I need to sell my car... how much should I sell it for?

Completely stock. Fully loaded.
88 Pontiac Trans Am GTA
5.7 TPI
4-speed auto
3.27 gears
Posi-traction
Aluminum drive-shaft
WS6 suspension
Cruise control
Power mirrors
Power windows
Power locks
Power steering
Leather
T-Top
Rear spoiler
Floor mats (still in good condition)
Digital Instrumentation
Factory CD player/Radio
Black exterior/black interior

BAD:
Exterior paint sucks
Needs new front passenger fender
Needs new memory chip (doesn't display milage)
Transmission is dead
Needs new accessory belt

GOOD:
Engine runs good and strong
Interior is in excellent condition, no fading, no dash cracks
Carfax report is CLEAN
Carfax last reported milage was 105k, in Jan of 2003 (not sure what current milage is because of bad memory chip)

How much do you think this car is worth private party?
I've checked Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book, but since this is a somewhat rare car I'm wondering if it is worth more (ie Toyota Supra Twin-Turbos go for WAY more then blue book).

Thank you for your time

 

Got pictures???

John

 

If the paint sucks and the transmission is shot, I would say that you won't get more than 1K for it.

Especially since no one can test drive it. I'd like some detailed interior pics and some exterior pics before I'd pass judgement on it's value.

Also the wrecked fender would bring the price down. And where are you located?

I've been looking for an L98 parts car.

 

Fix the tranny and get a paint job and you could see 5K+ for it

 

At that point he'd have close to $5k in it. Based on the bad alone, if he fixes it, he'll have spent more on the car than it's worth. Selling it as-is might bring a higher return right now.

Also, what constitutes this as being a "rare" car?

 

Theres nothing rare about that. It's like when Ebay sellers throw that word around. Theres nothing rare about that car at all.

Asisde from the Firehawk and the 1989 Turbo TA, 1LE cars and the 15th Aniverssary TA which had a production run of only 1500, there are no "rare" thirdgens.

The only way that's rare, is if the interior is indistinguishable from new or something. In which case I wouldn't mind buying that car for the right price just for those parts.

If you want to sell a car that's not running parting it out will give you the highest return, but is a pain in the *** to do. Most people will opt to sell the car outright and be done. Unless it's been wrecked.

Selling the car with no or bad paint is more likely than selling it with a screwed transmission. But both combinations with a busted fender won't net you much. To fix the fender, paint the car and fix the tranny and fix anything else will be prohibitive right now, so I agree with that point.

My advice sell it as a parts car or as is which will net you about 1K if your lucky, or part it out yourself.

 

110,000 miles (probably way more) 350, T-tops

KBB - $3880
rebuilt tranny - $1000
good paintjob & new fender/bodywork -$4000
maaco El-sucko paintjob & fender- $1000
computer chip (if thats the problem)- $20
Heck you should pay ME to take it away!!!

honestly tho, one of those things is not a big deal, but when you have 2 Major problems (bad paint/light accident AND No Tranny) PLUS your looking at a car that shows no milage... The car has at LEAST 105,000 miles, it could be as much as 200,000 miles then that is another ball of wax

I would think your looking of a MAX of $2000, and I would not give more than $800-$1500 from what I am thinking.

In 15 years the car will be worth alot more even in the conditin it soulds to be in.

John

 

Wow. Quite a variety of replies.

The car starts and shifts into first and reverse fine, it just won't shift into any other gear, and it is leaking tranny fluid pretty bad.

The car is pretty dirty right now as it has been sitting for several months. I will clean it up tomorrow and snag some pictures so you guys can check it out.

I good friend of mine who is a tranny expert said he would rebuild the tranny for me for only $400. Should I do it? Or just sell it as is?

The chip is only $20? At a junkyard or auto parts store? If thats true, I'll go buy one tomorrow and find out the exact milage

This car is definently not a friggin parts car :P

PS - The paint sucks because it was originally painted in Van Nuys, California, using that crap-tastic water based paint.

 

I am assuming the $20 chip, heck I do not even know where the chip is on the car to even start looking for it. But I know that I can get EEPROM chips for $5 each and I would not imagine them using something too unusual, unfortunately it would not have a standard chip number. GM is natorious for taking a standard chip, putting their part number on it, and not leaving the standard number on it, so figuring out an aftermarket equivelant may be difficult without some trial & error, or doing research.

The problem is the IF the chip has truely gone bad then the milage may be permanently off. ALSO It may be impossible (or at least Verry difficult) to actually change a single chip since so much of that stuff was on an IC (Integraded Circuit).

