Why is this '97 Boxster unsellable at $6900 ?

[thstone]

*** I called and talked to the owner today ***

Husker had a good point about all of the speculation so I picked up the phone and called the owner to find out the facts.

Owner has had the car for close to a year. He bought it in Florida where he spends part of his time. He recently placed a deposit on a $28K Carrera in Florida and then brought the Boxster back to NY to sell.

He said that the only significant problem with the car right now is that the top doesn't work and has been disconnected - so its a manual top. He thought that it was a cable issue.

He gave me a long run down of all of the repairs and their cost. He's trying to justify why someone would spend more than Blue Book for this car and the repairs are his only answer.

When asked why its taken so long to sell he said that he bought the car for $5500 and put $4500 into it, so he is trying to minimize the loss on sale. This is why he hasn't fixed the top problem - he can't financially pour any more money into a car that he will sell at a loss. He originally had the car listed at $8500 and it didn't sell. He has progressively lowered the price but felt that $6500 was as low as he could go and still afford the Carrera. He said that he had a lot of offers at $4000 but turned them all down, saying that he'll keep it rather than sell it so cheap. I asked if he keeps the Boxster, then what about the Carrera and he didn't have a clear answer.

So, here's why it hasn't sold:

1. Over-priced. KBB says $5300-$4800. No one is going to pay almost $7K at the start of winter in NY.
2. Over-invested. Impossible to get the money invested out upon re-sale.
3. Still needs repair. Could be the cable or it could be the top motor, or....
4. Inflexible. Owner set an unrealistic price that is still too high and he's not in the mood to negotiate.
5. A little contradictory. Does he have to sell the Boxster to buy the Carrera or not?

With all of this being said, the bottom line is that this car is overpriced and still needs the top mechanism repaired. The offers around $4K were probably fair and maybe someone will offer around $5K since it does have a lot of repairs already done. But according to what the seller told me, $5K won't be enough to get a deal done. At least not yet.

[MARTHA]

Originally Posted by thstone

*** I called and talked to the owner today ***

A man that went to the source... Thanks
.

[mikefocke]

A car is worth only what a buyer will pay, not what the seller thinks.

Better pictures. Better text. Advertise in several Craigslists (there are 20 in NY state). Adjust price to $5999.

[fanguy]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

A car is worth only what a buyer will pay, not what the seller thinks.

Better pictures. Better text. Advertise in several Craigslists (there are 20 in NY state). Adjust price to $5999.

Mike, I have for years questioned if that was correct or not. After many years of buying and selling I no longer entertain that philosophy. I buy things below their value on a regular basis. Both the seller and myself know the value. I buy below the value as their need for cash or something else is of more value at that moment and they are aware I’m buying at a discounted price. The objects value is not lower it just not as important to them at that movement. One of the biggest problems as you noted many sellers have all this emotional value which is not a factor of the true value range.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by thstone

*** I called and talked to the owner today ***

Thanks for taking the time to clear up the mystery.

I can relate to his situation - I have a VW that I have too much money in to get it sold. But you start pulling that string and you can't stop. Luckily my bug conv will not depreciate, so maybe next spring the price will catch up to what I have in it. That won't be the case with this guy's Box.