[NA] What would be a fair price on this one? [Archive] (2024)

RobC2

1st May 2015, 11:24

I have spoken to the buyer and it seems he might be a little negotiable. Price as it stands seems way too high, at least to me. Mileage and maintenance are pluses and I do like the roll bar. Not a huge fan of the color as I have already had a red NA and I am sure an in-person inspection will uncover some additional negatives, but overall it looks promising. What do you guys think?

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/5003847029.html

http://images.craigslist.org/00l0l_lxPhHv2nYQR_600x450.jpg

The Speedgeek

1st May 2015, 11:59

NAmiato

1st May 2015, 12:17

maarp

1st May 2015, 12:49

RobC2

1st May 2015, 12:52

hal1

1st May 2015, 14:02

so he put $2000 into it and got use of it for a year, now he wants to sell it for 2000 more than he paid? Maybe it's just me, but it rubs me the wrong way to make money on a used car that you put money in to to get it to proper conditon anyway.

a car cost money to keep and maintain. You don't get rewarded for it, at least not over and above what it should be worth.

I found the wording interesting. He mentioned the 56000 miles on it by the first owner, not the 20000 miles that he put on it in a year.

hal1

1st May 2015, 14:33

Indiana Randy

1st May 2015, 15:00

The seller is smokin crack. Car is worth about $4500 on a good day.

I wouldn't even mess with him.

My car is ALL original with 58K miles. You can have it for $6500 any time you want.

Not posting a for sale ad here, just giving a comparison. I MAY be selling, but when I do, I'll send the ad money to miata.net.

The Speedgeek

1st May 2015, 15:08

So $6k would be good?

You'll want more opinions than just mine (refer to my number of posts, and you'll see that I'm fairly new to the pricing game as well), but yeah, it seems a little batty to say "I bought this car for $5500, then put $2000 into it while DD'ing it for a year, and I want to see every penny back that I put into it". Unless you got a scorching deal on it originally (and I'd say he paid fair-ish price for it at $5500, maybe a slight deal), that's just not how it works when you sell a used car. The roll bar, for instance, is a "special" add-on, that I would only put on the car for its utility, not to add value, and I wouldn't expect to see a penny of that cost outlay back when I went to sell the car. And putting a new soft top on it simply brings it up to "normal" value (i.e. if the top were in rough shape, that would equate to a discount from "normal" value).

From what I've seen, 1) NAs that are "all stock" are far from "RARE", especially when you're looking at ones at this mileage, and 2) you can find quite a few good condition NAs in the under-100k mile range that have had the maintenance things done on the already for quite a bit less money than this. As an example, here's another one from the Greensboro Craigslist page:

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/5004608996.html

http://images.craigslist.org/00r0r_hoy4HmGvvIk_600x450.jpg

"Car available with aftermarket wheels and suspension removed for $6200

1997 Mazda Miata red over tan leather (Package C). Last year of NA body. 50k original miles, mostly under one adult owner (who I purchased it from August '14). Always garaged."

Yadda, yadda, the guy wants $6900, as-is or $6200 for the car without the wheels and adjustable shocks/springs, which in and of itself sounds a touch batty (these miles plus this condition = $6000-6500, max, IMO, even with the wheels and suspension).

TL;DR - There's other cars with less miles that are even less wrenched on out there for this price or less. And unless that guy comes off of $7500 quite a bit, he may find that he's continuing to pile miles onto his car.

RobC2

1st May 2015, 15:35

hal1

1st May 2015, 15:48

My car is ALL original with 58K miles. You can have it for $6500 any time you want.

Meh, my sister will take 6000 and will even give you a little sum'n sum'n for her 92 with 53,000 miles, all original car in truly outstanding condition including the top.

also, not an ad for sale

huesmann

4th May 2015, 09:47

He's priced about $2000 too high, not accounting for the roll bar. If you want a roll bar, they're what, $500 plus install?

The cost of replacing the top is not your problem, it's his. You shouldn't have to pay anything for a top that works.

newtownhood

5th May 2015, 00:23

Gene-M

5th May 2015, 09:28

He's priced about $2000 too high, not accounting for the roll bar. If you want a roll bar, they're what, $500 plus install?

The cost of replacing the top is not your problem, it's his. You shouldn't have to pay anything for a top that works.

Agreed. Furthermore, I can't speak for all insurance companies in all states, but the only collector's car insurance that's available to me where I live will not insure vehicles with roll bars. That would add some $500 a year to my cost of ownership. I consider that roll bar more of a liability than a bonus feature.

Dig that Nakamichi 6cd. If it works, they fetch $$$ on ebay :) And that's where it would end up if I were to buy a car that had one. After all, who in their right mind still bothers to drag their CDs out to the car in this day and age. It seems totally ludicrous to me now.:p

newtownhood

11th May 2015, 16:10