Do you find yourself sometimes resisting the urge....

[keithb7]

To update a seller who is out of touch with the vintage Mopar hobby? Crazy asking prices because the car is old. It's rotten. It's priced out of the market. It doesn't run.

The threat..."When I get it running in the spring, sell price will be much higher!" I bite my tongue and let it go. Sometimes I do want to send the  seller a message and say, "friend you are way out to lunch. If you really want to sell that car, (and I ain't looking, nor interested) you really need to be in xx,xxx price range."

 

Here's my latest example. A 1938 Dodge.  This one is listed for almost exactly what I paid for my car, that at least fired up and drove ½ way up the trailer ramp before it gave up.

 

Pic as seen rusted in the field with "amazing patina". Asking price $3400 CDN.

Pic 2 my car as found aside from the new tires. First day I had it running on the street. Maybe I got lucky when I paid $3500 CDN? I'm not so sure. I keep pouring money money into it. Expecting .25 return per dollar some day. Am I the spoiled brat here because I think that the rusted '37 Dodge with the great patina is worth $500 tops? I could maybe use the diff, steering gear box, glass, etc...Yet I need to go drag it home and have it sit in my yard for months, maybe years as I part it out. Putting in my time and effort also selling parts to keep other old cars on the road. 

 

I dunno. Maybe I am jaded? $500 tops...

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by keithb7

[Sniper]

I hear you.  I agree.  But I am also content to let the seller sit on his gold mine til is rots away altogether. 

 

 

[RobertKB]

That Dodge is sad. A few usable parts but $500 CDN would be top dollar. It’s basically scrap value with a bit added for a few parts someone could use. $3400 is lunatic range. 

[Tooljunkie]

Seems to be the norm. I see so many rotten cars with a ridiculous asking price,listed for sale forever. 
i have seen some good deals too, but typically so far away that it keeps me from jumping on it. I really cant use my last purchase as a baseline, as i got it really cheap. Parts truck was 1/2 of that and a 3rd one was given to me. 
 

i base my prices on useable parts, and scrap value. As well the greater the distance the less im willing to spend. 
 

of course, running/driving and working brakes changes everything. 
 

[Dan Hiebert]

I think $500 would be generous for that car, unless I actually needed more than one or two parts from it.  All those "reality" shows where they gladly pay $20K for a $5K car are ruining things.  I used to entertain myself by browsing sites to see which cars or trucks I would jump on if I had the space, now I peruse them so see how ridiculous the prices are getting. 

[Worden18]

The reason people do listings like that is they're hoping there's one fool out there who will pay their ridiculous asking price.  All they need is one buyer.  It's been sitting there for 65+ years, so another 65 won't matter to them.  Another reason is they hope a potential buyer might offer them 1/3 of their asking price, therefore allowing them to pocket 4 times what that wreck is worth.  Same thing happens on eBay with buy it now prices. Resist the urge to email anyone.  Spend those moments admiring your own car.  That's what I do ?

Edited February 1, 2021 by Worden18

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have given trying to tell anyone anything in most areas except personal.  Either like Worden said, they are hoping for a miracle or a fool or just cannot accept the fact that their treasure is not worth at least as much as the  Meacham Auction cars on TV are.  Most will either get huffy or sullen and since I never expect to be in the market for another old car I find I just no longer care.

[T120]

I suppose a reasonable minimum price a person would expect to pay would approximate the scrap value. I don't claim to be a expert in negotiating a purchase price and because of my interest in old cars I have paid more than others would both for cars and parts I've bought...Depends on the value I place on whatever the item is and my willingness to pay the price the owner is asking.

A story...regarding one of the cars I have...A previous owner of the vehicle had been searching for a missing piece of stainless trim that was difficult to find,he had almost given up when in his travels he spotted the needed piece of trim in fine shape on a car in a farmer's field,he contacted the owner of the car and asked if he could purchase the trim,the fellow was kinda hesitant on agreeing until this previous owner showed him a $100. bill.Almost before he had a chance to put the bill back in his wallet the fellow had the piece of trim off the car and handed it to him.?

So,I guess the take-away is, you never know when an opportunity may unexpectedly present itself and it helps if a person has a few crisp $100. dollar bills in his wallet.?  

Edited February 1, 2021 by T120
correction

[T120]

I dearly love the MoPars I have  and don't want to rile anyone on the forum, but - the piece of trim I was referring to in the previous post belongs to the rear quarter on my '50 Meteor coupe, (the grille centre is a '49)..

