NorTown Olds

Howdy,
I KNOW that to folks who own these rare Gems that they're likely "Priceless" but I wanted one Brand New and just MISSED the opportunity! Do these come up for Sale very often? Or occassionally maybe?? What sort of price would one need to be ready to pay for a Low-Mileage, Clean one?? Did they come with very many options available??

Thanks, just really curious.

jaunty75

The Old Cars Price Guide lists values for 2003 Auroras, but it doesn't distinguish between a "Final 500" Aurora and one that was not part of the final 500. Only 4,047 Auroras were made in that final year for them.

In showroom condition, the OCPG shows a value of $6,650. In "better than showroom," it's $9,500. No telling what premium someone might put on one that's one of the last 500, but I would guess that it would have to be in pretty good shape and not be of terribly high mileage if it's going to command a higher price.

The last Aurora was built on March 13, 2003.

inthedirt

I had one , number 451. Oddly they do not fetch more than a non 500 unless you find a collecter. Don't show special interest and you should be ok.

jaunty75

Is that counting down or counting up? In other words, was the very last Aurora made #500 of the final 500 or #1 of the final 500 in a sort of a "number 500 is made, 499 to go" way of counting? I'm guessing the former, but I wondered sometimes. Are we talking a countdown like a rocket blasting off?

If it is the first way, then, at 451, your car was not only among the final 500, it was among the last 50!

inthedirt

There were only 49 made after it. Wonderful car. I bought it 1 year old for 22,0000 the previous owner, in his seventies died. Had 4000 miles on it. What a steal.

oldsca

Search auto traders and you may find one or two. I live in Canada and just let one slip through my hands a couple of months ago. It had 50,000 kilometers and was $8000. I thought this was a fabulous deal - my wife didn't!

Wayne

NorTown Olds

Wow! GREAT information and tips as always gang! THANKS a ton! Kind of a shame they don't differentiate the "Final 500s" from a "normal" 2003 Aurora....BUT GOOD certainly from a buyers standpoint....always thought it'd be neat to have one...SOMEDAY though...not the right time now; but always fun to watch and see what they go for. Thanks again everybody.

442much

There is a final 500 with 65,000 miles for $6100 in TX. Looks like an auction.

http://www.lemonfree.com/map.php?yea...E&model=AURORA

Scottwhite98

This was an under reported and under appreciated program. I went to my local Olds dealer and asked them if they were going to get any Final 500's and they had no clue what I was talking about.

My mom has #118/500 Olds Alero she bought new from Ironside Olds/GMC in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Later, we bought #151/500 Olds Aurora Final 500. It's her "daily driver" but as a retiree she only puts a few hundred on a year.

I recently entered the Final 500 Alero into a Olds-centric car show (for Hurst/Olds). It has 11,000 miles on it. When I pulled up, the guy waved me down and told me the street was closed for a car show. I said, "I know, I'm registered with this car." He stood back and said, "With this?"

It's sad. Many of the Final 500's went to people who didn't know what they were buying. I know of a Silhouette 500 that's about rusted out. These are the rarest of all, since thier production was cut. I see a Bravada 500 on a regular basis that's clearly someone's daily driver. I guess it just makes the survivors just more rare.

1970cs

I figure that only 1% will be saved by real collectors.

I just looked at an Aurora with 131k on it very rough for the miles. But could be saved for $2450.00

A couple have popped up in the past two weeks aroud mid Michigan 150-190k 3000-3500.

There is an Alero with 30K very nice around the Toledo area for $7500.00 love to have it but the house ate up a lot money and so did no interest loan I gave to the step son for a decent used car.

Pat

CRUZN 66

Since the original post was back in August 2010, I would think the values may have stabilized and are on the upswing as the age of the vehicle increases... In 7 more years it will reach "Classic" status and well maintained Final 500 vehicles will start (if not already) demanding higher prices... You have to remember it's the 500 number manufactured that will help determine it conductibility...

jaunty75

I think you're looking at this through rose-colored glasses.

