Seriously Overpriced Cars

[mrtwisty]

Devil2575 said:

Jimmy Recard said:

knitware said:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C778411

What's this kid trying to pull?

A very worthy but ultimately valueless car

It's a very interesting car, with a 175 bhp 2 litre engine, at a time when even cars like the Cavalier/Astra GSI were only making 155 bhp. I have no idea how they drive but it must have been quite quick by contemporary standards. I agree though, not worth what he is asking.

I imagine that has the 3S-GE motor as found in the MR2. If it were priced at 5 or 6 hundred, it could make a good candidate for a relatively straightforward turbo conversion/swap if you had some of the bits lying around, resulting in a very under the radar sleeper.

At over 3k though, nope!

[Pebbles167]

TotalControl said:

Saw a 306 GTI up for £8k. A Dimma convertible was going for almost double that on the bay of the E.

Nuts.

I've not seen the ad, but a lot of the expensive 306's are supercharged ones. I thought £3k was a lot for one I saw, until I realised it had 270bhp. The high boost ones have 450bhp! But still, £8k for a non race prepped 306? Too much.

[mickthemechanic]

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-Volkswagen-Corrado-...

Confident.

How would it work with insurance at that price. Can you just phone up and claim your Corrado is worth 22k ?

[Fast Bug]

mickthemechanic said:

How would it work with insurance at that price. Can you just phone up and claim your Corrado is worth 22k ?

You'd have to ask for an agreed value policy. The insurance company would ask for a written valuation from an owners club or similar. That's what I've had to do in the past when I had my modified VW Beetle in the past.

Although finding someone to put in writing that it's worth £22k may be hard to do!

[MDL111]

Jimmy Recard said:

Oh my fking God that's optimistic

Hilarious

[Guvernator]

itcaptainslow said:

The bubble will burst, soon I reckon. You'd be nuts to pay that for it, however nice it is. Shame as it's putting some truly lovely cars which should be affordable out of reach. (Yes, Peugeot 205 GTI, I'm looking at you)

This is exactly the point I was trying to make in the 205 GTi thread but got shouted down by all the Peugot fan boys for suggesting it shouldn't have sold for £30k. The problem is it sets a bar so now every low mileage 205 is "worth" £30k which as you say rapidly puts interesting and previously affordable cars out of most peoples reach.

[Fast Bug]

Car with tiny mileages will always attract a premium to a certain type of buyer. It doesn't mean that they're all worth anywhere near to that figure though. And to be fair to that 205, there have been a couple that have sold for north of £20k in the last year or so.

[Guvernator]

Fast Bug said:

Car with tiny mileages will always attract a premium to a certain type of buyer. It doesn't mean that they're all worth anywhere near to that figure though. And to be fair to that 205, there have been a couple that have sold for north of £20k in the last year or so.

Yep agreed but as I argued in the other thread, that "certain type of buyer" probably isn't interested in how well it drives as it will barely turn a wheel. The problem is it pulls up the whole market, yes low mileage cars attract a premium but when that premium is so far over the odds suddenly even owners of 100k mile cars start to get delusions of grandeur. I've seen even ratty "modern classics" go for absurd amounts because the whole market is skewed by the top end stock.

It's also an area that's open to massive market manipulation by a few unscrupulous dealers. Price fixing and manipulation is actually illegal in many other asset classes and yet the classic car market is now massively affected by it with zero consequence.

[Leins]

I'd love to hear of someone buying one of these extreme low-milers, and then using it normally. Of course it will depreciate massively, but then so will a new 318d

I suppose the issue is whether the car would be up to it, as standing around for so long will have done it no favours

[Fast Bug]

I bought a 6000 mile Porsche 924 (complete with original tyres) and spent around £2k bringing it up to speed mechanically so you could actually drive it. I've really enjoyed driving it, I've not done many miles granted, but it's a lovely thing to drive. I did buy another set of wheels off eBay and put new tyres on those as whoever owns it next may just park it up in a garage with it's factory rubber and polish it rather than wanting to actually use it.

[Guvernator]

Leins said:

I'd love to hear of someone buying one of these extreme low-milers, and then using it normally. Of course it will depreciate massively, but then so will a new 318d

I suppose the issue is whether the car would be up to it, as standing around for so long will have done it no favours

I know of someone who uses a pretty mint E30 M3 Evo Sport as a track toy. They've even modded it a bit to make it better for that task, sacrilege to some maybe but I think it's doing exactly what it was intended to do.

