VL Commodore 1987 White/Blue with low kms - any idea of value in the current market?

[quattro_joe]

Hi all

New to the forum here and this is my first post.

I have a White (with blue interior) 1987 Holden VL Commodore Executive which is my grandfather's car he has had since new and unfortunately he can no longer drive, hence we are looking at selling the vehicle to the right buyer.

The car has been garaged its whole life and has a genuine ~60,000 kms on the clock as it was only a vehicle that my grandfather occasionally used while he used his 1960s mission brown EH Holden special as a daily (which was regrettably sold about 8 years ago)

Interior is immaculate with its original seats (the back seats were seldom if ever used and the front seats had lamb sheep skin wool covers their whole life, so underneath that the original seats are in perfect condition)

The car has two original VL commodore hub caps, and two aftermarket ones, however, I have recently bought an original set of VL commodore hub caps (which i am told aren't easy to come by these days) and have placed these on the car.

Mechanically the car drives beautifully (recently had a decent service by our local mechanic) and starts every time.

Given the car's very low mileage and condition and talking to a few people, including my mechanic, as well as looking online at sites like carsales, I'm gathering that the car is worth a bit more than your average VL commodore out there.

Also, as Holden will be leaving our shores soon and no longer making cars locally, I can only imagine that this vehicle, being a locally built one, will at the very least retain, if not, then increase in value over time.

As such, I'm posting here to get thoughts from people who might be a bit more knowledgeable on VL commodores and who might be able to give me an idea of approximate value of this car in the current market.

Given all that I have said above, I'm thinking around $10K+ is what the car is worth, but happy to hear opinions from people on this forum who are perhaps more knowledgeable on VL commodores than i am on what they think it might be worth.

There is also about 10 months rego on left on the car as well.

Appreciate any assistance, thoughts or feedback

PS. I do have pics of the car on my flickr account but I cant post any links as this is my first post and there is a restriction on links for the first 20 posts?

[Djbarnstar]

I'd say 5K tops.

[A PSYCHO]

I'd say 5K tops.

+1.

over 10K it would want to be a turbo or V8. Even then...

[SUPERH2377]

manual or auto
sedan or wagon
about 5k tops as it is a base model

[jaykay]

I know of a mint condition low km VK Executive recently sold for $4,500.....so $5k could be on the money

[duke5700]

You will get between $3-5K.. If it was a Turbo, it would be worth $10K plus. V8, $5-7K, there just isn't the market. There was a Berlina Turbo, 86K on the clock, guy couldnt sell it for $8k.. it was a nice car.

I have owned quite a few, still have one in my garage.

The biggest benefit you will have is that if someone has big dollar driveline and is looking for a shell with good paint/interior it would sell.

[Djbarnstar]

You can get a lot of car for 5K these days and an almost 30 yr old grandpa, non turbo, low K car would be low on my choice. Heck, I saw a VX 5.7 gen 3 auto sell the other day locally for 5K. I know what I would buy!

[VL Executive]

Id say about 5k. They're really an enthusiasts car these days, and a person looking for something like that example would be impressed with that. Just got to wait for the right buyer.

Try advertising it in the Unique Cars magazine - will hit the right audience then

[Pickles]

Mate, whatever "emotional" value you have to the car, I can understand,.....but it doesn't matter, if you can get $5K for the car, you are, as an old Jewish wholesaler friend of mine used to say,"You Are Blessed".
Pickles.

[quattro_joe]

Thanks for everyone's responses and inputs.

To answer some of your questions, that car is an Auto Sedan.

Advertising it on unique car magazine is something I hadn't considered, thanks for that suggestion.

We aren't in a rush to sell, so happy to wait for the right buyer.

[andrewslr]

If $5K isn't going to change anyones life keep it in the garage for old time's sake, join a car club and register it on club permit. Worth it alone for nostalgia I think. As for $10K, unfortunately no chance, $5K on a good day is closer. There is a VL Calais sedan in UC magazine that has been there for a year I reckon, 4,500kms, leather interior, non-turbo, $30K, hasn't budged. Realistically that is a $10K car.

[whitels1ss]

Try advertising it in the Unique Cars magazine - will hit the right audience then

No, I would not advertise it there, cost too much & the person who will pay top money for that will find it on ebay or gumtree anyway.:idea:

[quattro_joe]

No, I would not advertise it there, cost too much & the person who will pay top money for that will find it on ebay or gumtree anyway.:idea:

Ok thanks - is ebay worth a shot? Ive never sold a vehicle through ebay but have heard some people have success and some not.

[whitels1ss]

Ok thanks - is ebay worth a shot? Ive never sold a vehicle through ebay but have heard some people have success and some not.

I don't think I would put it on ebay as an unreserved auction but perhaps as a classified advert.

I think I would be inclined to put it on Gumtree, as I posted above anyone seriously looking for a very good example of one of these

who is prepared to pay top dollar for the right car will be searching all over the net & will find it.


As for the price, I think I would start at $7,000 for two or three weeks & see what sort of interest you get,

you might be lucky but I honestly think the car sounds more like $5,000 :cheers:

[planetdavo]

Ok thanks - is ebay worth a shot? Ive never sold a vehicle through ebay but have heard some people have success and some not.

If you go the on-line route, familiarise yourself with "the carsales scam".
It's been well explained on here, and google will give a ton of info.
Basically, if someone contacts you and says they are interstate/overseas and want to pay you above the sale price so that you can give "an agent" the overpaid money, RUN.

[zorro]

Don't take this the wrong way but I'd give you $500 at a stretch for it, anything VT or earlier would be no different.

In saying that as mentioned earlier you would have to find that one person dead set on all original and try swede them out of 3-5k

[IJ.]

