matt69olds

I saw this on a used car lot on my way to work today.


https://www.delongautogroup.com/Pre-...Kokomo-9466984

oldcutlass

Why do you think its priced too high at $8999? How much would it cost to get a similar car and restore it to that condition?

jaunty75

For what it's worth, the Old Cars Price Guide lists the value of a 1986 Cutlass Supreme (the car is a Supreme, although they don't say it in the ad) 2-door with a V-8 in showroom (#2) condition at $10,500. In #3 condition, the value given is $6,700. #3 condition is considered "car show" condition.

pettrix

One has to be extremely careful with those G-Body cars and the mileage displayed. It was very easy to roll back the odometer or even have it roll over automatically (99,999) and try and sell it off as a "low mileage" car. Many unscrupulous dealers did that in the 80's and 90's.

CRUZN 66

Other then a couple interior issues, the price is not too unreasonable... If the frame, especially the rear sections are rust free, that alone is a major plus... As for the issue of a speedo rollover or set back, that would be an issue/concern unless the state laws prohibit the possibility via inspections or other means... Here in NY the odometer readings are recorded when inspected yearly and cannot be re-titled or re-inspected if there is a discrepancy...

HILTS

$5,500 sounds about right ... if it all checks out ... can't be restoring these cars ...
if you need to move it ... that is about all you will get for it...

matt69olds

It did look like a very nice car, at least from what I could see from the road.

If it was a T top car, with the rally pac gauges, buckets/console, etc, then I could see maybe that price. Who knows how much wiggle room there is in dealing a better price? And I’m guessing how good the price is depends on your location.

Vintage Chief

I must be looking at a different car/advertisement because the car in the link has buckets/console.

matt69olds

Im an idiot, I saw the standard gauge speedometer, and assumed it was a column shift. I can’t recall ever seeing a standard speedo with buckets

I’ll revise my statement, maybe just a little overpriced! I suppose it’s fond memories clouding my judgement, I have had lots of these cars. I remember when you could buy a really nice clean one for 1500 bucks.

Weezer

My Dad had an absolutely stunning Cutlass Supreme up until last summer. I think he wound up getting about $6k for it. The paint was immaculate, and he kept it waxed and wiped down all the time -- hey, retired guys have the time for that, right? If I had managed to sell the Starfire last year, I would've taken it off his hands.

I think the price on the car being discussed here is too high, but that's the case at any dealer.

matt69olds

The seller starts high, the buyer starts low, hopefully you can meet in the middle!

Vintage Chief

No. I believe that's overkill.
It would be nice to buy one for $1500 bucks.

Killian_Mörder

That's the first time that I've ever seen a 5-digit odometer. I wonder how much money GM saved on production costs, by keeping it that short. That's the best bargaining argument you could ever have. That alone is at least a $2,000 bargaining chip, IMHO

jaunty75

GM (and Ford and Chrysler and most every other U.S. manufacturer) had five-digit odometers from about the beginning of the auto industry into the 1980s. In fact, many very early cars had only 4-digit odometers.

Odometer rollovers and rolling back odometers is as old as time itself. I doubt the choice of 5-digit odometers had anything to do with production costs. It likely had more to do with the expected lifetime of the car and planned obsolescence. The industry WANTED people to look at cars with 100,000 miles on them as OLD and ready to be replaced. What better way to send that message than to provide a mileage counter that was good for only 100,000 miles? Once the odometer rolled over to 00000 again, you were reminded how old your car was every time you looked at the odometer.

Killian_Mörder

That could only send a message to dealers saying that they should stop dealing with used cars. Even my spartan 1998 Jap-made had all six digits still:

Fun71

Was that 1998 a typo? I think by 1998 all cars had 6 digit odometers.

69HO43

Things that I noticed that doesn't make this a good buy at 8999. And this is JMO.

- car has repainted panels on it. Maybe everywhere, maybe not, but there's gray paint overspray on the quarter glass window rubber and on the passenger side front quarter window looks bad from what appears to be a bad tape job. So I suspect those areas at least have newer paint on it. It looks like the rough Cutlass Supreme sail panel emblem is not exactly pristine either. Will need a repaint anyway, as the hood paint is seemingly dull on top. Note they took a low angle pic of it to reduce the appearance of the fade/roughness.
- from all my experiences with G-bodies and factory springs, it seems to be sitting too high for a 36 year-old car. Not sure about it. I bet new(ish) springs are in there. Not a terrible thing, but it sits up like a 4-wheeler, IMO.
- underhood looks mostly original. Only thing that doesn't appear original is the R4 compressor has been replaced. Nothing surprising for such an old car. It does appear to have the original upper rad hose on it based on the faded arrow/number ink stamping and correct style wire clamps. But can't be definite.
- something is up with the paint job on the trunk. Car apparently has the pinstripes on the side upper panels, which if it had that RPO, INCLUDED the dual paint stripes on the trunk that followed the trunk edge molding, similar to early 70s 442s. But they're not there. Additionally, most all the factory pinstripes stopped short of the door opening and gaps where these go right to the edge. Sometimes they did get up to the edge, so that's not definitive. But something doesn't look right with them. And the Oldsmobile emblem isn't there on the trunk, which was stick on. Faded and fell off perhaps? The red side stripes don't appear painted on, because they look too neat and straight. The painted pinstripes weren't exact width, plus they trailed down the side of the taillight extension in the back and this car doesn't show that. JMO based on crappy photos. Wish I could see a good picture of that SPID label.
- taillight rockets and trunk lock surround are super faded. No red left in there at all. Trunk lid lip seal rolled and damaged. Weatherstripping along the belt line on the doors is in terrible condition. For a car with 37K miles on it, if true, has been neglected badly over the years. What's with that steering wheel cover? Hiding a cracked wheel maybe?
- to even get that thing to decent for showing off, assuming everything else works is estimated/roughly this: Trunk seal - 75 bucks, new window weatherstrip on the door tops- 150, Correct trunk emblem- 40 or 50, get rid of that cheezy exhaust pipe extension- 0. Spend another 150-200 getting the faded carpet replaced and fix the chrome on the seat backs and new B-pillar vents at least. Looks like the tires are pretty worn. Which is weird for a 37K mile car. Not sure of the brand wear characteristics, or if someone put used tires on it, but there's another $400 or so for decent tires. Not to mention the expected power antenna motor cable that broke because they're POS nylon. That's another 50 or so to get a replacement upper mast/cable assembly, assuming the motor's still good. So you're into it for at least another grand sprucing it up and still needing to repaint it eventually.

