Advice on selling a classic vehicle

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MN-Investor
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Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by MN-Investor »

My husband loved 1956 Chevy pickup trucks and, in 1992, we bought a beautiful cherry red fully restored 3600 series 3/4 ton Chevy pickup. I can't find my records of what we paid, but I believe it was in the neighborhood of $10,000. My sweetie really didn't drive the pickup. The last time it was driven was when our garage was rebuilt in 2000. The pickup has been sitting in the garage ever since then.

Now it's 2021 and my sweetie passed away three years ago. I really don't want the pickup and I'm totally unknowledgeable on how to sell it. I'm looking for any advice you folks can give me.
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SaveStrong
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by SaveStrong »

Check out either Hemmings or Bring a Trailer - both good sites for vintage & classic vehicles
daheld
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by daheld »

I recently sold a classic muscle car using Facebook Marketplace. It it a very good place to sell because of the ubiquity of FB, and the fact that users can set up alerts for what they're looking for. If your vehicle matches their saved search, they get an alert and can contact you. I think FB Marketplace has sort of become the new local trading post for most folks.

That said, selling classic vehicles is obviously not the core business of FB, and it's sort of the wild, wild west. You have to be savvy in dealing with people and knowing who's BSing you and who's not.

If you can find someone you trust locally to actually look at the truck in person to give you a estimate of what it's worth, that's a good first step. Then you at least know if someone is lowballing you. As SaveStrong said, both Hemmings and BAT are well respected and completely legitimate sites to buy and sell, and it offers some sort of structure for your listing.

If you're selling long distance to someone buying on line, all the typical warnings apply. When I sold my car a few months ago, I had the buyer wire me payment in full, then once I had received all the money he arranged for a car hauler to pick up the car. Once it was in transit, I filled out my piece of the title and mailed it to him, along with all the other documentation.
cbs2002
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by cbs2002 »

Bringatrailer provides a fee service that takes beautiful photos and writes the listing for you. This kind of car is up their alley. 70s and 80s pickups are doing really well in the market right now, not sure about older.

If it's a great stock restoration - meaning back to how it left the factory - and the miles are reasonably low, you could get double or even more than what you think you paid. That it's been sitting for 20 years is a problem though. Tires and other rubber may be rotted/brittle, fluids turn to goo, brake calipers rust, etc. Again, if it was a high quality restoration originally, it makes sense to have a trusted mechanic give it a thorough checkup, get it running smoothly and replace rubber, tires, etc as needed. Then pay for a high quality detailing and list it on BaT.

In my opinion, better to bring it to the market in as good of condition as possible and get top dollar. If you sell as is, you'll get lots of bargain hunters looking for steep discounts because they have to deal with the uncertainty of a car that hasn't been driven for a long time. And there's nothing wrong with selling it that way either, just don't expect a big payday. Good luck!
psteinx
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by psteinx »

cbs2002 wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:06 amIn my opinion, better to bring it to the market in as good of condition as possible and get top dollar.
I disagree. This isn't her forte. She doesn't know classic cars/trucks, and doesn't seem to really want to. That's fine. Sell it to someone who DOES love them, and would probably rather restore it to their own taste. There should be a good market for this vehicle - key is to find the best marketplace. This isn't really my thing, so I'll defer to others' opinions on best marketplaces.

If she DOES have an acquaintance who is into this hobby, that friend could help get it onto the market, but if not, just pick some venue/marketplace and list it, with good pictures and information.
bogledogle
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by bogledogle »

cbs2002 wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:06 am Bringatrailer provides a fee service that takes beautiful photos and writes the listing for you. This kind of car is up their alley.
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hand
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by hand »

Bring a Trailer provides a good window into closed deals for similar cars:

https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=3600+chevrolet

Looks like value is in the $10-20k range except for one outlier.

I'd second (third) the opinion that best way to recover decent value without too much work is to pay for an tune-up from a local shop and then auction listing service including decent photos.
bob60014
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by bob60014 »

Don't forget to have any and all documentation regarding any purchase (yours and prior), service, restoration, etc.., no matter how trivial it may be, available to pass along to the next buyer.
z06ray
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by z06ray »

I am sorry about your husband. Beautiful trucks and certainly valuable. Years ago I had a 57 and would love to have another one (seriously feel free to pm me with details and location, if you would like). been a while since I searched prices on these. The one I sold was a roller (no engine/ trans) and needed a full restoration... sold it very fast on Craigslist (not sure I would use Craigslist today).

I would say bring a trailer will be the high end and not sure how you feel about handling it as an auction. You can start there with past sales for comps but I would say that site usually is the high end on price.

I like Facebook marketplace to a degree. Maybe I don’t know how to use it properly because it has its annoyances. You also have to filter out some spam. A truck like that isn’t all over the place. I would probably list here if I were selling.

I use Hemmings when I want to search comp prices. But I have never sold anything on there.

I am sure there is a forum that may have a decent following and a classified section. Perhaps even the trifive forum would be able to lend some insight?
DoubleComma
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by DoubleComma »

We inherited a classic car, needed to get a formal appraisal for estate/tax purposes. Found a company online that coordinated a local car appraiser to come inspect, take pictures, write a report on condition and his estimation of value. The information was submitted to the company who them had access to several other historical and current sales data bases, auction results, etc and then gave of a very comprehensive appraisal.

Both the local appraiser who came and saw the car as well as the company, had a subsequent service to sell the car. We still have the car, it was never for sale.

