Strategies for pricing/selling an HPDE car

I've got a car that I only use for track days. It's a '90 Integra sedan, with no safety equipment to speak of. It's got a newer engine (JDM B20, less than 15 years old) that I've only put about 12,000 miles on, and enough upgraded parts to make it plenty fast on track. It's also fairly easy to drive, and a great car to learn on.

Problems are two-fold. One, it's a 23-year-old lowered Honda with no interior. Therefore, the only time it gets driven is to and from the track. Two, after 6 years, I think I'm outgrowing it as a driver. I'd like to sell it this summer, take a year off, and then buy maybe an S2000 or something similar in 2015.

Quickly running down the list of major components -- shell, coilovers, trans + LSD, new engine, ITR brakes and race pads -- that's like $3700 bucks. That doesn't include all of the parts I replaced and a lot of the smaller performance parts, nor does it include the 3 sets of wheels and tires. Recreating a Honda this fast and reliable would take something like 5 to 6 grand. I know the rule of thumb is that any parts you put on a car are worth approximately $0 when you try to sell it, but I think the whole here is greater than the sum of the parts. I'd like to think I can sell this to someone who wants a fast, disposable track rat, and I'd like to think that $3500 would be a smoking deal.

But the realist in me says that street value for a running 1990 Integra is about 1200 bucks, and if I can only get 1200 bucks for it, then the only reason to sell it is to clear up space in the garage.

What says GRM? Should I start listing it on CL waiting for an aspiring track junkie, or should just bequeath it to my next of kin?

I'd start with Honda-Tech and some other FWD forums and judge interest.

You should be able to get a bit more than street value, but to me, it's not really an HPDE car if it doesn't have proper safety equipment (harnesses, fixed back seats, 4pt roll bar).........it's just a gutted, street racer (no offense).

Put an interior back in it and put it on CL. It'll be far easier to sell, and without any proper safety equipment like seats or bars or anything, this is not more than an hour or two worth of work.

+1 for trying to sell it to the right audience, CL might be a good place to start. Also try regional motorsports club forums, or just hanging out at/driving on the local track with a For Sale sign on the car - you'll be taking it straight to the people who might be interested or know people who might be interested, and can let them test-drive it on the spot. I've seen a lot of track-modded cars "advertised" that way.

And +1 for putting the interior back in, if it looks like it can make a tolerable DD that will get a MUCH bigger audience. The people who don't want an interior can still take it back out.

z31maniac wrote: I'd start with Honda-Tech and some other FWD forums and judge interest. You should be able to get a bit more than street value, but to me, it's not really an HPDE car if it doesn't have proper safety equipment (harnesses, fixed back seats, 4pt roll bar).........it's just a gutted, street racer (no offense).

^^ this

If you were closer to a real race car you could get a logbook and sell it as a race car. If you were closer to a street car... you could go back.

You are stuck in the middle. $1500 or put a cage and equipment in it - sell with logbook for $5k.

If you put 10k into a (non classic, non collector) worth 2k. Then you end up with a 12k dollar 2k dollar car. That's it. Nothing lowers value like a racing history. Maybe you can find one of those Fast and Furious kids that are mad at their dad and want a tough ish street car. Or id just keep it as a spare with interior.

I'd have to find an interior though. I bought it without much of one except for a ratty rear seat and half a carpet. Headliner was aftermarket foam (dealer-installed sunroof) and was disintegrating/falling down and the ricer PO had "suede wrapped" all the pillar plastics. The suede was falling apart and the glue had ruined the plastics.

Rear seat got yanked so I could throw tires back there and went to the trash during one of my military moves, and the half-carpet was pretty nasty anyway. I didn't do the world any disservice by getting rid of what I had left of that interior. But now I'd have to do what I didn't want to do 6 years ago -- track down a 90-93 sedan in a junkyard and strip out the entire interior, assuming I can a) find said car in a junkyard and b) the interior isn't also nasty.

If it's the difference between selling it for $1200 and $1500, I'm not interested in putting for that kind of effort. If it's the difference between $1200 and $3500, I'd consider it, but...

Option #3 - part it out, but I'm guessing you don't want to do that.

If you feel you're out-growing the car, why not make it a proper race car? I gather things get a whole lot more intense when the track time gets real, so maybe a nice familiar car would be a good idea?

Can't really make it a proper race car because of the engine swap. It's illegal in stock or stock-ish classes because of that, and it's uncompetitive in something like Honda Challenge because I swapped a 130hp engine (which was blown) for a 146hp engine and not a 270hp frankenstein monster.

So it's sounding like GRM is telling me what I already knew but didn't want to hear -- I won't be getting much for this thing. :( Well, thanks for being truthful :)

I'm not saying put the whole interior back in, just make sure you have two front seats, something that passes for a dash and maybe the rear seats.

As mentioned, parting it should net a big jump in cash over selling it.

Call a couple of buddies and you can have all the parts off of it and have someone haul it off to the scrapyard in a weekend.

GameboyRMH wrote: I'm not saying put the *whole* interior back in, just make sure you have two front seats, something that passes for a dash and maybe the rear seats.

Ah. It's got the seats and full dash. Aside from the carpet, a-pillar plastics, and headliner, everything forward of the b-pillar is present. Those might not be too hard to find in a junkyard...

Or, just put a really low price on it and have it gone in a few days.... what's it worth to have it out of your hair?

It costs me $100 a year to keep it in my garage and it puts a smile on my face every time I take it to the track. I'd just like to convert it into a down payment on a better car, but if that means having a For Sale sign on it for 2 years (versus selling it tomorrow for peanuts) that won't bother me.