Im looking at buying a 1965 F85 Deluxe today that is all original with only 22k miles on it. The car is in great shape and doesnt need much, valve cover gaskets, radiator hose, and a light engine cleaning. It has the 330 v8 and no ac. What would be a decent price to pay for the car? Looking at finding something for the wife, kids and I to go to car shows in on occasion.

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Wow. Pretty car, and in outstanding shape!
A four door will drive down the price so you could snag it for cheap.
There's a 4 door 65 in my area that isn't in such good shape as yours but is still quite nice. It's been sitting on CL forever and the price keeps going down as most folks want the 2 door model.
I believe the price is 2k.

Good luck!
-pete

 

Is it worth $7000?

 

Welcome to the site. Imo, its probably worth closer to $5k. Although a very nice low mileage car, as a 4 door its just not that popular.

 

Well I guess the search will continue.

 

An asking price is just that. As noted, the car is probably worth more in the $4,000 to $5,000 range. Its low mileage certainly helps its value, but only so much. The most important aspect of an old car's value is how desirable it is, and, as noted, the four-doors just aren't as sought-after as the two-doors.

In addition, this car is a post sedan, not a hardtop, which puts it at the bottom of the totem pole as far as value. The fact that's it's an F-85 and not actually a Cutlass drops the value a bit, too.

How long has the car been for sale? If he just put it on the market yesterday, he might not be much interested in dickering. But if he's been trying to sell it for six months and has had no interest, he might be willing to come down in price.

 

It's an F-85 Deluxe, which WAS the top of the line 4-door in the 1965 model year. There was no Cutlass four door and no F-85 Holiday Sedan that year.

 

I was not speaking specifically about 1965. I was speaking generally about the relative value of post cars versus hardtops.

 

Saying that the value is less because it's neither a hardtop nor a Cutlass is meaningless for this particular model year. That's like saying it's value is less because it doesn't have a 455.

 

Fine. Have it your way. I'm sorry I ever said anything.

 

What I was trying to say, before I ran into so much **** retentiveness, is that, generally speaking, the average person on the street will look at that car and say, "oh, it's an F-85, not a Cutlass." They're not going to give two craps that it was the top of the line 4-door A-body that year. They're also going to say, "oh, it's a post car, not a hardtop." They're not going to give two craps that no four-door hardtop A-bodies were offered that year. It was just a general comment about the relative interest in and values of F-85s versus Cutlasses and hardtops versus post cars.

OK? Can I go home now?

 

Im really wanting to get a wagon but came across this in my searches and thought it looked like a good deal, i was seeing prices all over from $2k to $15k online for a 65 f85. Those were only asking prices didnt see any that sold though.

 

That's the problem with craigslist or any online or print car ads in attempting to learn the value of a car. You always know what they're asking, but you never know what they sell for, if they sell at all. The craigslist or whatever ad disappears, and you don't why. Was it sold? Did they give up? What did it sell for? None of this information is available.


You can go to this site and look it up:

http://www.collectorcarmarket.com/

They put the value of a '65 F-85 4-door in #3 condition at about $3600. In #2 condition, the value given is about $6,300. You can read what their condition levels mean here:

http://collectorcarmarket.com/adv/prcpgs/condguide.html

 

I had already checked out that website but was looking more for fair market value. Im a big fan of getting a good deal and not overpaying.

 

Your best bet is to search completed auctions on ebay or other sites. Unfortunately, these cars don't sell very often, and rarely in this condition.

As for the average person on the street, they will say "it's not a Chevelle" and keep walking...

 

I'd offer 4500 cash and see what he says.

Sure it's a low mile car but it will still have 50 year old car problems and those will pop up when driven on a regular basis. Assuming none of these have been addressed, I'd guess gaskets/seals will start to leak, crud will come loose in the fuel system, steering and suspension components will need replacing, electrical issues will pop-up, brakes need gone through. Keep some of these in mind if you negotiate.

Good luck and nice looking ride.

 

This is a real good point. The worst thing you can do to a car is to let is sit. Rubber parts deteriorate based on age, not mileage. Seals dry out, hoses crack, ozone causes damage. I'd be less concerned about electrical issues unless the wiring has been mouse chewed while in storage. Do look for signs of corrosion on connector terminals, however. The Packard 56 series connectors used in these cars are not environmentally sealed, so humidity causes problems over time.

 

You try and buy with reasonable research for future resale and value. You look on collector value sites also checking insurance listings like Hagerty offers. You carefully bookmark your auction favorites to get a feeling what the market smells like. You find yourself daunted by Craiglist disappointments dealing with "owner" morons and tricksters. But when you finally snag your whip of dreams...

You'll start fixin' her up, then modifying, tweaking, upgrading, and then one day oh, oh looks like now you're upside down where you'll never get back the "investment". This is best described as car fan reality.

So, start by tricking the wife with some crazy number from your "appraised value". Then buy it emotionally. Hoo hoo, dollars be damned! Researching the thing doesn't really matter 'cause you're gonna blow past the ambiguous value anyway. Drive the sucker like a stolen bicycle, enjoy the toy. Thing is, no matter what, folks will still stop and ask... hey, what year Chevelle is that?