Age alone isn't enough. Rarity alone isn't enough. Condition alone isn't enough. Rarity, age, and condition together aren't enough. In order for a car to command a high price, people have to want it. It's that simple. Why would anyone want one of the last Oldsmobiles built, whether or not the car was one of the final 500 of this or that model? Is there something particularly desirable about the car just because it was one of the last? I don't think so.

Think about the final production of any make that is no longer made. Are the values of the last Packards high? Not really. Not compared to the classic Packards that everyone wants. It's the Packards from the 1930s and earlier that have high value. No one cares much about the final, rebadged Studebakers that had "Packard" written on them.

Plymouth has been gone for a little longer than Oldsmobile. Are people's mouths watering over those last '01 Plymouths made? Except for the Prowler, which was more a low-production, special interest car, those final Neons and Breezes are not exactly lighting up the auction blocks.

The popular, high-dollar Oldsmobiles are the ones that already are the popular, high-dollar Oldsmobiles, and those are the classic Oldsmobiles of the '50s to the early '70s. Sure, the final Auroras will rise some in value as the years and decades pass, but probably never very much.

It's interesting. I know many people dismiss the Old Cars Price Guide, and whatever, but the value it shows for an '03 Aurora in showroom condition in the most recent issue of the OCPG that actually has values for cars as recent as '03 models is exactly what it was when I made that post above six years ago: $6650.

I think that if we were going to see some significant appreciation in value of the final Auroras, it's been long enough that we would have seen it by now.

1970cs

I would love to have a final 500 of any sort. But budget woes and lack of space are killing my plans.

But again rarity means nothing! My 04 Alero GLS coupe has less production than the final 5's Collectability is where its's at. Sorry to any one this site with a Nova I would not give a dime for a Nova!

Pat

Professur

So what you're saying is "rare, but not desirable".

jaunty75

Exactly. Smallpox is rare, too, but that doesn't make it desirable!


Keep in mind that the "Final 500" Auroras were rare the day they were made as there were only 500 of them. If rarity was all that mattered, they would have been valuable and put in museums or otherwise stored away they moment they were purchased. But they weren't.

Oldsnut71442

Pat, I am going back and forth with this guy on price for the Alero. It is not as nice as you think. Floor mats are not great, driver seat has a rip, air bag cover missing, dents on hood and door and more small stuff not to mention that the tires will probably have to be replace due to age. Not worth buying a car and then crashing because the tires blew out due to age.

Scottwhite98

If any of the Final 500 should gain notoriety, it ought be the Alero since it both came in a special edition with numbered sequence and were the last 500 Oldses off the assembly line. All the others were simply the demise of an outdated product. Of course, the Alero was no speed demon, nor was it special in any other way. Embroidered seats? Whoo boy. Cloisonne badges? Whoopie. Special floor mats? Pffft! It will only ever be special to Olds aficionados who appreciate that it is the last of the last. No one else will give a crap.

They were the last in a long line of quality built automobiles. Positioned better than middle of the road Chevrolet and Ford, but not as hoity-toity as Cadillac or Buick. They rode smoother than a Pontiac, but not as mushy as a Buick. A middle class car for those who aspired for a bit more...a little bit nicer. Your neighbor was envious of a shiny new Olds in your driveway.

The people who built them (at least in Lansing) didn't consider themselves car builders, but OldsBuilders. If you have one built at Lansing, you have something a bit better. When I tore apart my '70 Supreme built in Q4 '69, I pulled out the rear seat. Underneath, there was the original tar paper sound deadening mat. I pulled it out (trying to get rid of the mouse-**** smell) and discovered the home of a 1969 Lincoln cent. I could not fathom how a penny could have fell out of a pocket, up over the rear seat lip and then over and then under the tar paper mat underneath. Someone must have put it there.

I do appreciate that GM gave Oldsmobile a last hoorah. Pontiac didn't, nor did Hummer, Saturn, Plymouth or any other major manufacturer that I know of.

Oldsmobile went out in style. Since 1897. Final 500. Get 'em while they last.

1970cs

Wow, looks good in the pictures. But I have seen pictures of cars and they usually not as nice. 30K and it's beat up that bad?

