rant: old classic cars prices

[1974dodgecharger]

I have another rant tonight due to OCD kicking....

I scour craigslist for old cars since I like working on them I like the challenge of trying to get them to run after sitting for umph years.  Usually old car prices are pretty darn cheap until I think 2000 year hit and then it exploded.  I mean even old cars like olds delta 88 the 4 doors with winsors engines etc, I like to get running.  Now it seems last 4 years or so the old cars like 60s up to 85 years have gone up in price and I cant just go out and buy me a 500 dollar junker and get her running again.  The prices people ask for these are to me just insane I mean come on a toronado people are asking 10k for these cars yes theirs do runs and looks ok for a 40 plus year old car, but really.

I dont know what has happened in the last 10 plus years for this explosion to happen to old classic cars, but maybe its becuase people hate the new cars that are out?  So it drives old price cars up?  Even junker cars like a old dart that has no engine or tranny people are asking 3k plus I just have a hard time believing all of these.  Maybe im just a cheap scape or its all these television shows that show you that you can get a old car running and turn a profit on all these classics.

Yet when people want to buy my charger they want to buy it for 10k, but when I look for a charger people want 25k plus for something in the same shape as mine  

I can get a car in the 90s up to 2000 like a honda civic, corolla, etc.. with air conditioning, power steering, great daily driver than any of the old cars for a better price and the modern cars have more conviences than the old cars every did.

end rant....

[Mike DC]

 
The US dollar has been inflating like crazy in the last 15 years.  It's probably lost over half its value in realistic terms.  That's a big part of the reason why $10,000 is the new $4,000.

[myk]

Well like you said the hobby has taken off over the years, and what Mike mentioned just makes it worse for common enthusiasts like most of us.  There are multiple ways to look at this: back in '94 when I picked up my Charger the best and worst of these cars could hardly be GIVEN away, which was great if you were into old cars and had a little money to spend.  On the down side, parts availability isn't what it is today, and if you were an old-car-outsider like me who wasn't into Mustangs or Camaro's but Dodge Chargers well....good luck trying to find sheet metal or even a freaking glove box liner...

[Cooter]

Cool sells. Older cars are cool. Even the Dart. People will pay out the ass to attempt to be different. Look at how many are jumping on the "gotta have stupid wheels, for stupid brakes that will never see a track" bandwagon. All in an attempt to set themselves apart as old car owners who 'claim' to "drive" theirs. I remember a time when it was just enough to own a 69 Dodge with 14" tires.

[Ghoste]

It was boomers cashing in their 401k's and willing to pay whatever it took to have that nostalgic dream car from their high school years.  It caused a feeding frenzy and then the bubble burst and they were all caught with their pants down.  Many are still trying to crawl out from under bad purchase decisions.

[F8-4life]

I agree with the rant,
My charger and cuda dreams are out....now for a 4 door Monaco!

[1974dodgecharger]

I agree with the rant,
My charger and cuda dreams are out....now for a 4 door Monaco!

I looked for one of those too bu NO people want 5k plus for this too now.

[ws23rt]

This rant is all too familiar. I have heard it and felt it for forty years.

The market for  classic cars does move up and down and for many reasons. I wonder if there is a real difference now vs 10 years ago or 20.

The common theme is that the prices are high.  We all see the asking prices and tend to think that they reflect the value. It does not. It only tells what a seller thinks the car should sell for. No one want's to sell a car and find out they could have sold it for more.

How cool it would be to see the selling prices as opposed to the asking prices.  Than we would know the real value at the present time.

Another aspect I see in this mix is a very special car.  (the eye of the beholder). A lot of sellers think they may have something extra special in their car. The real world is that something extra special in a classic car sells to a very small market group. That group may not be looking every day for that special car that moves them.

Sellers that need to sell will do so for a fair/good price.  Buyers that really want something need to beware and know what they are buying.   ( I ranted enough to justify 4 cents)

[RallyeMike]

Maybe im just a cheap scape

First of all, the term is "cheapskate". Get it right so you can proud of it 

Inflation has continued down it's merry path and every year more and more cars get parted and junked. More inflation + less cars + more people = higher prices. But why worry? So you used to buy a wreck for $100, get it running and sell for $400. Now its $1000 and $4000. The margin is still there. You can still have fun and make a buck.

[ws23rt]

Maybe im just a cheap scape

First of all, the term is "cheapskate". Get it right so you can proud of it 

Inflation has continued down it's merry path and every year more and more cars get parted and junked. More inflation + less cars + more people = higher prices. But why worry? So you used to buy a wreck for $100, get it running and sell for $400. Now its $1000 and $4000. The margin is still there. You can still have fun and make a buck.

I agree. We are by nature cheapskates.   To say otherwise is to tell an obama.
Let's all admit it and move on.

[Aero426]

All collectibles will go up and down depending on the market.   We are probably "over the hump" and headed slowly back down the other side as far as garden variety muscle goes.  For those cars, I don't think 2005 will ever be back.    It you can play the waiting game, time may prove to be your friend.     The bad news is that the cost of living will continue to increase and suck more money out of our wallets.

[Ghoste]

I agree with you Doug.

[Lord Warlock]

The newer generation of youth owners interested in cars, knows that you no longer have to scrap old cars that are old, they part them out instead, knowing that they can get between 3k and 7k just for parts that some of the older cars have that are reusable by collectors, so finding old heaps for 500.00 is going to get harder and harder to find.  I haven't seen many beater cars around here for less than 2500, anything that can be driven daily as regular transport that is, 5 years ago i got a truck for 1500, 2 years ago I had trouble finding anything comparable to the truck for less than 3k, in fact it was closer to 4k for most choices. 

