308/328 Driving the prices up!

I had a similar conversation with my wife last week re: home values here in the Bay Area. All of the foreclosures on the market are driving the average home price down. It doesn't necessarily mean anything in the long run (hopefully), though. By the same token, if I price my GT4 @ $10k, it does not make all GT4s similar to mine worth $10k, but if enough people priced theirs below market, I would expect that to cause prices (that buyers are willing to pay even for top dollar cars) to follow. That said, I don't see why the opposite wouldn't be true. In fact, didn't a group of people in the 512bbi crowd achieve something like this a couple years ago?

 

You can ask anything you want for a car. The price is determined by what people are willing to pay. This goes for new cars as well as used.

 

Ive been preaching this for yrs here already....doesnt seem like you will get the traction

Those that have restored cars (engine rebuilds, suspension and the like) are already at that price....but they dont sell on the open market, its very much a private sale that never gets public. Soem 308s hitting 30 yrs old, do require sometype of restoration...changing 2 belts is not enough now....and having wheels fall off because of old suspension is only gonna be more common.

You just answered your own question....you would sell for 50K...if you actually saw 5 other 308s like your's to compare, but if you couldnt replace it, you wouldnt sell. This is how the price of these cars "old" cars are going up......when you got one, and you spent the money to finally get it right (for youself) 99% of the owners wont sell for market (less) value, cause they know they cant replace it again.

 

Eh, spring fever and people want cars. This is THE BEST time of the year to sell the car. Best buying is late fall/winter.

 

Attempting to artificially set the price can, and has, worked for some items, especially staples like milk and bread, but it is more difficult with relatively common luxury items. If everyone that owned a QV, for example, got together and decided not to sell for less than $45k, then for the very short term, the prices for the cars would be "set" at that inflated value. In the long-term, however, two things will happen.

First, since the item in question is not a staple, most potential buyers will eventually move on to something else. Oh, they'll still like the QV, but they'll purchase the 348 or Lotus Esprit or whatever else because the QV's price has outstepped it's perceived value. There will always be a few wealthy individuals that can, and will, pay anything for a QV, but since the QV isn't particularly rare, the purchases will not be enough to sustain the high price point for all the cars.

The second thing that will happen is that greed will set in with the sellers. If the price is "set" at $45k, eventually there will be a seller who will undercut that price for a quick sale. Once one seller undercuts the artificial price point, other sellers will be forced to fall in line, and the whole system will collapse like a house of cards. Again, if the car was much more rare, then it is an easier system to maintain, as fewer individuals translate into greater accountability within the system.