Increasing (theoretical) resale value.

[Vivek]

kbb is not actually an opinion its an average of what all the vehicles sold for in the us in the last year based on dmv records.

They do go by area.

in my area since I bought my car I havent ever seen an e30 go for 2000. Ive seen a lot of them go up for sale for a lot but never sell. most e30s kind of sit on craigslist for a month. Im not that far from you also, cars are even cheaper where you are.

I wouldnt invest in your 88 car in the hopes that youd ever see half the money in reselling it. You may well find that your car is worth less than 1000 even with a turbocharger and a new paint job in a few years when youre ready to get rid of it.

Most people fake the value for tax reasons. Even if they bought the car for 5k, they write 500 bucks on the bill of sale since it's an old car and can get away with it. I've seen numerous e30's sell for good amounts of money, and I'd say that in many cases you can get back what your paid for a given e30 if you're prudent.

[PeteD]

It's a Crazy Market

Like most of you, I keep a keen eye on the e30 market relative to where I live (New England). Not considering comparables, and simply isolating CL prices, current sales in NE range from $950-$8,000, with a guestmated average of $3,500. I've seen a few recent expamles under the $1,500 range sell within a day on CL.

The $950 car was a stock 4-door running car, in fair condition (not sure if it was an "e" or "i") - seller needed money for bills, so it was priced to sell ASAP. The $8,000 is a diving board "IS" that looks super clean and well sorted. The $1,500 examples that sold upon market exposure appeared to be good quality cars in DD driving condition. There is one in RI with a blown engine going for $1,500 that is still for sale, but I'm not sure if it is still available.

Around here, the higher priced cars are the ones well sorted - mechanically and structurally, regardless of mods or not, or completely stock and in good condition. If you mod your car, do it with a high degree of professionalism and try to keep it as tasteful as possible or just keep your stock car looking good and running right. I feel the best ROI on a clean, well running car is proper upgraded shocks and springs with a nice set of wheels and tires.

[stamar]

they remove all of those values from the kbb sales.

all cars but especially bmws tend to sell for below the low kbb value.

More so every year.

You can be hopeful but just in the value an 88 e30 fell in the last year it would be unrealistic to think any e30 would be worth more than 1000 in 5 years. Even in perfect condition with coilovers and an m50 swap.

dont even try to sell yourself on it.

there are WAY more valuable cars in their day already below that.

in this area they go for well 300$ to 4500 too like theres a tax day sale.

[Vivek]

In my opinion, you're completely wrong, but I guess we'll just have to wait 5 years and find out.

[reelizmpro]

He's forgetting that e30s bottomed out a long time ago and the reason they have gone up is less supply of clean examples and a thriving cult following. This is y a modded m3 can fetch 25-50k and stock 325is can fetch e36 m3 money. U cannot underestimate a cult following.

[Vivek]

^that

[JinormusJ]

they remove all of those values from the kbb sales.

all cars but especially bmws tend to sell for below the low kbb value.

More so every year.

You can be hopeful but just in the value an 88 e30 fell in the last year it would be unrealistic to think any e30 would be worth more than 1000 in 5 years. Even in perfect condition with coilovers and an m50 swap.

dont even try to sell yourself on it.

there are WAY more valuable cars in their day already below that.

in this area they go for well 300$ to 4500 too like theres a tax day sale.

I suggest you take everything you know about car buying and toss it in the garbage.
KKB is trash when you talk about cars this old. Just because the blue book says something is a certain value doesn't mean it actually IS that value. Sometimes you get below value, sometimes you get high. With such a cult car like this, everything is up in the air because no one knows who actually buys the cars. Are they enthusiast who knows what they're buying and concludes that $5000 is an amazing deal, or some joe-shmo looking for a cheap car to beat on for 2 months and would pay a dime more than $400?

E30s has one of the biggest enthusiast communities for any other car on the planet. That alone will drive up STREET price sales because e30s are still widely sought after in acceptable condition and the competition for buying one at a low price range is feirce. SHOOT. If I had a dollar for every time I got laughed at for wanting to buy an e30 at a KBB value of ~$1100, I could have enough to buy 3 e30s...

