Truck Values

[whatnow123]

Hey Everyone!

I'm just wondering what you guys think about the value of these trucks? I was checking out E-Bay on some closed auctions and there were some really nice trucks that didn't meet the reserve price that was set for it. Realizing that the reserve is a perceived value of the seller, but the high bid for the closed auctions seemed really low for the quality of some of the trucks along with the upgrades it came with. Some were less than 1/3 of just the money spent on just on parts. Realizing that the fixing up any car to personal taste is a loser investment, but why were these so low?

So, my question is, any ideas on why so many of the bids would seem (to me) artificially low? Has the popularity of our trucks gone down, has remained flat or do you think it's just slowing increasing and they will one day be like a 69 camaro is today? Just wondering what the board thinks.

Thanks to all that reply!

[FarmTruk]

OK...someone asking for an opinion. I can help here.

1...GM made a gazzilion of these trucks over the years, with most of them being used as a truck. That is, they were often worked to within an inch or two of thier life. Very few cherry survivors, as most have had extensive work done, often by several owners of varying mechanical skills. This can make a high value truck a bit of a crapshoot.

2...The market for these trucks is not as broad as for muscle cars such as the Camaro. Much of the value increase over the years for muscle cars is due to speculators who buy as an investment to be paid off at the next sale. This has really increased over the past 10 years, and thus some prices are absolutely stupid for '60's and early '70's muscle cars. Have you seen the $$$ of cars on Barrett-Jackson? OMG!

3...I hear the term "daily driver" in many of the posts on this board. I assume this is representative of the market as a whole. Daily drivers are not going to bring the $$$ that trailer queens are. I'd bet there are more daily driver trucks than cars of the same era.

4...It is difficult, if not impossible to recoup money put into your hobby, no matter what that hobby may be. That being said, I'd also bet that the $$$ can go alot farther on one of our trucks than on a Z28, SS, BelAir, Hemi, 'stang, or whatever. Parts seem to be really cheap comparatively speaking, and there are 1000's of junkyard gems available for parting out.

And so on, and so forth.

I don't blame an eBayer for setting a high reserve, but they have no one to blame if it does not sell.

Thank you for listening.

[71chevylowrider]

Also I think most Ebay buyers are looking fora "DEAL" why pay a premium for a nice re-stored or tricked out truck on Ebay when you can find those in just about any decent size town, you can go look at it, drive it & buy it, when I shop Ebay, especially for a truck, & it's across the country, it better be grandpa's old truck that he can't drive anymore for $3,000 or something along those lines. I think these trucks are bringing more money then ever right now & it's very difficult to find a deal anymore cause more people are finding out what other people are getting for them. Case in point, craigslist is usually where to find a deal on a vehicle, & recently in my local craigs, there's a very nice fancy looking 72 that their asking $35,000 for.

[Boise69]

Youre right on the ebay, i bought mine on ebay and i was looking for a steal, someone who didnt know what they had or were desperate. In the end i paid about what it was worth - 7k.

Yesterday as i was driving around chicago on my way to pick up some castings, a guy pulled up along side me while i was waiting to turn left, blocking his lane, motioned to roll down my window, and spent the next 2 minutes telling me how awsome my truck was, cars behind him honking and showing me his rolled up classifieds, "that is exactly what i'm looking for he claimed, how much, how much do you want?, i told him not for sale, but to get rid of him i said 15k, he said deal", then i turned left and he follwed me for a few miles and i guess he gave up after i lost him at a few lights. So... its value is what someone is willing to pay and as time goes by the want of many will increase expenentially. So dont you worry, dont overtly molest your truck and it will be worth a lot $$$ oneday, the trick is just dont think about it and dont become desperate.

[68GMC454]

for 15k,,i would have walked home..lol
but your truck is mostly worth what ever you can get out of it..it all depends on who is buying it,,and how much they will spend..

[71chevylowrider]

Here's another example,

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/car/251264879.html

[jimmydean]

I paid $600 for my truck. I have an overall budget of $5000 (until I've spent that much, then I will raise it). If I end up keeping it for as long as I would like to, then I'm sure I will get at least the original $600 for it. If I get more than that, then it's just a bonus at that point.

[71chevylowrider]

Yea, that's it........it's an investment! I can't wait to tell my wife about this, maybe I can go buy some thing for my truc....uh, my investment

[67-72chevyman]

My uncle bought a restored 68 camaro RS/SS with numbers matching 396 about 4 years ago for $11,000 pretty much a steal, even for then. I see some of these trucks for sale for twice that. Of course a person would have that much in one if you start from scratch, and build one from ground up, getting interier pieces, chrome. It takes 2 to 6 grand if you want to build a healthy engine. Not to mention the laber a guy has in it and whatever customazation he does.

[72armyswbtruck]

My motto has always been, buy something that someone else started so you can finish or buy the completely finished product. I mean you can almost always buy a really nice finished truck for way less than the build cost involved. I have owned well over 20 of these trucks and love to build them however my next one is surely one that has already been built that I can drive and enjoy right off the bat.
Until I find another one to start