It's time for the beloved 450 Chimaera to go.
Discussion
Sadly my pride and joy must go to a good home as i'm really not getting the use out of it that I should. Could anyone help me with what they think the value of a 450 on a T Plate would be. It only had 14000 miles and drives fantastically. Garaged and only goes out in the sun since I have owned it and in excellent condition. it has most of the service history but not all due to it being garaged.
Hard to say, because there are so many variables. But I bought a '99 450 on a T-plate about 18 months ago, and I think I paid a fair price although the deal was somewhat complex.
Mine's a '99 450 in Starmist Blue with aircon and PAS. It had 56,000 miles on the clock and the asking price (private sale) was about £11,000 IIRC.
The inspection that I commissioned cast doubt on the state of the outriggers, so I negotiated a new price (£10,000) with the seller which was on condition that he organise a body-off replacement of the outriggers at Willow Sportscars (see the chassis porn thread). The outrigger replacement was at my expense but he organised the logistics of getting the car there, because it was a long distance from where I live.
Once the body was off and we could see that basically everything was sound apart from the outriggers, I decided to pay the additional cost for a complete strip-down, shot-blast and powder coat of the whole chassis. I also got a bunch of other things done, like fuel pump + lines, valley gasket, etc etc.
So, ultimately I ended up paying £10,000 plus about £3,500, i.e. £13,500 for a T-plate 450 with 56,000 on the clock. That would be quite a lot, but this one now has a totally perfect chassis and no surprises lurking in the bodywork, chassis or suspension.
I feel fairly happy with the deal, so on that basis I reckon you could certainly be asking £13k or so. Yours has super-low miles, but nobody really knows the state of your chassis. The years 98-99, according to many people, were particularly bad for outrigger rot - so even if yours has been a fair-weather-only car it's not immune to that problem.
For the sake of comparison, consider this one: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3351645.htm
That's a dealer asking a not-unreasonable £13k for a '98 450 with about 60k on the clock - but they're a dealer so you'll get a warranty with that. For your private sale, on a very-low-mileage car, I reckon you too could ask £13k, or maybe a little more.
Mine's a '99 450 in Starmist Blue with aircon and PAS. It had 56,000 miles on the clock and the asking price (private sale) was about £11,000 IIRC.
The inspection that I commissioned cast doubt on the state of the outriggers, so I negotiated a new price (£10,000) with the seller which was on condition that he organise a body-off replacement of the outriggers at Willow Sportscars (see the chassis porn thread). The outrigger replacement was at my expense but he organised the logistics of getting the car there, because it was a long distance from where I live.
Once the body was off and we could see that basically everything was sound apart from the outriggers, I decided to pay the additional cost for a complete strip-down, shot-blast and powder coat of the whole chassis. I also got a bunch of other things done, like fuel pump + lines, valley gasket, etc etc.
So, ultimately I ended up paying £10,000 plus about £3,500, i.e. £13,500 for a T-plate 450 with 56,000 on the clock. That would be quite a lot, but this one now has a totally perfect chassis and no surprises lurking in the bodywork, chassis or suspension.
I feel fairly happy with the deal, so on that basis I reckon you could certainly be asking £13k or so. Yours has super-low miles, but nobody really knows the state of your chassis. The years 98-99, according to many people, were particularly bad for outrigger rot - so even if yours has been a fair-weather-only car it's not immune to that problem.
For the sake of comparison, consider this one: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3351645.htm
That's a dealer asking a not-unreasonable £13k for a '98 450 with about 60k on the clock - but they're a dealer so you'll get a warranty with that. For your private sale, on a very-low-mileage car, I reckon you too could ask £13k, or maybe a little more.
I recently put a prinstine 1994 4.0 that had a complete ground up chassis rebuild, engine recondition, bespoke interior, new wheels, brakes and suspension and total body off respray up for £15k and got told is was worth nowhere near that. I remain skeptical on that but I would say yours has a lot going for it and if you try to end up with £12k cash in your pocket you'll have done well.
£12k seems slightly low to me. Have you approached some of the main dealers for atleast an offer/idea what it's worth? Some main dealers would have such a low mileage car up for pushing £20k, and even with 1 years warrenty thrown in, an £8k mark up would seem an awful lot. You are welcome to have a look on 'my garage' for what mine was worth a few years ago (and I considered it to be a bargain at the time).
