Firebrian

This 16K mile 2002 Z28 NBM A4 looked plenty clean for only $10,100. Pretty close to a 10K mile $10K car. Very good value for someone if the car wasn't messed with. For that price I'd have loved to own this car if as nice as the description. Figure $500-$600 in new tires needed soon.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Chevrolet-Camaro-T-TOPS-MUSCLE-CAR-16k-ORIGINAL-MILES-/321801634653?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4aecdf435d&item=321801634653&nma=true&si=e28LpHZRFpOZVy6MaUmgkV6Wpmg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
2002 Firehawk, 2 owner, red M6 21K miles sold for $13,600 on Ebay. 345hp with factory blackwing air lid. Clean title and autocheck. 1 owner up to late 2014.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Pontiac-Firebird-Firehawk-/151750479342?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2355088dee&item=151750479342&nma=true&si=e28LpHZRFpOZVy6MaUmgkV6Wpmg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
I was tempted to drive an hour and check this car out...maybe test drive it. It was in the $13's when I checked it late last week and then forgot about it. This sold for a song if the car was decent. You can't find a 2002 WS6 M6 for this kind of money. Here's one that sold very right across a national audience in peak summer demand. One of the best prices on a M6 FH I've seen in the past 3 years. The seller's feedback is not all that good (97.5%) and they could be a car flipper. With the nice garage lifts I figured those guys knew the wholesale value of these and wouldn't dare let it go for under $15K-$16K. This was peak summer season advertised nationally. Either everyone was sleeping or the car market is dead in Connecticut/New England. Next time something like this pops up I need to follow through. The one "if" with cars up this way is you never know when an undocumented "Sandy" or flood car shows up.

NC01TA

....and don't forget the ever present shill bidders. Maybe there were no real buyers for the cars at present. Let's face it, it's not a huge audience buying these machines. The only bidding may have done by the shills. They just cancel the transaction afterwards (no fee) and will try again in the future (maybe). That's another problem with 'completed' ebay sales. No way of knowing whether the transactions actually occur, or the true condition of the car like you stated.

Firebrian

The bids listed on the Firehawk above didn't jump out at me like the usual shills. The seller also has a high value 427 1968 Vette in "#1" condition they have starting in the upper $60's. So they know the markets on performance cars. There are enough WTB ads on LS1Tech looking for low mileage M6 Pontiacs that I don't think anyone within 500 miles of that car would have let it slip by at that price. But as you said, who knows?

My own thoughts are that the F bodies did well the past 3-4 years riding the latest wave of high performance as the US economy bounced out of the 2009-2011 recessionary period....and cheap car loans didn't hurt any. That bounce is probably coming to an end between fall 2015 and early 2016.

Bandits96ss

To think that on any given day someone does not purchase a "F-Body" below market value is just naïve. Car buying and selling is a very situational based thing and although one would think they could project sales and "market" value the reality is it becomes a matter of who and how bad. Where the who is all the potential buyers (whether it be 1 or 100) and the how bad is the motivation for the seller needing to make a sale (whether it debt, or estate, etc, other life priorities, et...). Where a situation arises that the right buyer finds the right seller is where you find these good deals going on.

I have a buddy who bought an 02 WS6 w/ 51K miles from a lady whose husband died for $9k. Does that mean the market has dropped. No it was a matter of "right place, right time".

"Market" value is only a summation of all that activity going on weather it be someone paying a ridiculous price at a dealership or someone getting a steal of a kid who couldn't afford their payments. Although in truth I will say that general consensus of my perception of the market is there has been a slight drop in values over the last year and the buyer definitely has the upper hand unless the car they desire is of extreme rarity.

Firebrian

I can see uninformed or clueless sellers letting something go way too cheap. That happens all the time, in every collectibles market. Do that in art and antiques and you may only get 10c to 30c on the dollar for a very desirable piece. In this instance we have a professional dealer or at least a very seasoned car enthusiast who knows how to find accurate market pricing. As I said earlier, I'd have bought the car for under $14K had I known it was gonna sell that cheap. And we don't know how high the winning bidder was willing to go. If it really didn't sell, then we'll see it again for sale.

A typical private party sale for a good condition vehicle per KBB was $2,000 higher. And KBB is known for being low on M6 cars under 30K miles. The $13,600 price equates to KBB "fair" condition dealer trade-in value for the A4. Sure seems to me that this seller could have wholesaled that car to any dealer in the New Haven, CT area for at least that amount anytime this summer....and bypassed any Ebay fees. Why they didn't is beyond me. And why they waited until August to expose this car nationally is another question. They've had it titled since April 11th. Will never know the whole story. This was the probably one of the 3 best Firebird deals I've seen in the past 3 years.

It's quite simple and easy to pay a ton over market for something from a retail dealer who will convince you they hold all the cards. Those data points don't determine average market value any more than this Firehawk did at $13.6K. It's 100X harder to find your buddy's car or this Firehawk at rock bottom prices than overpaying at a dealership. I still feel there are enough M6 buyers within a 500 mile radius of any quality car that would be buyers at a the right price. This one was priced right. I suspect it went to the guy from Ohio (500 miles away). One of our forum members inquired about the car via an Ebay question, but apparently didn't get it. Maybe this is just another sign of how the market weakening. New England is not quite the hot bed for F bodies as it is in the southern half of the US.

Yellowferrari

ive been in the market for about a month now interested in a 02 ws6 ,really love the yellow collectors and I have given offers above kbb in great condition and usually sellers don't even counter would I go up probably yes but they don't even counter,prices are all over the board all the way to 30k for a yellow one.car market is soft imo im in no hurry will wait for the right one.

Firebrian

The 2002 yellow CETA anniv cars are plentiful in nice condition. I was bidding on an A4 convertible with 12K miles or so back in 2011. And that car sold for $20K-$21K as I recall. A pretty decent deal. That was on Ebay via a used car dealer out of Ohio.

Concerning that red WS6 I mentioned earlier in the thread. I don't think it actually sold. A nearly identical appearing car showed up in 2015 priced in the mid to upper teens, not too far from where that car was "sold." I think it was a game. And maybe all interested bidders figured that out. Yes, there are always nice LS1 F-bodies selling for very cheap all across the country, usually by clueless or dumb sellers (ie estates, widows, seller forget to place a reserve in an auction, etc.). The odds of me running into that car is pretty slim. It might take 3-5 years of being very actively looking....to be at the right place at the right time and nail one.

8 out of 10 times, that car will show up at a dealership for trade-in or outright purchase...and the dealer gets the rip. One of those showed up at a Ford dealer near me. It was a 14K mile 2001 black WS6 M6 from an estate. The owner passed away and the car came with zero documents. I tried to buy it, but those guys knew what they had. They kept saying they had a long distance buyer from Alabama at $17.5K who was trying to arrange a flight to come up and get it. They never showed up...and I didn't expect them to...lol. I was only willing to pay $16K tops so someone else got it.

Yellowferrari

im looking for one also 99 30 th anniversary or 2002 ws6 t top im open to an auto.threw some offers but none worked out and looking for under 75k miles,if anyone knows of one pref in cali/or nevada,az area those were some good deals