My money is on the fact that in 5-years, the very car you described will actually be worth MORE on the street because cars that have been enthusiast maintained, properly swapped, and tastefully modded will be much far and few in between. Less e30s in the junk yard, harder to find used parts; all thse factors will drive up prices in the enthusiast community through the years. Unless in 5-years, of course, they have flying cars that run off urine and a car with rubber and petrol will be obsolete. Not likely...

Your comparing market value and street value, and in the case of these cars, they are no where near the same
Reel is correct

[mikeb23ft]

You can be hopeful but just in the value an 88 e30 fell in the last year it would be unrealistic to think any e30 would be worth more than 1000 in 5 years. Even in perfect condition with coilovers and an m50 swap.

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever read on the internet. 15 years ago did you think 2002 prices were going to go into the shitter? The E30 is going to be a classic car.

I hope you're right, though. Can't wait to have a different built and swapped E30 for every day of the week for just 7k! In 5 short years!

[stamar]

On the chevy malibu forum all the guys who painted their 96 malibus candy red with twin turbochargers huddle together to tell eachother their cars are worth 5000 when kbb says they are worth 500$ if you drive it to the buyer to look at it.

Its the same sort of denial. Theres a magazine, a club. Someone buys one for 5000$ at a meeting....but dont count on that bailing you out.

Its the same for the ford taurus club. Kbb doesnt mean ford taurus... haha...




Their are already 5 cars for sale on the us car market for every 1 buyer.

Within a few years a car that gets less than 35 mpg is possibly going to be considered useless for everyday driving possibly. I dont guarantee this but theres a lot of signs. The same reason you dont see a lot of 8 mpg 78 chevy capris around. Those things were very reliable its just gas made them worth less than nothing. Our e30s dont have much to go to be in the same spot.
Way over 95% of used cars sold go for 1500 or less in the us. The used car buyer can get way better than a e30 for 1500 at this point on the market it would be usually an 18th choice after isuzu rodeo somewhere.

There is a huge trend of used cars being literally abandoned at this point like no time in recent history.

The percent of millionaires looking for a sunday driver e30 that dont already have 4 is pretty much shrinking.



If I had to predict considering all of the factors I definitely would not invest a lot in a 88 325 is and count on getting a fraction of it back selling it anytime soon. I could be wrong.
It depends on what youre buying of course, if you buy things retail or discounted etc.

I would never depend on getting a lot more than kbb for your car or convincing yourself your car is worth a lot more than kbb because then youre in the maybe but probably not territory. All signs point to old used car market taking the biggest dive of our lifetime and soon.

theres data that shows how many 88 325is were sold and for how much last year unfortunately its by state. No guessing about it or optimism necessary, way less than just a year before, and free fall less than the year before.
Theres nothing that shows these cars appreciating in price if someone has some data to present that to the e30 forum asap thatd be something cool to read about we all sticky it.

[stamar]

He's forgetting that e30s bottomed out a long time ago and the reason they have gone up is less supply of clean examples and a thriving cult following. This is y a modded m3 can fetch 25-50k and stock 325is can fetch e36 m3 money. U cannot underestimate a cult following.

In the year since I got my car e30 kbb fell about 50% for my car.
For the top most desirable cars with are like the last couple years of convertibles 91 92 it fell less. For the ops car, it went down the toilet. Has a lot more to fall when a top valued 92 325 convertibel is still like 2500-3000. when it reaches 1000-1500 then its at the bottom...


I have only been on the west coast. There is no limited supply of e30s here in cali or in oregon. theres tons of them and they sell very slowly. The owners are often out of touch with what they go for and no one even looks at them.

theres a 91 auto for sale it was 1800 obo and its at 800 on cl I just linked it on the other thread asking for e30 values. Nobody asked to see it I asked the owner to let me buy a few parts if he junks it because ive seen it for months.

kbb in your area could be higher you can take a peek Im totally quoting the west coast kbb. Not canada or wherever either. Theres reasons old cars are worth more there too.


bmws sell as new way more on the west coast too theres a lot of them might make a difference in opinion.