I'd like one too but the cheapest E30 M3 on PH is £36k for a very early 1987 non EVO model. Too rich for me whereas if you could still pick one up for £10k like you could a few years ago, I'd be flinging one round a track with abandon right now. This is why I think it's sad that this appreciation bubble means the majority will spend their remaining years sitting in air conditioned garages rather than out on the road\track where they belong.

[Leins]

Guvernator said:

Leins said:

I'd love to hear of someone buying one of these extreme low-milers, and then using it normally. Of course it will depreciate massively, but then so will a new 318d

I suppose the issue is whether the car would be up to it, as standing around for so long will have done it no favours

I know of someone who uses a pretty mint E30 M3 Evo Sport as a track toy. They've even modded it a bit to make it better for that task, sacrilege to some maybe but I think it's doing exactly what it was intended to do.

I'd like one too but the cheapest E30 M3 on PH is £36k for a very early 1987 non EVO model. Too rich for me whereas if you could still pick one up for £10k like you could a few years ago, I'd be flinging one round a track with abandon right now. This is why I think it's sad that this appreciation bubble means the majority will spend their remaining years sitting in air conditioned garages rather than out on the road\track where they belong.

That's what I wanted to do in 2000, when the local BMW dealer was selling a low-mile Sport Evo for £14k (with a years warranty) that would have been ideal as both my daily and weekend toy. Unfortunately the insurance companies at the time didn't appreciate my plan as much

Yep, there's something of the "musical cars" going on right now with the music stopping, as it's become very difficult to change to the next car up, if that makes sense. My plans of being in a 964RS went out the (manual) window a while back!

Who knows what will happen, but there are still quite a few cars sitting in garages out there that I want to try. I just hope they're being looked after for when they eventually get sold again

[epom]

DegsyE39 said:

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-Volkswagen-Corrado-...

Confident.

Trying to reset the market?

Probably as good an example that is out there. Big bucks though.

[bristolracer]

Fast Bug said:

I bought a 6000 mile Porsche 924 (complete with original tyres) and spent around £2k bringing it up to speed mechanically so you could actually drive it. I've really enjoyed driving it, I've not done many miles granted, but it's a lovely thing to drive. I did buy another set of wheels off eBay and put new tyres on those as whoever owns it next may just park it up in a garage with it's factory rubber and polish it rather than wanting to actually use it.

Love to see some pics of that

[sim16v]

What about this beauty!

Not only is the price "optimistic", it has some lovely tasteful modifications as well!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-200-2-2-turbo-petro...

[DegsyE39]

As with the above classic audi seller who has obviously been on the crack pipe..



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/audi-v8-100-200-quattro-...

Is there any 20+ year old car that isnt an ''investment'' or a ''future classic'' these days?

fked looking ropey audi v8, There was one up for sale in 3x better condition than this one on a green hued free classic ads site for £1500 only two years ago, id struggle to give the chancer £899 ?! let alone £8999

[mrtwisty]

Those last two.... Jesus!

The green abomination has 181k miles on it, and he wants over 10k! Pounds!

Would any veterans of the late eighties classic car boom-bust cycle care to make a prediction on if/when the market is going implode spectacularly?

[LarJammer]

Im not sure we will have a bursting or implosion, but peoples tastes change. I remember when over restored cars were desirable, then it was original paint, then barnfinds and now low miles 90's cars. I wonder what the next big thing will be.

[Lester H]

LarJammer said:

Im not sure we will have a bursting or implosion, but peoples tastes change. I remember when over restored cars were desirable, then it was original paint, then barnfinds and now low miles 90's cars. I wonder what the next big thing will be.

There is much silly pricing at the moment, but we hear about the extreme ones on here and in the mags ( which have a vested interest). I suspect and know a little from various trade contacts that many of the more normal " potential" 1990s classics hang about for ages. much b.s. in this market.

[93DW]

sim16v said:

What about this beauty!

Not only is the price "optimistic", it has some lovely tasteful modifications as well!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-200-2-2-turbo-petro...

I haven't seen that car in ages! The owner drove it over from Lithuania and cherished it like a baby! When I worked at Halfords back in the day he would be in every other weekend buying parts to do some sort of maintenance (Oil, filters, pads etc) I remember he said when he drove it over he stopped for a break every few hours so the engine wasn't working too hard. A very interesting chap to talk to and had owned many old Audis (even a few auto unions!) Its a shame that isn't reflected in the advert.