I don't mind working on older cars, but have little patience to do it on the newer ones. The collector market has been around since before i got my first car, it will be around when i'm dead and gone, and there will always be someone that thinks the cars are too expensive.  I've been complaining about prices of new ones since i was 20, they always seem to be about 5 to 8 thousand higher than i'm comfortable paying, and they keep going up no matter how my salary increases they always stay out of reach, until I just said screw it, and bought one when chance brought it within reach, if i'd held on to my old car a year more I wouldn't have been able to swing it.  Like now, If i decided to trade my challenger in, i could get a decent trade in value for it, or sell it privately for well over what I owe left on it, could actually get into a 50k car now for the same payments i'm making now, but that won't last if i hold on to the car much longer....too bad I'm not ready to trade the challenger yet, it only has 23k miles on it.  Got lots of life left. 

[Aero426]

Forget about full size cars for a second.   Do you remember how popular Hummel figures used to be?    Well, they aren't any more.   For the most part, the collectors are dead.   Do you have a bunch of valuable old plastic model kits?    Here is another example of what is happening.   I took this pic at a local hobby shop a couple weeks back.    They buy up collections or sometimes estates offered to them and have an annual sale of built ups, scratch and dent, old out of production kits,  decals, chrome pieces, instruction sheets,  you name it.    I jokingly call it a bunch of fifty something year old guys fighting over broken model cars.   They were lined up outside 90 minutes before opening at noon.   It's like a feeding frenzy.

Anyway, look at the age of the guys in here.   Who is going to replace them in another 15 years?   Nobody.   This is a game with a finite ending.    If you have old kits  that you think you might want to cash in on down the road, the market is likely to change.    If you don't care and just enjoy them for the pleasure they give you, ignore this and  carry on!   If you covet that mint in box MPC '68 Charger kit like I do,  it won't be $200 forever.  

[Ghoste]

Most there look more 60 than 50.  (point well taken)

[Cooter]

Sorry to hust your bubble here, but there are still $150.00 cars out there. I offer my GL in 'before and after'....

How many are willing to attempt restos are what's the difference. Once you get in the hobby looking to make a living off the cars I love, you deserve to get hosed. In fact, I hope you lose your ass.

[Ghoste]

Man I have to say I haven't seen a 150 dollar one in about 30 years.

[War wagon]

Man I have to say I haven't seen a 150 dollar one in about 30 years.

I have to agree with Ghoste the days of finding cars for $150 are long gone. At least in southern Ontario lol.
If you aren't in this hobby for the love of the cars, your in the wrong hobby.

[Cooter]

I know one.....missing everything, including title...little rough too....how many wanna drop $200.00 is the key to my point.

[wingcar]

Whenever you start talking, "collectable" the picture becomes a bit clouded as many factors shape a given market.  With older cars many feel their rusted out relic in the backyard is now a valuable collector's item due to watching too many of the high dollar auto auctions on TV.  Plus, thanks to our wonderful government (and father time) there are less old cars out there today.  (When was the last time you saw a Pinto or Vega on the road).  And, the government has been on a "scrap it" kick for years, including the infamous "cash for clunkers" program a few years back.  You can believe more than a few interesting cars went to the junkman during that stupid and wasteful government program.   And, while many will argue that only four door cars and others of no value went to the junk yard....many of those unwanted four doors could have been a source of parts for our two door collectables.   Yes, our government would love to see everyone in a new 'Smart Car' (talk about an oxymoron), or a Toyota Prius.....no thank you, I'll keep my dinosaur burning Mopar!    There maybe still some descent $500 dollar cars out there, but they are few and far between as most are really nothing more than parts cars.   As for $150 dollar cars......I never saw one of those even back in the day.......

[odcics2]

 Plug your numbers in here and see what it was worth before and now...

You'll wanna bookmark this for the future!

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

[JB400]

Hate to say it, but people have caught on to what we're doing and are wanting their fair share.  My suggestion it to move the age limit of the cars you enjoy working on and flipping.  I'd start looking for anything mid 80's to mid 90's instead.  Besides the obvious Camaro and Mustang, there are T birds, Cougars, Cutlass's, Mark 5's, and several other cars that offer themselves up for being acquired cheap, and yet can still be fun to work on.  Several ideas that work on our cars work for these newer ones as well.

[Dino]

You can still get model A's real cheap.  They did make one or two of those...

[Ponch ®]

I'd start looking for anything mid 80's to mid 90's instead.  

saw a two door Diplomat on CL recently. dude wanted like $3000 for it. 

[hatersaurusrex]

My dad was just telling me last night how he bought a '59 Ford one winter in Detroit for $50 bucks.   It was iced into the parking lot of his shop and the guy couldn't move it all winter, and went down from $500 to $50 just to get rid of it.    My dad and uncle went out there and unburied it, and he drove it for another year before trading it (and my Mom's VW) on a '70 S23 Fury.    Sadly, that was the only Mopar he ever owned, and it's long gone.

This was 1971.   This was a running driving 11 year old car for the 2014 equivalent of about $300 bucks.   It had low mileage and nothing wrong with it.   Don't think anyone these days would say 'Hey, I've got a 2003 Ford Taurus sitting out there you can have for 300 bucks'.   If they did, it's because the motor just caught on fire in the parking lot.

Then again, many guys on here wouldn't give you 3 dollars for a Ford anything.