looking at buying a camper cruiser. opinions welcome

[chewychevy67]

looking at buying this truck on the weekend. seller says she wants somewhere around 8000. I think that is high. it has a little rust starting on the rockers but if fixed now it would not be too bad. other than that pretty solid. wood bed isn't too bad. it has had a repaint and the original side mouldings are gone (which I would put back on). Spid is below. what do you think would be a good offer on it. runs and drives good for a DD.

[chewychevy67]

2 more

[chewychevy67]

wow those are small. has power steering, brakes, tach, speed warning, hd shocks, cst, front sway bar, am radio, wood bed, tinted glass, 8.25x16.5 rims. those are the major ones. NO a/c. 327 v8 and th400. all still in the truck.

[70shortfleet]

Looks to be in great shape. looks like it is well optioned, do you have a larger picture of the spid?

[chewychevy67]

I cant make it bigger. I tried.

[JointTech]

is that dollars or looneys?

[chewychevy67]

a looney is a dollar. lol. 8000 looneys

[special-K]

It sure is nice. Has lot of great stuff. 327 is a plus! I think it would be worth that in original state,even with the repaint. But,with trim missing/holes filled, same with mirrors, and other changes, I'd think $6-7k.

[chewychevy67]

I was going to offer $5000 and see what the counter offer would be. Do you think that is lowballing them. Don't want to offend anyone and completely loose out. I am thinking the truck is worth $7500 in original state as well. it will cost me aprox $1500 to put the new mouldings on and the other small stuff it needs so I think 6000 is max I would pay. does that sound right?

[chewychevy67]

I don't remember seeing the extra gas tank on the spid. would that be stock on a camper truck or optional or aftermarket.

[leddzepp]

I believe the extra tank is aftermarket. I too would start at $5K. It is a nice truck.

[chewychevy67]

I think I found a way to get these pic's bigger for you guys. wow I am no computer guy but I am impressed with myself for figuring this out.

[leftybass209]

If it's something you're interested in, it's worth a bid! Worst case he says no and you haggle.

[special-K]

The extra tank is aftermarket for sure. I think they put their price high,so they should not be surprised to hear much lower. There is no set value on any of these trucks. It's all relevant based on what people see others go for. It's hard for any two trucks to be an apples to apples comparison. I just can't see someone getting that upset over that offer. Now to offer half or less I would expect a noticeable reaction. If you're really concerned because this is "the one",I'd lead into my offer with "I don't want to insult you,but...".

[factorystock]

That is a very well preserved Canadian 3/4 ton GMC. If your into originality, and like '67 styling, it looks very nice. The truck shows as a lightly used recreational vehicle, not truck used as a wheel barrel all it life. How often do you see the original 16.5" clip style wheels with all 4 original caps still intact? This is a nicely optioned vehicle for its time(this is a '67 not a '77). The rule is: the older the truck,the less optional equipment you will find. An experienced buyer who purchased it new in '67, not a rookie. When thinking of a price, think how much work "IT DOES NOT NEED"

[nobolt]

how many CAMPER CRUISER's do you see? it's very nicely optioned too.
it doesn't look bad in the pics. what does it look like in person?

I would make a serious offer if it was anywhere near me.

BTW: all my loonies are worth 90 cents U.S.

[TBONE1964]

Speed warning and a tach from the factory?

That is worth the price of the whole truck alone

Very nice original truck and I agree about "what it does not need"

Good luck,
Tom

[71Dually]

Looks to be a well optioned truck. Buddy buckets, tach, speed sensor. Like factorystock says it does look to be very well preserved.

Values are different for all locations. A $5,000 truck in California may be a $2,800 beater in Quebec or Calagary so everyones value perception will be different. It's actually about what is it worth to you. Does it have options you want and if you buy a truck without those options what will they cost you to add them and yet they will never be original to the truck.

What do these trucks normally sell for in your region? Are the condition of those trucks being sold comparable to this one? If in lessor (or better) condition how is that condition reflected in the selling price? These are all factors you must weigh. Again it boils down to what is it actually worth to you.

Regarding offers, ask them their bottom line rather than loose the deal to an offending offer. Low ball offers can and do insult sellers. insulted sellers ask you to leave and then tell their friends "I can't believe that guy." If the bottom line is reasonable then inspect the truck, test drive it and make an evaluation of the cost it will take to make it what you want it to be. If their bottom line is within your budget to get the truck to where you want it step up before someone else does.

If the bottom line is above your "make it mine" budget then explain your desires of what you would like to do to the truck. Let them know the benefits of the truck in your plans. Let them know the pros and the cons of the trucks condition in regards to your plans. Upmost, be honest, most times sellers can spot an effort to get the truck for cheap.

Sellers can tell if you will cherish the truck they are trying to sell and that can sometimes weigh in on the deal you will receive from them. The truck you are looking at appears to be well cared for and thus cherished by its current and previous (if any) owners. Their opening asking price appears to reflect that they have taken care of it.

Also what is the image you are going to portray when you meet to view the truck. Treat it like a job interview with how you appear, and what you say and do. If you are standing next to Joe gardener looking for a replacement for the beat up sagging overworked smoking Toyota truck he drove up in (no offense intended Joe) and you drove up in a shiny well cared for classic to the transaction and you both had the same amount of cash ready to pay who would buy the truck? I'll bet its the person who shows they will have proper respect for and will care for the truck rather then beating it to death trimming lawns and overloading it with concrete. Even if Joe offered more money if the owner cherished the truck I'd bet on the lower price for the shiny classic driver.

