Good point Jim, I did sell it in July.

I've sold about 16 FDs, and just by pure chance I've had one for sale in the dead of winter. But I have sold them in the fall, here in the NW selling a sports car in the fall isn't bad since you don't really have to put the car away all winter like people might do in the *cold* states.

FDs values are amazingly stable, of course the value is going down but not much. What other Japanese cars hold thier value better? Not many, Supra, NSX and what else?

 

I don't know why anyone cares what their car is worth... did you buy it as an investment? No. You bought it because you thought it looked nice, handled well... whatever.

If they get cheaper, it just means I can buy another one!

hehehee

 

Well this is my dads car, I agree with your point, but Im not going to give the car away either. I still plan to keep my red one.

 

Price of low mileage FD will continue to drop while high mileage FD will depreciate less now. For example, a 12 yr old car can only be worth so much, even if it only has 5000 miles on it. On the other hand, a 12 yr, 180k mi FD will probly still be worth $7k bc it's still a car that runs. Basically, as cars age, price will drop until it's only a few thousand bucks and then hold its value from that point. High mileage FD depreciated quicker to this point and will hold its value more now.

 

If they get any cheaper I'll buy some extras.

Kevin T. Wyum

 

I just did

But then, mine isn't complete, won't be stock, and will have the resale value of a Pinto because there's such a small market for them once you put a V8 in it.

 

It is true I bought my car because of the handling, power, and ease of finding more power.

However I don't want to see my money go down the drain. Also with how many FD's are getting totalled, knowing that the insurance companys will cover the loan amount in full, in the case mine was totalled is important.

There are so many rebuilt title fd's and automatics (which are less desirable I personally feel) around that people see the low prices and think it is across the board. I almost bought 3 fd's before I got mine, all three had bad titles. I bought the only one in WA I could find for sale that had a manual and a clean title.

They have a high KBB, sell them for no less and the prices will go up. It is winter, and the RX-8 did just come out.

 

The 99-00 Civic Si has amazing resale value. Same thing for an Integra Type R.

 

I definitely think you should get the full, fair value for the car... I wasn't saying you should give it away But I'm just saying that when you buy any high performance car, usually the resale value sucks so that's life. The Supras have been enjoying a lot of popularity the last few years so they have held up quite well value-wise which does rub it in a bit that the price of an FD has fallen.

I guess all I'm saying is that the FD is following the devaluation curve that is the norm for high performance, low-practicality cars. The Supra is the exception, not the rule unfortunately.

B

 

well i am getting a 93 VR R1 with only 74k for $8000 in a couple weeks...

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Need a place to put them though...

 

I say sell it for $15k
People have to stop dropping their prices otherwise the masses of ricers will continue to jump on them.

Just remind people:
0-60 4.9s
1/4 mile 13.9s
Top Speed 160-165.
Skidpad .97-.99

And when someone asks you to lower the price, ask them "So tell me what stock cars have you seen with the same performance for the same price?"

With a few mods, a WRX and an EVO could keep up with it, now what about handling? You need to upgrade the suspension on the WRX and EVO just to KEEP UP with the FD. Sure, the FD's suspension may be a bit old, when you upgrade the suspension, you are upgrading a suspension which was allready able to perform up to almost 1g. Wanny buy a Z06? It can beat the FD. What else can match or beat it? A new M3 has trouble keeping up with it on a track. A Supra will be almost neck n neck with it, but it's also more. You need a $35,000 cobra to be able to beat it around a track. The RX-8? Let me not go there.... A Viper? Well go shop for a Viper and let me know how it goes. A 993 or a 996 turbo? Hehe.... What about the NEW NSX? The Viper beats it in every category, but the NSX retails for almost $90,000!

How many cars on this side of $20,000 can keep up with it?
How many cars on this side of $30,000 can keep up with it?
How many cars on this side of $40,000 can keep up with it?

If they are looking for something this cheap, it's because they can't afford anything else. Tell them to look for something with the same specs for the same price.

Sure you can make a new car faster, but when you start making the FD faster, it will allready be faster than the other made faster car.

The FD looks unique, and so as long as you have the body in good health, you will eventually get the diehard FD guy looking for his FD.

Even if I was making over triple digits a year, there STILL isn't a car on this side of $50k that I would replace for the FD. If I was making that money, I'd have my mildly modded M5 daily drive with the FD in mint condition in the garage ready for Homestead and more than capable to tackle a caravan up to MADS and make it back down.

Enough of the "It's an old car" bullshit. You aren't selling a 1989 Ford Festiva. The FD in stock form is still more than what most performance cars can handle, and will continue to be a match for years to come. It's just a matter of finding the right guy who acknowledges the strengths of the car.

You gotta remember somthing....
How many people also like SCCAing a car?
In Amerika, it's mostly about drag drag and drag racing. Supra's are drag queens, and they do it damn good, too. Plus the added bonus that it's a Toyota, and the additional bonus that it was basically the star of a certain movie, and now you see why their values have kept up.

If you guys notice, a 993 Turbo S is actually worth more than a 996 Turbo and worth almost as much as a 996 GT2. Why? Rarity. People still favor the old body style.

