BlackRX7Turbo

Pickups always have had better luck at resale value -- it may be what's helping them to stay as high as they are....

Unless you're buying a collectible car (e.g. a 12 cylinder Ferrari or a REALLY low volume car), just expect that costs will come down.... and look at it this way:

If you spend $15k for your RX-7... then had to turn around 2-3 years later and sell it for $12k, you spent "about" $3k for 3 fun years! (try and forget about the maintnenance, fixes, and any car loan interests if you had any!)

spoolin93r1

i just watched an FD sell for $7500 yesterday. granted it wasn't in the best of shape, it's still sad to see them selling so cheap

Fd3BOOST

iTrader: (7)

Neither does any car that is set up properly, namely the fd. Besides when is the last time you performed any "maintance" repairs on yours?
I say let the value keep dropping, one day I'll own a fleet.

SPOautos

Here is the difference between the RX7 prices and the Supra prices. If you notice the high Supra prices are the later model ones, the older ones are well into the teens and I know of a few people having a hard time selling them. You can still finance the newer ones. Once a car gets a old as a 1993 you cant get decent financing for it and not many people want to lay out that much cash. Even if you can get a portion of it financed your still going to be making a large down payment. I could walk into any bank and get 100% financing for a late model Supra or a new Vette or a WRX or blah blah blah.

Nothing kills the value of a car like not being able to finance it. Thats why large dealerships can get sush high prices for cars on thier lot (much more than when a individual sells the same car). The dealership can pull strings and get 100% financing where there is no down payment. Most banks wont finance those extreme high prices that the dealers ask.

Anyway, thats my .02 if the car could still easily be financed with no money down and 48 or more months then you could still get a lot for it. But its not going to happen.

Stephen

USCmatt

So is this what happens to the value of FD?

Veilside Kit + big *** wing + yellow steering wheel cover + 130,000miles stock auto FD = $4800

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...r=&cardist=340

jimlab

It's a good theory, but how do you think most people are getting their FDs these days? They're certainly not paying cash for them, not in most cases. They are apparently still capable of being financed, but not for much more than what they're worth stock.

The Supras you're talking about are pristine, low mileage examples of the last model years, not highly modified first years. A pristine, low mile 1995 FD is going to command the same premium, relatively speaking, because it's a chance to own a nearly new example of the last year. Do you really expect people to pay a premium for 100k+ mile '93s, especially given the FD's maintenance record? People can buy a 100k+ mile Supra and go BPU as soon as the parts show up. Someone buying a 100k+ mile FD has to be seriously thinking about when they'll have to replace the engine, turbos, or transmission. Do you understand why the average sale price is low?

And for the record, people have just as much trouble unloading highly modified Supras as they do FDs, and any other highly modified car for that matter. You have to find someone for whom the higher price is worth it, because a bank or credit union could care less if you have a solid gold intercooler or 20" wheels. They're not going to finance more than 15-20% over what the car books for, because it's not a wise financial decision if they end up having to repossess the car. The buyer is going to have to make up the difference in cash if they want to buy the car at your price, or find a cheaper one. This isn't something limited to the FD by any means.

Don't cry because you spent thousands of dollars on modifications and can't ask for it all back when you sell your car. Unless you can find someone who values your car more than you do, you'll end up selling for about what the market value is for an unmodified car in the same condition, plus a little if you're lucky. You all know this, or should. It's why all the 20B cars I've seen sell have been at or under $30,000, and why Jeff Witzer's pristine and highly modified CYM went for $23k or so, and so did Wael's.

SPOautos

Actually, I know quite a few people that had a very hard time finding financing for a 93 FD, most people I know either paid cash for it, made a very large down payment ($5K or more), or put it on a home equity line. But thats exactly my point as to why the prices are falling partly because of financing. Most people dont want to pay $5K+ down on a 12 year old car. If the bank will only finance $9K then guess what, your going to have a hard time selling it for more than $10K. Sure there is an exception here and there where a car is sold for much more than its worth but most of those purchasers are using home equity lines and not many of the purchasing market for our car has a home equity line.

If basically just goes back to the book value of the car and what a finance company is willing to finance. I used to have a car dealers lic and I can tell you first hand when you can't pull any financing strings for your customer your going to be selling cars at or very close to wholesale prices because no one likes to pay cash down for a car and most banks dont finance more than about wholesale price.

Hell, I wouldnt pay $5K down plus a monthly payment for a 12 year old RX7. Before I'd do that I'd just walk into any new dealership and get 100% financing with a very low interest rate for any new car I want.

jimlab

Isn't that what I just said?

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

yup and yet is definitely right, especially the way the automotive industry is moving, id give it another 2-3 years where its common to find fd's that currently go for about 12-14k in good condition to 8-9k..

areXseven

iTrader: (1)

I was offered 15,500.00 for my FD last week. (I put it up for sale last week for 17,500.00 O/B/O). But the gentleman (car is for his son) wanted to work out a "payment plan" with me. 5k cash down and the rest would be owner financed. That was a no brainer!!

His bank will only finance 7,500.00. He doesn't not want to get a personal loan (3,000.00) from another finance institution. I'm not going to sell the car for 12,500.00.

Bottom line. There are those who are willing to pay a good premium price for something they really want,.. and then there are those of us who are willing to reject a good premium offer. I appreciate my car too much.

DamonB

You can't see the forest for the trees The banks LOVE to lend us money but the bank isn't going to lend a greater amount of money than the car is worth! The financing problem doesn't lead to value issues with the car, it's the other way around.