I really do not know, it may be as easy as poping off a cover, poping out the chip and replacing it, but chances are its not that easy since GM & other car manufacturers try very hard to keep milage tampering to a minimum.

Good luck

John

 

KBB shows this car in 'fair' condition (Fair" condition means that the vehicle probably has some mechanical or cosmetic defects, but is still in safe running condition. The paint, body and/or interior need work to be performed by a professional in order to be sold. The tires need to be replaced. There may be some repairable rust damage. The value of cars in this category may vary widely. A clean title history is assumed. Even after significant reconditioning this vehicle may not qualify for the Blue Book Suggested Retail value) to be worth 2100 bucks.

 

Your list is rather short and you overlooked several other cars.
There are more rare cars than the TTA.

 

I cannot believe how far we have taken the "Rare" debate... I think we should all let people believe what they want, and when they find out that there are 100's of other cars that are just like theirs, but with an option or 2 different ... and let a sleeping dog lie.

1LE, B4U, W66, WS6, G92, CC1, L98, F41, Firehawk, Formula, TTA, GTA, T/A, S/E, Berlinetta, Z28, IROC-Z, are all OPTIONS, When we start looking at it like that, then there is not a single 3rd Gen out there that would be considered "Rare" by any means. The fact that there were not many L98-CC1 cars built that makes the car at least "Unusual" in 1988. 1989 there seems to be a alot of them made but the other years for some reason there was either none or there uncommon.

Stepping off soapbox...

John

 

What makes it rare ? Build numbers or how many are still on the road. (see Drew's comments in the sticky note)

I think survivorship playes a big role here. I have an opinion that my car is a rare one.

Out of all the 3rd gens you see how many have Recaro seats

Out of those how many are 1985 WS6 TPI's ?

If 100,000 TTA's were built but only 10 are left are those remaining ones rare ? I say yes.

If 1500 TTA's were built and everyone who bought one kept them in cold storage would that be as rare? No.

Just my twisted unbiased opinion

 

I wish people would stop going by those sites that do used values. They are way inaccurate for cars like these and are usually only good for newer cars.

There are a good amount of "rarer" Third Gens out there, people just do not realize it. But really rare Thirds, are few.

 

I can see where "rare" could be an issue on the above statements, but the description of this car falls into the typical 3rd gen today...

tranny issues, paint and dent issues, over 100k miles and broken at that.....sounds typical, not rare!

Now, my car is rare! Because it's mine, of course!!

 

I agree, whats the squeal with KBB.com ? The option selection list never matches what was actually available, its some goofball generic matrix.

 

KBB and the NADA sites are what all of your car dealers will use when pricing a car, or taking one in on trade for a newer car. They don't care if it's a 1LE, or L98 or anything like that. What they go by is does it have power windows and locks, t-tops, V8 or V6, Auto or 5-speed.

These cars haven't aged enough to be asking 7k for a car with over 100k miles on it that's not in any shape over the good condition which is probably what alot of the cars with 100k on them are considered.

And don't tell me that your car with over 100k miles is not showing any wear on the seats, or the carpet...engine compartment isn't dirty or the undercarriage isn't either.

Your every day Joe Bloh who doesn't know alot about Camaro's or T/A's doesn't care if it's an "rare" option car, but how does it run, is there anything wrong with the tranny, is there any major work that needs to be done to it and asking that much for one is totally insane considering you can go out and buy a 2000-2001 T/A for about 6k more and still have a warranty on the car.

 

so where is this car?

yes i would redo the trans if its onl;y 400 its money well spent it could increase the value by a couple grand so you nonrunning car is 1500 now with trans in and running maybe 2500 3200

 

Klortho, every post I've seen of yours is nothing except how the KBB is your bible, and that our cars aren't worth anything.

Go pee in someone elses cornflakes.

I get offers on my car for well over $5000 fairly often, and have had them as high as $8000. KBB has my car around $3000.

The fact that you would post that comment tells me that you just don't get it. If you have to ask what "it" is, well...you've proved my point.

 

Exactly. Dealer worth or worth to someone that has no idea what they're looking at, is completely different than worth to an enthusiast or someone shopping for these cars that knows what they'll go for. I suggest looking on all the used car sites and checking out what nice or mint L98 cars are going for. Be sure to check out the lower mile cars too. Those sites don't think 1st Gens go for what they do either. They're BS for cars like these, always were and probably always will be.

 

Point in case...

My 93 Camaro Indy 500 Pace car. KBB shows the value at $6750. They don't even include an option for the Pace car. However, if you go to NADAguides.com, they quote the car at $18k - $25k. Obviously, a dealership looking to take this car in trade will offer the lowest number. They will then see me walking away.

