Thoughts on 85 GT price

[1158]

I've been lurking for a while just reading and learning and now I'm aksing for some help.

The other day I decided to stop and take a look at an 85 GT I had previously seen.

I don't have any pics of it, but I'll try and do it justice.

It has been repainted and it looks like a quality job. The color looks like Jalapeno red, but it looks a little more red than the stock color. The emblembs and graphics look brand new. It has 5 spoke wheels, reminiscent of the later fox cobra wheels. The only negative I could see outside were the aftermarket tint job isn't all that great, especially on the hatch window.

The interior looked brand new (seats/dash/carpet all looked mint), but the stock wheel was replaced with what looked like a hideous 80s era Grant wheel and it had chrome pedals.

At this point the dealer came over and started talking to me. I started asking him all sorts of questions and he admitted he didn't know anything. He told me he was selling it on consignment for some 80 year old man. Of course I believed him , but then we went into his office and he copied a couple fact sheets on the car and showed my a thick folder filled with receipts and other stuff.

At this point I left because my wife was waiting for me and I wanted to do some research. A few days later I emailed him with more questions and he told me to call the guy he was selling it for.

After talking to him, and he did sound like a 70-80 year old man, I found out several things. Basically the car has been restored, but not to original, call it a resto mod. New radiator, thermostat, hoses, floor pan, heater core, gas tank, and lines. The engine/trans were rebuilt about 10K ago, but he didn't do it. He bought it from the guy who did the work. It has aftermarket carb, intake manifold, cam, lifters, headers, true dual exhaust, "racing" suspension (but he says the ride is comfortable), and new rear, but again all this was done by the previous owner so he doesn't know much about it. AC has been converted to 134 and blows cold.

Any idea on what a fair value for this car would be? I didn't bother to drive it because he told me the price he was asking is firm and I am not willing to pay what he is asking.

Cliffs:
Found restored (but not to factory original) 85 GT other day
Engine/trans rebuilt 10k miles ago
Previous owner did all work but kept thick file on everything
New owner doesn't know much about previous work
Exterior/Interior look excellent (new seats/carpet) but tint job is average at best, interior has aftermarket wheels/pedals that are hideous
Wondering what a fair price would be


TIA for any help I have always been a fox body fan and feel it's time to get one, but my wife and I have set a limit on what we'll pay.

I can supply more info if anyone wants, but I didn't want to write a book, even though I just did.

[Bryan Knebworth]

I'd say $4000. Thats assuming the car runs and drives, doesn't leak, doesn't overheat or burn oil. How much is he asking?

[bkoons85gt]

How much is he asking?

That is the real question. What did he have to pay the previous owner that did all the work.

Did he pay him for the car or the car plus the cost of parts and all his work?

[1158]

I'd say $4000. Thats assuming the car runs and drives, doesn't leak, doesn't overheat, burn oil, have bondo cracking all over the place with paint flaking off. How much is he asking?

He says the car runs great, no leaks or anything. The body looks straight and I don't see any issues with the paint, though I didn't take a magnet to it. I have a pretty good idea of what to look for when searching out bondo.

The asking price is....7808. I'm assuming the weird 08 is due to the consignment fee.

The limit my wife and I have set is in the 5-6 K range for an 85/86 GT. We want a nice reliable driver. I don't care if it has some mechanical mods (nothing outrageous though) but I want it looking stock or close to stock.

The kicker is when I was on the phone with the guy selling it, I asked him if the price was firm or was he willing to deal, his reply was "Well at the current price I'm not making much money on it" I felt like telling him, you don't make money on these things...that's not why you buy them and fix/drive them.

[1158]

That is the real question. What did he have to pay the previous owner that did all the work.

Did he pay him for the car or the car plus the cost of parts and all his work?

He also needs to realize when he bought the car the economy wasn't nearly as bad as it is now.

I told the dealer to let me know if he decides he wants to lower the price. I have a feeling it will sit there for a while.

[bkoons85gt]

If you get a chance load some pics, we like pics around here.
For $5-6000 you might be able to find something else that is more suitable to your liking

[1158]

If you get a chance load some pics, we like pics around here.
For $5-6000 you might be able to find something else that is more suitable to your liking

Not sure if I'll be able to get some pics. I don't think the guy who owns it knows what a computer is. The dealer takes it home each night so it doesn't sit out. I'd rather not stop by again because I don't want them to know I am still interested, though I just don't see him dropping the price close to 6k.

I could use a different email and see if I can get the dealer to email me several pictures. lol

I have been looking at the 85-86 GTs for a little while and this is the nicest one I have seen that is not all original. I don't want an all original because I am going to do some mechanical mods to it, but I want the body/interior to remain stock or near stock. I would hate to ruin a fine example when I know I can find one that is not pristine.

Thanks again for all your help. I thought the guy was way to high on the price, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't off base.

[1158]

Just stumbled upon it on craigslist, only has 2 crappy pics though.

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/ctd/2446238858.html

[bkoons85gt]

Just stumbled upon it on craigslist, only has 2 crappy pics though.

