scottys209

I agree with everything except the price point. NADA puts clean retail for a 95 with 120K on it for $7450. I think clean retail is where people become mistaken. Clean retail means dealer lot (including markup for the dealer overhead costs), completely functional, clean with scratches and most dents fixed, an exceptional example of a vehicle, that can qualify for some type of warranty and financing from a variety of banks.

I know everyone on every forum for every kind of car thinks that their cars should be worth a ton, but the sad case is that the truth lies far from that. Cars depreciate, and I honestly don't think paying more than $6K for 16ish year old car that isn't a collector vehicle is wise. All the SC's I see out there on the reputable sites (autotrader, cars.com, etc.) are extremely high mileage, for an extremely high price, and don't sell. For the past couple of months, I've seen the same couple of SC400's, all with high mileage, all sit at the same price point just sit, with the same amount of hits on the site. Realistically, the only place I can find any is Craigslist.

7 years ago when I first looked at an SC400, they could be found all day long in the $13K-$15K price rance (92-96) with about 100K on them, I think mainly because people didn't want to spend $1500 to do the t-belt service on a 10 year old car, so honestly, the $6K price range is a proper declination in value given the time frame.

scottys209

Hopefully this guy will call me back, this seems more like it.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2241650950.html

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

the black cars post has been deleted.

if you find it again please post it as i would like to speak with him.

im going to get to the bottom of this salvage title since no one else is.

scottys209

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

RolxuSC400

So the 95 is 4900 with approx 125k on it same color combo as mine. Pricing for my 92 is currently $3500 with 84k on it with all receipts and same work done all original paint and interior is immaculate. Would I sell it for $3500, NO and thats not being unrealistic at all its worth more to me to keep it then dump it for that price. I know I could easily sell it for over 6k in the local club lexus group.

Have you tried CL sale threads? Local/regional CL Group? Have you done a search of CraigsList using the search engine that searches all craigslists outside of your area?

scottys209

I definitely don't want to start an arguement over what someone believes their car is worth, because that's something for you to decide. Bottom line reality is ANYTHING in life is only worth what someone will pay for it... That being said, your car is probably very well maintained, most on craigslist may have the timing belt service done because they've been told forever that they have to at a certain point, but not much else. Most cars at 16 years old have gone through a few owners, and maintenance records are spotty at best, hence my opinion that they are priced high for the market (especially with the economic climate, V8 coupes aren't the most desirable item).

The White / Tan one, the guy E-Mailed me back, what a jerk. I basically told him I have cash if everything was as he said, and that I would pay for a smog, and if it passed I would buy it, if it failed, I would eat the smog cost so he's not out any money... I asked him to respond if that was agreeable... He responded "how much cash" I told him that with me paying smog I would pay him $4600.... He responded simply "sold!" Which I asked if that means we have a deal or he already sold it, he responded "sold to someone who doesn't ask so many questions, sold".... What a jerk! I was being very cordial, he must have had something to hide, hope someone didn't get screwed!

ScBouncE

I was in this same position before getting my first SC. As hard as it is, you just gotta let this one go bro. Be patient and youll find a better one

scottys209

Ya I passed.... Looked at a 95 today.... My search is like a bad story man. This guy was a real winner. So I drive 45 minutes to get there, this car was supposed to have "never been in a wreck" in whatnot, no vin stickers on the passenger side, key doesn't unlock the passenger door, obviously it was hit and repaired on the passenger side (guy said I don't know what I'm talking about and those stickers don't mean anything)..lol, ok. Then I start it, and guess what, the only thing that DOESN'T work is the odo, conveniently. I asked how he knows it has 118K on it if the odo doesn't work and he said "it just does".... He also had a white 95, apparently that one also had 118K on it...right.... I didn't even drive either, thanked him for his time and started walking away. He basically slandered me and said "if I say it has 118K then it does! You should believe me, you're making a huge mistake passing up a deal like this".... It also had a broken passenger door handle, the start of a power steering leak, and beginning oxidation of paint, and holes in the back seat that looked like someone took a phillips screwdriver and stabbed the back seat repeatedly, none of which I pointed out. I asked him if he had a carfax, or anything to prove mileage, he said "how many miles the car has is your problem, not mine, It's reliable and that's all you need to know, you'll regret passing this deal up".... I replied with.. "Man, I guess I'll have to deal with living the rest of my life in regret then! Thanks for your time"

MidloSC

iTrader: (1)

Do these guys actually want to sell their cars? What douches.

COOLIS

So no luck yet? People are always unrealistic about what things are worth, especially houses, these days. The right car is out there for the right price, but just need to be patient. And the VIN stickers mean everything. If one is missing I would say its a 99% chance its been in an accident. I looked at one GS where the sticker had been painted right over. I could see the outline of it. I'll keep my eye out if I see anything that looks worth it. I check all the auto sites almost daily. Its kind of an obsession haha.

scottys209

No luck yet... I found a nice 97, but the guy wouldn't answer his phone or texts, I'm guessing it sold quick. What sucks is that I can't really go to buy one during the week because I'm somewhat on-call for my job, and have a certain response time after my normal hours where I would have to be able to be back in the office.... If you see one let me know ASAP.... My top end would be 7K, and really no more than 140K miles.

CalitriSC

iTrader: (13)

I think clean 97+ SCs go pretty quickly. I got lucky with mine.

COOLIS

This one has been for sale down here for months. I love the look of it and when I first saw it was tempted to buy it but one its over priced and two it has 170k miles. It looks clean though if it were 7K I would probably buy it but the seller doesn't seem to want to budge on the price. Its been the same for months. http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/2244899238.html

booga

iTrader: (1)

Consider this...

The insurance company decides to salvage a car if the cost of the repair is so much more than the car is worth.

The accident 11 years ago, must have been really bad for an SC400 with a "wild guess" market value of 30k+. Takes a lot to salvage a new car of less than 2 years.

booga

iTrader: (1)

It matters.

Lets take this back to the year 2000. My SC400 is still new with maybe around 15k miles. If I get in an accident and the repair estimate is more than what the car is worth, then the insurance co will salvage it.

We take the same SC400 in the present day. A bicycle could plow into it and the insurance company might salvage it since it is an old car.

Ok - I exaggerated that a little.

When it was salvaged is a measure of how bad the accident was.