Another "All Original" Z car on ebay

[onuthin]

Good morning James As some members know I have bought 10 Z cars since Jan this year.I have 3 70, 1 71,1 72, 3 73,1 77, and 1 eighty something. They range in price from free to 12000.00.I am by no means as qualified to give expert advice as a lot of members in this club.I am going by my limited experience.What I have found is some cars look good in the picture and description but after inspection it is a mirror and light show.Also I have some that look like crap in the picture and turn out to be great.The funny part is the asking price has basically nothing to do with the real condition of the car. It all is up to the seller what he thinks it is worth.I think others will agree with me the best way to buy a car is go look at it for yourself and see first hand what shape it is in.The second best way is to find someone close to the car and have them check it out for you.There are plenty of members that would be glad to do this for you.The worst thing you can do is see a picture of one at a good price and decide up front you have to have that car at any price.Check around and make an informed purchase and you should be alright.Just remember you should be prepared to walk away if it doesn't feel right.Good luck and keep us informed. By the way I live about 45 minutes SE of Atlanta.

[Carl Beck]

So everyone, what would this car be worth if it did not have the fender flares, or the black stripe? If everything else he says were true and the car has that low of miles with matching #'s?

James

Hi James:

IF - big "I", big "F"... if it were actually a pure stock 70, with 75k miles and next to no rust... If that was the original factory paint, not a repaint etc etc..

It would sell pretty quickly in Georgia for $6,500.00 to $7,500.00.

If you did buy it - for that amount - you would find that in order to have your piece of mind on a weekend drive - you'd spend another $4K to $5K on it by the time you are done. Shocks, tires, brakes, re-core the radiator, replace the heater core, .... new clutch... new transmission and differential mounts, replace the gas vapor tank lines, new rear hatch seals to get the exhaust smell out of the car ... on and on it goes... Hey, you just bought a 36 year old car... mileage is important, but it isn't the only thing that destroys a car...

By the time you've done all the above, you are so in love with the car - you are starting to wish that it's paint and engine compartment looked as good as the car drives.... Time to take it apart, and have a proper paint job done... a year later and $5K out of pocket - and the car is starting to fulfill your real desire... and you realize that you now have $20K hard money and a couple years of work in the car...

All of us that have been though that process.. will advise you ... Go SPEND THE MONEY UP FRONT and buy one that has already been loved and made road worthy.. pay the $10K to $12K for it... it will save you a ton of money in the long run.. and yield far more pleasure in the shot term..

FWIW,

Carl B.

[lww]

Carl speaks with authority.

There are exceptions to this rule, but they are so far and few between as to be statistically improbable.

I bought one of my 240Z's for $500 with under 120,000 miles, mostly because what they seller thought was rust through the driver side rear quarter/floor was actually the sound deadening material cracked and flaking away. I only ever looked at the car after work in the dark and couldn't tell it wasn't what we both thought it was.

Anyway, aside from that, the car was in excellent shape with good tires and new steering rack. So far, I've got about another $6500 into the car and the interior and exterior are NOT started on yet...

After paint and interior, I expect I'll have well over $15k in the car and I won't expect to get more than about $8k-$10k out of it if I ever sell.

A relatively good rule of thumb I use is to expect to get about half what I've got into any restoration project at the time of sale. At least when it comes to these cars.

[cloudbaseracer]

It went for $5625. Anyone in GA have a good 70-71 240Z for sale?