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/ctd/2446238858.html

Looks good except for that 60's style steering wheel so out of place on this car

[85mcLaren]

I don't think those seats are original either, but the sunlight is a little bright....
If they are not original, then his definition of restored is a little different than mine.

Jason

[1158]

I don't think those seats are original either, but the sunlight is a little bright....
If they are not original, then his definition of restored is a little different than mine.

Jason

Hopefully I can get more pics of it today. The seat covers looked correct from what I have seen (though I'm still learning), but I only had a quick glance.

Thanks again for all the help.

[mustangracer84]

It's clean and a good looking car, but not worth that much. 5-6k tops. I picked up my 88 gt with 78k original miles in northern va less than five years ago for $2500, I'm sure you can find some four eyed's in Virginia. I remember I went camping out there and passed by a small mom n' pop dealership that had 75 percent mustangs, and well over half of that were four eye'd ones... mainly '85's and '86's... NC is gonna be harder to find one for a good price. I'd consider broadening your search, considering that you might spend more to get it home, but you'll spend alot less to actually buy it.

[1158]

It's clean and a good looking car, but not worth that much. 5-6k tops. I picked up my 88 gt with 78k original miles in northern va less than five years ago for $2500, I'm sure you can find some four eyed's in Virginia. I remember I went camping out there and passed by a small mom n' pop dealership that had 75 percent mustangs, and well over half of that were four eye'd ones... mainly '85's and '86's... NC is gonna be harder to find one for a good price. I'd consider broadening your search, considering that you might spend more to get it home, but you'll spend alot less to actually buy it.

It doesn't help that the Marine base is not far up the road. My wife though 5500 was a good price, I was willing to go 6k, but no higher.

I have been searching across the country to be honest but only really in the last several weeks. Shipping a car isn't as outrageous as I thought it would be.

I'll go ahead and check some of the VA craigslist to see what I can come up with. Thanks for the help.

[Bryan Knebworth]

If you really want to find a nice one, try doing three things; find one with all options, 1-2 owners, and no mods! That way, if/when you decide to slightly mod it, you wont waste your time un-doing somebody elses shoddy mod work. Also, having one fully loaded will help you enormously when it comes time to sell.

[1158]

If you really want to find a nice one, try doing three things; find one with all options, 1-2 owners, and no mods! That way, if/when you decide to slightly mod it, you wont waste your time un-doing somebody elses shoddy mod work. Also, having one fully loaded will help you enormously when it comes time to sell.

May have found something. It's heavily optioned, has only a few mods, but needs paint. I like that idea of needing paint because it won't be ruining an all original car.

Only problem is it's pretty far away and I have no way of going to look it over anytime soon.

[Bryan Knebworth]

Where is it located?

[1158]

Where is it located?

SE KY. About a 10-11 hour drive for me. I would do it, but my work sched makes it almost impossible for the next several weeks if not few months.

Sucks cause I just wrapped up a vacation a few days ago and would have had plenty of time. lol

The other issue is it is a salvage title, listed as theft and recovery. I'm not concerned about resale value as I really don't plan on selling it.

[Super-G]

In MY opinion, $7800 is just too high for that car. I think that the jury is still out on Fox pricing and that subject has been discussed a TON of times on here lately. One thing that seems to be a common trend is that modified cars are considered to have less of a value than bone stock unmodified cars.

I think the general idea is that Fox followers watched the trend in Musclecars where number's matching, unrestored cars are bringing top dollars. I guess the thought is that if it worked out that way for Musclecars, the Fox body will follow suit.

I'm not sure how I feel about that philosophy but only time will tell. The simple fact to me is that even as much as I love my Fox. A bone stock 85 GT is just not, nor will it ever be a 67 GTO. I just can't see the Fox ever reaching that plateau.

Also the other simple fact is that in today's world, a 4 door V6 Maxima can smoke a bone stock 85 Mustang GT. A modified Fox can be a pretty potent performer. I bought my Fox to drive not sit in my garage collecting dust HOPING that Fox values reach Musclecar status. I paid $5300.00 for a nicely painted slightly modified 86 GT convertible. I know cars well enough to know that there's NO way I could have built my car for $5300.00, so I feel like I got a nice deal. $5300.00 for a turn key car that runs strong and looks great was a deal for me.

I still think that $5-6K gets you a nice car these days. If you're serious about this 85 and it's the car you want, I'd show up at his door with $6000.00 cash. After checking it out thoroughly, if you decide it's the car for you, wave $6000 cash in his face. remember the economy stinks and cash always talks.

Good luck!

[vascj]

5k tops for that car. You should be able to get a super nice all original no rust car for 7.5 to 10. 5-6k cars all day long in reasonably good shape with minor mods tastefully done, maybe needing paint and minor discrepencies with interior. Take your time.

[1158]

Thanks for providing more feedback. I have all but given up the thought of buying the local 1. I found something that I think has the potential to be better much than the local car. It's mostly stock but needs paint. I'm looking into how much a nice (better than stock but not show quality) paint job will run.

I would rather not get one that has had a lot of work done unless I can speak to the person who did the work. Since the current owner didn't do much of the work, I'm leary of it. The guy who built the engine/trans and much of the other stuff could be a Smokey Yunick or a Gomer Pyle.