Nice thing it has all the snake blinders attached. Although the driver side body side molding piece on the rear quarter panel behind the driver side wheel well is smiling at you big time. They should be arrow straight.

37K mile car? I don't know for sure, but if it is, they did not take very good care of it, IMO.

If a buyer thinks it's worth $8999, spend it. I wouldn't give them over $4500 top top top for the way it sits. IF that 37K mileage is legit. Seems straight, but the car probably lived outside.

Strangely, G-body prices are inching up for whatever reason.

jaunty75

Yes, it occurred gradually through the mid-90s. I had a '90 Ford Taurus that had a 5-digit odometer. Starting in 1992, Tauruses came 6-digit odometers. I owned a '95 Pontiac Transport minivan, and it had a six-digit odometer. By '98, I think it was pretty much universal.

69HO43

82 Camaro had 6 digits on the odometer...technically 7 digits if you count the tenths. PLUS 2 Speedo needles!!! I guess they figured they'd last a LONG time.

Koda

The price to restore a car to a condition has only a distant relation to what it is worth.

A W-30 and a V6 F085 take the same (minus the W-parts) to restore, but one is worth 10x the other.

Killian_Mörder

I would never have assumed that the odometer hasn't turned over at least once. If the dealership claims the contrary, the burden of proof is on them I lost you on the slang. What's a typo? If it were to clock any more than 85 m.p.h., they wouldn't have been able to fit both unit of measurement scales into there. Looks cool

69HO43

THIS!!

The A/G-body is a nice car in the fact that they ride fairly well for what they are, with a full frame, if you want to call it that since it's made out of spaghetti noodles) which can be modified with larger engine/trans combos at will darn near. They tend to be able to be modified to whatever level you desire and still hold some level of desirability. The 81-88 Cutlass seems to hold higher regard in body style than the 78-79 for some reason, but the underpinnings are similar.

Stock? They're not worth the same as an older classic even though the newest version is 33 model years old now (2021 model year now). Some of the asking prices you see advertised says there's some people out there that think they're made of gold. If it were a Buick GN, it may be worth something due to the demand, but that's about it. The Cutlass and 442 versions, while inching up in value, are not comparable to the 60s/early 70s versions as far as collectability. When your top HP rating was 180, that's only about 1/2 of the typical early 442s. Always take that into consideration when looking at a G-body Cutlass. It's getting harder to find a decent example, but it's also harder as heck to restore one to stock, and have it worth 1/3 of what you put into it. Best advice is to find one that's a nice survivor with all the parts there in excellent shape and go from there. Sure, you can restore it, but that's still an expensive chore and some parts are not being reproduced, or reproduced poorly, and the junkyards have mostly been picked through if you can even find them there anymore. People normally mod them because it's too hard/expensive (circle both) to find all the right parts to restore one properly.

matt69olds

Since I had to drive by this car lot today, in the daytime, and this thread had so much traffic, I decided to stop and take a closer look.

Pulled up to the drivers side, immediately noticed the yellowed door ding strips. Then I noticed the severely faded paint, worn tires, and the rust at the front of the drivers rear tire. Keep in mind, i noticed all this while SITTING in my car. I got out, and noticed lots of parking lot battle damage, and more yellowed/faded paint and trim.

By this time the lot owner came out with the keys. He unlocked it and opened the door. Then I noticed the faded carpet, interior, etc. I looked at the bottom of the doors, yep, fresh paint covering old rust and seam sealer. The chrome trim on the bottom of these cars are rust magnets. The dreaded tin worms have made themselves very comfortable with this one!!

At this point, I asked the guy what he was asking, still at 8995. I had to give him the “are you serious?” look.

This is a $2500 car at best. If anyone is really interested, I’d go back for a more through examination.

jaunty75

Short for "typographical error."

Fun71

Yes. You (jaunty) had posted that by the 90s most cars had 6 digit odometers. Then Killian_Mörder posted "Even my spartan 1998 Jap-made had all six digits still:".

So I wondered if the 1998 that he typed was an error and should have been an earlier year.