[V8] V8....what? Again!

[Roger M. Woodbury]

I just looked again at the Autotrader listings for the V8 Quattro.  I am
also following the Porsche 928 price/value trend as a part of an ongoing
analysis that I write about in the 928 Journal, which is the ezine/blog of
the 928 Owners Club.  I find the current listing of five V8s on Autotrader
to be very interesting as an example of the asking price of these cars at
retail.  

Obviously, mileage counts, and the spread between retail value and wholesale
(which I prefer to think of in terms of "real" value)is considerable.  For
someone who knows a lot about how these cars work, understands the cars'
needs and perhaps can do some work on the cars personally, there are great
values in the whole sale market.  

Look at the listing below the super listing which is in California.  I have
further information on the white/gray car in South Dakota.  It is a one
owner car, which was sold originally by the current selling dealer.  No,
that isn't 100% correct:  the guy at the dealer with whom I have
communicated believes this to be the case, but was going to ask further and
get back to me, which hasn't happened yet, but might.  So, the asking retail
price difference between a nice looking V8, with low-ish miles, and a very
nice looking V8 with really low miles is about three grand, AND a grand or
so for the "California" differential.  At least that is it on the surface.

What is missing from the California ad is that this car is any mention of
its history.  The ad states that the car appears to be well taken care of,
which could mean that the car was acquired at auction, period.  Now, if
Carfax shows this car to have been in truth a one owner car, and there is
some service history with the car, then it might be worth quite a bit at
retail.  In order for this to happen, in my opinion, there will have to be a
perfect service history (documents WITH the car); all keys originally issued
with the car, and verifiable history of single ownership.  

The car on eBay that I am interested in is going to sell in the four
thousand dollar range, I'll bet.  I can't believe that it will sell for much
less nor much more than that.  I don't think I would pay four thousand
dollars for a V8 that has had four owners and has no service history and
only one key, and that I have verified was purchased at an auction for
resale.  There are cars that are similar, with better history available than
that, and I would be patient.  

For me, my bottom line is that for the eight thousand dollars difference
between the white car on eBay currently and the black lovely in California,
I can probably buy the white, eBay car, make it the equal of the car in
California, and take my wife on a two week vacation trip this year and next,
which would almost make her excited about having another Audi in the yard. 

Roger

P.S.  For those of us who are V8 enthusiasts and who can be patient in
obtaining and enjoying our choice of vehicle, this car offers great "value".
The tragedy is that the truth about what really nice cars is hidden from
most, and as these cars age and become fewer and fewer, lost to the
automobile world for all time.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Kent McLean [mailto:kentmclean at mindspring.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 3:29 PM
To: Roger M. Woodbury
Subject: Re: [V8] V8....what? Again!

Roger M. Woodbury wrote:
 > Yes, well. That is THE car, of course!  But I see no reason to
 > spend that kind of money on one of these, when they can be had
 > for one third the price, with all the rest of the money available
 > to do whatever needs to be done to make it perfect!

Yep, the perfect car.  Yep, priced way too high.

Life is full of compromises.  Good luck with your search.

--
Kent