Hi all - first post on the Saleen board. In the process of selling my 65, and considering a 99-up Saleen to replace it - if I can find the "right" car. Anyway, stumbled across 00-68 - 281SC vert, Saleen leather, chrome wheels, hood, big brake, etc. Definitely a hi-dollar optioned car. Asking price is $25k with 28k miles. Two question marks - Sunburst Gold paint and automatic transmission. Definitely a loaded, unusual car, but are the gold paint and/or automatic considered major drawbacks on this type of car??? I'm sure it's a 1 of a kind, but as we know, rarity and value don't always go hand-in-hand? One UNUSUAL thing that stuck out at me - the inner fenders and such under the hood are all painted a "beige" - not the same metallic gold as the outer body panels. All paint "appears" to be original - showing wear, no marks on bolt heads, etc, and the vin stickers & paint codes match... Did Ford use different paint on the bare chassis with this color??? Whatcha think???
Bob, Was that car not on Ebay a couple of months back? A piolet owned it or something??? Anyway, for most guys the AUTO trans is a minus, but not the end of the world. I think the price is a tad high for the mileage, but that's just me. I like the gold. It is a rare horse in that color. Don't be too concerned about the paint. Ford onlt sprays the metallic on the parts of the car you see. That beige base is normal for inside the engine bay, fenderwells and such. You find the same thing on silver metallic cars. If you want a manual trans just hold out. One will come up.
I'm actually OK with the auto - just don't want to get into something that might become a serious on future resale. The wife refuses to drive a 5-speed, so she's REALLY happy about an auto car. If I were buying for me (and me alone), I'd rather have a blue hardtop SC 5-speed car. Not sure if this one was on Ebay previously or not - I've only been browsing the market for a few weeks. There's been NOTHING interesting pop up on Ebay the last week.. I would imagine this car can be bought around $22-$23k... The dealer doesn't know THAT much about it - I think I can beat them up a bit because of the color and trans. I pointed out the mismatched paint the other day, thinking "repaint" - so I can probably use that against them as well...
If you don't see any overspray on it, and the paint appears to match going from fender-to-door-to-quarterpanel, then I would'nt be too concerned about the paint. Run your own carfax on it. If she likes the auto becuase she can drive it, and you like the car too then buy it. You wont find too many autos out there. Only liz at Saleen can tell you how many blue hardtop s/c's 5 speeds are out there for 99-01 because that appears to be your price range. It has the lightbar. Does it have the one piece tonneau cover? Does it say speedster on a small badge below the S281 trunk badge? The seats make it worth an extra 2k alone so if you can grind him dow a couple of grand it sounds like a deal to me. To be brutally honest the gold color is a bit more of a detractor than the auto. Hey, if you like it, buy it and don't care what anyone else thinks. A gold car just may take a little longer to sell. Ask the guy how long he has had it. I swear I saw this car for sale months ago. Maybe it made its way to this dealer? It's a pretty car though.
Original MSRP: $39,460 *************************** Low Retail: $25,100 Average Retail: $26,800 High Retail: $29,000 Information available through the NADA Used Car Guide: http://www.nadaguides.com/uv/viewresults.aspx?LI=1-11-1-2031-0-0-0&Lnk=1&wSec=11&wPr=1&wPg=2032 ~ Billy '01 S281-S/C #201 '99 S281-N/A Cobra Speedster #357
Thought I'd bring this old post back from the grave... The above mentioned car is on Ebay thru the same dealer that had it months ago... With NO bids after 6+ days! That Sunburst Gold & auto must really work against it - even with the other "good options", like brakes & Recaro's. I'm glad that I went with a WHITE car.