With such low mileage I would want atleast £13k in my pocket, you can always drop it a bit if it doesn't shift. It's a funny old market out there and what you want often isn't what you get - especially if you have to sell quick!
With such low mileage I would want atleast £13k in my pocket, you can always drop it a bit if it doesn't shift. It's a funny old market out there and what you want often isn't what you get - especially if you have to sell quick!
Must be worth north of £17k. Don't get scared and give it away, some on here seem to locate the odd bargain here and there but usually at a price later on. I have a 2000 'W' reg 450 with 16.5k miles on it [though LOTS spent on it] and was offered £20k for it last year even though it wasn't for sale!
macdeb said:
Must be worth north of £17k. Don't get scared and give it away, some on here seem to locate the odd bargain here and there but usually at a price later on. I have a 2000 'W' reg 450 with 16.5k miles on it [though LOTS spent on it] and was offered £20k for it last year even though it wasn't for sale!
Should have ripped his hand off
There is quite a difference between what our cars should be worth and what they are actually selling for unfortunately. Price also depends on how quickly you want to sell and to a certain extent colour combination. As an example there is a very nice 99 450 with new outriggers and lots of ACT bits near me that's been for sale for 18 months & £12k with no takers, a 97 450 not to far from me last year that was a bit tatty but basically solid was advertised at £8.5 k and had no takers but sold very quickly when advertised at £7.5.
davers_uk said:
Thanks all for your thoughts on this.
I was thinking of putting it on around the £10k mark for a quick sale as I need the garage back and would like someone to have use of it through the good weather that we are due at some point!!
Work to be done now with photos and the ads section.
I was thinking of putting it on around the £10k mark for a quick sale as I need the garage back and would like someone to have use of it through the good weather that we are due at some point!!
Work to be done now with photos and the ads section.
davers_uk said:
davers_uk said:
Thanks all for your thoughts on this.
I was thinking of putting it on around the £10k mark for a quick sale as I need the garage back and would like someone to have use of it through the good weather that we are due at some point!!
Work to be done now with photos and the ads section.
I was thinking of putting it on around the £10k mark for a quick sale as I need the garage back and would like someone to have use of it through the good weather that we are due at some point!!
Work to be done now with photos and the ads section.
Classics cars totaly factory standard have a higher value ,i wonder if its the same in he TVR world .
Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Wednesday 9th May 19:48
davers_uk said:
The mileage is only 14000 and its totally standard.
I will attempt putting it on for more but from what I can see they are not selling on ebay.
The only thing that I have done is to paint por 15 over the outriggers and waxoil them to give some protection.
If you want to sell it James Hagger will take that straight off you ..I will attempt putting it on for more but from what I can see they are not selling on ebay.
The only thing that I have done is to paint por 15 over the outriggers and waxoil them to give some protection.
davers_uk said:
I was thinking of putting it on around the £xx mark
I've self-censored your suggested price, in case you want to remove it from your own post further up once you've put it up for sale... 
Ironically, your suggested price might even result in a slower sale - people will think there's something wrong with it at that price. If you want to sell it quickly, I'd suggest asking £12k - £13k and have a figure in mind that you're willing to accept.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
davers_uk said:
I was thinking of putting it on around the £xx mark
I've self-censored your suggested price, in case you want to remove it from your own post further up once you've put it up for sale... Ironically, your suggested price might even result in a slower sale - people will think there's something wrong with it at that price. If you want to sell it quickly, I'd suggest asking £12k - £13k and have a figure in mind that you're willing to accept.
[although not the best colour] sounds like desperation to me. If you're concerned with giving it away, but will anyway, why ask? 
Edited by macdeb on Thursday 10th May 21:43
biper said:
Only jesting, your's is a lovely motor. Difficult to put a price on these cars, I paid less than half that four years ago. You pays your money ect ect.
I know mate, now worries. Hope your works better mine is dire at moment thanks to that idiot Cameron, still only to be expected from the spineless poseur 
sse you soon eh? 
macdeb said:
biper said:
Only jesting, your's is a lovely motor. Difficult to put a price on these cars, I paid less than half that four years ago. You pays your money ect ect.
I know mate, now worries. Hope your works better mine is dire at moment thanks to that idiot Cameron, still only to be expected from the spineless poseur sse you soon eh? 
but it`s better than watching Quincy 
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