Pay for well sorted car or less $ for project

[shadowbethesda]

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion recently about the value of our cars. At the time both of us had MR2's. Mine was minty fresh, needed nothing and had very low mileage (57,000 miles on it). His was the same age, had unknown miles, is 3 different colors, has suspension issues, bad tires, a bad tranny, and electrical problems.

He knew I was selling mine but thought I was asking too much. A MR2 in average condition with about 150,000 miles sells for about $3500-4500 (non-turbo). I was asking $9,000 for mine but mine was near perfect. And yes I sold it slightly cheaper in the end because I really just wanted a BMW 3 series.

Is it just me or would you pay more money for a well sorted car (if you could afford it) or prefer a beater with high mileage and repairs needed to save a buck up front?

[White325is]

I think it all depends on what kind of a person you are.
Are you a do it yourself type of person.
Or
Are you a pull out your wallet and pay someone else to do it type of person.

So if a car is already done and built the way you would want it, then it would be better to just pay the money up front and buy a well sorted car.

[tjts1]

There is no such thing as a well sorted used cars. Those don't go up for sale.

[z31maniac]

There is no such thing as a well sorted used cars. Those don't go up for sale.

Do you ever add anything of value with your posts?


Depends on your goals budget OP. I'd say if you know exactly what you want, know how to turn a wrench, then look for a deal on a car that needs some work and go from there.

If you have a bit more cash, don't like wrenching, etc, I'd call Levent at GutenParts, tell him your budget and desire for the car, and have him build you one.

Look up BrewCity11's thread on "Holly" that they built for me.

[FredK]

It all depends on your end goal. If you plan on putting a lot of money into a car, get the best base possible.

If your intent is to get a beater, get a beater, but don't put a dime into it except the timing belt, if it's an M20-powered car.

[Lof8]

I enjoy the wrenching aspect and will always pick the cheap one that needs work. Unless its a DD, its not much fun when your DD needs lots of work.

[Stanley Rockefeller]

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion recently about the value of our cars. At the time both of us had MR2's. Mine was minty fresh, needed nothing and had very low mileage (57,000 miles on it). His was the same age, had unknown miles, is 3 different colors, has suspension issues, bad tires, a bad tranny, and electrical problems.

He knew I was selling mine but thought I was asking too much. A MR2 in average condition with about 150,000 miles sells for about $3500-4500 (non-turbo). I was asking $9,000 for mine but mine was near perfect. And yes I sold it slightly cheaper in the end because I really just wanted a BMW 3 series.

Is it just me or would you pay more money for a well sorted car (if you could afford it) or prefer a beater with high mileage and repairs needed to save a buck up front?

What year MR2?

[shadowbethesda]

It was a 1991 MR2 black on black with T-tops.

[Brandon12V]

MR2's certainly can be nasty little beasts. a buddy of mine slapped on an intercooler, raised the boost slightly and was making 265wheel back in high school. I was 16 at the time and I was in love. It was that OEM teal color and had sparco buckets with 5-point harnesses. bastard sold it to fund his parkour team.

it's all relative to what the buying market is. aside from classics the car market fluctuates. your mr2 seemed fairly priced to me but I would have lowballed you 7500 until you agreed to just shy of 8k, lol.

[ogbimmer]

hmmm I think its best to find something in the middle. If its prefect the owner is going to want that "perfect money" If its beater status it might need alot of undercover stuff...