Hello,

I have a question for some classic zcar enthusiasts.

I understand location is a component of value for a pre-owned vehicle as well as condition, mileage, age, etc.

Generally speaking, how do prices vary in differnet parts of the country for pre-owned vehicles?

How does it vary by specific vehicle?

Thank you.

What I've noticed about resale value and location is this-

if you want it, it's too expensive; if you're trying to sell it, it's too cheap.

For you in MI, something rust-free is going to get the best price, while someone in an arid state (like Arizona) will pay more for a car with an immaculate interior.

It has been mentioned before that if someone were to transport a car from the west and sell it in the east, then a profit could be made. Likewise, from southwest to north. The problems about shipping costs and sightless purchasing pretty much nix the whole idea, unless you owned your own transport company or had a good network of buyers in whatever area that knew what they were doing.

That's all just my opinion, of course.

Like all economic issues, it boils down to supply and demand. With early Zs especially, they were fairly evenly distributed around the country when new. But in many parts of the US the ranks have been decimated by rust. So the supply of good and/or restorable cars in much of the country is rather small. Price goes up. Here in the West where we don't use road salt, the number of available cars is much greater, so the price goes down. The down side is that cars that people would happily buy to repair back East get crushed here because they have little value.

That doesn't mean that there aren't expensive cars here on the left coast, but but since there are far more to pick from, it takes an exceptional car to be worth much.

Some examples from Craigslist searches done today for 240Z cars for sale:

Chicago, IL: 0 cars

• Pittsburgh, PA: 0 cars
  
• Richmond. VA: 0 cars
  
• Atlanta, GA: 1 car, $6000
  
• Miami, FL: 0 cars
  
• Boston, MA: 0 cars
  
• Washington, DC: 1 car, $4000
  
• Raleigh, NC: 1 car, $3300
  
• Minneapolis, MN: 0 cars
  
• New York, NY: 0 cars
  
• Philadelphia, PA: 1 parts car, $225
  
• Austin, TX: 1 car, $1250
  
• Dallas, TX, 0 cars
  
• Houston, TX: 1 car, $1700
  
• Denver, CO: 3 cars, $3750-11,000

So that's 8 complete cars East of the Rockies (plus 1 parts car), and 3 of those are in Denver.

And now, from the West --

Seattle: 4 cars, $800-3500

• Spokane, WA: 2 cars, $600-3400
  
• Portland, OR: 3 cars, $2200-12,500
  
• Salem, OR: 2 cars, $3000-8000
  
• Eugene, OR: 2 cars, $1200-2500
  
• Sacramento, CA: 3 cars, $2000-13,0000
  
• San Francisco, CA: 11 cars, $1000-5700
  
• Los Angeles, CA: 4 cars, $1500-7000
  
• Orange Co., CA: 5 cars, $1500-7500
  
• San Diego, CA: 1 car, $2300
  
• Phoenix, AZ: 3 cars, $3500-12,000
  
• Reno, NV: 1 car, $5000

That's 39 240Zs listed on Craigslist today that are West of the Rockies. Some of them are expensive. But many of the $2000-4000 cars don't look much different than the $6000 car in Atlanta.

Supply and Demand.

To do a direct comparison you can go to TMV (True Market Value). Go to get value for used car and put in a particular car model with options. Now put same inquiry with different ZIP codes from around the country and you will see the difference. The reason being that a car from the rust belt is likely to have a shortened life due to rust issues etc….

Ah, but Arnie SUPPLY is only half of the equation. The other half is DEMAND.

I do not believe that the early 240Zs were ever evenly distributed around the country. Unless you consider even to mean L.A., Chicago, New York, and Miami.

Here in Indy I had never even heard of a Datsun until after the Oil crunch of 1973-74. Until the price of gas went out of sight no one around here was interested. Even today in a lot of places "foreign" cars are unusual. The Toyota Camary is the best selling car in the U.S., but you could watch traffic all day at my house and might never see one.

(and to be fair, most cars sold by Honda, Nissan and Toyota aren't actually foreign today...)

I knew a few people back in the early 80's who owned a Z, but for every Z owner I knew at least 5 Mustang and 3 Camaro owners. Now there are likely 10 Mustangs in this area for every Z, but the local demand still isn't all that good for the Z cars. The Z cars that I have seen advertised here locally have been asking around $3000 to $4000.

Most people here who can even identify my car think it is a 280Z because that is the only model they have ever seen before.

And several of my teenage children's friends have engaged me in nearly the same conversation...

Kid: "That is a cool car... what is it?"

Me: "A Datsun 240Z."

Kid: "Wow, that is neat... er... what's a Datsun?"

Hi Arne/Walter (everyone):

California had been the "Import Car Capital" of the US since the mid-50's. It's actually kind of funny today, but the men at the Nissan Head Office in Japan, really expected New York to be the foothold area for the sale of Datsun's in the U.S. (so Katayama was given the Western States)

For 1970

Sales in the Eastern Division (26 States + D.C. Area)

Florida Lead State in the Division

Cars= 5,932

Trucks= 3462

Sales Totals for the Eastern Division

Cars =39,804

Trucks= 13,997

(Walter - Indiana Cars = 50 and Trucks = 21)

Sales in the Western Division (23 States)

California Lead State in the Division

Cars = 32,053

Trucks= 19,894

Sales Totals for the Western Division

Cars 57,083

Trucks 35,355

Sales Totals for Hawaii

Cars 3654

Trucks 964

Total Sales in the US for 1970

Cars = 100,541

Trucks = 50,316

1970 Sales in the US for VW = 569,182

240-Z Production in 1970 = something like 20,000

VW Karman-Ghia Production = something like 39,000

Mustang Production in 1970 = something like 300,000

Camero Production in 1970 = something like 125,000

Corvair Production in 1965 = something like 160,000

FWIW,

Carl B.

I'll chime in with ZBane here and suggest two words: ROAD SALT

Evil - just plain evil.

Having lived in S. FL for over twenty years now, I still can't get over the fact that when I put my (daily driver) car on a lift and look around, it's as clean as a whistle - no dirt, no clay, no rust, nada. And this car is now 15 years old.

Used car prices here in FL (IMHO) are higher than in the majority of the east coast because of that simple fact.

  Walter Moore said:

Here in Indy I had never even heard of a Datsun until after the Oil crunch of 1973-74. Until the price of gas went out of sight no one around here was interested. Even today in a lot of places "foreign" cars are unusual. The Toyota Camary is the best selling car in the U.S., but you could watch traffic all day at my house and might never see one.

It's interesting that there's that much difference between Indy and 100 miles West in Champaign, IL. I own a '99 Camry (granted - I bought it when I lived in MD). However, I can't drive it anywhere without parking within a couple of cars of one or more other Camrys. If mine wasn't one of the more unusual colors (dark green), I might never find it!

Or maybe I just notice them more because I drive one when the Z can't be driven....

  mdbrandy said:

If mine wasn't one of the more unusual colors (dark green), I might never find it!

You'd lose it here in Eugene, OR. Every Oregon Ducks fan here buys dark green cars. Dark green Camrys are a dime a dozen here.

  Arne said:

You'd lose it here in Eugene, OR. Every Oregon Ducks fan here buys dark green cars. Dark green Camrys are a dime a dozen here.

Interesting! So even regional color selections! I think I've seen one other green Camry in town. The University of Illinois colors are Orange and Blue, so you don't see "too many" cars those colors...except for the really die-hard fans with Vans dedicated to tailgating and such!