1800: How Much Should I Sell my 1800 for?

[jimmyjam]

For those of you who have followed my 5 year restoration on my beloved P1800s, I thought you might be able to help. In the near future, I might sell her, although it pains me even to say it. Everything has been done to it as you can see in the pictures, Thats 5 solid years of cut knuckles and lots of swearing to get her to look this good. Beyond a head turner. I have over £6000 worth of receipts and two folders worth of pictures of her restoration. She has had a £3000 respray by BMW workshop. What I am asking is, what do you think I would get for her. For more information and pics, go to www.myvolvo1800.blogspot.com. I look forward to your oppinions and inputs. Thanks a lot. Jimmy. Ps: I have atached more pictures.

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by jimmyjam

What I am asking is, what do you think I would get for her.

Answer 1: Whatever someone is prepared to pay!

Answer 2: Not as much as you think you deserve!

Answer 3. Between £5000 and £7000, unless there is something really special, like she's been owned by royalty, or Simon Cowell, or was driven by Gene Hunt in an episode of Ashes to Ashes!

Went through exactly the same train of thought when my Monica hit the road again, and came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to keep and enjoy!

Jack

[Blue 8]

One thought

Why after all that money time and work are you selling?

[pdr944]

hi,

thats a dam good looking car.could be worth anything from £6000 to £10,000. i suppose although i,m no expert.

peter.

[jimmyjam]

I know its crazy that I am thinking of selling it, in fact I was polishing her today, but I am trying to get a deposit for somewhere to live. 99% of the chrome is new or rechromed, the interior is gorgeous, every dial works and calibrated, including the clock. It is always serviced by volvo 1800 dealers. But as requested, I still need to know what its worth, and if I should advertise it on international markets. Thanks again Jimmy.

[capt jack]

Hi Jimmy

If you're serious about selling your beautiful car then here are some thoughts:

1. You probably won't find a buyer on this forum. Most folk are on here because they already own the Volvo of their dreams! E-bay is of course a possibility, but it will be fraught with dangers, dreamers and disappointments. Autotrader is almost certainly a non-starter for a classic motor.

2. Set your price - and be realistic. I do feel that sadly the car is't worth as much as £10k, but you could be looking at £7k to £8k, if you can find the right buyer. Times are a bit tough, but there will always be a market for really nice classics - like yours. Practical classics has it at over £8k

3. Set a time scale. You won't sell in a rush - if you do it'll probably be for too low a price.

4. Create the right ad. Get some really good pics as she is now - the interior, the engine bay, the exterior, as high a quality as you can. For writing the words, study ads on the website carandclassic.co.uk, especially the ones that say SOLD! I say this because they clearly worked! This will guide you as to what potential buyers want to read. This may not include details such as which bits of rust you treated, or what colour the primer was! Also look at E-bay. Some listings for great looking cars attract no interest, whilst others offering complete dogs seem to get loads of bids. A careful reading of the way in which the listing is put together will give you lots to think about.

5. Choose where to advertise. Free ads are OK, but paid-for ads will almost certainly reach a wider audience. Think about the classic car mags - have a browse and try to judge which of them is read by the sort of buyer you're looking for. By all means put an ad on the free sites - on here, carandclassic.co.uk etc. Also, check out the Volvo Enthusiasts Club (may I be forgiven for mentioning such on here!).

6. Are there any shows coming up local to you where you could take your car with a view to selling? A wandering visitor might just get an itchy cheque book on a sunny Sunday afternoon when confronted face-to-face!

7. International. Possibly. I met some Swiss, Dutch, Swedes and Norwegians a couple of months ago, and was astounded to learn how in those countries, plus the USA, Volvo 1800s are much much more sought-after and valuable than here. Values are double and more the UK prices. The big difficulty is that the steering wheel is in the wrong place for these buyers - and they have a good deal of home-grown stuff to look at. But you never know. Target any ad you place for Holland and Sweden at least. The carandclassic website covers these countries.

8. As with selling any car privately - be careful. Assume that a buyer is possibly crooked and behave accordingly!

9. Research the specialist auction houses. This will be expensive, but they are in the business of marketing desireable cars, so they will almost certainly find you a serious buyer - and remove some of the risk.

In many ways I hope that you don't sell. All that hard work over 5 years. But however it turns out - good luck!

Cheers

Jack

[PaulWphoto]

Originally Posted by jimmyjam

I know its crazy that I am thinking of selling it, in fact I was polishing her today, but I am trying to get a deposit for somewhere to live.

C'mon if it's not for sale then it doesn't matter what others think it is worth.

Just like you and many others I have invested not just a lot (relatively speaking) of hard earned cash but more importantly many many hours of hard work to realise my dream.

I know that if I were to sell my 1800 I would not get anything like what I feel it is worth but it's not for sale so it doesn't matter.

I think you've done a great job on the car. I am quite pleased with my efforts too. However, when i look at the lengths that some will go to to ensure that everything is perfect or 'better than new' i have come to the conclusion that my car will never cut it with the big boys.

At the end of the day we are all justified in feeling very proud of our cars - after all they should have been dead a long time ago - if they weren't Volvos