Market Price - Valuing a Potential Project

[okayfine]

Assuming the car below is as shown and described:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=27186

and that it only needs reassembly and the work that the seller is stating...what could you sell the finished and proofed result for? $6500 isn't bad if the paint is good, the body's straight, there's no rust, and all the parts are included. I'm tempted. But Datsport rubber ain't cheap, and there's sure to be something gone missing during the two years the car's been "in process." So, figure $2000-3000 in parts (rubber and tires would eat a lot of that, just to start), my labor, I'd have $9500 into it and could sell a clean two-door with Rebello drivetrain for...? $10,000? Would it fetch $12,000?

The build would result in a tidy little car. But while values are rising, are they rising enough to make this a worthwhile build-n-turn?

[510wizard]

I would say yes to the 10-12K, maybe a little more. The positives, 1. The paint job/ rust repair, if done correctly is worth the asking price alone. 2. Rebello work isn't cheap and has the name recognition in the community. 3. The 2.2 LZ motor is the one, the market wants when talking about the L series. 4. No time consuming fab work. The negative to me is the seats, but I know a guy that has good taste in E30 seats.

[KiKiIchiBan]

Seems worth it at that price looking at what has been selling recently. Buy it, build it, flip it.

[dcuplover]

it is worth it if you work for $9/hr. It might be a good car for a keeper but not necessarily for a flipper.

[goichi1]

I agree with dcup, if you finish it and sell it, it will look like you are making money, but once you figure up your hourly rate, it's not going to be good.

[510-Trevor]

I agree with dcup, if you finish it and sell it, it will look like you are making money, but once you figure up your hourly rate, it's not going to be good.

but if you are doing this because you enjoy the process, how much do you value part of it? It's like going to Vegas to gamble, I expect to leave with less money than I started with, but I enjoy the time there and consider it the cost of admission.

Of course turning a profit off of a build has it's own reward too.

[okayfine]

True. But there's going to be a difference between buying a car and building a concept versus putting together somebody else's concept. The former could be very fun and part of it's own reward, but I think the latter may well be discounting your labor for someone else to enjoy.

[510-Trevor]

Exactly, are you doing the build because you need a job, or because you enjoy the process. I'm guessing for you it's the later, in which case the value of your labor needs to be measured against the value of the pleasure the build gives you.

[dcuplover]

why buy a car, build it up, spend all your time and effort....just to lose money? I could think of a few ways to "lose" my money

[510-Trevor]

You're only losing money if you value your time more than you value the experience. Of course the goal would be to have at least one person value your time and effort more than you do so that you don't feel like you are losing your money.

[toylet]

The best way is to buy a complete running 510 for cheap and advertise every part on the car for sale. Than when its stripped out..sell it as a roller.

[dcuplover]

"You're only losing money if you value your time more than you value the experience" I can agree with this but if you are losing cold hard cash let alone your time why not just lose your time and help someone with their project? Then there is everythinggained not only by doing a build etc but also that you helped someone who may not of been able to do this alone. You would gain an immeasureable amount of satisfaction in helping someone complete something of meaning.