How Much?

Hey guys,

Loathe though I am to admit it, I am considering selling my Galant VR-4. I was hoping that some of you could help me out in trying to figure out what a fair price would be. Here's what I have:

1992 VR-4
Nile Black
Sunroof
15X,XXX miles

The Good:
Virtually all original. Only exceptions are TEL shifter/boot (all new bushings); Stainless Clutch line, small 16G upgrade turbo, no balance shafts, drop-in K&N filter.
Engine professionally rebuilt with OEM parts less than 10K miles ago. (Have receipt--over $3900 tab. Ouch!)
ECU capacitors replaced.
Excellent interior with great leather.
New clutch with engine rebuilt (I can't remember which clutch was used.)

The Bad:
Clearcoat is getting damaged on hood, roof, and spoiler from the sun. (It is garaged most of the time, but in AL, most of the time doesn't cut it!)
Shifting is a little notchy when cold, but fine once it warms up. (Is that pretty normal for these cars? BTY, I'm running BG Synchroshift II)
Small dings on the body. No dents, just normal dings here and there.
Windshield is cracked. (It used to be a chip, but I came out one day, and it had grown up.)

So, be honest, what do you guys think? What could I expect to get? I'm debating on addressing some of "The Bad" before I sell it, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to or not. The only reason I'm considering selling is that I'm looking at buying a business, and I could use the extra operating capital. Then again, hopefully, I won't need to sell it, and I can hold onto it a while longer. I can't imagine that there are too many relatively unmodified GVR4s out there anymore.

 

[jepherz]

Have you looked through the for sale section at all? That should give you some other cars to compare to. Whether or not they are up for sale or have already sold for said amount, I can't say.

Keep in mind that a car is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. With that said, this includes timelines as well. If you need to unload a car today vs. in the next 6 months, that can change your price a lot.

 

[DR1665]

If you've got receipts for the rebuild and the car is otherwise solid, mechanically, I'd say you shouldn't go below $3500 without seeing the paint damage. Even so, bad paint and a cracked windshield make the car *look* bad, which is going to give people a subconscious feeling of the car being less than it is.

As dude said above me, the longer you can wait, the more likely you are to find a buyer. Clean it up as nice as you can and get some good pictures of it for your listing. Then be transparent in your dealings. Great success.

 

[Hertz]

I'd ballpark $4500.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I've bought and sold plenty of cars, but I always appreciate a more informed opinion. I had looked through the For Sale section, but it's hard to find cars that are similar enough to mine for a really good comparison. It seems that there are a lot of really nice,clean, super-modified cars for sale, or fixxer-upper projects, but not a whole lot in between like mine is--a solid, fairly-stock driver.

Right now, financing is looking pretty good for my business venture, so I shouldn't need to sell the VR-4, but it is something which I'm willing to consider. I think that the plan is going to be to find a good paintless dent repair guy to take out the dings, get the windshield replaced, and then see what can be done about the paint. I may even get the wheels touched-up at the same time to top it off. That way, if I need to sell it down the road, it will be more presentable, and if I don't, well, I'll have a nicer car. I know that a car can be mechanically perfect, but if it looks a little rough, it can scare off a lot of buyers.

As an aside, does anyone know if the OEM Mitsubishi windshield is still available? I'd really like to keep the car as original as possible. Yes, I'm really into "preservation" with this car. I probably haven't even driven it 5K miles since I bought it almost five years ago.

Thanks again.