[RobertKB]

Years ago, when I was restoring my ‘48 Dodge D25 club coupe I needed to replace a back window which had been shot out. Even then it was a hard piece to find as it was larger than the sedan rear window and unlike the rest of the glass it was curved. I finally came across a club coupe with only one piece of glass in it......the rear window. Found the owner and he said give me $20 and you can take whatever you want off the car. I took the rear window with good rubber moulding, both doors, trunk, hood, and a few other things. Sometimes you get deals but that was a long time ago.
 

Still got that rear window in my coupe. 
 

 

Edit......... Ha ha, found a picture of my coupe when I first got it and had covered the missing rear window with a garbage bag to keep out the worst of the weather. 
 

Edited February 2, 2021 by RobertKB

[Dan Hiebert]

When I was working in New Mexico my Station covered the State's seven southeast counties.  Lots of territory, virtually untraveled roads, etc.  I always kept a couple of crisp new $100 bills in my wallet.  If I ran across some derelict car that I could use parts from, or some other item that the rancher/farmer/owner put out in a field and forgot about, I could usually score what I wanted with one of them c-notes.  Once we moved to Michigan, that went away quickly, that's where I first started running into the overinflated values on just about everything, especially older cars.  

[JBNeal]

On 1/29/2021 at 9:17 PM, keithb7 said:

...

Pic as seen rusted in the field with "amazing patina". Asking price $3400 CDN.

...Maybe I am jaded? $500 tops...

When I see something like this with an asking price of $X500, I'd pay that price only if there was an aluminum briefcase on the front seat filled with X grand in non-sequential Hamiltons...high prices keep away the tire kickers and only the talented negotiators step up, with the gift of gab to drive a good bargain and folding $$$ to back it up.  The only time I have attempted to negotiate with a platinum dealer such as this was when I spotted the Spring Special in a Craigslist ad for a '54 Dodge pickup, price $1.  When I showed up to survey this diamond in the rough, that geezer said he'd take 3 grand for it, with no title nor key nor tires that would hold air long enough to roll onto a trailer.  We chatted a bit, agreed on a price, and when I showed back up with the trailer a few days later, he knocked another 200 hunnert off the price, which was still a few hunnert more than I wanted to pay for the beast...but this ol' geezer was obviously in bad health, so I justified the extra expense for his last case of Jack before he started pushing up daisies.  Sure enough, a few months later, his daughter calls me up to tell me of his demise and tried to talk me into buying more of his stuff.  Apparently, of all the "treasures" on his property, I was the only taker.  And so it goes...

[keithb7]

Seems we're all seeing this situation in our various locations. Most Mopar folks here seem to be on a pretty even keel towards realistic values. 

 

These days I still drive past the 1949 straight 8 NY'r that the owner had high hopes for. My offer was declined. I'm pretty sure that today I'd be able get it for my price offer. However since that time I picked up my '38 Ply. I've little time or interest in parting out the NY'r these days.

Edited February 2, 2021 by keithb7

[Eneto-55]

Back in 76 my oldest brother & I were driving through the country west of Omaha, Nebraska, car spotting, and stopped in at a farm and 'bought' a 37 Dodge for 10 bucks.  Had the registration card still on the steering column, and the owner had the title, too.  Problem was, we didn't have a trailer, and it took a couple of weeks to find one to borrow, and when we went back, someone else had given him $20.00 for it (and hauled it off already).  Gotta' be on the ball.  We kicked ourselves for not paying for it, and taking the title.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Eneto-55

[T120]

6 minutes ago, T120 said:

Was at a swap meet once and spotted something I was interested in...The vendor had wandered off and another prospective buyer approached me and said,"I'm dealing on this".... In other words.......?  - I accepted that, but anyhow I kinda hung around for a while - the other fellow left and suddenly the vendor reappeared,obviously  the other guy had annoyed him, I politely asked the price on the item as it wasn't marked and the price he was asking was actually less than I was willing to pay. I bought it.

 

[49D-24BusCpe]

    I was at the Long Beach CA Performance Swap Meet about thirty years ago. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, probably just some 'goodies' for my '65 A-990 Race Hemi Plymouth.

    Anyhow, down at the end of one of the rows, I came upon a serious 'goodie' - a NOS grill medallion emblem! I asked the fella what he wanted for it, and he told me that guy already had TOLD him he would take it.