My Alero still wearing the original shoes, but I am afraid that the next nationals that the car will be attending, those will be 14 years old and they will have to be scrapped with only 9K by then.

Pat

Human

I read that the final Alero produced, which had gone directly from the assembly line to the R.E. Olds Museum, recently sold at auction for $42,000. But yeah, that was an anomaly.

I parked next to a Final 500 Aurora at a Walmart a couple of years ago. It obviously garage kept. I would have loved to have talked with the owner but the car was gone when I got out of the store. I still hold onto my '95 Aurora for some irrational reason. I know it isn't worth anything and it's got some serious mechanical issues, but I just haven't been able to let it go. That will probably change if and when I ever get my hands on my '64 Dynamic 88 convertible.

jensenracing77

I seen it was going to get sold but I never followed up on it to see what happened. We want to find a final 500 Silhouette van but they are even harder to find. They only made 370 of the final 500 vans. The stopped production before they got to 500

Funkwagon455

https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ct...463215106.html

jaunty75

But Olds made 9,400 Silhouette minivans in 2004. So certainly there is A final 500 even if they weren't THE final 500. The 130 that were built previous to the last 370 would be part of the final 500, wouldn't they?

Funkwagon455

Although a technicality, I would say that this is true!

jensenracing77

But the "final 500" had special paint, seats, and badges. The 130 before the final 500 are not the "final 500" package

jaunty75

I know, I know. The Final 500 are actually identifiable. So, once it knew that it was going to make only 370 "Final 500" cars, Olds should have gone back and sent the badging to the buyers of the previous 130 so they could add them to their cars since those cars actually are part of the final 500 built.

Koda

Problem is that it's not going to take just a collector, but one who loves Oldsmobile. Me, I like Olds, but I also like Chevy, Ford, and even some Toyotas. I like specific Oldsmobiles, and that specificity stops at 1972. I don't mind newer ones, and the Alero is not a bad looking car, but I don't want one.

1970cs

I heard that the reason why the plant stop production on the silhouette final 5's do to a hot order for rental or fleet units.

Pat

mastop

Jaunty 75: You contradict yourself when you say people have to want it and then contend that the last ones aren't any more valuable than any other part of the line. The fact that people are on this thread talking about the Final 500 says that Oldsmobile did a smart thing and created an interest in their last cars by introducing the Final 500 series. Joke's on you. Read some of the posts. People DO want them. Packard, Plymouth and Pontiac didn't do that. And don't forget that Oldsmobiles were made for 100 years, something no other US car brand could say when Olds ceased production. If the end of the line is not a asset point, how much interest do you suppose the very last Packard made would generate?

I may speak with a little bias. I have NO. 89 of the Final 500 Auroras with 58,000 mi. In excellent condition. My father bought it new in '03 and I inherited it this year. It sat garaged for the better part of five years and a trusted mechanic has just finished going through it soup to nuts. I don't plan on selling it; it's a family piece that I'm going to use for my summer weekend runabout. Can't wait.

jaunty75

Joke's on me? I don't think so. I stand by everything I said in this now year-plus old thread. Just because the subject of the final 500 comes up now and then doesn't mean that these cars are especially popular. Lots of subjects pop up now and then in these forums. That's the whole idea.

Olds tried to create some interest in its some of its final models by creating this "final 500" idea. But other than being the last cars made and having some special badging, there was nothing special about them. As I said, you don't see them in auto museums or any other attempt by anyone to preserve them. It's been left to the people who actually bought the cars. Some have kept them as souvenirs, but others just drove them. I'm glad you have one that has been preserved and that you intend to keep preserving it. Maybe 50 years from now we'll see it in a museum.

Kellie Cates Stewart

Where do you find the number of the car? I have one. Final 500

jaunty75

From "Oldsmobile, the Last Chapter." Should be on the left hand door post.

Oldsnut71442

Final 500 Aleros DID Not receive the F500 owner package.

jaunty75

Why not?

But the cars at least got the medallion?

Oldsnut71442

Because Olds got CHEAP in its last year. The medallions were already on the cars when drivers took delivery of the vehicle from dealership.