Tips on Buying Cars: Price, classic car prices, mechanical inspection

Question
I have an 84 Fiero but i wanted to know if there's a website where i could find the value of the car if i want to sell it, because ive seen some Fieros go for a lot more than KBB because they were only made for 5 years but i dont know how to accurately set a price for mine, maybe you could give me some guidelines.

And also can you tell me about how to buy cars at auctions? and some legit places i could look or how to find them. And your opinion do you think it's a risk to buy cars at auctions?

Answer
Good Morning, and thanks for your question.

You're asking what many owners of classic cars already know--the price of these gems is not determined by traditional  valuation methods.

Like any commodity, classic car prices are set by market conditions which include how rare, popular, unique, etc. the vehicle was and is. Using the base '84 Fiero in good condition, www.kbb.com shows the value to be $650, while www.hemings.com/priceguide, which shows the asking price of similar vehicles over the last two months, lists $6,375 as the average asking price. Of course asking price is not always the same as selling price, but it will give you a place to start. The Fiero has a pretty good following from what I can see on the web. Look for some user groups; they usually have a good idea on what's going on in the market, who's buying, selling, etc.

Regarding your question about buying cars at auctions, at true industry auctions you must have a dealer’s license to buy, and in most cases to even get through the gate. So unless you have a friend in the business that will let you go with him/her, it's not an option for the general public. And if you do, yes it can be very risky.

Dealers are given the opportunity to have a mechanic look vehicles over, but how much can you really tell in 15 minutes, and are you willing to risk laying down your money based on a cursory mechanical inspection? Most auctions do allow for returns after the fact if a vehicle is significantly outside of the 'assumed' mechanical condition, but now you have to get your dealer friend to put it back on the truck and return it to the auction. This is not to say that you won't get a good vehicle and a good deal, but you have to be very careful.

I hope this helps; good luck with your Fiero.

Regards,


Ron