Is it generally hard to sell an original series 1 240z?

[kinfish]

I suggest that you be patient and keep advertising for the right buyer.

$3,900 for a Oct,'70 Series I with low mileage and minimal mods is reasonable price. I suspect the repaint and noticeable bondo may be scaring some buyers. Put the VIN # in your ads.

Fixing the brakes and clutch to make it driveable would enhance your chances of selling.

Garage space in Brooklyn is got to be a costly monthly expense.

[xray]

I think the West Coasters may need to revise their opinions up a bit...this 1972 240z in Maine just sold on Ebay for 4k+. This car is similar in condition, especially with the bad patch job on the floors....Better ending price this time because it is now known to be a running car.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=016&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=260179251359&rd=1

Based on this I'd stand firm at $3250, and the starting price at $3900 is fine.

Gotta roll with the market!

[Arne]

I think the West Coasters may need to revise their opinions up a bit...this 1972 240z in Maine just sold on Ebay for 4k+. This car is similar in condition, especially with the bad patch job on the floors....Better ending price this time because it is now known to be a running car.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=016&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=260179251359&rd=1

Based on this I'd stand firm at $3250, and the starting price at $3900 is fine.

Gotta roll with the market!

Exactly why I prefaced my comments the way I did. I really don't have a feel for the East Coast pricing. That really doesn't surprise me at all.

[WingZr0]

More Rust than mine but is a '70

For comparison here in California I paid $2000 for mine and $500 in

upkeep and basic parts like Fuel Pump and Spark plugs and such.

No rust under car or on frame (Thank Lord).

Only found 2 spots, one on drivers side rocker below 280Z emblem

and little bit of surface rust where the paint has chipped around

the gas door.

Paint and body work and interior was already done and engine rebuilt.

But they put the wrong Intake / Exhaust Gasket on when they

reassembled the Engine and the PO never figured out that was causing

the Engine to run bad.

My Z is Fuel Injected and they used the 240Z Carborated version which has

no holes for the fuel injectors.

That $18 dollar part likely saved me 2 Grand

All thats needed now is seats and carpet.

Oh yeah, NOS dash boards I hear are going for $1,800 :eek:

[Carl Beck]

Just my opinion.... Failure to sell the car - at this point in time - isn't about the price of the car at all.

About the SALESMAN:

The reason the car isn't selling - is because you are failing to "Sell It". The pictures you Posted with your Ad - are tuning prospective buyers off before they go any farther.

Drag that car out of that dark, dingy garage, clean/polish the chrome, stainless and especially the tail lights... Don't "detail" it, don't gloss anything over - just clean things up with soap and water!! (shinny chrome on the tail lights would be worth $500.00).. Show it as it really is - not at its worst.

THEN - take clear pictures of the important details, to both Post in an Ad. - and Send to prospective buyers. You know enough about the Z's to know what details prospective buyers want to see - if you don't show them, buyers will know that your description is most likely BS - - and that your trying to hid major flaws in the car with crummy pictures (that's just the way it works isn't it?).

Put the car up on a lift - pay a shop to put it in the air for you - and take good pictures of the floorboards and frame rails. Pull the carpets and take good pictures of the floorboards from inside the car. That will help confirm or dispel the talk here about hidden rust issues there etc.

I can see rust spots on the rear bumper - are the bumpers rusting through from the inside out? Can you poke a screwdriver through these spots? Are the bumpers dented, twisted? Show clear pictures if you expect to get many calls about the car... (bumpers are VERY expensive now), and if they are rusted through - you can't do anything with them except throw them in the trash...

Anyone can see that at least the rear of the car was re-sprayed.. and a sloppy job at that.. so show clear pictures of the inside of the rear panels - so we can see they aren't crumpled, and with bondo sticking through... You have to show off-sets - for every flaw that shows...

Bottom line is - show everything clearly, don't hid anything... the right buyer will accept a few flaws in a 37 year old car..

About the Buyer:

The car would sell to the people looking for a 240-Z, that they want to refresh or restore themselves. They want to do it themselves because they like the hobby (enjoy the process of restoring a classic), or they want to know that everything has been done the way they want it done. That person loves the Datsun 240-Z's, either has one or more, or has wanted one for a long time.

$3K, $4K, $5K won't matter a hoot to the person above - they just don't care about a couple thousand dollars one way or the other - when they find the car they want to start their project with. They know it's going to take a couple years and $20K + to get the car the way they want it - because they have researched the subject, have friends that had done the whole nine-yards etc The have the money and they can easily afford to do what they want...