I might suggest starting with an appraisal and going from there. Classic cars are experiencing the same covid bump many things are so its a good time to sell.
RoadRat
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by RoadRat »

I, too, would suggest bring a trailer. Buyers on there are nuts and like to blow through money to the seller's advantage.
gregwils
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by gregwils »

Bring A Trailer is a great venue, but you really need to be an active and knowledgeable seller. It sounds like the OP is not knowledgeable about the vehicle and won't be equipped to respond to numerous detailed questions about the vehicle.

My advice would be to find a consigner or local classic car dealer. A vintage and classic car dealer may take the car on consignment or they might buy it outright. I would think an outright sale is a safer transaction for you, but they are taking the risk with a sale so may offer the low-end of the market. If you consign to try to get a higher value, you may want to have an attorney examine the contract. You won't get as much money for the truck with this route, but you are paying for someone to handle the sale. You would need to determine if that is the smart choice.

Here are NADA value ranges for your vehicle. https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/1956/Ch ... Ton/Values

Here is a list of classic car dealers that have trucks listed that are within 100 miles of Minneapolis. You could research them and discuss options with a few. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/ca ... stance=100

Here are all the 3600's for sale on Hemmigs. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/ca ... cet[]=3600
Freetime76
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by Freetime76 »

For the OP: I have no experience with classic cars and had to sell one. I was very happy working with Streetside Classics in Nashville, TN. I spoke with a very (very!) knowledgeable rep over the phone and sent photographs to him. He arranged for shipping ($600 in an enclosed trailer for about 900 miles, at the time) and the vehicle was kept on their lot/showroom until sale.

Just wanted to mention that there are services like this, in case you don’t want to handle it yourself.

P.S. They took commission off the sale price as payment. There was no downside for us, because we approved the sale price when it sold after a few months.
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by MN-Investor »

Thank you, everyone, for your links and suggestions.

I'm not sure what route I'll take yet, but I do realize that my first step should be to find a local appraiser and get an idea of what the pickup is worth.

Having someone sell the pickup for me and collect a commission is probably the best option for me. I'll explore local dealers for that.
The key to success - Save early, save often, invest well.
gtd98765
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by gtd98765 »

You will get a better price if you have the title for the car. If you can't find it, you can start working on that with your DMV now.
MikeG62
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by MikeG62 »

MN-Investor wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:14 am My husband loved 1956 Chevy pickup trucks and, in 1992, we bought a beautiful cherry red fully restored 3600 series 3/4 ton Chevy pickup. I can't find my records of what we paid, but I believe it was in the neighborhood of $10,000. My sweetie really didn't drive the pickup. The last time it was driven was when our garage was rebuilt in 2000. The pickup has been sitting in the garage ever since then.

Now it's 2021 and my sweetie passed away three years ago. I really don't want the pickup and I'm totally unknowledgeable on how to sell it. I'm looking for any advice you folks can give me.
My FIL recently (last month) sold his classic car (1970 Chevelle SS) through a classified ad in Classiccars.com. He got over 25 responses to the ad the first 4-5 days the ad was up. Ending up selling it to a classic car dealer from Ohio (my FIL was located in Long Island NY) who paid him a price we felt was more than reasonable (actually full asking price). I'd be happy to share the name of the dealer with you (PM me).

I think it would be very helpful if you can get the car running or prove it runs. I think that is something you should do before running an ad and taking calls. I'd imagine you can get a mechanic to come to your house and see if they can start it up. There are services like yourmechanic.com (and others) where you can find someone to help with that. Knowing/proving it runs is likely to add considerably to the market value.

Good luck.
Last edited by MikeG62 on Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Wash.Invest
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by Wash.Invest »

gtd98765 wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:25 am You will get a better price if you have the title for the car. If you can't find it, you can start working on that with your DMV now.
An important first step... Getting a replacement title can take a few months.
Gaston
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by Gaston »

1. Find the title.

2. Obtain a knowledgeable present condition evaluation.

3. Depending on condition, spend extra money as appropriate to get more on the back side.

4. Sell it.
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Blindenlaub
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by Blindenlaub »

Good advice above.

In addition, may I also recommend that you contact the club associated with your vehicle. I have a classic Ford, and the local chapter of my club has many enthusiastic and knowledgable individuals. I'll bet there are similar individuals in the Chevy clubs. They can probably offer advice on preparing your truck for sale. They also may be able to help locate potential buyers by word of mouth, or by helping you advertise it to other enthusiasts in make- or model-specific publications.
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by MN-Investor »

I have the title for the pickup, so that's not an issue.

The pickup was last driven in the fall of 2000 when it was moved into our rebuilt garage. Since it's been sitting for 21 years, I imagine all the hoses need to be replaced along with anything else which might have deteriorated over time. That means I'm not going to start it up without work being done on it. I guess I'll discuss it first with my nephew. Just this month he trailered my sweetie's 1992 Camry XLE to his home. The Camry - with only 67K miles - had been sitting since 2003. My nephew did all the updating necessary and got the Camry running. Maybe he'd like the challenge of the '56 pickup.

I'll check out local vehicle clubs, too, and see if there's a local one for old Chevy pickups. Thinking about it, there are also vintage vehicle shows during the summer. Maybe I can attend one of them and talk to owners of similar vehicles.
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Piper59
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Re: Advice on selling a classic vehicle

Post by Piper59 »

I sent you a PM.
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