Thinking of selling my Z... advice?

[mimregi]

I don't want to sell it, but the thought has crossed my mind lately. I don't want to get too much into it (because I may cry), but essentially it boils down to this: we just moved and I have nowhere to work on the car, I'm a bit further from work than where I wanted to be and, quite frankly, gas is KILLING me (it is my daily driver). I am not quite sure yet if I am going to sell it, but someone at work approached me about it and it got me thinking... if I sell it now, I can almost certainly make a profit, buy something cheap to beat around for a year or two until we buy a house and then buy back in later (promising myself I will get a '72 before too long makes the whole idea much more palatable). OK, preamble aside...

IF I sell the car, what do you all think would be a fair price? Check out my gallery here:

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=8707

The car is obviously in great shape. There is no rust anywhere on the car that I have found, the interior and extreior body panels are rust-proofed, the paint is near perfect, the interior is in wonderful shape (the carpets are a kit but a fairly good one). Mechanically, it is wonderful... starts right up, one crank, every time.

The minutia: it does need some very little things -- I would loike to have a body person tweak the doors, hatch and hood (they are ever so slightly off), and the seals could stand to be re-done. The car takes on a very minimal amount of water when it rains hard (one of the pics shows the extra strip of rubber I silicon'd in to compensate for the doors hanging just off). It does not have AC (non-existant, not inoperable). There is a hint of a gas smell -- I am convinced that it is a combination of the rear hatch seal and the fact that the webers run very rich (if I do keep the car, I will eventually restore the original SUs, re-seal the hatch and get a tip for the exhaust which I feel certain will eliminate the odor). Those are the biggest things -- a handful of other small things persist (the driver's window is a bit sticky, I hate the shift knob and have not gotten around to re-ordering one, etc.), but ultimatel, the car is wonderful.

NADA prices the car at about 8k mid and 12.5k high retail. I feel like the car easily qualifies for high retail or more. What do you folks think? If you were me and considering selling the car, what would you ask for? If you were in the market to buy it, what would you offer? Hell, make me an offer =) Certainly, there is a price point beneath which it just snt worth selling the car...

so sad.. thoughts?

[xray]

I don't want to sell it, but the thought has crossed my mind lately. I don't want to get too much into it (because I may cry), but essentially it boils down to this: we just moved and I have nowhere to work on the car, I'm a bit further from work than where I wanted to be and, quite frankly, gas is KILLING me (it is my daily driver). I am not quite sure yet if I am going to sell it, but someone at work approached me about it and it got me thinking... if I sell it now, I can almost certainly make a profit, buy something cheap to beat around for a year or two until we buy a house and then buy back in later (promising myself I will get a '72 before too long makes the whole idea much more palatable). OK, preamble aside...

Dude, are you high? (Kidding..well, sorta. Actually, no.)

Seriously, I can't believe I just saw "sell the Z" and "buy something cheap to beat around..." in one sentence! I totally respect the whole "gas is killing me" thing, because even though I commute 4 miles to work everyday it still cuts into the rainy day fund. Why not just buy a beater? Get an old 4-door Civic for $3000 and stash the Z! Shoot, you could keep it on "temporary loan" at my house if I weren't three states away!

Looked at your gallery, and the car looks great. Really, top shelf preservation. (Mild personal critique follows) I prefer the chrome bumpers and the diamond vinyl, and some polished SUs would look suh-weet in that engine bay. BTW, where did you get those hoses? I like the whole steel braided look...

Don't do something permanent (sell that car) while you are in a temporary situation (apartment, etc.) You may very well regret it every time you set foot in that ol' beater you sold the Z for...

$0.02,

Steve

PS: Personally, based on the pics and East Coast market I would not go below $9500, and I would shoot for $10.5-11 if the underside matches the topside.

[71ZZZZZ]

Considering the time, effort and $$$ it took to get your present in this shape starting over might be more expensive overall...at least your current ride is in really good condition and you know everything going on with it...you don't know what you'll find with the next one...I'm with xray on this, if you can maybe hold on to it for that little while...once you buy that house it may be difficult to keep that self-promise...good luck with it...

[BuDavid]

man, I would sell my house to have the one u have! it is obvious tht u spent time, money and energy into it, it dosnt mke a sense that u'll buy a nother one later, coz the mantinnce thing is kind of a relation between a person and his car, if u r satisfide with urs now, I dont think that u'll have a big chance to be satisfide with a nother one so fast!

but a cheap car with a 1.6L engine and store the angle;)

[seerex]

one word , don't , you will regret it for many days and nights , I made that mistake , just put it in storage i know a few places in town , do what it takes , or sell it to my brother , kidding

[Ricklandia]

Got another suggestion for ya...

If you're using it as a daily driver, I'll bet you have quite a bit of insurance on it, yes? Why not buy some POS to run around town in to save on gas (old Honda or Toyota comes to mind), and take your Z OFF regular insurance and put it on COLLECOR CAR INSURANCE (Hagerty's is what I have). The money you'll save on insurance alone, over a couple of years will pay for that POS commuter AND you'll still get to keep AND DRIVE your Z! I'm dead serious. When I found out how cheap it was to insure a collector car, that's what finalized me getting my Z (after YEARS of regretting getting rid of my 260Z!). If you love your Z, and it sounds like you do, my advice is dont sell it, there are other answers.

[71ZZZZZ]

Got another suggestion for ya...

If you're using it as a daily driver, I'll bet you have quite a bit of insurance on it, yes? Why not buy some POS to run around town in to save on gas (old Honda or Toyota comes to mind), and take your Z OFF regular insurance and put it on COLLECOR CAR INSURANCE (Hagerty's is what I have). The money you'll save on insurance alone, over a couple of years will pay for that POS commuter AND you'll still get to keep AND DRIVE your Z! I'm dead serious. When I found out how cheap it was to insure a collector car, that's what finalized me getting my Z (after YEARS of regretting getting rid of my 260Z!). If you love your Z, and it sounds like you do, my advice is dont sell it, there are other answers.

This is interesting, can I get a collector car rider on my regular auto insurance or is Hagerty's a specialty provider?

[Mr Camouflage]

Thinking of selling my Z... advice?

DONT!

[sblake01]

This is interesting, can I get a collector car rider on my regular auto insurance or is Hagerty's a specialty provider?

Hagerty is a specialty provider. I have their insurance on my Z and my 320. There are certain restrictions on how the car can be used. You can't drive to work or to school on a regular basis, etc. You must have a non collector car also on a regular policy with a regular insurance company in order to have their in order to have Hagerty's insurance on your collector car or cars. It's bascally for pleasure driving, shows, etc. Some of the major companies offer collector car insurance but it is usually through some subsidiary of theirs and after comparison, I came to the conlcusion that Hagerty is the best of it's type at least for me.

[71ZZZZZ]

Thanks Stephen...I'll look into it..

:beard:

[theianmonster]

You will regret it.

[xray]

Stephen Blakeley: "Hagerty is a specialty provider. I have their insurance on my Z and my 320. There are certain restrictions on how the car can be used. You can't drive to work or to school on a regular basis, etc. You must have a non collector car also on a regular policy with a regular insurance company in order to have their in order to have Hagerty's insurance on your collector car or cars. It's bascally for pleasure driving, shows, etc. Some of the major companies offer collector car insurance but it is usually through some subsidiary of theirs and after comparison, I came to the conlcusion that Hagerty is the best of it's type at least for me."

Correct me if I am wrong, but don't you also have to have the car in a secure weather-proof facility, i.e., locked garage? That may pose some problems if you are renting an apartment or something similar...

Just don't sell the Z...

S