I been thinking about selling my 91 firebird convertible lo3 automatic with 165k mile on it. lately and i want to know what i would get..
heres whats wrong...its a nice car i get lots of comments from people...
the car has a transmission leak. its smokes at start up. it needs a new paint. the top is in fair condition the only bad thing on the ragtop is the rear plastic... theres a small rust hole on top of the windshield.. i hear its common on these cars.. the dash pad has a crack.. the rear bumper has a crack down the middle..
the good things
has all new front end suspension. 2 inch drop. kyb gas 2 shocks and struts.
the interiors is in good condition.
has 15'' aftermarket chrome wheels wheels are oxided. but look ok...
has a sound system with 2 tens and all brand new speakers with tweeters.. its very loud... and bumps.. not sure if this raises the value alittle bit..
the reason i been thinking about selling it is because i want a new car and im looking at a new chrysler 300.. any input would be appreciated.. thanks
Martin

ps.. this is an old pic before the 2 inch drop... and the clear is coming of the paint...

 

Nice car, and thats whats wrong?
Typical, actually it might be easier to fix than you think take it to a trans shop and ask how much to have it fixed... Some places do a free esitmate.
Typical part of Chevrolet Engeneering, My 87 and my 89 both puff, I use synthetic though and I hear that does not help. Keep in mind my 87 has 14K on the engine and my 89 has 36K since new....
Very few cars actually don't need new paint...
again, typical, unfortunately sometimes cars get washed with things that are not plastic rear window friendly OR they are simply scrached from time.
Thats bad, I hate rust, not seen that though... It would not surprise me since the weatherstrip is right there and if the paint was damaged at all when replacing a windshield or during the Convertible conversion process then its going to happen...
$70 U-pull it
THats interesting... not seen that, I assume someone bumped it...
Stereos are a hit or miss... I would pull it when you sell it and make sure there is no evidence of it as you probably will not get out of it what you have in it. Make it play music at a minimum...
To be honest... The value is probably around $2000 to $6000 depending on the severity of what your describing... I would venture to say that $3000 would be a far price right now. Unfortunately 1991 is just starting to rebound in value so if you were to hang onto it for a few years (5 or 10) then you would get substantally more... probably about the same or less than taking the $3000 and investing it.

From what you have indicated the Pluses are:
Its a convertible
V8 (better than a V6 any day)
reasonable condition
it runs

The minuses are:
It needs work... its 15 years old what would someone expect?
165K... someone had fun in the car thats a good thing but its also bad for resale

I would get on Autotrader.com and do a search with cars that are similar to yours, see what they are asking on there. also do some other used car sites and just see. Since your talking about a car that there are not a whole lot of you may have to widen your search to the entire US. From your description $3000 sounds like a fair starting point. You may want to wait until next spring as this is a bad time to sell a convertible.

Good luck.

 

I agree with okfoz, about 2.5-3k.
I wouldn't hang on to it. Sell it and put the money on your new car. The car will not likely appreciate more than the interest it will cost you if you don't put the money toward the new car.

 

Why would you say that? The third gen verts are getting more and more desirable every year.

I say keep it and work to bring it as close to new as you can.

 

Looking at his question from a purely financial standpoint here goes.
1. Cost of borrowing an extra $3k for 5 years @ 7.25% = $600.
2. Insurance for 5 years @ 1k a year = $5,000.
3. Tags for 5 years = $500.
4. Maintenance for 5 years = $1,000.

Thats about 7,000 reasons to get rid of the car. I am assuming he is going to buy the new car anyway and is going to keep the vert as a second car. If he keeps the vert and uses it as a daily driver, I would say keep the vert and fix it up. My vert is used as a second car and believe me, it cost money just to have it sit in the garage.

 

thanks for the input guys.. as you can see i also own a 91 rs camaro that is my daily driven car... my plans was putting in a a lt1 or ls1 on it and getting a new paint job and top... but im not sure if ill have the time to do it. and the money im going to spent i would preffer something bigger... but then again ive been told to get a house first and then get a new car... if i get a reasonable offer i would seel it and save up the money... but i have to think about it because i know if i sell it im going to regret it... i just know.. it was my first car and have babied it since my ownership.. im only 19 and i own 2 cars and would like to also have my own place....
Martin

 

Two of the things you mentioned can be improved fairly cheaply.
- The puff of smoke is pretty typical of older GM/Chevy engines. Especially from the mid 80's to the early 90's. This was due to poor valve stem seals. The good news is if that's the problem it's . . . A:annoying but pretty much harmless to the engine . . . & B:is surprisingly inexpensive to repair. It can even be done without removing the valves. Check it out (get an estimate).
- The rear plastic can be improved quite a bit by applying meguiars.com: E-Store /Consumer (Meguiar's Brand)>Clear Plastic Care. It's cheap and worth trying. Works good for scratched or faded plastic headlights covers and taillights too.
Good luck!

 

I have a 85 trans am convertible (auto form)305 TPI. My car was my husbands baby it has been garaged for the last 10 years and only driven a few times a year. This car is all stock and still runs like a bat out of hell. Everytime I drive it I reconsider selling it. I would really like to get more info on Auto Form. Does anyone have any info that they can direct me to? The production number is located on the drivers side door. I would really appreciate any help I can get.

 

I don't know much about auto form verts, but there is something on here about every week. Use the search feature and you will find bunches.

Sorry to hear about your husband.

Chris