Patience, preparation and knowledge are keys to selling a collector car

by Sam Barer

You might not realize, but January and February are among the hottest months in the collector car marketplace. New Year’s resolutions, holiday credit card bills, and looming April 15th taxes motivate individuals to list cars for sale. On its own, the annual January Barrett-Jackson auction initiates the shuffling of thousands of high-end classics.

Selling a collector car is always a daunting task. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the art and science of deciding “how, where, and at what price.”

A textbook case of how not to sell a car unfolded last year when I joined a friend while responding to a newly listed classified ad for a 1968 Camaro. We met the seller at the filthy blue car elevated on jack stands. The car wouldn’t start, a result of the seller’s buddy attempting to tune the rough running V8 a few weeks prior. Minutes later, the seller expressed a need to move the car as soon as possible, and offered to negotiate on the $3800 asking price. He begrudgingly accepted the offer of $2,600.

We towed the car back, replaced the incorrect spark plugs and adjusted the points (which had been set wide enough to drive an Oldsmobile 98 through.) Then we thoroughly cleaned the exterior and the rare original black houndstooth interior. One hour and $8 in parts later, we were driving a tire-smoking vintage Camaro with a market value exceeding $5,000.

Selling rule number one: give yourself ample time to sell your vehicle. Nothing lowers the price of a car quicker than seller’s desperation.

Second rule: prepare a car before selling. Wash and detail the car’s exterior, interior, engine bay and undercarriage. Dirty cars represent neglect, while a clean car, even if it’s a clean project car, instills confidence. Two hours of time can add several thousand dollars on some vehicles.

Non-running vehicles take an enormous value hit, so it almost always pays if you can get a car drivable if the cost to do so is less than fifteen percent of the car’s value. With basket-case restoration projects, sometimes the best you can do is organize all the parts.

Touching-up the body and frame with paint is a great idea, but don’t bother with a cheap full paint job. Quickie resprays add little value, because buyers suspect the paint hides serious flaws. All too often, sellers use filler and paint to superficially conceal rust holes or bubbles to gain value. Please remember advertising a car as rust-free when it’s not is unethical and illegal.

Next, decide the car’s value. Reliable value guides, such as “Cars and Parts Ultimate Collector Car Price Guide” determine what your car is worth. Guides list actual average sales prices for popular vehicles at six standard condition levels. Percentage additions are noted for important optional equipment. Be realistic in gauging the condition of your car. Unless your car has won a national or regional show, it probably isn’t a #1 or #2 condition car. Show-and-shine cars are rated #3, and most collector cars are #4 drivers. Projects are #5, and #6 represents parts cars. Although painful to accept, the amount you’ve spent bringing the car to its specific condition is absolutely irrelevant in determining its value and asking price.

Don’t mark-up the asking price beyond 20 percent, as it lengthens the sales cycle and rarely results in a higher sales price. Hemmings is full of year-old ads for cars with exorbitant asking prices.

Now decide how to market the car. Newspaper and regional auto publication classifieds are great bang-for-the-buck, provided your car isn’t undesirable among the readership. Just be prepared to entertain tire-kickers.

If you have a brilliantly restored and extremely coveted vehicle, arrange to ship it to a Barrett-Jackson type auction. For mid-market classics, Ebay online auctions are a worthy alternative. Ebay’s upside is a worldwide audience bidding on the same car. The downsides are the $80 cost, barrage of emails containing inane questions from potential bidders, and the possibility of a final sales price short of book value estimates. Deadbeat buyers and payment fraud are also common.

For a hassle-free process, use a licensed broker. Researching the value of your car is still important, though, as it allows you to keep the broker honest.

Make sure you honestly represent the vehicle. While you don’t have to disclose every minor flaw in an advertisement, if asked, you do need to explain what you know to a potential buyer.

Now, as for the crushing regret you feel after your car has sold…my only advice is: “the pain subsides when the new classic arrives.”

Sam Barer writes for Apex, an Olympia, WA based freelance writing company. To submit a car for a future “Sound Classics” story, email soundclassics@apexstrategy.com

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