pennynickels

I will probably be selling my father's 68 98, two door hard top, 455, 48,000 miles, sometime in the near future. Love classic cars, but it's a little too big for my tastes.

As far as I know, it's almost perfect except for a dent in the rear bumper and he had to rig the horn to get it to work (No idea why).

What would be a fair selling price? Thanks!

jaunty75

It would be good to see some photos as "almost perfect" means different things to different people.

Also, there were really three "88" series that year, and it would help to know which one we're talking about here. Values won't be substantially different, but the Delta 88 Custom will be worth the most with the regular Delta 88 somewhat less and the entry-level Delmont 88 less than that.

In #3 condition, which means "car show" condition but not showroom condition, which your car is not quite at the level of with a dented bumper and a jury-rigged horn (makes one wonder what other things have been "fixed" over the years), the Old Cars Price Guide lists the value of a '68 Delta 88 Custom 2-door hardtop at about $7500. For the plain Delta 88, it's about $7200, and for the Delmont it's about $7000.

In #4 condition, which is substantially worse in that it means runs and drives but needs complete restoration, the values for the three series are $3400, $3200, and $3100. Not a great deal of difference among those three, and the actual value of your car will be determined by what's specifically right and wrong about it.

MDchanic

What Jaunty said (except substitue "98" and maybe change the numbers just a little).

The horn is rigged because it has a "rim-blow" steering wheel, and they always went bad - very bad.

- Eric

pennynickels

Thanks for the replies. I guess around $7000 sounds fair since they don't seem to be incredibly popular cars.

I would have to dig it out of the garage for good pictures and that ain't happening until it warms up!

GTI_Guru

All I can say is good luck with the sale. I still see prices dropping on the big old cars around here. Some of the ones nearby (late 60's - mid 70's GM iron) have been on CL all summer and have not sold for half that kind of money. Not trying to dissuade you, as yours may be in much better shape overall, but not a lot of buyers looking for them unfortunately it seems. Not a sellers market at all.

jaunty75

Yes, she originally posted that it was an "88".

The OCPG value for a #3 condition '69 98 two-door hardtop is about $7700.

jaunty75

Wow, you sound disappointed. What did you think you could get for this car? The big cars are not as popular overall as the Cutlasses. My guess is that you'll have to go some just to get $7000, especially in this economy. Prepare yourself for $5000 as it may come to that if you want to sell it in this lifetime.

A dented bumper may be a single thing, but it's a big thing because your eye is immediately drawn to it, it affects the entire look of the car, and it will just give any potential buyer an immediate, negative impression. It's also a potentially very expensive repair.

Can the bumper be saved, or is the dent too severe? If the latter, that's a potential problem because new bumpers are not available for the big cars, so any replacement will have to come from a donor car. These can be difficult to find, especially in good-enough condition that the bumper can be taken off and put right on this car. If it needs to be re-plated with chrome, which is likely to be the case, add upwards of $1000 to the cost of the bumper amd upwards of perhaps $1500 (cost of bumper plus replating) to what the buyer will have to spend to get it into the condition that it's worth that $7000 you believe it's worth. That's why, in a buyer's mind, it might be worth only $6000 or $5500.

But yes, as we've said, a few photos, including the interior, engine, and underneath, would go a long way in helping us give you our wild-*** guesses as to its value.

MDchanic

I'm with GTI Guru on this one, and would say that while it may be "worth" $7,000 or $5,000, it is very unlikely you'll be able to actually sell it for that.

Unless it's in showroom shape, I think you'd be lucky to get 4,000, no matter what the "price guides" say.

How patient are you?

- Eric

pennynickels

Wow, harsh!

I'm not disappointed at all. I really have no idea what it would sell for. Just didn't want to sell for too low or high a price.

And I realize fixing the bumper will be expensive. It's bigger than most Hondas! And probably weighs more!

It is a shame because it is a beautiful car.

Jaybird

Hey pennynickels: I wish you good luck selling your father's old car, if that is what you want to do.
We could sure help you more, if you provide us with some pictures of this vehicle.

Thanks,

MDchanic

Don't get me wrong, I love these cars, and have owned a '68 98 with 67,000 miles (junked for $25) and a '68 88 1-owner with 88,000 miles (sold for $650), both with the same 455 as yours.

