Attn: Buyers- How much more is an original owner car worth to you?

[Lawrenzo]

I will be putting my car up for sale in the next few weeks, and I am curious as to how much value is placed on original ownership. Think same condition, miles, etc. How much more would you pay for a 1 owner car versus a 2 or 3 owner car??

I'm trying to set a price for my 14,000 mile BumbleBee. It has never been tracked or crashed. Excellant overall condition. Minor mods. New rear tires, and a 7/60 MaxCare warranty. I hear from some dealers that the market is soft, yet there have been some very strong sales numbers from VCA members recently.

 

[big-n-italian]

<< It has never been tracked or crashed. Excellant overall condition. >>

personally, i find this to be more important and what is going to really carry the value.

i think it used to matter with the older muscle cars. but with the older muscle cars getting older, more than one owner doesnt really seem to matter as much as it used to. my 0.02.

 

[v10kingsnake]

doesnt mean squat. one owner, 2, 3, 4. as long as the car has no stories associated with it and it all checks out good, that is most important. i bought my viper from a man that picked me up at the airport to view his car for sale, took me for a quick ride, tossed me the keys and said enjoy, then sat me at his table and had his wife cook me dinner and introduced his family to me. very nice family and made the used car buying experience a bit easier to trust. fyi, mine was a 1 owner car but it had 2k miles and it was the conditon, not the owner# that sold me. to this day the guy calls to talk.

 

[v10kingsnake]

out of curiousity, what were you thinking about asking. I bet Jon would give you 50k for it LOL. sorry Jon, I had to, it seems to be your magic number. no really, i think 53-57500 should sell her. good luck.

 

[Wifey's Viper]

I would guess 52k right now. The market is pretty soft. The mileage may be high for some. Great looking car though.

 

[2002_Viper_GTS_ACR]

out of curiousity, what were you thinking about asking. I bet Jon would give you 50k for it LOL. sorry Jon, I had to, it seems to be your magic number. no really, i think 53-57500 should sell her. good luck.

lol, no that was funny.. but since you forced my hand, ok ok.. I'll offer 50k for the car.

Actually in all honestly, my love is for the ACR's

I'm off the market for buying a Viper right now. With a pending sale, looks like something else is on the horizon

Jon

 

[PDCjonny]

I would guess 52k right now. The market is pretty soft. The mileage may be high for some. Great looking car though.

You have to laugh when a car with 14K on it is considered high mileage and not desirable. Only in Viper-land.

 

[Silver Snake]

I think the warranty will only transfer once if I am not mistaken. That might be something to consider.

 

[Lawrenzo]

I think the warranty will only transfer once if I am not mistaken. That might be something to consider.

I looked up the policy, and you are correct. it can only "be transferred to the first subsequent purchaser of the vehicle at the time of sale only".

Mine lasts until 4/30/2009

 

[Nuck]

Probably not much except for transferance of a warranty. Unless you know the owner personally it is pretty hard to say he didn't thrash the car or let his son/idiot brother or whomever blow the carbon out from time to time. A thorough mechanical inspetion and knowledge of the accident history is the biggest thing for me. After all even careful drivers can make the odd bad downshift and $hit happens.

 

[ViperJoe]

Both of my RTs were one owner cars and for me personally I woudn't have it any other way.

I had to have all the original sales documentation and window sticker too.
My 02 has the transferable MaxCare warranty, so that was a plus.

It took me almost a year after selling the 98 but I got what I wanted, and I got top dollar for my 98 due to the all of the documentation, mileage, and condition.

 

[carguy07]

One owner means nothing.

One owner that I get to meet, size up, go for a ride with, that's worth something to me. I would definitely pay a few grand more for a one owner car when the owner has all documentation and makes me feel good that no one has ever hurt his baby.

I have passed on cars before that looked like they were in good shape simply because the owner had to show me his burnout techniques or when his looser sidekick chimes in with "it'll get it".

 

[Jim Hodel]

One owner means something to me to the extent that it can be easier to determine what kind of history and care the car has had.

If I see a good looking car on a dealer's lot and he doesn't know anything about the car, I am less comfortable then if I am looking at a private party one owner car and can talk with the owner and check all the records

Jim

 

[GoldenVenom]

One owner car means a lot to me because I know the history of the car. The warranty is a big plus. I know SSunburn and can tell you that he takes good care of his Viper. If anyone needs me to do a visual inspect, please send me a pm.

 

[Lawrenzo]

One owner means something to me to the extent that it can be easier to determine what kind of history and care the car has had.

If I see a good looking car on a dealer's lot and he doesn't know anything about the car, I am less comfortable then if I am looking at a private party one owner car and can talk with the owner and check all the records

Jim

Especially, if that dealer happens to be in Florida

 

[ViperJoe]

My first rule is I would never buy one from a dealer to begin with!

 

[Lawrenzo]

That makes it somewhat tougher to find a car though. As you look on Autotrader.com or Cars.com I'd say about 80-90% of them are for sale at dealers.

I am considering selling mine to a dealer, just so I don't have to deal with the lookylou's trying for a test drive.

 

[Nuck]

That makes it somewhat tougher to find a car though. As you look on Autotrader.com or Cars.com I'd say about 80-90% of them are for sale at dealers.

I am considering selling mine to a dealer, just so I don't have to deal with the lookylou's trying for a test drive.

You would be surprised how few lookers you will get. There aren't a ton of Viper people to begin with, nor are there a lot of people in the market for a $50,000+ used car. If you are priced right I bet you don't get three calls in a month and you will sell to one of the first three people that drives it. The demographic for these cars isn't kids. You probably sell it to a 50 year old who pulls up in an Escalade. A dealer will want to sell the car for AT LEAST 5k more than he pays you for it. Try to sell it yourself, at least for a while.
There is a Yellow 02 in these classifieds with 6k asking $56900 and I think Fredo2ACR just sold an 02 with 16k for 52k so your ask and take numbers seem easy to figure out. Maybe try advertising on Autotrader.com. They have lots of Vipers for sale there but few 02s.