Howie

1978 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS, 2-door Salon coupe, light blue. Automatic transmission, 6 cylinder 231 ci engine.

Excellent condition - only 35,000 miles, well cared for and garaged indoors at all times by original owner. Not a trace of rust! Never in an accident. Power steering, Chapman hood lock & ignition cutoff, Kenwood AM/FM stereo radio-tape player with high quality Jensen speakers. Only driven a few hundred miles annually for many years. Routine maintenance such as oil changes and radiator flushes have been done continuously despite low usage. Located in Brooklyn, NY.

This classic vehicle has an appraised value of $3500 to $4500 by Auto Appraisal Group. Inc. as of September 2012. Two years have elapsed with no change in the vehicle's condition. Price: $4500

Howard Davis, original vehicle owner.
Email: howard.davis2@att.net

Howie

Almost 200 people have viewed this ad, but none have responded.

Could you please comment on WHY you consider this car not worth the asking (negotiable) price?

droptopron

Since you asked, its not a desirable car and your asking price is too high.

oldcutlass

It's got nothing to do with the price as your price is fine. It's got more to do with not being a very popular car, so most people are not going inquire about it.

Allan R

Generally speaking most sellers don't want to have others rain on their sale. That's why most of us just look and move on. But - you asked.....


THIS. The 1978/9 salon and fastback coupe were horrible looking cars IMO. I remember them when they were new on the showroom floor. One of my local clients (an Olds dealer) couldn't give these cars away - that's how much people hated the look. From the drivers seat - everythings good. From head on everthings good. From the side - yuck.

With due respects Eric, I disagree. An unpopular car is simply not worth that kind of ask IMO regardless of what an appraiser says. The market is the best gauge and it's telling the OP it's not interested, or there would have been some OBO comments by now since the seller says 'negotiable'. This is another one of those dead horse issues. Very few Olds folks who can see that car as desirable or popular.

oldcutlass

IMHO its a nice car with 35000 on it that runs, drives, and is well maintained. Where do you find a car like that for the price. Someone looking for a commuter, first time driver, or someone who wants another because they had one back in the day will snap it up.

Classic Olds does not a market make for this one my friend. It belongs on Craigslist or some local classified ad to sell it. This is not a classic car nor will it ever be, it's transportation that time forgot. It's the car salesman in me, it would sell off my lot.

Mr Nick

Commuter, no way. Much more "fun" cars to commute in for $4k.

First time driver, nope. What 16-18 year old will want that?

Previously owned one, that the only chance of selling it for $4k or more. But you would need two potential buyers who owned one back in the day to be willing to pay that much, a single buyer will give a low ball offer.

Simply my opinions.

jaunty75

Allan is absolutely right, and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see it. It has everything to do with price, and the price is most certainly NOT fine because the car is not selling! Hello! Anybody home?

It's not even getting an inquiry. If his $4,000 asking price is fine, then, heck, why not ask $6,000 or $8,000? Those would be fine, too!


It's plain and simple. If he actually wants to sell the car (versus staring at it in his driveway for the rest of his life), the marketplace is telling him that his asking price is too high. He's got to lower it. It's up to him as to how much and when, but, obviously, his $4,000 price is not attracting interest. It's no different when trying to sell a house. You set an asking price. If you get no interest, you lower the asking price.


Another way to look at this is to take it from the other direction. Say he set the asking price at $1.00. Would the car sell? Sure. How fast? As fast as you could snap for your fingers. So we've established that there IS a price at which the car will sell and sell quickly.

So let's go up a bit. Would it sell and sell quickly if we doubled the price to $2.00? Sure! How about $5.00? Again, it'll sell in an instant at that price. How about $25? $50? $100? $500? $1000?

At some point we're going to hit a number where the answer will NOT be that the car will sell in an instant. At $500? Maybe a day or two. $1000? Maybe a week or a month, but it would be interesting to see what kind of interest a hyphothetical '78 Cutlass Salon in nearly new condition would get if it were priced at $1,000. Based on the comments by others above, it might not get much at all.