As much as it may seem that they should be worth more, there is very little demand for them, and what demand there is is at a fairly low price.

Sorry.

- Eric

jaunty75

I don't think anyone has ever said that this car is worth $7000.

*I* said that the "price guide" says that one of these in #3 condition has a value in the low $7000s. But I think we've quickly established that this is not a #3 condition ("car show" quality) car.

The next step down in the price guides, which is a BIG step, is #4 condition, which means runs but needs COMPLETE restoration. Those values are in the $3000 range.

From pennynickels' description, this car is certainly better than #4 but probably a fair distance from #3, so something in the $5000 range is perhaps not unreasonable depending on what the particular expenses are in getting the major problems fixed.

As you said, patience is an issue here. If she's willing to wait long enough, she might find the guy, now retired, who purchased one of these new and now wants to relive his youth and is willing to pay a bit more to get this particular car. It might take a year to find that guy and take a lot of advertising of the car to do so.

Or she could drop the price to well below market and sell it tomorrow. How quickly does she want to sell it? How badly does she need or want a certain dollar amount out of it?

I don't know if her father purchased this new, but, if so, that was 43 years ago, and whatever was spent on the car is certainly a sunk cost by now. There is no investment to recover here. If she sells it for $500, she's $500 ahead of where she was, which was with an old car that had $0 value to her.

GTI_Guru

I'm sure none of us meant to be harsh, but you asked for an honest opinion from a group that gets asked questions just like these day in & day out from folks that stumble across the boards.

Most of us have been into cars for years, if not decades, and quite often will just fire back an honest opinion without trying to sugarcoat anything.

Also, there's so many people out there that think they have struck gold when finding an old car in a family garage or barn, and try to sell it for way more than market value, sometimes even using unscrupulous tactics. Not saying this is the case here by any means, just that it happens all too often, and after seeing it over & over a lot of us just try and provide fair advice to people without getting too involved.

Like was said above, pictures can go a long way in helping estimate value. Without a visual reference, all these guesses are shots in the dark benched against what we have all seen & experienced over the years.

-Jeff

jaunty75

Mr. Guru:

Very well said.

MDchanic

Oh. I guess we have, haven't we.

I admit I'd glossed over that a bit, and was thinking she was saying it was basically a #3 car.

In that case, I'll have to revise my pessimistic guesstimate downward...

But, ultimately, no photos, no accuracy. Even a few pics of it wedged in the garage might help - seeing heavy objects fallen onto the roof, or signs of 20 years of garage roof leakage, would go a long way toward honing our perceptions.

And, yeah, like Jeff said, too.

- Eric

pennynickels

Sorry for resurrecting this old post but I finally got around to trying to sell it. I need the garage space. Here's the craiglist ad: http://erie.craigslist.org/cto/4044735387.html

What do you think? Too much? Although I do have two people coming to look at it.

Anyone interested?

redoldsman

It has been a while hasn't it. I don't think that is an unreasonable price. It looks like a very nice car and very low mileage. While they are no where close to as popular as the A bodies, there are people that like them and will buy them. Hey, you have two people coming to look at it.

Koda

Hell, that's a condition three car with the dent. And that bumper is saveable.

I think that's an honest price that will move.

MDchanic

I'm not sure whether it's a 3 or just a bit less, but it's very nice, and you may even sell it for the asking price. If not, the asking price seems a reasonable place to start.

- Eric

Koda

Lol, that's high condition 3. I don't see anything wrong with it other than the dent in the bumper. Maybe dust the interior and detail the engine bay, but that's certainly good enough for any car show I've been to.

Here's a good video explaining the numbers.

jaunty75

You asked and answered your own question! If people are seeing your ad and then making arrangements to come look at it, the asking price is just fine.

Octania

In my limited experience, the demand is very low for the big cars.

You might ck for epay or other places where an actual selling price can be seen.

I'd say it'd SELL fairly quickly in the $2000 range.
If you can wait and hold out for the right buyer and meanwhile polish the flaws and seek an NOS bumper.... maybe 2x that.

pennynickels

Thanks for the responses folks. I'll let you know how it turns out.