What's wrong with this 442

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08Malibu

Royal Smart Person
Feb 9, 2014
1,455
3,420
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North Jersey
Most of us who see a 25 to 50K price tag expect perfection. For 50K, a brand new Challenger GT can go in my yard. Getting anywhere near that money from a bank for an old car, good luck. I wish there 30K just lying around my house. Even then, even a mint 442 needs major drive train improvements to keep up with modern performance base model cars.
The car is at a dealer so it will be overpriced. It doesn’t change the condition of the car.
 
Oct 14, 2008
8,823
7,775
113
Melville,Saskatchewan
A climate controlled garage car will bring more money, which should be the biggest concern if you never drive the dam car and plan on it for your retirement. That 50K car does look much more like a 35,000 mile car. Personally, spending a dam fortune, it better have records from new to prove it is that many miles on the odometer. Problem is, the dealer and whoever has serviced it from new are probably long gone.
 

84 W40

G-Body Guru
Dec 9, 2009
581
793
93
There's been a lot parts replaced under that hood for a car that has 30k . The top radiator plate has a different color than the radiator support, radiator support is peeling like it was painted. Turn signal lever should not be black and the steering Column has a shine to it, was it replaced? Trans mount has been replaced and does it still have the original trans. looks like someone used a power washer or a soda blast machine to do the under carriage then painted the floor boards silver gray just like they did to 1984 Hurst/Olds there selling and its engine bay looks like is has 30k but it has 107k. You would think for a car that has 30k would have some owner manuals. I would not pay more than 14k for this car what I see in the pictures.
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,195
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No, 35K mile cars are not perfect, nor would anyone expect them to be. But they also would be expected to be closer to "survivor" status rather than parts being replaced all over the place. There just seems to be too many parts replaced for a 35K mile car, in most opinions. Doesn't mean it's bad, but the price needs to reflect that. The further away from original you get, the price structure has to change. A twin turbo 455 under the hood with a custom chassis, etc., may bring in some extra dollars for those who like that sort of thing, but if you want to get collector style prices for your wannabe collectible car, then it has to walk and talk the part. And just to throw to the other side on it, a "pristine" 442 that someone asks $49K for does NOT require upgrades to keep up with modern cars. Because you wouldn't be spending that kind of money on a G-body to keep up with modern cars. You're buying a ticket on the wayback machine. Get a run of the mill one for a couple of grand if you want to build it. For 49K, you can do a lot of enhancements to a G-body to do damage to a newer cars' ego if spent in the right places.

While it's not unheard of for repaints, then just say so. Even someone with little knowledge can tell the car was repainted at some point. The implied lie (by omission) is the seller wants you to believe all the work done to the car was never done, that the car just had 35K miles on it. There's <30K on my 87 442. It's not perfect. Not by a mile. But there's other unexplained strangeness to the car. The mismatched reverse lights? How did that happen? Was it intentional or did one crack and they replaced it with a non-correct lens because they didn't know better? The overly-clean oil pan to block finish differences have me wondering if any oil leak was fixed, or was something else amiss there? Same with the rear end cover. Not that a fluid change would hurt, but why not clean up the other stuff while under the car? I dunno. Just things I would look at to consider for any prospective buyer. You'd not only be buying the good, you'd be getting the bad, so it pays to know what's not right.

If you don't store and take care of any car properly, it's going to LOOK like it's got 130K on it instead of 30K. Which means it shouldn't be WORTH a 30K mile car value as it would take a repaint and refresh in general just to start in order to fix all the issues from sitting out in the sun. And the weatherstrips aren't easy to find either if you're looking for GM parts. Everyone knows the fragility of 80s paint and trim from GM. That was some sh*tty times for that. Sun never helps. But again, you can buy a new car, park it under a tree, and leave it alone for 35 years and guess what? Will it be worth collector car status prices then? Some guppy may bite on that bait that a car only has 15 miles on it with 14 mice nests in and around the car, but not many.

Like anything else, condition is JUST as important as mileage/age/etc. In this case it seems to be a very fixable car, but that's where the "priced accordingly" part comes in. It's a fixer-upper IMO, and isn't worthy of the asking price. It just has more wear on it than normal for a 35K mile car typically would be. Now, what it actually sells for will be the ultimate key to all of it.
 
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L92 OLDS

Comic Book Super Hero
Mar 30, 2012
2,872
3,050
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West Michigan
Not for $49K. Jesus F. Christ.
I see you feel very strongly about that. 😳
In the future please don’t use Jesus name in vain. Why not Mohammed? You may not be aware but it’s highly offensive too many on this forum. I do agree with your post though…👍🏻
 

Lukeschwtz

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 13, 2018
16
10
3
I have an 86 442 with 41,000 miles on it with t-tops, mine looks better than the one in the picture. If that person can get $25,000 for that, then mine is for sale also. I think its to much money.
 
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