How about $2,000?

The point is that there certainly is a low-enough price to sell the car quickly. The OP could lower his price to what he thinks that value is, sell it, and be done. He apparently thought $4,000 was that number, but it's turning out not to be. Drop it to $3,500 and wait a few weeks. If still no interest, $3,000. Etc.



For what it's worth, the Old Cars Price Guide lists the value of a '78 Cutlass Salon 2-door in showroom condition at $3,100 to $3,200. Based on that, I'd say this car is worth $2,000 to $2,500, but that's me.

Oldzee

What a difference one model year makes. If this was a '77 Salon, it'd be sold in a heartbeat, with a bidding war for more than the asking price.

jaunty75

1977 was the last year of the previous generation and a completely different beast. Not really fair to compare them.

I agree, though, about value. I always thought the '76 and '77 Cutlasses, with that side-by-side rectangular headlight arrangement, are some of the most attractive Cutlasses Olds ever made, and I think they're underappreciated today.

Oldzee

Agreed.

Allan R

I also like the look of the 76/77 Salon, just I really hate those cheesy looking wheel covers. It looks so much better with SSIII's.


I think my all time favorite though is the G body RWD 1987/88 Cutlass Supreme Classic. It oozes refinement, aerodynamics and grace.

nsnarsk65cutlass

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,i like the 75 best out of the 73-77 model years.

oldcutlass

The question the op had was there were many lookers at his ad on our forum and not one comment. Classic Oldsmobile is not the market. To use Jauntys comparison it's like putting a house up for sale and putting a sign in your back yard. Limited views on a product that no one in the neighborhood is interested in.

On a side note, I don't believe there is a fair price that any of the members here would consider for this car.

ThePackRat

I never felt there was an "in-between" when it came to these cars.

You either :

1 - hate the look.
2 - love the look.

Most people are #1's when it comes to these.

If/when we really LOVE something ... we tend to be a bit more forgiving in regards to investment vs return.

With people that love these being few & far between ... your work is cut out for you.

IMHO - you're mostly left with "flippers".

Flippers need to buy as cheap as they can - so they can make money.

Buying cheap however does not equate to a guarantee of profit.

Whether it's a car as in this situation or pretty much any other item/service known to man - someone else needs to want it.

If the market for something is small - most flippers will pass it by even if it's cheap - because it will take forever to re-sell & the profit will be zero if any at all.

droptopron

Whenever a car doesn't sell its ALWAYS about price. There is an *** for every seat. Its just a matter of what that person is willing to pay.

ThePackRat

Agreed most times ... but this will be a tough one.

Without "love & lust" I think most will wonder ...

Who if anyone will want to fill that seat after ? - before they take the plunge themselves.

The OP can & should lower his price some ...

But I'm not sure the effects of doing so will speed up the potential of a sale by all that much in this situation.

In the end it's like any sale I suppose ...

How bad do you want to sell it vs holding out for more ?.

The OP asked for opinions & hopefully he takes them under consideration.

Of course' he is under no obligation to do.

His circumstances might allow him to sit on it for the next five years without much change in price if he should choose to do so.

Then again - he may prefer to make a sale & be done with it.

There's lot of extra logistics in keeping a car around vs a small item.

You could have a deck of cards you thought was worth $5k.

If they don't sell - even a person living in a single room apartment probably has the space in a drawer to put them in & forget about them for awhile - where they won't be costing them anything &/or be in the way.

The same certainly can not be said for something like a car for most people.

Even those blessed with the space &/or the funds for space as needed (rent) may prefer/need to have that space/money be put towards something else.

Probably just rambling at this point - so I'll wrap it up.

Best of luck to the OP in finding a buyer.

Hope nothing I said is taken the wrong way.

Howie

Thank you all - I do value your opinions.