Originally Posted by Nine Ball

As some of you have come to realize, the world of selling modified or performance cars is a rough thing to do. Many times, the owners of these cars price them as the prized possesions that they are (in the owner's mind), and not what a buyer would pay for them. Here are some simple suggestions that might make pricing more realistic for your modified or performance car. Buyers may also use these guidelines to help analyze the asking prices of vehicles they are interested in.

Step 1. Visit www.KBB.com and do a simple analysis on the used car value of your specific vehicle. Do the one for Individual Sale pricing, as well as Trade-In value pricing. Most of the time, the "normal" selling price will fall between these two, but closer to the Individual Sale price. Most people expect to pay "less than book" in order to feel comfortable about a deal. Make sure you are honest about the condition of the vehicle.

Step 2. Write out a list of all your added modifications. Make a complete list of all the aftermarket/upgraded parts on your vehicle. Next to each item, put a price that is a "normal" asking price for that item in used condition. In other words, put a price that you would feel comfortable selling that item used, as if you parted the car out and put it back to stock. Do not include any labor or installation costs for any modifications. Labor is never recoverable when selling these performance items. If you did all the work yourself, pat yourself on the back. If you paid out the wazoo for all this fancy hardware to be installed, tested, tuned, etc... then you will take a loss. For example, if you had gears installed, put the price down for a used set of gears, not how much they cost to get installed. If you have a heavy labor intensive modification, such as a welded 10-point rollcage, its really only worth about 1/3 the original cost to a buyer that wants one. Custom paint jobs are hardly ever recoverable, so the value of paint is almost negligible since the original paint is adequate for most people.

Step 3. Write out a list of known broken or removed items from your vehicle. Put pricing next to each item on what it would cost to replace or repair these known items. If you removed the entire A/C system from the car, or the interior is missing items, or if your alternator is broken, etc... that is what this list is for. If you have the removed items to give to the new owner, that is a bonus.

Step 4. Go ahead and add the used modification parts pricing list to the KBB value found in Step 1. Then subtract the repairs/removed items list from that total. This will give you an *approximate* asking price for your vehicle. Don't be surprised if you find out it is worth much less than you think it is. If it is too low for you, keep your car!

Remember, this is just a suggestion for calculating pricing, it will not always work for every type of vehicle. It does not factor in any rare or collectible vehicles, as the pricing for those vehicles is whatever someone is willing to pay for them. Keep in mind, that most newer vehicles lose their "collectibility" status if there is more than 5,000 miles on the odometer. Most true collectors won't buy a higher mileage newer car. If your car has been wrecked or had any paint work done, this will also affect your overall price negatively.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and good luck on the sale!

Originally Posted by peace homey

<--- single digit poster and i read it :o btw tony you have some sick whips. what do you do for a living. is your last name montana or something? lol

Originally Posted by WarBird69

I would also suggest looking at www.edmunds.com

They have lots of articles, reviews, and pricing for new AND used vehicles.

Originally Posted by MONGOOS

The problem with this site: It doesn't provide a category for "Firehawk"
TransAm WS6 is top-of-the-line.

Originally Posted by cerino2000

I have never been so happy to be out of the buying market in my life.

As the truley mint 24k mile 97 WS6 car I bought is car number 48 for me in 21 years of driving, you better believe that I know a little something about buying and selling cars so let me give you guys some tips. Especially if you are wondering why your pride and joy hasn't sold yet.

First and foremost, you need to understand what the Term Excellent Condition means. No car should be compared to Excellent Condition unless it looks like it is still new. If the car needs tires, it is not in excellent condition. If it has a dent, it is not in excellent condition. If it has swirl marks all over it, it is not in excellent condition. If it has scratches, it is not in excellent condition. If the A/C doesn't work, it is not in excellent condition. If you have to use the word NEEDS in the description, it is not in excellent condition. MOST CARS ARE NOT IN EXCELLENT CONDITION!!! It's not a big deal.

Pricing...this is a beauty. First rule of this area: DON'T USE NADA to figure the value of your vehicle. They have NEVER been any where near what a car actually sells for. There is a sticky at the top of this area with great pointers on pricing your vehicle. Read it and abide by it and you might sell your car. EVEN KBB PRIVATE PARTY VALUE CAN BE HIGH. If you are not a retail dealer, don't use Retail value to price your car regardless. There is a reason Retail is higher than the private party values. Don't believe any of this? Here is a challenge for you. Take your car to Carmax or any dealer for that matter and ask them what it is worth. Then come home and compare that figure to KBB. If KBB is high on the trade value of the car, what makes you think it's not high on the other values. Now once again, read the sticky in this section about pricing your car. Remember, DON'T GO BY NADA for sure. Of the vehicles that I have owned and sold outright, the ONLY ones that have even came close to KBB private party value were Corvettes. And even those didn't quite meet them on ther actual selling price.

When considering the KBB value remember to properly rate the condition of your car. Chances are it is not in excellent condition.

Here is one of my favorite rules: JUST BECAUSE YOU PAID TOO MUCH FOR YOUR VEHICLE DOESN'T MAKE YOUR VEHICLE WORTH MORE WHEN YOU GO TO SELL IT!!!! Here is a perfect example. This weekend I went to look at a 1998 blk/blk 6-spd non WS6 car. Car had 33k on it. Listed in Excellent Condition. Go to look at the car. Looks like it was dried with a pile of leaves (fine scratches all over). Weather stripping ripped in one spot. Big fat-*** burnout marks in the driveway and super bald tires on the back of the car. Sorry but this car doesn't qualify for excellent condition. In fact, it is no better than good. Clear that despite the mileage, this car has had a hard life for the last 4 months while owned by the 16 year old driver who bought it in March. KBB excellent condition value on the vehicle is $9700. Owner really needs to get $12k out of it as bottom dollar. It then is discovered that when the car was bought, the kid saw it at a car dealer and just had to have it. So he told the dealer that and he said he could have it if the price was right. Kid had to have it, paid too much for it, and got it. Why do they need to get $12k out of it? Cause they paid $12.5 when they bought it. I say again, JUST BECAUSE YOU PAID TOO MUCH DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE CAR WAS WORTH IT THEN NOR THAT IT IS WORTH IT NOW. If you want to sell the car, take the hit and go on your way.

Of the 48 cars that I have owned, when I go to sell them, they ALL take a hit. Not so say you can't find the one deal of a life time and actually make money on a car, just expect to lose money.

If you want to sell your car, describe it properly and price it accordingly. The market on F-Body's, especially WS6 cars is actually on the upper end right now. You should be happy if you get KBB value on the car. Used to be worth less than KBB trade value's just a few years ago.

If you want my money, which is no longer available, the car needs to be priced right and according to the condition of the car. Man am I glad to be out of the buying market. Good luck to the rest of you and be prepared for an uphill battle.