[nando]

In the year since I got my car e30 kbb fell about 50% for my car.
For the top most desirable cars with are like the last couple years of convertibles 91 92 it fell less. For the ops car, it went down the toilet. Has a lot more to fall when a top valued 92 325 convertibel is still like 2500-3000. when it reaches 1000-1500 then its at the bottom...


I have only been on the west coast. There is no limited supply of e30s here in cali or in oregon. theres tons of them and they sell very slowly. The owners are often out of touch with what they go for and no one even looks at them.

theres a 91 auto for sale it was 1800 obo and its at 800 on cl I just linked it on the other thread asking for e30 values. Nobody asked to see it I asked the owner to let me buy a few parts if he junks it because ive seen it for months.

kbb in your area could be higher you can take a peek Im totally quoting the west coast kbb. Not canada or wherever either. Theres reasons old cars are worth more there too.


bmws sell as new way more on the west coast too theres a lot of them might make a difference in opinion.

KBB has no relevance on cars that are more than 10-15 years old. it's basically a straight line depreciation curve, not a market value.

and yeah, there are a lot of crappy $800 E30s, but just because there's one high miles, beat to shit, poorly maintained E30 for $800, doesn't mean a low miles, mint condition, well maintained and clean E30 isn't worth $8,000+.

[nando]

kbb is not actually an opinion its an average of what all the vehicles sold for in the us in the last year based on dmv records.

no, not it is not. it's a simple depreciation curve with some market biases added in. it has no relevance on an E30.

but hell, I'll play devils advocate! $500 for a mint condition 325is with an S52 and coilovers? sign me up!

[evandael]

ITT, a delusional used car market 'analyst' and expert.


stamar, look at any enthusiast car market. alfa giulia's, datsun 510's, bmw 2002's, toyota MR2's, hell, even clapped out drift mobiles like nissan 240s and toyota AE86's... they all command higher prices than traditional used car market depreciation estimates would predict.

know why? because demand is up (more and more enthusiasts learning of the cars) and supply is down (no more production, and cars get wrecked every day). sure, the average person would only want to pay $500 for a clapped out example of any of those cars, but the average person is not buying these cars. at the end of the day, the car is worth whatever it is to the buyer, using the enthusiast market as a guideline for price.

accordingly, when someone can occasionally get $6K for a well-maintained and tastefully modified 318is, it's only a matter of time before more and more sellers advertise their cars for a similar amount and more and more buyers will pay said amount. and thus, the value of the chassis goes up, on a whole.


don't be misguided and think you will bag a clean 325is for $1000 in 2017. think ten times that number.

[bimmerteck]

all cars but especially bmws tend to sell for below the low kbb value.

More so every year.

Wow. So by your math, the M5 and single cab are both so old that they are practically worthless!

[Grant318is]

In my opinion, you're completely wrong, but I guess we'll just have to wait 5 years and find out.

This. Mout cars sell above the value. Take a look at any E36 M3 for sale in good condition. They go for 8-10k whereas the kbb value is significantly lower. On top of this, most clean E30s sell for way above the kbb. I bought a clean example for 3k. The kbb is about 1500, but i could easily sell it for 4k. These cars are on the up trend. There are fewer and fewer cleans ones and therefore people are willing to pay more for one.

KBB has no way to tell which values are false and which are honest. Their value is based on the average. They are unable to remove values because they are unable to discern which cars are sold for 500 and which are just claiming a false values.

This thread is about theoretical value. This is about mod value vs resale value.

High resale value items include
Wheels - high quality wheels are easy to part out and hold value.
Hard/expensive maintenance items - complete suframe rebuild, rebuild diffs, quality paint work, engine rebuilds and interior restorations..
Large mods - well done engine swaps, complete coilover suspensions, turbo builds and rare parts.