Should i buy it?
- Thread starter Squirrelsmith
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The problem I see more and more with these cars is this:
I used to like finding these "old" cars in the possession of "old" folks who bought them new and kept them stashed in the garage. Low use meant it wasn't worn slap out, and they usually took it to the dealership for service. Decent cars could be had for dirt.
Same for the A-body cars. When I was in the Navy in Charleston, SC, I once begged an old retired post office guy that lived near me for several years about buying his bought-new 69 442 auto. Low miles 32K, straight and all original (or replaced with GM soft parts at the dealership, like tires, hoses/belts, etc) He even let me drive it up to the store and back a couple of times. Nice folks. And once when I was out to sea, he relented, then tried calling me and of course, I couldn't answer. So he traded it for a new car. Ughh! Got something like $1000 trade-in for it. Sigh.
But the problem now is that more and more of those "old" people are getting crusty and dying or whatever, and at best you may find the son or grand-daughter or whatever family member ends up with grandma's car and don't want it. Then you can usually find them for cheap. If they were in their 40s or 50s when they bought the car new, they're now in their 70s and 80s if even still alive. Some of the older crowd may not need a car any more and now they're just gone.
And add to that the longevity built-in to a G-body. If you use it, something on it will likely fail. Like drive it in Michigan year round and you'll see the frame rails in the back fall off. And a lot of people considered these "throw away" cars, although that's not exactly why they sold 3 million Cutlasses in this body line. They weren't exactly "cheap" to buy in their day, trust me. Nobody was throwing these cars away.
So I wouldn't spend 3500 on this risk. 2K maybe. But that's only due to the interior. The rest of the car is iffy. If you were just going to put plates on it and cruise it, I'd still go only 2K and MAYBE 2500 at best. There's really not much that says "I'm special" about the car, really.
I used to like finding these "old" cars in the possession of "old" folks who bought them new and kept them stashed in the garage. Low use meant it wasn't worn slap out, and they usually took it to the dealership for service. Decent cars could be had for dirt.
Same for the A-body cars. When I was in the Navy in Charleston, SC, I once begged an old retired post office guy that lived near me for several years about buying his bought-new 69 442 auto. Low miles 32K, straight and all original (or replaced with GM soft parts at the dealership, like tires, hoses/belts, etc) He even let me drive it up to the store and back a couple of times. Nice folks. And once when I was out to sea, he relented, then tried calling me and of course, I couldn't answer. So he traded it for a new car. Ughh! Got something like $1000 trade-in for it. Sigh.
But the problem now is that more and more of those "old" people are getting crusty and dying or whatever, and at best you may find the son or grand-daughter or whatever family member ends up with grandma's car and don't want it. Then you can usually find them for cheap. If they were in their 40s or 50s when they bought the car new, they're now in their 70s and 80s if even still alive. Some of the older crowd may not need a car any more and now they're just gone.
And add to that the longevity built-in to a G-body. If you use it, something on it will likely fail. Like drive it in Michigan year round and you'll see the frame rails in the back fall off. And a lot of people considered these "throw away" cars, although that's not exactly why they sold 3 million Cutlasses in this body line. They weren't exactly "cheap" to buy in their day, trust me. Nobody was throwing these cars away.
So I wouldn't spend 3500 on this risk. 2K maybe. But that's only due to the interior. The rest of the car is iffy. If you were just going to put plates on it and cruise it, I'd still go only 2K and MAYBE 2500 at best. There's really not much that says "I'm special" about the car, really.
Yeah they were clean and giving them away 10 years ago. Its only gonna get worse though, better late than never. In 10 yeats a rusted out monte carlo will be 10k!
I am wondering about the origin of the car in general . Looks like Cali tags but why then is the radiator support rusty. You can bet that there is rust under that vinyl top. What do the bottomds of the doors look like? And the underbody in general. Can you check a Car Fax I suspect this was a Stolen Recovered Theft based on the replacement column. Car was definitely Put Together to some extent. But as stated in previous posts why not finish it? I would say no more that $ 2000.00 to buy it. You may end up with a parts car < But at 2K you could recoup by selling the nose and interior. Good Luck!
Doc
Doc
I 100% guarantee it's been hit in the front. That's why the trim is off and has fresh shiny paint. Plus if you look at the radiator support it almost appears a different color. Almost burgundy, maybe that's just a reflection or poor lighting. Not saying don't buy it, but plan on spending several hours checking it over. If you don't know body work, take someone with you that does. Most cars this age have been hit. That's not the problem. How it was repaired is the issue.
I don't ever see that happening unfortunately, you can ask 10K but good luck. There is a reason the 60's and 70's are more valuable, they had big torque engines and with modern tires can click off good times at the track. Other than the GN/GNX they are painfully slow compared to new base V6 cars. I only drive my G body, which is on it's fair well tour because it has the unique sounding and driving Olds V8, I grew up lovng. I still don't get why people don't buy a newer Camaro if they are going to LS an old car with meh handling and so so brakes. Change all that and the money pit becomes a gaping hole.
I thought that 15 years ago when I bought my 88. I paid $3000, should paid 1/2 that, I couldn't get 2 grand now. Even a grand was pushing it without the aluminum wheels and a 260. Olds V8's on the other hand have gone up a bunch in the last few years.
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