The problem with these numbers, all of them, are the cars' real value. According to NADA, my 93 falls into the $25k price range based on condition and description. I have seen these cars with less than 3k miles selling around $18k. So NADA is very high for this car. I have yet to see a 93 Pace Car sell for $6700 that wasn't trashed. Being trashed put it in the category of most other 93 Z28s today and then the $6700 is too much. You can get a 93 Z28 for thousands less. The books are guides and they aren't realistic numbers.

NADA priced my 11k mile 87 IROC-Z at $4000, but Barrett-Jackson sold one last year with slightly fewer miles, but also fewer options for $18500. Book value is way off here.

 

Yup. Check your PM's SM.

 

I get it more than anyone else on here, I've been dealing with cars for quite some time now and the pricing of them. All I'm saying is, someone asked what they could sell their car for and they were given options of prices. I am a normal every day person who would not in any way shape form or fashion buy a 3rd gen no matter what the miles for anything more than what KBB goes for, I don't care how it's optioned. The only people who are going to pay these ridiculous prices for these cars are people who have way too much money on their hands and will never drive the cars to appreciate them. And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the 3rd gens very much, or I wouldn't own one. But face it, the 3rd gen F-bodies no matter what year, is a whole lot different than say, a 1970 GTO Judge, or a 1966 GTO Tri-power which in pristine shape, would bring 20-30k because the majority of people know the GTO. To many people, a Camaro is a Camaro, and a Trans Am a Trans Am and they say, why should I pay 10k for this Z28 when I can go buy a 2000 for 3k more that has alot more options, and alot more power.

Right now in my driveway I have a 1989 Mustang LX Sport Convertable (5.0) that I bought in 1998 that had 86,000 miles on it and only gave 3,200 bucks for it. I wouldn't expect the car to sell for more than that now, but could be wrong I could get close to 4k for it.

The main point is, unless the person who is buying the car knows exactly what the RPO codes and options on the car means, then nobody will buy a 100k mile car for 7 grand no matter how good of shape it is in, to them, 100k miles is 100k miles period.

It's funny, my Mom's 1991 Toyota MR2 with 330k miles on it was priced in the NADA and KBB trade in value for around 3k and retail of 6k, even with those miles on it.

Face it, our 3rd gens are not worth much to the general public, only to the people who appreciate them, but I wouldn't sell my 3rd gen at all, I would rather take it to the crusher when it comes that time. I bought my 1986 Firebird in 1987 with 26k miles on it for 10k. It's stripped, only option is T-tops (not factory) and Air conditioner. But like Scott said, it's rare, because it's mine and nobody elses so how can you put a price on something you enjoy and would never get rid of? You can't, so you have to go by the guides that are out there and on here as well.

But the again, someone posted in another post about how much at TTA with 8k miles on it was probably worth, and KBB showed it was worth 21k. Go figure

 

You gotta remember that the way back muscle isn't worth anything to those people either. They too wouldn't believe what some of them go for. By their thinking they wouldn't wanna pay more than $5,000 for a car from 30 years ago. Time is what makes cars more valuable and for their age, nice top model Thirds are already bringing in some nice prices and are appreciating almost as fast, if not faster than the some of the 60's and 70's stuff did. Also, these cars are more up to date and would run cirlces around most every car from back then. If you wanna do a comparison of all areas of performance, there is no comparison. Even compare what similar year M*stangs in mint condition are going for against Thirds.

 

I guess I can see your point Klortho.

...I guess the point is that you have to wait for the right buyer...someone who knows what it could be worth.

 

Klortho wrote:
What I find interesting is your not looking at the big picture. Look at a Camaro or Firebird from 1967 or 1970 that is in equal shape as the mentioned GTO's. I would say that their value is comperable. In 20 years we will see that back in the 80's the only cars that are desired highly are those who had either a) great styling, or b) were fast for their day, or both. The only cars that we are up against from the 80's would be:
Mustangs, Buick GN's, possibly the Monte SS, Dodge Omni GLHS or just GLH, and some others. THe pickings are slim, and to be honest I think our 3rd gens will eventually stick out ahead of most of the others, I think the only cars that I can think of that will bring more $$ in 20 years will be the GN, just because its legendary.

But lets rewind for a minuete. back 20 years ago, a GTO, did not bring a whole lot, it was where our cars are today... If your worried about the fact that there was more than a million of our cars made then don't worry, there were almost as many 1957 Chevy's made in one year than there was for 10 years of the 3rd gen.

John

John