The Testarossa just ain't sellin. Advice?

Hey, folks - haven't posted on here since I decided to get out of this hobby and sell my '90 TR.

It's a great car, and a huge improvement over my old 308, but I just don't use it enough. Decided to sell it and invest the money, like a grown up. Bought a cheap little SLK that I don't mind throwing around, and it's great.

Posted it for sale myself on Cars.com and Ebay for a couple of months, but didn't get much interest, so I handed it over to RTGT on consignment back in June. It's late January now, and still haven't gotten any offers.

Any thoughts? It's in great condition, passed the Tonkin inspection with great results, clear CarFax. Price seems cheap to me, but maybe I'm crazy? I knew it could take six months or so to find the right buyer, but it's been almost a year and I haven't even gotten any interest!

http://www.rtgt.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewinventory.details&carid=d09f2e6d-ed36-299d-d1b3-4744d1c0f874

 

Sorry to hear about your issues with the sale -- the car does look like it is in great condition!

For comparasion, I had a client in NJ purchase a similar car (same color, like condition, slightly less miles) for $39K back in September.

IMHO if your going to let it go for much less than what you have it listed for I would keep it (if you can bear it financially, obviously) and just make an effort to enjoy it more. And get rid of that tape player

 

If you want to get rid of it quicker, your best bet is to reduce the price a little bit and hopefully the right buyer will come.

 

Oh, fine. Go and pull the "adult" card on us...

(I'm into my own 328GTS for about $70k and just keep my head in the sand as
far as the "invest" and "grown up" bits go.... )

Jedi

 

Try Roy or Kevin at Cat's Exotics. They deal with a lot of these types of cars, and sell all over the world. They are also site sponsors. www.catsexotics.com



John

 

EXCELLENT advice.

Jedi

 

@AJTozzi - Wow, 39k? That's not good! Thanks for the info, though. Think that's where all these TRs are heading?

@Jedi - Haha, I was only talking about myself. Cars are one of my symptoms; your own may differ!

@Detailjohn - Do you think I'd have more luck at Cats than at Tonkin? I figured that, since Tonkin is an official dealer...?

 

Tonkin vs. Cats????? THAT is not a question. CONTACT THEM. From
my short 1.8 years here, they are TOPS. And I've been to Tonkin. Just
ain't the same as what I've seen about Cats. And LOTS of folks here will
agree with that.

Jedi

 

Good idea. Roy really knows how to network.

 

She's a beauty, that's for sure!

What's keeping it from selling? Gee, there's this thing going around that affects most of the population with middle-class incomes, or should I say, no longer have an income, that keeps them from buying an expensive toy. I would guess that, relatively speaking, the lucky few that pull a higher income likely go for the newer models.

 

drop it 2k a week until it sells and hope it sells sooner than later. i would say 40k would do it. there are still guys asking way more and your car seems to be priced lower than a lot. i think the 40k to 100k toy market has dissappeared. Not unlike all the other toy markets but this is the middle of the toy markets and middle class americans aren't buying anything right now.

 

4 years ago I was the second full price offer on 1990 TR Black with 18K on her and great records and the belt change just completed with full 30K service. The guy ahead of me struggled to finanace it but pulled it together at the last minute and I missed out.
It was 55K then before the economy tanked. Not sure it is what you want to hear but everything sells at the right price for the market conditions. Exotics are soft across the board and probably will be until we things start to pick up. With tax time just around the corner it gets even tougher. You need to find the right buyer and I think networking and Roy
would be a smart move. E-Bay scares the hell out me. It would be the last place I would look for a nice Ferrari. To me it is where people go to dump crap that no one wants or they can not move at the auction. If it is a clean nice car it should be in a nice show room or your garage. Great for price shopping but little confidence in the quality from E-Bay. It is a nice car but the mileage is high even though the TR motors very solid and durable. I would think 44 to 45 will move the car. That is a lot of car for the dollar.

 

I noticed that Barrett-Jackson had (4) Testarossa's on their auction list this year. So, I'm sure that isn't helping either, with everyone trying to sell them at once:

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/currentcarlist.aspx?aid=304&sd=01%2f22%2f2010&ed=01%2f22%2f2010

Mike

 

I have seen the car in person ans she is gorgeous. The market is just so tough now that not alot of people have disposal income for exotic cars. Like Mark said you just have to keep dropping the price till she sells

good luck

 

Theres always a price that things will sell, its just not the price we need or want to get. I know I ended up selling mine for over ten grand less than I owed but was just tired of dealing with it. I think I might try selling with someone else as well.

 

i ran a search and i didn't see when they would be auctioned. It would be interesting to see what they sell for if they have 4 to sell BJ is a no reserve auction. You take the 10-20% off the top for the Alcohol and "I'm on TV" mode and you would have a pretty good indicator of the value of your car for sure.

Found 2 sales at Barrett 89 Test Black/Black sold for $78100.00 and 86 sold for $56100.00 these both include BJ's 10% commission.....71k and 51k auction prices

 

The Black '86 just sold at $51,000.00 about 1/2 hour ago. Just happend to turn the TV on just as the hammer came down.

Mike

 

If it was mine, I would try putting it back on eBay, at the lowest rock bottom reserve price that you are willing to accept.

So far, the TRs at the BJ auction have been bringing in pretty good money, considering all things. I would take advantage of the TV exposure and get your's listed ASAP.

They sold this 1989 Testarossa for $88K the other day. (including buyer's premium)

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?aid=303&ln=393.2&pop=0&it=1

 

Sure seems like the OP has his priced accordingly. I agree with Gary. Put in a reserve that you can live with. Hope people are watching BJ

Possibly people are finally tired of Red/Tan Ferrari's. Who knows.

 

$56,100 is what the buyer actually had to pay for the car (including BJ commission).

 

I agree with letting Cats (Roy/Kevin) handle it. Set a bottom limit and let Cats move down the price as needed. They weed out the junk buyers and handle the paperwork. They did better for my F430 Spider I just sold than a dealer I had one of my other cars at.

Price seems to be everything. High == long waits. Low == sell now.

Even with a low price, it might take awhile to sell. Be ready to accept less than what you think it's worth if you want to sell it. Yea, it sucks, but it's not going to get better any time soon for these cars.

Good luck!

Tim

 

Thanks, guys!

Traded e-mails and pictures with Cat's today - they're willing to cross-list it. I'll go visit Tonkin this weekend - if that would leave me on the hook for both 10% commissions, I'll pull it out of Tonkin and go with Cat's exclusively for a while.

I might list it on Ebay again, too, myself!

 

You might try subscribing and advertising it here too. It would at least be a pretty cheap way to get some exposure if nothing else and more exposure can never hurt!

 

If I could, I would love to take it off your hands.

Best of luck to you.

 

I have seen similar TR's with considerably less mileage listed for the same price you currently have at RTGT , 49,995.

That's not saying yours wouldn't be the better buy if the services are current.
The "others" may need everything. It's all relative.

I see an 88.5 in San Marino with 16k miles listed for 57k. If those are honest miles it's hard to beat with a car with higher mileage for sale in the 50's range.

I hate to say it but this time of year I don't think you'll get more than 45k. This is the WORST time to sell. GREAT time to buy.