Note: I drive an $8000 car worth $5000. Don't care. I still likey. Will continue buying stuff (I don't need) and enjoying every upside down minute of it.

 

Now listed for 5500, bet 5k would snag it.

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/cto/5251005030.html

 

The car looks only slightly different than my 64 F85 Deluxe. A few years ago, the high value on my car (also with a 330) was $9K, then it was $11K, where it stayed a long time. That's for a nearly perfect one. Typical retail was in the $5-$7K range for a nice example and half that for something that ran but needed a lot of work.


I was very surprised recently to see that the value had risen. I guess a decade after cash for clunkers must have raised the value. It's VERY easy to put more than the value of the car into repairs and mods. My car (My wife's) was something that connected her to her grandfather ("I remember sitting in the back seat and watching his hands on the steering wheel.") so we decided to fix it up and keep it nice despite a value that tops out now at $17K for a show-winning example.


The value is what it is to you. Until you want to sell it. If you do modifications (I did, added air, front disks, fuel injection, more tbd) then book prices won't matter too much. That it's a sedan and not a coupe or convertible will. If you sink substantial money into it and want to keep it, consider insuring with a company like Haggerty, Chubb, or one of the other companies that will insure based on an agreed value.


Collector car insurance will protect you, your mods, your standards, and will let you chose who works on it. I had the folks who have done most of the work restoring and modding provide an estimate based on what it would cost to repair and replace. So it's declared value is $30k (We're not done with it - stuff's getting re-chromed this winter and that's not cheap. Looking to bring it to a point that we could show it as a resto-mod if we want to, and can drive with pride to car shows).

 

I don't know where you are getting these values, but old car price guides are notoriously overvalued for anything other than Chevys and Mustangs. There aren't enough Oldsmobiles sold at auction to build a statistically valid database. Actual ebay auction results for sales where cash actually changes hands shows the 64-65 cars to be selling in the $4k-$5k range. These are mostly two doors. Four doors will have less value, but as you point out, you only need one person with cash to set the value of a particular car.

 

I got my F-85 through family for $600 back in about 1988. Every time I needed to do something costly - like paint, I'd check the values. Yes, I know that price guides do tend to be over-valued, but I needed to have SOME idea. Back when I started checking the car was just "old" and probably not anything else.


I'd used the NADA book when I could find it. I know that most people over-value the condition of their car also.


More recently, I've talked to locals in the business, and my values are retail, not wholesale. I live about 6 miles from Manheim Auto Auction, so buying and selling is a cottage industry.


Maybe next time I'll buy or publish the guide. The current HEMMINGS site has a 64-F85 for $8K asking price, looks like a nice driver, not show quality.
"Overhauled engine, many spare parts". Sounds about right for retail.


What I'm doing with mine is clinically insane. But that said, my wife has emotional ties to it, I love the gal, and if we're keeping her grandpappy's car, it's going to be modified for safety and reliability as well as made to look like she can be proud driving it.


Damn, I wish it were a convertible.

 

It's baaaaaaaaaack...................LINK

 

That's a nice looking example. Different hubcaps and the side trim molding is also higher and different. But I guess it shows that NE has better buys old old Olds Sedans than the East.

Note that the high price that I mentioned was show quality. People put $90K into $30k Studebakers to make them show quality. I know, I've seen them.

 

Asking price is not selling price. Unless we know about the transaction directly, we never know what cars advertised in Hemmings, on this site, on Craigslist, or anywhere actually sell for. We can search ebay as mentioned, but many times cars "sold" there end up not actually selling and are re-listed for sale. I've seen any number of cars advertised on craigslist sit and sit and sit.


Who makes this distinction? We're not talking about cases of beer. We're talking about single cars. No one talks about a "wholesale" value of a '37 Packard or a '64 Mustang. They just have... a value.

 

There actually is a wholesale and a retail value in cars. The wholesale value is what a dealer/flipper would pay for a car to make a profit vs what the average person or enthusiast would pay.

 

Which is really unrelated to the OP's question about the value of a low-mileage more-door...

As for the distinction between "retail" and "wholesale" value, there's a little BS in that. Yeah, there is an expectation that a dealer wants to make a profit. At the end of the day, why would you pay more for a car than you need to just to provide increased profit to a dealer? Of course, I never buy cars from dealers for exactly this reason. There's no reason to use the "retail" price when dealing private party-to-private party.

 

Pricing for these cars is not based on what a dealer or private individual wants to sell it for. Its really based on what the voices in your head will allow when you stroke a check for it, sellers are at the mercy of the buying public. Sure some cars have a distinct book value based on what they have sold for in the past, and perhaps a trend for future value. Most do not and will be relinquished with a dubious distinction of just being a nice old car that's fun to play with.

 

I like that thought. Just the other night I saw a rerun of Wheeler Dealers. Loved the "Restoration" of the BMW Isetta 300. I remember seeing a few of them on the road. £18,000! Pretty expensive, by weight.

 

7 is good, car looks great.

 

I am a postie guy all the way. I have postie sport coupe with all the trim. To be true would love base postie. These cars are scarce so get what you can. Only 800 were made of my car with 6 cyl. It is all orig. but paint.

 

Rare does not relate to value. A Yugo is still rare... A car is still only worth what someone will pay for it.