Newly swapped 3sgte Options

[jshawn96]

Before I posted in the Buy/Sell forum I wanted to get an opinion on what a good price would be to sell my newly 3sgte swapped, manual, black 96 celica st. Has typical scratches and small dings from driving wear and tear and the inside needs a little bit of a make over but everything else is in great working condition. The body has 150,000 miles on it and the new engine has about 20,000. Also, should I do the cosmetic work before I sell it or just leave that up to the new owner and ask for less money? I'd appreciate any insight.

[jason]

well.. just a casual condition swapped celica, id only pay like $4k for it. if the interior was nice, and the exterior was nice as well, and the swap and engine all looked good (clean, no wires hanging out, no signs of half-ass work) id pay 12k+

jeff's car.. given last i knew he had a fuel rail issues which i presume was fixed by now, i would consider 14k a fair price. about the same for manny's and art's

unfortunatly, most modified cars go in the under 5,000 range.

[Supersprynt]

14K? Wow I'd let mine go for 12!

I'd be interested in why you are deciding to sell so quickly after you swapped.

[Celicav]

Man, Art is right...seems that there is a trend of people throwing the towel in on their rides just after doing the swap.

And yes, we would like a lot more details about the swap...did you do the necessary upgrades that the ST needs like transmission, and I believe, motor mounts and axles? I know there are probably other things, but I am no expert...

[Culpable04]

I wouldn't pay more than 4 K for a 1996 + swapped car, why ? 1996 + is OBD II and the 3SGTE is OBD I, so no legal way to pass emissions

[Dr_Tweak]

If you take a $4000 car, put $12000 worth of mods into it, your car is worth how much?

Answer: $4000.

Sad but true. The only two exceptions are if you 1: have built the car EXACTLY the way someone else wants it AND the have the CASH to spend or 2: you have unique or high-valued car (such as a Supra).

Jason, for $14k I'll build you the CLEANEST swapped Celica ever!

-Doc

[Supersprynt]

I would tend to disagree. It may be worth that to Joe Shmoe who isn't interested in having a modified car, but to the people on here, a clean swap will be worth more.

[jason]

i prefer to build my own cars, then i know what is what with them. thats why most people dont buy modified cars.


and to tweak. if you can get me 700hp & like 600lb/ft at the wheels and still be able to drive it everyday (even if it gets 2 miles to the gallon) ill send it right down. just as long as it has a shiney red valve cover and satin black block/trans haha

[lagos]

Before I posted in the Buy/Sell forum I wanted to get an opinion on what a good price would be to sell my newly 3sgte swapped, manual, black 96 celica st. Has typical scratches and small dings from driving wear and tear and the inside needs a little bit of a make over but everything else is in great working condition. The body has 150,000 miles on it and the new engine has about 20,000. Also, should I do the cosmetic work before I sell it or just leave that up to the new owner and ask for less money? I'd appreciate any insight.

The question is, why do you want to sell so quickly after just swapping it?
post some pics of the car and engine.

[lagos]

If you take a $4000 car, put $12000 worth of mods into it, your car is worth how much?

Answer: $4000

So if someone bought an mr2, put about 12,000$ into the motor, and its putting out a nice 500hp, you would still only offer them 4k? I fail to see that logic. Cars are worth whatever people are willing to pay, or whatever you are willing to let them go for.

Cheap body kits and air intakes do nothing to the value of the car, but if you have a car thats making 2x the power the a stock one, looks better then stock, and is in excellent condition, then its worth a little extra.

Having said that... most of the ghetto rigged swaps have sold for about 4-7grand on average, depending on whats wrong with them (some were sold with blown motors). The nicer ones that were in excellent condition (inside and out) have sold for around 10-14k in the past.

This post has been edited by lagos: Jan 29, 2008 - 4:12 PM

[Dr_Tweak]

If you take a $4000 car, put $12000 worth of mods into it, your car is worth how much?

Answer: $4000

So if someone bought an mr2, put about 12,000$ into the motor, and its putting out a nice 500hp, you would still only offer them 4k? I fail to see that logic. Cars are worth whatever people are willing to pay, or whatever you are willing to let them go for.

Cheap body kits and air intakes do nothing to the value of the car, but if you have a car thats making 2x the power the a stock one, looks better then stock, and is in excellent condition, then its worth a little extra.

Having said that... most of the ghetto rigged swaps have sold for about 4-7grand on average, depending on whats wrong with them (some were sold with blown motors). The nicer ones that were in excellent condition (inside and out) have sold for around 10-14k in the past.

MR2s are an exception to the rule, just like Supras. You can't even hardly buy a stock one for under $10k (a turbo that is).

I know that your car is worth a lot of money to you Art, but from many years in this business, I will tell you that generally speaking, you NEVER get the money out of your car that you put into it. If it's in perfect condition, yes, you will get more than "Average" for it, or like I said, if you built it EXACTLY like someone else wanted it and it's perfect, maybe, but situations like that are few and far-between.

And even if the car is "worth it", most people don't have that kind of cash, and a bank won't finance a car based on the "value" of the modifications done to it. Almost every single owner of a NICELY modified car that was worth more than $10k and was NOT a cult classic ended up finding that they got more money by parting out all the modifications done to the car, putting it back to stock, and selling it as a stock car.

Jason,

I'm sure that we can work out the shiny red valve cover and satin-black block and trans As for the rest, well....

LOL

-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Jan 31, 2008 - 8:36 PM

[jshawn96]

Man, Art is right...seems that there is a trend of people throwing the towel in on their rides just after doing the swap.

And yes, we would like a lot more details about the swap...did you do the necessary upgrades that the ST needs like transmission, and I believe, motor mounts and axles? I know there are probably other things, but I am no expert...

I don't know if I want to sell it yet, but it took almost a year and a half to complete and I'm in need of cash. I put a new transmission, clutch, timing belt, 02 sensor, filters, motor mounts, axles, exhaust, fuel pump and shifter cables in. The swap is flawless as far as I can tell.