Simple bolt ons don't scare me, it's the more involved ones that make me a little uneasy. If the car has say a built short block, or a blower, full
suspension, etc, I like to feel out the owner a little.....see if he knows what he's talking about.
If I hear stuff like 500hp in the ad and the car has minimal bolt ons, or I see a bunch a tasteless, gaudy visual enhancements, or see a pile of spelling errors, I run the other way. Even something as simple as someone listing their car as a "Cobra" when it’s just a plain old GT will make me shake my head and skip on by.
I mean hell....if you're going to be asking top dollar for your ride, you had either,
A) damn well better know "exactly" what has been done to it and what you're talking about when you pitch it to me,
B) better not be trying to snow me with promises of high horsepower figures from what is basically a mostly stock car.....because even though you have no idea what you're talking about, I do!!!, or
C) had better have a wallet full of receipts and/or photo's from reputable shops showing what parts are exactly in the car and where they were installed.
All that being said, if the guy is asking an outrageous amount for the vehicle and you do really want it. Take into account. Labor is worth nothing! Just because it cost him "X" number of dollars to have whatever it was installed, he doesn't get the luxury of passing that cost along to you. You eat it...PERIOD!!! It sucks, but that's how it works.
Parts....if they're in good visual condition, they're worth half of the
current retail price. I don't care if a guy put a set of iron GT40 heads on his car 7, or 8 years ago when they were going fo $1,200 a pair and thinks they're still worth at least half. A set of fresh GT40's can be had for half of that
new now a days. So used ones are only worth only about half of that. Add another $100 to your offer for bolts and gaskets.
in a nutshell though, that's depreciation. Unless it's made of gold, it's not going to hold, or increase in value, so people just need to suck it up!
I've got over $17k into my Cougar XR7. I've had if for sale now for months asking less than half of that and I still can't get any bites. It's a buyer’s market right now, plain and simple. A car is probably the worst investment you can make, so be prepared (if you're a seller) to lose your shirt.
