... has 57 posts total ...
I belong to another message board where you cant post anything for sale until you have made 50 posts
maybe not such a bad idea
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Somewhere back in the '70s, somebody calculated what it would cost to build a brand new Chevy if you bought all the parts across the counter and assembled it yourself. Just the parts price was ridiculous, somewhere in the mid-high $30K range IIRC, no labor included. This is for a car with a listed retail of about $5K... So did that mean that your 'built' version was worth $40K? Of course not, it's just another Chevy once assembled.

The same mind-set is at work with some sellers. They're hoping to recover their investment but can't understand why there's little interest. The volume of money dumped into a car rarely has much to do with it's final worth. There are exceptions of course, but those are so rare they can be pretty much ignored for most buyers. While your car may be really 'special' to you, that rarely translates into the open market.

 

I still would like an opinion(s) on my last statement.

 

My 1927 T Tudor was built by a certified welder that worked for a huge company that produced parts for NASA and Boeing. So, his skills are just as good or better than what any chassis shops such as Art Morrison Pete and Jake , Jim Meyer etc . builds or sales. Does that make my chassis the same price ? Body sub rails are all new tubing and all new steering , suspension etc. Machine shop built engine , trans , rear done. I am more than willing to keep the engine /trans for the next project. The price listed you couldn’t get a shop to build it. It doesn’t need anything but a wiring harness, windows , lights and some seats and brake lines run . Reality I do have everything new here other than windows. No , it doesn’t have a title but you can get a reconstructed title and “Bobs your uncle”. So what gives ?

 

I see cars listed here that have been there for a long time. Years in some cases. I guess the owners either don't get it on a realistic price, or they really don't care if they sell it. The rod and custom market is soft for all but the finest examples. I do realize your baby is like a child and it is hard to give it away for a selling price

 

I would agree with a time limit for ads, certainly would make the seller rethink things of why it hasn't sold in X amount of days.
I myself find it a joke when sellers use the line "easy fix" "easy to find" "easy to get" in a way to try and cover up their own abilities to not have a piece or a repair made. If it was SO EASY why didn't you do it ???

 

I've got one that's made of gold nuggets.
Pay my price and I'll throw in the shaft.

 

Runs good. Just needs a transmission and a battery. LOL

 

Maybe cars don’t get finished because of major health problems? Changing a battery or installing that piece of door glass can be like be climbing a mountain. Don’t judge another person until you have been through their experience.

 

It doesn't/won't/can't run. It's assembled parts. And the seller clearly doesn't think the parts are worth getting a title for? If you were looking, what would you think?

Sorry, but you did ask.

 

One thing you're buying from a pro shop is after-sale customer service. Are you willing to hold the buyers hand after purchase if issues come up? Correct any problems that may not have been evident until further into the build? Have a relationship with all of your parts suppliers for warranty of their products after resale to the final buyer?

Unless you're willing to do all that, your stuff won't bring the same money as the pro stuff, no matter how good it is.

 

That's the issue, "want what I have into it" vs "what it is worth"

We could all put 40K into a Model A chassis but can ya get it?

 

Why don’t YOU get the reconstructed title? Cars with a title are easier to sell. Just curious.

 

Well, let me ask you this (and I'm not interested in what you are selling)

How much do you have invested into it?

What can I buy a new like-same chassis for?

So say I buy a 2200 IFS, another 1300 in a narrowed 9inch, I box the frame (36 Ford)...do I have a 4500 $ frame/chassis, or? Discount me buying the drop in, and plate to box it, or my labor...make it zero cost on both.

Do I have a 5K chassis? No.

But wait, I put XXX$ into this.

No.

 

It's hard for me, not being an expert, to know what to price my car. I have my car listed to what I think is a fair price (accounting for haggling down) but, maybe I'm out of my mind?

I browse the classifies to gauge where I should be but, perhaps all the cars are too high. And I know certain cars command high dollars but, I saw an ad for a primered roadster, "body only", for over 20K. Is that a good price? Not to me. Honestly, I see hunks of s%#t asking over 15k but they don't seem to sell. I want to sell. I will negotiate. But, I can't start the pricing at $500. and work my way up. That's why I think pricing starts high. Almost everyone selling expects to get beat up on price. So, I throw it out there and if something works out, that's great. If not, I still have a car to drive.

 

Don’t be sorry . I want your opinion. There are different situations. I could wire it up , fire off the engine, break it in and ta da !! Would it sell quicker? Maybe. But I have plenty of other things pulling on my apron string. Plus the engine/trans is optional . I am not made of money , but I would rather keep the /engine trans because they are renewed. Saves me a bunch of time and money for another project. But , maybe I should decide that I am keeping it and pull them out. Relist and let the party start. Last weekend I decided to sell some parts. Bottom line I want my shop floor , rafters , walls and driveway back . I want simpler not fifty things going on at a time. The engine can wait until the ‘48 F1 is on the road and then look for coupe. That’s the plan .

 

BINGO!!!!

 

Well I am not asking $10,000 for mine and it is new from stem to stern. . Crap box rat rods with butchered frames , a used engine/transmission and rear and probably used steering go for more. What it would take to get a new chassis built with all new parts and a decent body I think I am in the ball park.

 

And then they can make an offer.

 

That's the deal..."would would it take" well, are you or your weldor a Art Morrison, etc? So (not that I am) was going tpo want to buy a chassis, for say 6K, just numbers....and Am had it for that price, and that's what you want for yours...why should I choose your's?

Not trying to argues, like I said I have near 5K in a '36 Ford frame, I doubt I could even get parts cost out of it.

 

Let's see I haven't had a heartbeat in 5 1/2 yrs that wasn't induced by my pacemaker, my heart pump also only works at 40% due to the same lovely disease, it's called Cardiac Sarcoidosis, I also have Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, a back injury that put me out of work 15 yrs ago, 2 knee surgeries on my left knee and due for a third which they are afraid to do because of my heart condition, plus suffer from depression.
So you are exactly right "Don't judge another person until you have been through their experiences"

 

parts are the same as the car ad's tried to buy a steering column off here, made the deal, shipping and all then the guy asks me to pay the paypal fees for him ie: send it friends and family where it costs me, told him to keep it...........

 

People are often confused on this ....when you send as 'friends and family', the seller does not pay a fee to receive money and the buyer has little protection on a fraudulent transaction.Works great on the HAMB when you are dealing with people you can trust. If the buyer has their PayPal account tied to a bank account, they normally do not pay any fees. If your PayPal is tied to a credit or debit card, then you will pay a transaction fee regardless of how you send it.