Most time owners will reduce their price expectation if they know it is going to a good home. After all their Grandfather may have been the original owner. If Granpa was it sure looks like he cherished it.

Make your offer reasonable, don't low ball it to get a deal. Make your first offer a few $100 below your bottom line not $1,000's. With a few $100 it still gives you wiggle room to go up which shows you want what they are selling. Again going up in your offer plays on the cherish card. Who knows you may get it for your first offer and since it's lower than your bottom line then you did get a deal.

Everyone wants a deal, but don't let that desire prevent you from owning a truck you may really want. And may regret not getting. Remember others may be looking also and buy it before you. How long and how much effort will it take to find a comparable truck? What is that time and effort worth?

If the pictures are a reflection of the true mechanical and cosmetic condition of this truck then in my part of the world $5,000 is an insulting low ball offer for a seller that is not motivated or desperate to pass the truck along. I think a $6,500 offer is more reasonable but still a bit on the low side for a well cared for truck.

Last thing, always take a couple buddies and make sure you have cash in hand or well hidden in your vehicle. Don't give the seller a chance to change their mind. I've had lots of agreed minds change after I left to get the cash.

I spotted my truck advertised for $2,300. Asked the bottom line. $1,800. It was a 38,000 mile class C motorhome with a water rotted camper section. Hadn't been ran in 6 to 8 years. I explained my plans to convert the truck to a stake bed. After a full day of my tinkering the owner turned the key and it would not turn. It just dimmed the dash lights and moved the gauge needles with the key in start position (as they should do). Owner signed the title at $500. But that was after lots of work and actions on my part showing I wanted and would care for the truck.

I found after sitting so long the shift lever needed to be jiggled to engage the neutral start switch circuit. Truck fired right up and ran like a dream. Owner was real happy to discover the truck ran and was very happy to have sold it to me. He never asked for a penny more and smiled and waived joyously as I drove off. He knew I would cherish the truck. And I do, I stole it at $500 and would have gladly paid the $2,300 advertised for my low mileage baby.

I estimate I've invested (a little at a time) another $2,000 in the truck and clocked almost 3,000 miles since her purchase. At advertised price she would be clocking in about $4,300. Still an excellent deal for what I've got but she has been a lot of happy time tinkering. Still well worth it if not for the only reason it hauls more stuff than my '95 Toyota Corolla. Heck, it would haul my Toyota!

Sorry to slightly hijack your topic but here's a recent picture of my $500 baby

Every deal is different, but you can often affect the outcome of a deal with more than a simple cash offer. Everyone makes offers. The one's who stand out are those who cherish the truck before they buy it. And they usually get the best deal.

So, when are you going to post you paid $7,500 and are starting to tinker with her?

You know you want to pull the trigger.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.

[davepl]

You need to look very carefully for rot. I'm from Saskatchewan and while Regina didn't use salt, there was still lots of rust.

These trucks all rusted up there. My Dad rebuilt the rockers on his with 2x4s, because they'd just rust again anyway. That truck was more wood than truck by the end.

Supply might be different up there, but I think it's not a $6K truck. You can check my build thread to see what I started with for $6500:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=507395&page=7

Came out of California so no rust. Rust is expensive, and almost unavoidable in these unless you get lucky.

[Steve Hafner]

. . . .

Does anyone know what the " Z49 MAND CAN EQUIP " is ?

( I assume the " CAN " is for Canadian or Canada )

. . . .

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Steve Hafner

. . . .

Does anyone know what the " Z49 MAND CAN EQUIP " is ?

( I assume the " CAN " is for Canadian or Canada )

. . . .

Probably km/hr speedo.....

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

I was going to offer $5000 and see what the counter offer would be. Do you think that is lowballing them. Don't want to offend anyone and completely loose out. I am thinking the truck is worth $7500 in original state as well. it will cost me aprox $1500 to put the new mouldings on and the other small stuff it needs so I think 6000 is max I would pay. does that sound right?

Region will have a lot to do with price. $5000 is not a low ball offer where I'm located. I doubt it would even bring that much in SoCal. Once again, it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[Already Gone]

Rod, that truck was on Kijiji last Winter and when I called about it they wanted 11,000 and I was told the engine had been changed in the truck. Check this link out for comparisons sake. Its too bad I didn't see his post before today because I got back from Calgary lat night ( with a truck I bought) and could have checked out the one in the link if you had wanted me to.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details....dId=1011221769

[GuyO]

You have some heavy hitters giving you very good advice like LeddZepp, davepl and others. But I think Dually kind of nailed it. We all have experience buying and maintaining and rebuilding these old trucks. The more I think about it, we all assume it is numbers matching which does add value. If it is, you have a fair chance of buying something at or around the purchase price that you didn't pay to much for regardless of the final amount because they hold their value better. Especially as well optioned as it is, I think its relatively rare (or more rare). That said, when I saw $8000 my immediate response was it was too much. Experience tells me that someone is in their ear. It may not be their knowledge setting the price. You have plenty of experience here and I think everybody would buy it but it is on the high to very high side of the range. I have learned long ago to ask, "what do you really got to get for it" and "what can we do to put a deal together". They have some responsibility in the transaction too to have a happy buyer. Sold "Where is/As is" does not protect people from fraud or misrepresentation in Canada (or the US). Good luck and go buy it. Guy.

[chewychevy67]

I never even went to look. They arent budging from that price at all. The engine was changed to a 350. I really like 327's so that was kind of the nail in the coffin for me. Guess ill keep looking.