Intruder196

So this is referring to the 87 na I was looking at that actually turned out to be a 86 that I posted about last week. The seller posted this same vehicle a year ago on CL for $5500. Reason for selling was he moved out of state. It was relisted in Sept for $3500.

The pics were the same from the last years CL ad.

It looked beautiful in the ad. Nice Guards red paint (per the photos), but he said it was faded even though the pics didnt show it.
Was advertised in "great shape".
When I saw it last week it was anything but great shape. For starters, on initial startup I had to give it some gas for a few to keep it idling. After that it ran good. It drove good. Had good acceleration. Oil pressure was normal, dropping to 2.5 bar when fully warmed up. No evidence of coolant oil mixing but I noticed it was about a quart low on oil.

But that was about all it had going for it.

Now for the bad...

1. Paint was badly faded. It looked original except for the passenger door and rear quarter which at some time was repainted with a BC/CC paint job. Looked like a repair maybe and some of the clear has started to flake off.

2. The cruise control servo was removed.

3. missing the washer fluid reservoir.

4. AC doesnt work

5. Advertised as having 194k in mileage but the odo broke at 196k

6. missing the cover for the blower motor under hood.

7. rear seat is coming apart

8. turn signals dont cancel

9. spoiler is decaying badly along with all other exterior rubber.

10. rear carpet is badly sun damaged and needs to be replaced.

11. sunroof doesnt lift

12. rear wiper doesnt work, missing the cover and wires have been pulled.

13. headliner is starting to peel away from the sunroof and around the tops of the doors.

14. sunvisor "clips" are actually zip ties and the visors themselves are falling apart.

15. bad gas smell from the trunk area when I made a u-turn even though the fuel gauge showed only a quarter tank.

I offered $3000, he declined with the most he would take being $3400. I countered with $3250. Which he also turned down.

With all the things I have mentioned, does anybody think a car in this condition would be worth $3400?

Ky944TurboNewbie

Sounds like a car that is lacking maintenance from an owner that either lacks knowledge or misrepresented the car. This makes me think about the advice "Buy the best car you can afford". If you are in the $3-4K market, you either have to be really patient / lucky to find a good example or you will be looking at cars with issues. I am not familiar enough with that price point to advise as to what it is worth.

Are the blemishes things you can live with and is the work stuff you feel comfortable doing? How does this compare to the other cars you have been looking at in your area? How many cars have you looked at? Personally, I wouldn't pay 3.4k for an 86 NA that seems to have a lot of deferred maintenance.

Intruder196

It was definitely misrepresented since it looks nowhere near like his old photos and described as in great shape when it has a lot of original equipment items either missing or broken. These were things I was willing to fix. But how many of you ever bought a car that either you found more things wrong with it that you missed? Or the sellers diagnosis of a problem was wrong? With all these problems I still liked the car. The seller is out of state and left it with a buddy to show to buyers. The buddy told me I was the first person to actually come out and see it since the ad first listed on 9-5.

kinda5150

i think most will agree that 3400 is too much. my 87 was purchased for 2800 w/some of those cosmetic problems reported (prior repaint in some areas w/clear failing, headliner coming away, rear wiper delete, etc), however the important maintenance had been done. even at 2800 it was probably too much. i'd expect, for what you described w/no mention of maintenance performed, to be more like 2k-2500 at most. less if no receipts for the important stuff like tb/wp, plugs/cap/wires.

odonnell

My '83 was $3400, none of those issues. It had a new belt, fresh full rebuild, excellent cosmetics, a few performance enhancements, front coilovers, LSD, turbo sways, I'm probably forgetting a few things.

Anyway, you can do better for that money.

Van

A friend of mine recently bought a nice, clean '83 that needs practically nothing to enjoy for $3500.

I'd say the car you looked at is worth $1k max. Scrap value would be about $250.

At whatever cost you get it for, it will take $10,000 of work to make it worth $5,000.

f1rocks

Crazy for offering $3k. I'm with Van, $1k max only because the motor runs and the tranny shifts.

Arominus

Find another car

Intruder196

The sellers retort was to tell me he could get $3500 with all the calls he has been getting. I did not buy that due to what his buddy told me. I decided to pass.

mytrplseven

You made a good decision. If there weren't so many parts missing, he could sell it for a "parts" car.

Gawernator

Wow, you're lucky he didn't take your 3 grand. I wouldn't buy it period, not worth the trouble. Scrap. For 3.4k I got a car with a new clutch Genuine P WP belts, seals FPR Windshield etc and a maintenance record with a few grand of parts

Intruder196

I think he will likely regret he didnt jump on my high offer of $3250. If he ever changes his mind and reaches out to accept, my high offer will drop to no more than $1k as it wouldnt have improved with age out in the weather.

odonnell

Honestly, I wouldn't waste your time on it at all unless you were looking for a project. $1k here, plus $5k + to make it right. Why not just buy one that's already gone through for $5k and save yourself the hassle?

Gawernator

Pretty much, for 5k you can buy a very clean taken care of 944 and just enjoy yourself. There's plenty of money to waste on extra repairs and upgrades lol

bonus12

I agree, the price was not right, but these cars are going up in value, and a 944 is a 944. Scrapping these cars is blasphemy and a highly regrettable choice 5+ years from now. Original parts aren't becoming any more common.