Haha, i will admit I have slight car ADD and thank you all for stickin with me. I might have had come full circle to my original budget. I feel like I have learned a lot since my first post and I have realized (Like some people DID say) anything in the 2,000-3,00$ price range is going to have something about it that got it in that price range, that will probably bite me in the ass come resale. I told my girlfriend that she can't let me buy anything I don't LOVE because when it's 100 degrees outside and I gotta crawl underneath it to do something, I'm really going to have to love the car to do it. So I hear you about hating a car that I paid $1,500 real fast.
Here's pics of the Skylarks interior
Can't say I love what he did to the bucket seats and center console, but that seems like it could be reversed with aftermarket bench seat.
In reply to Coldsnap:
Hard to believe that interior goes with that car! If you haven't driven one, Buicks make nice street machines. Even a 350 makes a ton of torque, so they feel faster than they really are. I had one like this one back in the day, and loved it. Not lovin that interior, but that gives you the opportunity to make improvements.
In reply to Coldsnap:
Dude, it's a Buick 350 with a 2bbl! That car weighs 3500+ lbs, it will be slooooow. You are basically buying a paint job there.
The add did say "needs interior work" maybe i can use this to talk him down from $6,200 to $5,000. Don't know what he was thinking with that interior.. maybe "luxury"? My plan would be to rip out the buckets and center console and just put in an aftermarket bench seat. If it's just truly bolt on then that should be a good project for me. Although my friend has shared horror stories about having to weld a seat onto his jeap because the bolts were so rusted.
In reply to Coldsnap:
That interior is thrashed. I'd run away from that, and fast. That's a $4000 car, at the most, and I wouldn't personally pay half of that.
yea, certainly is an odd interior and i see why it's not in the add lmao
Try this real 1972 GTO for $5000 instead?
Or this absolutely gorgeous 1972 Cutlass for $6500?
Or this clean 1972 Monte Carlo for $6500?
Or maybe a slightly oddball 1973 Monte Carlo with a big block 454 for $4200?
Or this really, really clean 1966 Chrysler Newport with a 383 big block for $6K OBO?
This 1971 Maverick already has an EFI 5.0 HO swapped in!
Or how about a 455 Buick Boattail Riveria?
SEADave
New Reader
2/13/13 2:38 p.m.
Ok, it's decided. Javelin picks my next car.
Except I still don't like Mavericks, probably never will.
Cutlass and GTO look good aswell, all locals. Will drive both of them why not.
that GTO needs new paint, this looks amazing
id do that color
That GTO looks the best out of the latest crop... not for the finish but because it defines muscle car.
Btw what are some nice old movies that have badass cars or car scenes in it? I recently re watched Two Lane-Blacktop.. something to hold me over until I have one of my own.
If I were to make an offer on this what would be a good price? Dude said he would be open to offers.
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3586058233.html
Coldsnap wrote:
Btw what are some nice old movies that have badass cars or car scenes in it? I recently re watched Two Lane-Blacktop.. something to hold me over until I have one of my own.
American Graffiti, Smokey & the Bandit, Cannonball Run, Bullitt, Christine, Tokyo Drift.
SEADave wrote:
Ok, it's decided. Javelin picks my next car.
Seriously, I should open a consulting business or something!
I see. I wish people around here didn't think their Novas are worth their weight in gold. How come you say they have no value? Maybe I can try to get a seller to see this.
In reply to Coldsnap:
Something you have to keep in mind is that the value of any car is to a certain amount affected by the geographic region where it is located. Anyone outside of your market isn't going to have the same feel for car values as someone in your market. Here in Ohio, that Nova could be a $4500-5000 car. Somewhere else it may be less or more, although probably not much more. More importantly, with no pictures of the interior or engine compartment, I don't know how any of us could tell you what it's worth. Even if it did have pics of those things, you still can't know for sure until you look at it in person. Pictures lie, believe me.
No disrespect to Javelin or anyone else here, but I spend a good amount of time in his state. They have a LOT more clean classic cars for sale there than we do here in Ohio, and they are priced a lot better because of it. I'm not as familiar with your area, just saying that prices vary by region. It's a supply and demand thing. If as you say, people think Nova's are made of gold in your area, then like it or not, that's the market for Nova's there.
Is your priority getting a killer deal on a car, or getting the car you want? Are you planning on keeping it short term or long term? Are you going to modify it or keep it stock? These things should play into your decision. Do you want a fast car? Do you want to build your own engine, or use the engine the car comes with? If for example you just want a nice street cruiser, a Nova with a 305 or a Skylark with a 350 will be fine. If you want that Nova to be really fast, then you'll need to do an engine swap or find a Nova with a higher performance engine. All of these things will determine the total amount you'll need to invest into the car, so you need to consider that before buying. A cheaper buy in price isn't necessarily going to be the cheapest car when you are done. A car is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no more and no less. Talk is talk, and free advice is free, so take it for what it's worth. Throughout this thread it seems to me that you are all over the place with cars. Maybe you are just gathering information, and that's good. but at some point you need to focus on what you are wanting in the car, and that will help you find the right car.
If I was buying a DD, I'd try to get the best deal I could. If I was buying a car like you are looking for, I'd look until I find a car that speaks to me, that car that you look at and think "wow". Then you drive it and like it even more. Then I'd negotiate the best price I could for it. I wouldn't pass on it because it's $1000 over-priced, because it's the right car, and those are hard to find.
Datsun1500 wrote:
They have no value because they are not really a muscle car. They are a wanna be muscle car. Not many people look at that body style nova and think "I gotta have it"
Even the guy selling it wants a VW bug more than that car.
You will never convince a seller that their car has no value.
So it has to be a muscle car to have any value? What you mean is it has no value to you, but that doesn't mean it has no value to someone else.
My Dad was just offer $7500 for a car that in my best estimation is worth $1500. The car is worth what someone pays for it, period. If that was the only Nova priced like that, then you could say the seller is just out of line, but he already said they are all priced like that, which means that's what the market is for that car in that area.
In reply to Datsun1500:
I know he said that originally, but the vast majority of the cars he's posted about here are not muscle cars, so he's obviously not limiting himself to that category. It seems to me that he's looking for an American rear wheel drive, V-8 powered car, not necessarily a muscle car.
We don't have to agree, but your statement that the Nova has no value sounds ridiculous to me. It's not worth what a 1970 Nova in the same condition would be, but saying it has no value is just plain wrong. The structure of that car is the same as any 1968 on up version, so it has the same performance potential if one is willing to modify it. You don't like it, I get that. I think as far as 70's big bumper cars go, they are nice looking. They don't look as nice as the earlier cars, but they aren't priced like them either. That's why I was asking him about his priorities. If he wants to build a hot rod, and he likes the looks of a late 70's Nova, then there's nothing wrong with buying one. If he truly wants a muscle car, and doesn't want to modify it, then that's not the car to buy.
Gotcha. I really appreciate all the thoughts. I do seem all over the place >.< I just like a lot of these cars I guess and I havn't yet formed my ideal car. I am learning though cause I was able to see that interior of the Skylark was odd before posting it here, a month ago I woulda thought it looked fine.
I guess what my ideal car would be:
daily driver
fast enough to spin some wheels and have some acceleration (which I'm learning that it's mostly back end work with that and torque, so something like a 2bbl can be fine)
I dont plan or want to do any engine swaps or big projects, want something already shiny and nice so I can just baby it give it some TLC and minor repairs
something v. cool lookin
I also should do more test drives. I'm driving that GTO this weekend. How rude is it to check out a car, do a test drive and not make a $$ offer?
