We are getting a ton of questions about what a car is Worth, and honestly none of us can really tell you an exact dollar amount. No one on the boards that I know of can look at a bunch of little pictures and say your car is worth $20,000 or $200. It is JUST NOT POSSIBLE. The following is really intended to give people an idea of how to approach getting an estimate for how much a car is worth.
NONE of this is scientific. Values of cars go up and down as fast as the economy, and the time of year. Ultimately the value will depend on many factors, not limited to the following.
1)
ECONOMY, how are things in the world, are people spending money? When the economy is good chances are the values of the car is more.
2)
Time of year generally speaking the time to sell a TRUCK is in the fall or winter and the time to sell a F-body is in the Spring and Summer. You will get more car for less in the Fall or winter and sell a car for more in the Spring and Summer. It is like this EVERY year. Basically do not intend on buying a car for the summer and sell it for a profit at the end of the season.
3)
Factory Options Options Options, Options are a BIG factor when buying or selling a car. A V8 will always outsell a V6, unless the V6 is a Turbo car. People like creature comforts and will usually pay for them. The contrary to this is those few "Factory Race cars" AKA 1LE.
4)
Region Camaros tend to sell for more in NC, but Firebirds sell for more in my area of MI. THIS is actually going to eventually diminish as thirdgens become more rare & Desirable and people are willing to travel 2000 miles to get the car they want, which honestly is happening.
5) There are some other factors such as the impulse factor of selling your car to someone that REALLY ALWAYS wanted the car just like that, but I will not go into passion.
HOW TO APPRAISE YOUR CAR
1) Go to
www.nada.com,
www.edmunds.com,
www.kbb.com. There you will find most of what you want to find for what to sell or buy a car for. Unfortunately they are usually a few years behind in their research and what people are really selling and buying third gens for. So take them with a grain of salt.
www.nada.com has almost all of our cars in the classic section, and the collectible cars section. A few years they skip so I usually look at the next year and the previous year and average them out to get an estimate.
2) Go to
www.autotrader.com,
www.autorv.com,
www.cars.com,
www.craigslist.com,
www.ebay.com etc. and simply look at cars that are just like yours to get an idea of what other people are asking. There are a ton of places to look even look in thirdgen.org's Wanted and for sale sections.
Once you do all these things then you will get an idea of what a car is worth.
John