    I looked at him and said, "You're looking at guy who just offered you $150 for that part!". He looked back at me and said, "I'm looking at a guy who just bought that part!".

 

    Moral of the story. PAY for it, and TAKE it right then.

[48Dodger]

"Wildcat Mopars" and other mopar wrecking yards have been telling for the last 10 years.....over seas markets are driving our prices up. Wildcat sold 5 or 6 E bodied cars to Saudia Arabia, and another E body to South Africa. The guy in Grizzly, Ca told me he hated to sell to locals because he got so much for parts over seas. I'm not getting any younger, I used to get 68 Chargers for nothing in 1985.......last time I looked, a beater with no motor is 25 grand.

 

48D    

[linus6948]

I have a buddy who lives in Australia who more than once has had ebay auctions sent to me because the sellers would not ship overseas. He is a middle-class tool and die maker and what he is happy to pay for correct Mopar parts for his car amazes me never mind the shipping cost to send down under. Our cars are no longer just cars they are pieces of art and as it has always been, a piece of art is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[Brent B3B]

I am with sniper, I find myself resisting the urge on price but, not on the year or size.

don't list your 1 ton as a 3 ton or your 53 as a 48! I will call you out on it ?

 

that said, I will also take advantage of you not knowing what you have... LOL 

[Sniper]

On 2/2/2021 at 1:55 PM, keithb7 said:

Most Mopar folks here seem to be on a pretty even keel towards realistic values. 

 

Ha, they call us cheap or stingy.  I prefer not stupid myself.

 

I bought my 51 for $4k in Sep 2019, felt that was kind of high myself BUT it was complete, in pretty good shape and with a bit of redoing some previous hack work was driveable.  Some rust, mostly from a hack repair job, but nothing visible on a casual inspection.  So i was willing to pay a bit extra.  Thanks to this place I've found some parts I needed, good sources of information and experience and dare I say it maybe a few friends even.  

 

I have definitely spent too much on it even not counting the purchase price, but I don't care. 

 

Well, I got side tracked, lol.  I meant to include that I have seen other 51 Cambridge CC's for sale way crappier than mine for way more too. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Sniper
got side tracked

[kencombs]

On 2/3/2021 at 10:34 AM, Brent B3B said:

I am with sniper, I find myself resisting the urge on price but, not on the year or size.

don't list your 1 ton as a 3 ton or your 53 as a 48! I will call you out on it ?

 

that said, I will also take advantage of you not knowing what you have... LOL 

Yes to all that!

 

I will offer information if facts are wrong.  But what one asks for , (or buys for), their property is none of my business.  If they find a buyer at the asking price, good for them.  If not, they now have a choice, continue to own it or lower the price 'til they don't.   If it is something that I'd like to own, I make an offer, but never in a disparaging way.  Just state what I can offer.

 

On the flip side, I've paid way to much (in some opinions, not mine) for several things.  But, I've also found some real bargains, IMO.  It all evens out.

[MackTheFinger]

On 2/1/2021 at 6:55 PM, T120 said:

I dearly love the MoPars I have  and don't want to rile anyone on the forum, but - the piece of trim I was referring to in the previous post belongs to the rear quarter on my '50 Meteor coupe, (the grille centre is a '49)..

That's a pretty car right there..

[MackTheFinger]

Too many people ask crazy prices for stuff but there's another side, too. I really dislike people who stop to ask about a car that isn't for sale in the first place and then start saying how much they hate to see a car go to waste, etc, etc... It's a sure way to get on my bad side..

[Sniper]

On 2/4/2021 at 6:45 PM, MackTheFinger said:

Too many people ask crazy prices for stuff but there's another side, too. I really dislike people who stop to ask about a car that isn't for sale in the first place and then start saying how much they hate to see a car go to waste, etc, etc... It's a sure way to get on my bad side..

 

One time I left a note on a Duster that I had seen setting for years near my folks house.  Just basically said if you want to sell it give me a call, with my number.  I was looking for a daily driver and that would have fit the bill.  Never got a call and never got upset about that either.  I had my 72 Swinger anyway.

[plymjim]

  Supply & demand. We are demanding way more flathead cars & parts

than the Chrysler corp. is manufacturing, right? 

  I gave a guy $40.00 for this "38. Oh, did I mention, that was in 1965.

Want to guess what a wheel cylinder costs now?