Credit Crunch Value?

[Paul300zx]

Hi guys,

Not been in the fold very long as i just bought my car in September.

I bought the car with my heart and had no idea what i was buying,all i seen was one of the nicest cars i'd ever seen or heard and done a deal there and then.

now my problem is...

Moneys tight(i'm guessing i'm not alone there,lol)
i dont have a garage so the car will have to spend the winter out in the open
i dont mind admiting i really dont have the funds to keep it in the way it should be,

the car is a 98 imperial blue 4.2 with black leather,37,000 miles,full service history,private plate is C3RBU

i paid pretty much 14k for it but in reality how much do you guys think i'd get back in todays market?

heres a pic if it helps



thanks in advance

[Dave 500]

I would have said about the same its a limited market with limited supply

If I wanted another one I would happily pay 14k for and I can't be the only one....

[Gazzab]

Depends how much you sell it for !
There have been some seriously cheap cerbs recently.
There have been some much newer ones than yours for not much more.
I think if yours is a 4.2 and a 98 then you will struggle to get your money back and you could wait for a while.
There was a purple 98 4.2 that didnt sell at 8K for months.
But if yours ticks the boxes you never know.

[jammy_basturd]

Having bought my Cerb in the summer I've been aware of prices, and have occasionally looked at classifieds since. I'd say they did hit crazily low prices during the summer, but in the last month or two there haven't been that many, if any Cerbs that have gone below the 9-10k mark (unless there is something wrong with them, Cat D, etc). Whether or not sellers are just keeping the values up, or whether they are exactly selling at the prices being asked, I'm not sure.

[Nefarious]

It's all down to condition at this age Paul. A 4.2 is always going to suffer a bit in the oneupmanship stakes to a 4.5, but your car is absolutely A1.

Anyone who knows what they're looking at will appreciate that all the money that went into the restoration (2yrs ago?) was well spent. The engine's A1, the chassis is in top condition, suspension's new. If someone's looking to a keeper, they could do an awful lot worse, even at £14k.

BUT - by the same token - you've fallen on your feet with that car, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You'll never have the chance again to own such an affordable Cerb.

[brogenville]

I have to agree with Niel; whilst I didnt get the chance to see your car in the daylight, it does seem like a keeper of a Cerb, and by the sounds of things, you're obviously quite taken by the marque. If you do decide to come back to it later, then you'll have to brave the minefield of cars that havent been looked after as well as yours.

O/T- Niel, I meant to say that I wont be coming to the track day at KH on the first, as I've just been offered some free VIP tickets to MPH 08, so looks like I'll be doing that instead. Let me know when the next one is though, as I'm definetly still keen to get on track.

[markh1]

If keeping it outside is the issue then buy a very good quality cover for it. If money is really tight you could sorn it until you can afford to run it again?

[Nefarious]

brogenville said:

I have to agree with Niel; whilst I didnt get the chance to see your car in the daylight, it does seem like a keeper of a Cerb, and by the sounds of things, you're obviously quite taken by the marque. If you do decide to come back to it later, then you'll have to brave the minefield of cars that havent been looked after as well as yours.

O/T- Niel, I meant to say that I wont be coming to the track day at KH on the first, as I've just been offered some free VIP tickets to MPH 08, so looks like I'll be doing that instead. Let me know when the next one is though, as I'm definetly still keen to get on track.

Well, I'm down at Oulton Park on the 28th November too, although I guess that's a bit too much of a drive for you! (Good score on the MPH tickets though!)

Paul's car really is a winner though - he came round a couple of days after we met up to pop it on the laptop, and being a nosey bugger I couldn't help giving it a thorough going over. I honestly don't know what I'd do with that car - it's all sorted. I think I'd have to sell and buy a ropey one instead!!

[Paul300zx]

thanks for the feedback guys.

I think my main worry is with the way the country is right now it will be a few years before things pick up,

i hate to imagine what state the Cerbera could be in with a few years of neglect,then if things get even tighter i'd be lucky to see any money back,i'm also not a tinkerer so any work would mean going into a specialist,I think most of you guys are either hands on or have bigger cheque books,where i park it is even classed as public road so sorn'ing it wouldnt be an option(still taxed till next september at the moment)

thanks again guys

Paul.

[jammy_basturd]

Personally, and I hope I'm right, I don't think the Cerbera, and indeed most TVRs are going to be THAT affected by the credit crunch in terms of value. They are already pretty low in terms of the performance you get for the money you pay, and with supply only getting less and less I think values will hold, perhaps go down slightly, perhaps go up slightly. The only thing will change is that there may be slightly fewer buyers out there, so selling might take longer than usual.