Don't take this the wrong way but I'd give you $500 at a stretch for it, anything VT or earlier would be no different.

In saying that as mentioned earlier you would have to find that one person dead set on all original and try swede them out of 3-5k
Ditto paid less than that for the Lexcen and it only has a few blemishs typical of a one owner old mans car...

All comes down to right person and time and what they're prepared to pay for it..

Not old enough to be worth stupid money yet so if you can store it for another 10 years it might be by then.

[Waughy]

I agree $3-5k is a good ballpark figure without seeing pics to get an idea on the condition.
If I was selling and someone offered $500 I wouldn't even waste my time to reply with the no it deserved. Maybe if it was a rundown POS I'd take $500.
A true enthusiast will see the value and will pay decent money if they are genuinely interested. Take your time, don't take the first offer, unless it's good. The VB-VL models all have a strong following, your car isn't worthless, but it's not worth a mint either like some SL/Exec non turbo owners think.

[amckiwi]

It would make a great base for an LS powered sleeper!
Stu

[team illucid]

You can get a lot of car for 5K these days and an almost 30 yr old grandpa, non turbo, low K car would be low on my choice. Heck, I saw a VX 5.7 gen 3 auto sell the other day locally for 5K. I know what I would buy!

I sold my VT with VX LS1 and Mal Wood 6 speed box with 97K on the clock for under 5K.

[planetdavo]

The reality is that any SL or Executive will be at the bottom of the desirability list for almost all potential buyers, even if it is in super good condition or has super low kilometres.
You will need a VERY particular buyer to get even half the money you were suggesting initially.

[duke5700]

It isn't often PD is right about anything, but he is on the money here :p

Try advertising on a specific related forum that exists.. something like calais turbo .com.au or something ;) Find your market to get the most you can. Take good photos, plenty of them, put $6K on it and negotiate backwards depending on what you are happy with.


The reality is that any SL or Executive will be at the bottom of the desirability list for almost all potential buyers, even if it is in super good condition or has super low kilometres.
You will need a VERY particular buyer to get even half the money you were suggesting initially.

[planetdavo]

It isn't often PD is right about anything, but he is on the money here :p


What do you mean? I no nuthin bout nuthin. :lol:

[VL Executive]

That is correct. The SL and Executives arnt as desirable as the Berlina and Calais models. And even those in non turbo, unless their mint. Don't get the attention or interest of the Turbo or V8 models. Used to all be about the Turbos once. But now the 5.0 V8 models are starting to create a little interest. Everything else was overshadowed by the Turbo for years.

Only things that would help an SL or Executive at the moment would be
Original factory plated Turbo 6 manual or auto
Factory plated original V8
or factory 5 speed manual SL in the non turbo, those sometimes create a bit of interest because there's not that many of those around

[Djbarnstar]

We aren't in a rush to sell, so happy to wait for the right buyer.

No one is going to be in a rush to buy either unfortunately. Be prepared for a long wait. Probably another 20 yrs, by then the scrap steel value will have caught up to your asking price.

[Blown 454 AWD]

Used "Car Sales" for the GMC

I let then do all, put add up and photos

Sold in 1 week on my price, I can't argue!

Cheers

Steve

[185iboy]

For starters don't worry about vt 5.7 prices as it's a different market and demographic.

Being a non turbo it really comes down to two things regardless of the kms. Colour/trim combo and rust. Being white/blue trim (very common) with absolutely no rust I would happily pay $5k firm for it. You have to understand that 9 times out of 10 the buyer will be looking at using it as a project with a turbo conversion down the track.

[whitels1ss]

For starters don't worry about vt 5.7 prices as it's a different market and demographic.

Being a non turbo it really comes down to two things regardless of the kms. Colour/trim combo and rust. Being white/blue trim (very common) with absolutely no rust
I would happily pay $5k firm for it. You have to understand that 9 times out of 10 the buyer will be looking at using it as a project with a turbo conversion down the track.

Exactly, if someone wanted to build a really nice cruiser they could buy something like this or an ordinary one & spend $10,000 on bodywork & trim

& as they say, you can't make cherry pie out of dog shit.

[planetdavo]

For starters don't worry about vt 5.7 prices as it's a different market and demographic.

Being a non turbo it really comes down to two things regardless of the kms. Colour/trim combo and rust. Being white/blue trim (very common) with absolutely no rust I would happily pay $5k firm for it. You have to understand that 9 times out of 10 the buyer will be looking at using it as a project with a turbo conversion down the track.

True.
Saying this, this sort of customer would place no real value on much of the running gear, so a smart buyer would be looking to pay less.
As was said earlier, a very particular sort of buyer needs to be flushed out to get the top bucks. Patience would be ESSENTIAL...

[redvxr8clubby]

Generally when selling a car it starts out being advertised for the dream price then eventually the price is lowered, probably several times and significantly below original expectation before being sold. An example for myself is in mid June I was looking for an Forester for the wife, I was figuring on spending about $15K for an '09 model. Saw an '09 advertised at $16,000 with about 73,000 Km, sounded and looked good, but it had been sold before I got to see it. Next best one that I saw advertised was an another '09 with same Km's for $17,500 (but it was an XS model next one up from the base X so I could understand the asking price), rang the seller let him know I was looking at spending no more than $16,000 he said he wasn't prepared to reduce the price by more than a few hundred. I didn't go and look as it was over our spend, so wound buying an '08 with 117,000 Km for $14,000. Three months later and today that same car is still advertised (in Carsales) but now reduced to $16,000 and he still hasn't got a buyer. Personally I would have preferred to spend the extra $2K for the lower Km higher spec car but unfortunately the seller didn't want to do that price at the time.