55.2-59 Comp help please

[Missyblue]

Hello all! I am reaching out because you have all been so amazing and smart and helpful and i really need help. I am sadly going through a divorce and my ex is coming after my Missy Blue truck. I built it myself with my dad and daughter and spent mostly birthday and Christmas money on it and gifts from family. Im worried because he says the like generic kbb sites say average retail 50k with no parameters and if he shows that in court I have to prove otherwise. I understand I have to pay for her but she's no 50k truck from the nicely fixed up stuff i see for that price with new engines and nice paint. I have reached out locally trying to find an appraiser didnt know if you had any other ideas or know of any truck sold recently that could provide comps to share? Searching online i don't find alot. I find high priced fancy ones or a couple basic ones. Mine is a 1957 painted but horribly peeling now sadly. And it's not original. Has a 90s engine and transmission in it. Mustang ii suspension., plywood bed etc But she looks amazing from about 40 ft back haha. Anyways. I sure hope you are all doing well. I haven't been on in awhile since I haven't had the money or time to work on her. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I dont have 50k to buy her out of the marriage if they order that and I would be beyond devastated to lose her. Thank again for any thoughts

[leegreen]

man that sucks, sorry your going through it.

Not sure it carries much weight in the proceedings but I'd think your history of posts on this site lends pretty big credibility to you having built the truck, not him.

Do you have receipts for major purchases in your name? Is there any record that sweat equity was added by anyone other than you?

I'd get it appraised and tell the appraiser what is going on, that you don't need a high value appraisal for insurance you want a realistic appraisal. You might also dress down for the appraisal. 5 minutes with a few tools and you have a 'needs work to get back on the road' project again.

I do agree you are on the right track, it is not a $50k vehicle. I spend too much time dreaming on marketplace, I bet other people on here do to, post some current pictures and specs and we can probably give you a good ballpark.

[unclebrad]

There are plenty of trucks out there for sale on FB Marketplace and Craigslist, where you can copy/paste ads into a Word doc.
Within half an hour, you will have plenty of good comps.

Here is a site I use for my car fantasies, that covers Marketplace AND Craigslist nation-wide:
https://www.autotempest.com/

[Missyblue]

Originally Posted by leegreen

man that sucks, sorry your going through it.

Not sure it carries much weight in the proceedings but I'd think your history of posts on this site lends pretty big credibility to you having built the truck, not him.

Do you have receipts for major purchases in your name? Is there any record that sweat equity was added by anyone other than you?

I'd get it appraised and tell the appraiser what is going on, that you don't need a high value appraisal for insurance you want a realistic appraisal. You might also dress down for the appraisal. 5 minutes with a few tools and you have a 'needs work to get back on the road' project again.

I do agree you are on the right track, it is not a $50k vehicle. I spend too much time dreaming on marketplace, I bet other people on here do to, post some current pictures and specs and we can probably give you a good ballpark.

Thanks I sure appreciste it. I'll try to get some current photos today

[Missyblue]

Originally Posted by unclebrad

There are plenty of trucks out there for sale on FB Marketplace and Craigslist, where you can copy/paste ads into a Word doc.
Within half an hour, you will have plenty of good comps.

Here is a site I use for my car fantasies, that covers Marketplace AND Craigslist nation-wide:
https://www.autotempest.com/

Thanks for the recommendation I'll check it out

[e015475]

What you need is comps for what's actually sold, not of what people are dreaming theyr'e going to get in FB, CL and the BJ auctions on TV

Bring a Trailer publishes the results of their on-line auctions for the last five years and a membership is free.

I searched "Chevrolet Task Force Pickup (1955-1959)" on BAT and there were 213 hits with sales from $4K to $101K (It is interesting to note that about 40% of the BAT comps for these trucks was "reserve not met" which reinforces my opinion that folks (like your spouse and her lawyer) frequently overestimate what vehicles are actually worth)

But all the descriptions for those sales are available on BAT and you should be able to find good comparables to "Missy Blue" (I'd deduct a few thousand from their prices to account for transportation - most of these sales are out of state buyers. There's also companies that prep/sell vehicles on bring a trailer for a percentage of the sale - you might take it down a few percent for prep too- you shouldn't have to donate your time to sell it to the divorce. I'd think decrementing the BAT sales prices 10% for prep, selling and transport is reasonable)

If you want to take the easy way out, you can ask ChatGPT to analyse BAT and other sales data and give you an estimate for the truck's value. This is a crap-shoot and the old saying 'garbage in -garbage out' applies, but it might be a useful starting point. (I tried it on mine and thought the results were pretty accurate) Read the BAT ads and find what features people are pimping in their sales and use the applicable ones in your question to ChatGPT

In divorce proceedings, it is pretty easy to get railroaded by a spouses lawyer on the value of a collector vehicle. I had an expensive off-road vechicle and my (now ex) wife told her lawyer it was worth $50K so that's what he put in the settlement proposal. At the time it had a blown engine and was worth maybe half that. I showed the lawyer the cost of a comparable built engine and an estimate of my time to do the R&R and got the value down to about half that, but they'd of gladly let me pay $50K

[e015475]

Here's a screen shot of the BAT sales history for Chevrolet Task Force Pickup (1955-1959

On the site, you click on a data point and the description comes up.

[unclebrad]

Just an afterthought with no car stuff...
When I got divorced, we did not split things that were ours before our marriage. Her grandmother's jewelry, for instance. Or my vintage Land Rover.
I can't remember whether that was a State thing (California) or we just agreed that that was the fair thing to do. (It was a fairly friendly divorce.)
Anyway, I didn't want to leave it unsaid, just in case it might apply here.

[e015475]

Originally Posted by unclebrad

Just an afterthought with no car stuff...
When I got divorced, we did not split things that were ours before our marriage. Her grandmother's jewelry, for instance. Or my vintage Land Rover.
I can't remember whether that was a State thing (California) or we just agreed that that was the fair thing to do. (It was a fairly friendly divorce.)
Anyway, I didn't want to leave it unsaid, just in case it might apply here.

I'm not a lawyer ( I did stay at a Holiday Inn once though) but I've been married three times, so I'm a little way down the learning curve (some would say not far enough)

In a community propery state, assets (like a collector truck) held before a marriage are held to be the sole-property of the individual. To make the sole-property assertion stick in a divorce, you need to prove that none of the funds used to modify/maintain the asset didn't come from 'community property co-mingled funds'. This is easy for grandma's jewlery but not so much for a vehicle or a house.

Colorado is an 'equitable distribution state', however, but I'd imagine the 'comingling of assets' rule applies, but please contact a legal pro if you think you have a claim for the truck being your sole and seperate property