[Gazzab]

jammy_basturd said:

Personally, and I hope I'm right, I don't think the Cerbera, and indeed most TVRs are going to be THAT affected by the credit crunch in terms of value. They are already pretty low in terms of the performance you get for the money you pay, and with supply only getting less and less I think values will hold, perhaps go down slightly, perhaps go up slightly. The only thing will change is that there may be slightly fewer buyers out there, so selling might take longer than usual.

And that slowness to sell is the thing that will push prices down.

[Dirty Boy]

Gazzab said:

jammy_basturd said:

Personally, and I hope I'm right, I don't think the Cerbera, and indeed most TVRs are going to be THAT affected by the credit crunch in terms of value. They are already pretty low in terms of the performance you get for the money you pay, and with supply only getting less and less I think values will hold, perhaps go down slightly, perhaps go up slightly. The only thing will change is that there may be slightly fewer buyers out there, so selling might take longer than usual.

And that slowness to sell is the thing that will push prices down.

I think over the next 5 years you'll see further disparity in Cerbera prices, as you'll have the well maintained ones commanding much higher premiums than the negelected ones, the neglected ones, which appear cheap now, will attract those who aren't necessarily going to pay £7k for a new engine, and it will be consigned to the scrapman, as the buyers are becoming increasingly aware of the type of car a Cerbera is.

Many are falling into two camps - the enthusiast owned ones (a lot on here I would imagine) and those who drive past a forecourt 'that looks nice' and don't have the inclination to maintain as required.

If you can hang onto it, and look after it, you may be in posession of an appreciating classic. (which will cost you to maintain and wipe out any appreciation )

[pkoc]

I have recently sold my Porsche 928, and I got no-where near what I paid for it. This is due to a number of factors, but primarily the following:
- the credit crunch had already started to bite
- fuel prices (which whilst decreasing at the minute will increase once OPEC start to reduce production to get them profits high)
- buying a car for sub£10k but having to pay at least £1k a year on servicing is not going to indear it to many people
- price of parts and the relatively small number of people who can work on them with knowledge

To set an expectation about rarity, there were less that 900 928 S4's ever imported to the UK, and as has been mentioned on here already, owners fall into 1 of 2 categories.

The enthusiast and the 'I just fancy one' brigade. Because of the cost now, more will be falling into the latter hands and the uncertainty in the ownership history and maintainence intervals will always be subject to 'intepretation' therefore reflect badly on 2nd hand prices.

As an enthusiast, I would go with the consensus that if you are not going to use it and your personal situation is uncertain, put it in the classifieds. A small loss now could be a much bigger loss in a few months time.

And lets not forget that this government is looking to ram their green future on us all regardless. So expect some other road tax changes in the future for cars pre March 2001.

Phil

[Paul300zx]

Thanks for the replies guys,

after having a look around the classifieds,they really are all over the place,

would around 11k be a fair price?

I really want this car to go to someone who can look after it as regardless of how silly a purchase it was(or so her indoors says,lol) it's without a doubt the best car i've ever and am ever likely to own.

sadly i'm more bothered about it getting looked after than the loss i'm taking,lol

thanks again

Paul.

[D1ckie]

Interesting topic you've started.

I've just paid under £17K for a very late, higher mileage model but looked for nearly 6 months to find the right price, age, condition and colour combo.

In my opinion the colour combo can be as detremental to the price as anything else and while I saw a couple of bad colour combos, these can have interiors re-done for less than £2K. Also, on looking at a lot of cars while the old analogue style mileometers I really don't believe some of the mileage noted on 10 year old cars

I'm like you, not necessarily a hands on owner and any issues i will be one of those owners who go straight to the specialist and hoping i don't get my wallet robbed. I'll just have to wait and see.

Luckily I've owned one before so know some of the problems like they leak like a bh.

Does anyone here have a Cerb that doesn't leak???

[grahamn]

D1ckie said:

Interesting topic you've started.

I've just paid under £17K for a very late, higher mileage model but looked for nearly 6 months to find the right price, age, condition and colour combo.

In my opinion the colour combo can be as detremental to the price as anything else and while I saw a couple of bad colour combos, these can have interiors re-done for less than £2K. Also, on looking at a lot of cars while the old analogue style mileometers I really don't believe some of the mileage noted on 10 year old cars

I'm like you, not necessarily a hands on owner and any issues i will be one of those owners who go straight to the specialist and hoping i don't get my wallet robbed. I'll just have to wait and see.

Luckily I've owned one before so know some of the problems like they leak like a bh.

Does anyone here have a Cerb that doesn't leak???

Mine don't

[Paul300zx]

I dont think mine leaks either.

Paul.

[BCA]

At £11k, I would expect it to go pretty quick.

[Paul300zx]

thanks again for the advice guys,i have now put it up.

if things pick up i can always pull the ad.

thanks again

Paul.

[Erich Stahler]

D1ckie said:

the old analogue style mileometers I really don't believe some of the mileage noted on 10 year old cars

Do the later Cerbs have digital mileometers then?