There are a lot of potential buyers that fit the above description out there - but you have to do far more work in presenting the car to them. They aren't bargain hunters, they aren't thinking of building a driver, they are a completely different group than that. They are the people however that have been driving the price of "restorable" vehicles up over the past couple years...

About the Car:

I agree with you - a Series I, 240-Z, with a crack free, perfect dash (which you completely fail to show clear detail pictures of), with less than 60K miles, in unmolested condition - should sell easily for $3,500.00 to $4,500.00 on the East Cost... The problem is, you aren't really "showing" anyone "that" car. You have described it, but your pictures do not at this point, match your description as far as any prospective buyers are concerned... rather the pictures you have simply raise suspicions ....(as you can see from many of the comments here - I hope).

On the other hand:

If the floorboards and frame rails ARE rusted to the point of needing replacement, if the rockers are really much worse that expected... if the damage to the rear panels are more extensive than expected... it's a $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 car in non-running condition, and it isn't the car that the buyer I outlined above, is looking for - he wouldn't buy it at any price...

FWIW - as I said, just my take on the situation...

good luck,

Carl B.

[WingZr0]

Thats a good point of view Carl

Use the Photobucket website to host all those additional pics so you can list

them on Ebay if you go that route.

You'll save a ton of money on extra images cause you'll be

adding them to your listing for free at no charge.

Plus you can add links to the listing for your photo bucket 240Z Album

allowing buyers to see all the extra pics there aswell.

Just a helpfull tip so you won't feel discouraged from taking extra pics thinking

you have pay those outrageous Ebay picture fees

~Z~

[bkelly]

How about this- I had the opportunity to buy a 67 Mustang that was pulled out of a barn for $7k. It still needed a full resto but it had a 100% solid body. I turned it down but got the job of cleaning it up. It was buffed out, chrome polished, and a bunch of tire shine put on the interior to make it shiney. Pictures were taken on a slightly overcast day but enough sun came through to give it a nice gloss. By the look of the pictures, you'd think the car was brand new!!!! It was listed on ebay and it did $16k!!!!!!! Less than 24 hours earlier it was sitting in a barn covered in crap for 15 years. I could have bought it and made $9k for just spending 4 hours cleaning it.

BTW, if I had the room I'd come down and buy yours. I'm looking for my next project already.

[26th-Z]

Good comments from Carl...just as a grin to this conversation I will comment that I paid over $3,000 for each of my cars...a long time ago!

[bigoak]

26th...touche

reading Carl's post...damn I think I might want to buy it now...still need photo's of the undercarriage though....

[mimregi]

Just as a point of comparison, my car has been for sale on and off a few times for the last two years or so. My car is very different than yours, but the experience is similar, so I share to maybe make you feel better =)

My car is a looker -- in great cosmetic shape (see my gallery), and runs really well, it is my very reliable daily driver, no real rust to speak of. However, it kind of falls in the cracks of being desirable -- it's a '73 which is later than most people want (and has a sub-par rep due to the fuel system flaws that year shipped with, even though all that stuff has been pulled out of my car), it has webers (DGV's -- I have some roundtops off of a '72 but they aren't installed)... my problem basically is that it is worth too much to sell it to someone looking for a restore candidate, but it isn't worth enough to sell as a restored car (it's not flawless).

Like you, I have had a ton of interest every time I have put it out there (well, almost every time -- the first time I tried to sell it I was asking way too much, I have learned a lot since then), but no one really willing to seal the deal. I'll echo rdefabri that it would just take the right buyer. I think to the right person, it's easily worth the $8k or so that would make it worth it for me to sell, but that right person is pretty rare, if he even exists at all. On top of that, I'm not hugely motivated to sell it =) This gets to Carl's point of being a better salesman -- I absolutely love the car, but we've been stuck in an apartment far longer than we planned to, so I can't work on it the way that I intended to when I bought it (so I can justify selling it, I just don't really want to).

Anyway, there's some shared experience in there, and fundamentally I agree with the consensus that selling one of these cars is all about finding the right buyer, which isn't always easy (or just having an unbelievably good deal to offer).

Best of luck!

[newspeed]

Thanks for all the responses and opinions. The car has been sold today at a price very close to my asking price. Well above some of the low ball quotes mentioned here. Thanks again!

[bigoak]

Congrats...hope you hop back into the Z fraternity some time...