txhokie4life

Well I checked the car out this afternoon -- I left empty handed.

While it only had 42K miles -- the sun did its damage.

The top, hood, and especially the rear bumper were discolored.
Paint had some scratches, especially along the drivers head lamp.
Seemed like it was out of alignment and scraped the surrounding paint.

Interior was in pretty decent shape, only slight wallet chafing, and some pealing
at the air vents. Some little things here and there like nicks in the leather
on the drivers door?

Rear carpet sun faded and rear hatch weather stripping was dry rotted.
Rear hatch would not open electrically.
Drivers back up light cracked.

While the engine compartment was clean
no real maintenance to speak of has been done.
AC was converted to R134, alternator replaced, CPS.
other than that - everything was at least 10 years old
or original.
Hood struts were shot.

I didn't want to start it as I knew I wasn't interested at that point
and the car hadn't had an TB done in 10 years.
Wasn't going to break on my watch :-)

He'd take $7 -- but with the cosmetic issues on top of the lack of maintenance,
I really didn't see a price where I was interested.

back to the drawing board -- but I do appreciate all the help -- I'm that much more informed
for the next one I hunt down.

M

Landseer

Good work.
That pegs it about $1500, maybe a shade more.

txhokie4life

I have to add -- for those who have not seen Jame's collection in person -- it's impressive.
Made our Sunday stroll up to way north Austin more than worthwhile! Thanks.

All of his cars were hands down better cosmetically on the outside than this particular car,
even his ~110k+ mile 84.
Texas sun is brutal on 80's paint -- especially Guards Red.

Mike

Landseer

Well, it is very thick and often polishes well.
My 86 with 73K miles had terrible chalky red paint.
That's why nobody wanted it. Came home for $2K.
Keep looking, be discriminating.

pcar928fan

Thanks for the kind words Mike. It was my pleasure to host you and your wife. Yea, that '85 is not the car for you...nor is my '84 though. Good thing you didn't see my EURO85...it sounds like it is dang close to the one you looked at but a EURO S instead of a US S. Not great exterior (but not terrible), really decent interior, and in the case of my car, mechanicals all taken care of (save a power steering leak that will be fixed this week). It cost me $3600...just to give some thought of what that US 85 might be worth...of course my '85 has WAY more miles, but it is not the miles, it is the condition that counts!

BPG_Austin

Wow, sounds like the owner of that '85 auto isn't quite aware of current values. would 'sacrafice' at 7k? Love CL sellers like that. Glad you passed Mike, lots of better cars for less out there.

underdog928

Mike, only too glad to help. Sounds like you made the right decision. Keep looking and be patient. The more cars you look at the more educated you'll become and that will definitely save you money in the long run. Good luck and keep us posted.

tlsmith1999

James,
My seat covers were ~$350 delivered, and about 12hrs to install. Could do it faster, but I took my time to insure I did it right.

Mike,
My advice is to pick a car with an exterior that you can live with. Don't buy one that needs painting. Unless you buy one from someone who has just fixed all the maint , and/or interior issues, the cost of painting on top of those items will put you in the "$15K away from a $5k car" group, BTDT.

Also do not let the miles fool you. A well maintained 120k+ miles car is worth more than an abused/neglected 50k mile car.

pcar928fan

^^^^^
AMEN to that Tim! You are right on the money there! Thanks for the update on the seat covers. I couldn't remember if they were $300 or $350. I knew they were under $400.

mpesik

I've said this before and I'll say it again-"

I'm shaking my head as I write this and I don't have parkinsons.
"So much car for so little money"
Amazing value- can anyone think of a better deal of a car ?

pcar928fan

Totally agree with you Mike. When you tell someone NOT in to 928's, but who recognizes that these cars were expensive and who can just see how awesome these cars are, how much they sell for they about freak out! Normally they say, "NO WAY!"

It is a blessing and curse...they are so cheap you can have several of them, but then you have to take care of them. Also as cheap as they are we end up with cars that are not worth a lot, but the flip side of that is that if they were still expensive most of us wouldn't have even ONE of them!