The Porsche Excellence magazine shows a chart with estimated car values at the end of the mag. My friend, which owned a 911, noticed that when the 996 turbo came out, the used resale values of the 993 Turbos actually wen't up.

I bet there are people that highly still highly favor the FD. It's just timing.

 

You are the man...I'm going to start slamming teh book at people.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of keeping their car until they choose to part with it for the right price.

That, and they don't need maintenance every time you look at them...

 

why is your dad getting rid of his?

 

It's like everyone is saying its just the wrong time, right now. The Fd will hold its value I feel. You'll get what you want for it after winter, when everyone is in the sporty mood. Right now people are expecting winter and the FD isn't exactly a winter car, and on top of that it will be an extra hassle to store it for the winter. It's not like there are that many for sale, especially in such good shape as yours. In my area I can probably get what I want for it because there isn't a single one for sale, probably not even within 500 miles. I get rediculous offers for it all the time, but its for me to enjoy, I like the attention I get with it. But being in a location where I'm at people will have to pay to play.

 

The price is only going to drop if people keep selling them for less. I didnt buy mine to resell it cheaper down the road. I bought it and have kept it for the last three years because I have fallen into that "niche". The price will continue to fall if people are buying them on a tight budget, since when something goes wrong, they cant afford the $500, $1000+ fix. That pushes them to sell the car cheaper to get some quick cash. There are other reasons mentioned why the FD's worth is falling, but that's the main factor that catchs my attention.

So for everyone that wants to have a higher value FD, just get everyone to stop selling them so cheap, and dont lowball in the for sale section. Easier said then done.

 

This falls under the "Toyota" category

 

35 hundred dolla! good lord! id hate to see how abused an fd must be for a 35 hundred dolla price tag.

 

In new Zealand we buy 1993 FD's for between 10-15k depending on condition etc... thats 6-10 k there and we can import newer ones from japan... arent we lucky?

Well since I hear you guys can use right hand drive over there you too can buy a cheap FD

 

I had a cash in hand offer for my LS1 FD for 21K....it must be the rotary

But even after driving my car, and I like it alot, its a decent amount of change to spend on a car that really is not that useful.

We've taken it grocery shopping, I need to put some kind of tie downs in the back. You can't close the hatch with anything substantial in it. The R1 makes a poor daily driver if you live in the midwest because of the roads.

Its better with the new suspension but it was 40 out this morning, driving this car with the windows up is no fun either, they are still pretty noisy cars all around.

I can't complain about the upkeep, the suspension is all I really had to do, redoing the interior and thats about it.

I know for a fact mine would go for 18K today, and if I was patient I could get near 20K.

Its alot of how you market it too. For an enthusiast there is no other car you can buy that weighs less than 2900lbs, makes 380hp very reliably and can make over 600 reliably with the LS1 with as good of a suspension setup with the support this car has. It has a unique style, size, everything about it sets it apart from other cars on the road.

It has alot of give and take, and unless you can afford it as a third car or are really into dealing with its issues then your really cutting down on your market. We live in the country, alot of dirt roads. Just driving it to work is an extra 25-30 minutes out of our day since we avoid the dirt roads. We can't take the dog in it, shop, etc....

And like Damon said, alot of kids who cannot afford it want to buy one. Its tough to get a loan for a car that is priced higher than what the bank will loan.

So its our third car, I love the car but at times I've really thought about selling it and buying a C6...but then again I'm giving up something that no one else really has and every day the car does become more rare. Then thats offset also by the fact that I need to spend alot more money on a C6 to go faster than the RX7 and it will never have the same feel, it may be faster and handle better but its not the same. On the flip side, every dollar I put into this car goes no where...it will continue to depreciate, even if I were to redo the entire interior with new materials and skins, it'll never be worth more than 21K...

I've just decided I need about 4-5 cars and I'd be set

 

I don't agree with your economics. A car is worth what the market is willing to pay and it's obvious what the market is willing to pay. The fact that FD prices continue to drop means the market disagrees with you. Finding an FD for sale is not that difficult either, so the "guy who acknowledges the strengths of the car" will be able to find several to look at. 10+ years is a long time in the age of a car and there can be no more than a handful left in the country with low miles on them. All the rest of them will be like most of the cars owned here: tired motor and/or turbos, paint needs attention, bushings need attention, interior worn etc. The fact that the FD has so much performance for its age is the reason it's not worth less than 10K....yet.

 

Yet.

Keep selling them to 16 year olds who continue to wrap them around a tree, and things will change.

Plus the fact that most parent's have NO clue as to what these cars are capable of, which is what I've seen happens lots of times. Parents helped jr buy his highschool movie wet dream of a car. Don't mind the fact that he has less than a year's experience with driving and now he has a car that hits 160+mph

Take a look at the Typhoon and Cyclones. Still worth between $10,000-$15,000 (last time I checked). Their production run was only a fraction of the FDs in the US making them much rarer.

If there is one thing I've learned from selling cars, it's that the right buyer is ALWAYS out there.

 

wait till the spring. no one buys a sports car in the fall unless they are looking to pick one up cheap.

 

guy here in ATL just sold his 93 touring (mild mods) with over 100k on the clock for $18k...KEEP THE PRICES UP if you can.