Cars depreciate like crazy! I could go right now and get a loan for any $50,000 car I want but would any bank give me even half that at any rate to go buy an 11 year old FD? Hell no!

jimlab

Didn't you just buy it a few months ago?

areXseven

iTrader: (1)

17 months ago (May 2003). Time goes by fast when you've got a good sparring partner

jimlab

Hmmm... maybe I just noticed you for the first time a few months ago because you had the massive signature listing every bolt on the car.

areXseven

iTrader: (1)

Don't remind me.......

Fatman0203

Since the subject changed to financing, I had no trouble financing MY Fd, for 10,000. Problem was it was a 3 year loan not the average 5 year now that most people are doing. The interest was decent, I didnt expect anything great since I know it was for a used car. I put down 2,000, and I pay around 300$ a month, yea I know I could have an rx-8 with that cash (with a 5 year loan) but I cant stand being in aloan more than 3 years, i think its just insane.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

I think the bottom line is that if you are in a hurry to sell your car, you probably will not get top dollar. If you have a nice car, and can wait for the right buyer, you will get top dollar. In addition, some geographic areas will have higher selling prices. You might expect a significantly higher price in San Francisco than you would get in Denver.

academytim

As far as financing goes...I took a pretty big hit on my Prelude when I sold it, so I financed my FD 100%. I had no problem getting $14,500 from my credit union on a 5 year loan at 7.5% interest.

novadan67

The problem is that the smart buyer (likely the ones that will have more money) will know that if they are not in a hurry, they will not have to pay top dollar. *If* they are able to wait, a nice one will come along that someone is in a hurry to sell. The weather / geographic thoery is also valid. I got lucky when I was looking for mine and found a low mile stock 94 in Boise, ID for sale (in November) by an older guy who's wife was ready to have a kid. Needless to say he was in a hurry to sell.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Dan, I didn't say "smart buyer". I said "right buyer"

fd0

iTrader: (8)

FYI, I just bought my car from TurboJeff maybe two months ago. Even though the engine had problems, I still ended up buying it because it had most of what I wanted at the time of my purchase. There are buyers out there who are willing to pay for what you want. You just have to wait.

I'm not a very patient person when it comes to something I want "right now" so I end up paying more than what most people are willing to pay.

I also got a loan from my credit union and they told me the book value or what they were willing to finance the car for was around $12K for a '93. I think they use a version of the NADA guides for their prices.

Just to let you know that 1, there are buyers out there who are willing to pay, and 2, there are banks out there that will finance a 12 year old car with no problem. You just have to find them...

Good luck with your sell! Who knows, maybe I'll buy yours sometime soon.....

areXseven

iTrader: (1)

True. But you'll be hard pressed to find a Bank that'll finance a 12 year old vehicle for more than 30 months. Financing (example) a 10K note on a 30 month installment plan will probably approach a $400.00 per month payment.

But if that's the way you want it,...then that's what you get.!! (in the voice of AND paraphrasing Strother Martin's character in Cool Hand Luke)

Flybye

I'll give you guys a good example that I didn't have time to post this morning.

2 years ago, on the car lot, I had a 1989 or 1990 (forgot the exact year) Chrysler New Yorker. This thing was about as fugly as america got in the late 80s. But I respected it, and why? It only had about 50,000 miles on it for an almost 13 year old car. Sure the age was killing it, but the thing was in MINT condition. I'm talking this car was so clean, you could practically eat off the rug. I mean, the leather still smelled new, and it was fully loaded! It probably belonged to an older couple that used it to go around town and most likely kept it garaged.

Ok so I have this nearly mint butt ugly american car. It was clean, but who was gonna pay money for it when you could buy a mid 90s corolla for almost the same price? My boss said sell it for about $5000. I burst out laughing at him. Who in their right mind would buy such a thing for that amount of money?

Anyways, it DID sit for a few months. Almost no one looked at it, and the few that did wanted to slash the price down in half. Then one day.....a little old man came by and started to look at it in and out. He came up to me and the first things that started shooting from his mouth were "Oh my god! I had this EXACT same car. Same color, same interior, same everything, but someone hit me and it was totalled I loved that car! It's not too big and not too small." And it really wasn't that big of a car at all. It was actually about the size of a Corolla.

Well, we test drove it. He loved it, paid by cash, and he never even bargained with the price.

Point is, there are people out there who are willing to pay for what they are looking for. Regardless of what current market conditions are. There are people who don't give two hoots about little book values. They hunt for what they want, and when they finally find what they were looking for, they will lay down the cash.

But as Jimbo mentioned, there are times when you are pressed for cash, and you are forced to sell to the first person crawling at you with a wad of cash. You know noone has even looked at the car, and the first peep to pop up with money completly blinds you of what you were originally asking.

In my area, there are tons of black on tans. When I went shopping, it took me almost 6 months to find the FD that I wanted. I specifically wanted a Silver touring with the black leather interior. I came across countless highmileage silvers and even more silvers with that blood red interior. I even came across a few automatics which really depressed me. Almost every FD I saw was either Montego blue, red, or black. No surprise there since they were the most populat colors. It took me half a year, but at least I found the FD that I had wanted.

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

Good story!

I've owned 19 FDs, 2 "rare" white ones and 1 "rare" CYM, never have had a Silver one.... I like them.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

So true Flybye!!

When looking for my car, I wanted white or silver, 94 or 95. It took me 6 months to find the right car too. I finally wound up with a 94 white PEP, in very good condition with low miles (41K).