How Much Is It Worth?
July 22nd, 2009
Most classic car owners will react with barely concealed horror if you invite them to put a price on their pride and joy. Even if you are not looking to buy it, just making conversation, they will insist that a dollar value is the furthest thing from their mind. If you leave them a few minutes to think about it they will, however, usually come back with a – completely hypothetical, of course – valuation based on what they paid for it, how much work has gone into restoring it, and several other details besides. There are other ways to find out the value, of course, and few of these depend on asking a highly biased owner.
The bible of classic car collectors, used in valuing the classic car that a collector has finally decided to sell, is produced by Edmunds. The Edmunds Car Guide features a list of cars by make, model and age and lists their market value on the strength of what the car should fetch on the open market, based on previous sales of similar cars as well as rarity and durability. If you have an old or even a classic car and are thinking of selling it, then the Edmunds price guide is the first place you should look. It could dissuade you from making an expensive mistake.
Whatever the case, though, you should always make sure that you have your own valuation for a car. If you don’t explicitly need the money and sell it for less than you feel it is worth, then Edmunds or no Edmunds, you will feel pretty let down.
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