How does mileage affect pricing

[wcoates]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Is this an example of 120,000 miles making this vehicle dirt cheap or is this a re-build/wreck? Greg and your active T-Bird community does anyone know this car? Wow take a couple $100 bills to Vegas, roll the dice a few times and drive home!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Thunder...m=391499189337

[BLACK BEAUTY]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Well Bill this owner claims a 'premium' model but no hardtop. At 8 grand a good buy and the title appears clean. How does mileage affect pricing? ADVERSELY! I'm currently looking at an 2014 Edge Sport with 18k but a blemish title for $15,000..delivered to our door from near Boston. It has the 3.7 motor, 22" rims, sunroofs and all else. He's even taking in our 2010 Milan Premier with a salvage title that we bought two years ago with 19k that now has over 80k and NO PROBLEMS...(he's allowing us 4k on trade thus final cost for Edge..$11000)...life is full of risks

[FLYGEEZER]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Looks like a twin to my 2004 Bird, same color and options. Got a little over $9000.00 in it after some sorting out about a year ago with 110000 miles. Having a great summer driving to lotsa places and events without any problems. Some of the old Porsche crowd I usta run with are warming up to the Bird in a big way. Love mine, no regrets.

[artsy123456]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

We are in the same situation. Our 2002 bird has only 19,000 miles on it. It has been garage kept, never seen snow and maybe a couple of raindrops. It is in great condition. Cripe even the floor mats have not seen dirt. My husband bought black towels and put them down the day we picked her up from the dealership in '02. We are trying to sell her but to really no avail yet. It is a specialty car and we are just unsure where exactly to advertise it. We are asking 21,500, which we think is fair for the miles. There is another car similar to ours but with 60,000+ miles on it. The dealer is asking 18,600.00. Their car is also scratched, bad patch job on chips and seats are scuffed up pretty bad.

[Sandman]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Just some friendly advice. I would get rid of that trailer hitch. I know that if I was looking to buy your Bird,that would scare me away, unless it's to transport a bike.

[2K2BIRD]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

There have been plenty of TBN members looking for trailer hitches, so it would just depend on the buyer.

[Blkhwk]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

WCoats,

I'm sure you noticed there is no AC. It's a fair price, but the car has been listed a couple of times, without selling....You might even succeed with a lower offer, but, nonetheless, that's a long trip with no air conditioning (at one point he offered to throw in a new ac unit to the buyer, but you would still have the install)

[007Cruiser]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Just some friendly advice. I would get rid of that trailer hitch. I know that if I was looking to buy your Bird,that would scare me away, unless it's to transport a bike.

There have been plenty of TBN members looking for trailer hitches, so it would just depend on the buyer.

http://www.thunderbirdnest.com/forum...0&postcount=10

[DaiUyTed]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

One point regarding selling with a trailer hitch:
A prospective buyer who sees it and doesn't know the car or its history could suppose that the car had been used to tow a large boat or trailer, when the car isn't designed for that. This would over-tax and potentially harm the car. He'd consequently not consider buying it.

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

We are in the same situation. Our 2002 bird has only 19,000 miles on it. It has been garage kept, never seen snow and maybe a couple of raindrops. It is in great condition. Cripe even the floor mats have not seen dirt. My husband bought black towels and put them down the day we picked her up from the dealership in '02. We are trying to sell her but to really no avail yet. It is a specialty car and we are just unsure where exactly to advertise it. We are asking 21,500, which we think is fair for the miles. There is another car similar to ours but with 60,000+ miles on it. The dealer is asking 18,600.00. Their car is also scratched, bad patch job on chips and seats are scuffed up pretty bad.

Go to kbb.com and do a realistic assessment of your vehicle via a private party sale. That will probably tell you where you can expect to be at which will be well below $20,000. To be candid, few of these Thunderbirds sell over $20,000 anymore. Only those with less than 10,000 miles or have some other rarity can probably get that.

Another challenge that a private party has in selling these cars is that many banks won't finance anything over 10 years old regardless of mileage. If they do, they typically require more down to keep the loan to value ratio around 50-60%. The dealer has an advantage over the private party seller in this regards because they have more access to helping potential buyers who may need a loan secure one. Fact is, it's much easier for a potential buyer to buy a slightly used Mustang, Camaro, or Challenger and be able to secure the financing with less money out of pocket initially.

[wcoates]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

With a tranny soon to be fixed by my friends at Ford, I can still make the 110,000 mile '03 MSG still look pretty good. Talked to a gent in Angola IN on a 16k '04 Merlot. (Smitty's 260-665-3440).

$17,000 and my car and it could be mine. Not this week but it does tell ya that high mileage cars are worth more to their owners than what the open market will bring!

[11TH GEN]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

With a tranny soon to be fixed by my friends at Ford, I can still make the 110,000 mile '03 MSG still look pretty good. Talked to a gent in Angola IN on a 16k '04 Merlot. (Smitty's 260-665-3440).

$17,000 and my car and it could be mine. Not this week but it does tell ya that high mileage cars are worth more to their owners than what the open market will bring!

Bill here is a very nice Merlot ( I have seen it ) for less than the difference your guy in IN wants. It was tempting for me to trade with him but I still haven't figured out exactly what I want.

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ctd/5772030157.html

[65TBSTEVE]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Bill......OH NO!!! Transmission going bad again? Thought you got a new one installed about a year ago?!

[AyPapiii]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

I have a 2002 Thunderbird with 26,000 miles that is in beautiful condition. I have had it for 5 years, and find I drive it less and less because I don't want to put miles on it, to maintain or increase its value. Is there a general rule that identifies how many miles reduce value? Is another 10,000 miles going to have a big affect on my cars value? Thanks T-42

In answer to your last question, yes. That does seem to be a transition point in value.

There have already been informed answers and suggestions to the first. The sites are good objective quick guides. But, based on months of tracking eBay actual sales prices (versus asking prices) there is less correlation between low miles and completed sales prices (and/or top bids on non-sales) than I would expect.

I am Thunderbird shopping. As a buyer, there is nothing new out there I would prefer to a Thunderbird, compromised as they are. So I will seek a low mileage car in a condition that approximates new and then will use it as a toy on perfect top down days in the ways it was meant to be used. The pick up or Jag sedan will fill in on the other ones.

The Thunderbird is likely not going to be a good investment unless measured against the typical car alternative. It will cost you less to keep your car. It would likely cost you more to sell it and buy something else that will likely depreciate more. In that way it is a good investment. If you measure continued ownership versus putting the funds derived from selling it today in a box, the case is less sure and certainly less fun, in my opinion.

[Peterfurlan]

Re: How does mileage affect pricing

Today at Mecum black nice 2002 72,400 miles bid up to $11,000 no sale.