TR4/4A LBC Prices.

[mtlman8]

My wife is a local claims adjuster/ car appraiser in Phoenix. She appraised an LBC (Diminished value) and the prices are through the roof! Some comps showed a 66 Tr4a sold for 32,500, A 59 MGA for 73,000, a 55 Healey 100 for 88,000. These are not for sale prices, but SOLD comps. Thoughts??

 

[Jerry]

Looking good. Lets drag up the TR3s and minis also.
Jerry

 

[NutmegCT]

I don't know how "comps" work - but a high sales price reflects what someone paid for a *specific* car. Unfortunately it's not so easy to find final sale prices for what *most* cars sold at.

Tom

 

[toysrrus]

Hi There metlman,

Depending on where you wife found the comps, cond. & quality etc would affect the selling prices of other / similar cars.

Ex: Barrett-Jackson, Auctions America etc etc. Auctions get "BIG $$$" for almost anything that comes up.

LBCs just seem to increase in value ea. year. People love "2 Seater, Top Down" cars in general.

Depending on the Marque & Model; Supply & Demand plays a big role in value as well.

IMO; You virtually can`t lose $$$ buying an LBC.

Regards, Russ

PS: There`s a TR6 locally for sale, (Nice One), on CL right now for $38K!! Thats insane in my book. Its also on Ebay (White Ext / Red Int) thats been bid up to $20K & 3 days left in auction. Thats more realistic!!

 

[PeterK]

Remember the $95K TR4 a few years back. Nicely restored but ...

 

[Geo Hahn]

There's a pretty good valuation tool here:

Hagerty Valuation

Looking good. Lets drag up the TR3s and minis also...

I, for one, take little delight in dramatically rising LBC values.

I do not plan to sell in the future, if anything I am more likely to be buying. In addition, rising values drive up the cost of insurance and (to some degree) the cost of parts. Higher prices also force some people out of the market or out of the hobby who I would like to see more of -- especially younger owners and active drivers.

Ultimately the value can reach a point where many may be uncomfortable driving the car in traffic -- not that I like driving in traffic but that is usually how I get to the 'good stuff'.

I understand that for those who see the cars as an investment they will sell, rising prices are great and it also helps us justify the money spent on these things, just saying it isn't automatically good for all.

 

[TomMull]

I, for one, take little delight in dramatically rising LBC values.

I do not plan to sell in the future, if anything I am more likely to be buying. In addition, rising values drive up the cost of insurance and (to some degree) the cost of parts. Higher prices also force some people out of the market or out of the hobby who I would like to see more of -- especially younger owners and active drivers.

Ultimately the value can reach a point where many may be uncomfortable driving the car in traffic -- not that I like driving in traffic but that is usually how I get to the 'good stuff'.

I understand that for those who see the cars as an investment they will sell, rising prices are great and it also helps us justify the money spent on these things, just saying it isn't automatically good for all.

I agree. There are at least two directions you can go with your LBC addiction, one is investing, the other is messing about with them. The two are not necessarily incompatible but certainly can be. One thing I've been seeing lately is that the few surviving original cars are in demand not as drivers, but as candidates for extreme restorations which then depreciate exponentially with every mile driven; so they are not driven, but towed in enclosed trailers to shows on the rare occasions that they do go out of the garage. It seems to me like the parts prices follow the upward trend too.
I'm not sure everything is totally well with the investing part either. Things like a 250 Ferrari cabriolet going off the block for 25 million and another reportedly selling for nearly twice that doesn't exactly seem healthy to me. These are bloody cars for goodness sake. (Wasn't there recently a real estate "bubble"?)
Tom

 

[MarshgrassA]

I tend to agree with Tom but they are rolling art!
Every time I see or read about a crazy price paid for a car that used to be a disposable item in the market place I wonder just how many people made a butt load of money off this recession.

 

[glemon]

My feelings are mixed, but also generally don't get too excited about high prices, I am more excited about buying cars than selling them, I got in on a big Healey about 15 years ago when there were still deals to be had from time to time, At today's prices I doubt if I will ever buy another one, partly because they are so much money, partly because they are many other cool cars to own and I am realizing that my time and means to own are both decidedly finite. They are also a little less fun and a little more like an investment you feel obligated to protect and use wisely when they cost a lot of money. For that reason I am gravitating towards 70s and even 80s cars, most of which are not British, that can still be had for used car prices, and can be a lot of fun, and even some of those are creeping up.

There are some upsides to higher prices, you do have a hope of getting the restoration costs back out of the cars, and when you sell them you have more money to buy the next one (which is more expensive too, so kind of a mixed blessing)