This is a poll to gauge what members believe are the key factors in valuing an USDM, Manual Transmission FD

Please choose five of the top factors that would affect your valuation of an FD that has come up for sale,

Please add comments.

 

Others:

• Year (top-3)
• RHD or LHD
• Special Trims (e.g. R1, R2, Type-R, RZ Bathhurst, Spirit-R, et)

 

the interior is the hardest thing to fix. engine is cheap, paint is possible, but you cannot fake the interior

 

Important thing is no accidents or rust and a nice interior. Everything else is relatively easy to fix.

This assumes the car is complete. If the car is missing major components all bets are off.

 

Perhaps my selection of categories is not ideal.

They only allow 10 variables. So I narrowed the field to "LHD, Manual".

I left out RHD and Automatic, as I assume those features would produce significant discounts, and prices are not likely to rise to LHD manual transmission car levels in the near future.

I have an "Other" category, which people can choose and perhaps provide some comment.

 

What happened to SSM?!

 

Doh! That is, in fact, the colour of my car!

 

Engine condition is coming in only 5th so far. (Still a small sample size.).

Importance of engine condition may depend on a person's view on the cost of engine replacement..

It may not be as simple as swapping in a rebuilt keg.

Our leading local shop puts the typical cost at about US$15,000.

There are several factors, among others, for this:

1. Re & Re a motor you are likely to find other problems (or create them)
2. Competing with other projects the shop may be working on. A $70,000 build is going to take priority.
3. Owner preference. New owners may have ideas of modifications they would like to add to the build.

 

1, Interior....( I value mint black at $15K + )
1. Paint........( proper re-paint $10K )
1. No accidents
1. No rust
1. Clean title
All else easy to fix

 

Is low mileage linked to an expectation of less wear and tear on the interior, than it is linked to condition of motor?

 

How does the bidding pattern of these last two BAT deals reflect the results of this poll so far.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-226/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-mazda-rx-7-92/

 

How would valuation criteria apply in this case?

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/l...type-a/1288165


Car needs a detailing and the blurb says "it will need servicing before being put back on the road....having sat for several years in storage".

 

Are those not the same car?

 

Sorry, the link conjoined. Reference is to the last two cars auctioned.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-mazda-rx-7-92/

 

After owning a CW FD I can say I'm over it. It is the least appealing FD color to me now.
SSM>CYM>MB>BB>VR>CW

 

i'm not sure that people approach this logically. i feel like most buyers want a really nicely detailed and sorted car, that they can buy and take to their detailer and mechanic....

i come from a land where people want to look at a house that is staged really well, but then don't care how much they pay and tear it down and build a new one if they get it.
if you were going to completely redo the thing, why even go look at it? but they do, kind of a lot

 

Carfax and similar, especially the accident(s) reported or showing none. I know these often do not include actual accidents, but when you do see them it can be a red flag.

It wouldn't necessarily put me off but would make me dig in to the specifics.

Those SHOULD show salvage title and the like.

 

That is a very good point.

Almost a given.

I am not sure if any of the categories above would adequately cover it.

Thanks for pointing out.

I only learned I could get a Japanese version of car facts six years after the fact.

Turns out the auction sheets that came with the car were fake.

(Car sold at auction for C$3500 in 2014. So probably was priced right. Fake auction papers probably came later.)

 

Just going off of the sales on BAT, it would appear that group of buyers prefers cars that are 1) low mileage and 2) original owner. But that probably reflects a specific demographic (of which I am likely included). If this poll had options for lack of modifications, I would have voted those options.

 

The category "OEM Adherence" is meant to pick up the degree the car has been kept stock.

That might not be clear.

But what seems to be emerging is that some degree of modification may be tolerable, if otherwise the interior and exterior present well.

My understanding is that BAT will discourage posting of cars which are highly modified.

This will affect the examples we see there.

 

Given survey results so far, how would you rate this one?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-229/

Compression results are a little weak, but that may not matter so much, eh?

 

Say what?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-231/

 

Might've been knocking at $200K with a battery cover!!

 

Seems we should double count each vote for "Mileage" Or maybe even triple.

In any event, there is going to be confusion on pricing until the next couple of cars come in with lesser results.

Can you spell "cantango"?

New owner may need some advice on how to handle , with kid gloves, a motor that has sat for 30 years.

How will you know what is going on in there, without opening it up? .

( I don't mean WOT, although that may reveal things PDQ.)

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-233/

$25~30,000 over other very recent sales of cars with similar mileage.

What made the difference?