Too nice to Sell?

[Bruce Nunnally]

I am not a 'gun' guy. I like guns -- my son pointed out I tend to like anything involving internal combustion. But I want a long gun around if needed and done, or a long gun and sidearm, and done.

My late Father collected guns. My family kept the pieces that were historical family heirlooms or sentimental. I have been working through valuing and selling the last of the collection.

One frequent remark from collectors and advisers along the way was that a particular gun was 'too nice to sell'. What they mean is that the gun has more intrinsic value than the current market value. This concept intrigues me. In one sense, a thing has value based on what someone is willing to pay for it, and what someone is willing to take for it. What they seem to be advising is that the weapon is more valuable than what people are willing to pay for it, and should be kept as an heirloom.

And I don't mean one particular gun -- I got this advice about one rifle now sold, and a shotgun that I kept and put two other guns on consignment instead.

Are there Cadillacs that have more intrinsic value than market value? What do you think?

[KHE]

I would say my '93 Fleetwood Brougham falls into that category. I would not sell it for market value as it is worth much more than that to me. It was the first new car I purchased and my first Cadillac. I have kept it rust free all these years by storing it during the winters.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Good; thanks for commenting. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

[Cadillac Jim]

Any car that you keep in the condition that you want it be in for your daily driver will be "too nice to sell" once the market price falls below what it would cost to buy another car that provides the same service and has the same reliability and maintenance costs.

There is a point in the aging process of any car in which if it has been well-maintained, it falls into that category. The "normal" life cycle of a car is to be well-maintained until it is six to eight years old and passes 100,000 miles. Then, logic on car maintenance and repair that you hear every time something comes up, based on the assumption that the car is going up for sale or trade on Monday morning, convinces most owners that they should not keep the car in the condition it needs to be to provide the performance, safety, and driving experience of a young car. The prophesy that such a car will be in the scrapyard soon becomes self-fulfilling.

If you *do* insist on active shocks and struts, servicing the transmission on a ten-year-old-car, etc. people assume that you are nuts and talk to you like you live on Mars. This period lasts a long time, from about the 100,000 mile mark to the 200,000 mile or 20 year mark, at which time the car becomes rare enough to be considered worth preserving.

[KHE]

Some people thought I was nuts for replacing the transmission in the '97 STS - I got comments all the time to the tune of "That's more than the car is worth.". True if I was paying someone to do the job but I was only out the parts. I responded that there was no way I could buy as nice of a car for the money I had in the parts. That usually was the end of the conversation.

[Texas Jim]

My thinking goes back and forth on trading my 2006 for a newer one.

I bought it new and have maintained it very well.

Coolant changes, transmission fluid changes, regular oil changes, tire rotations etc.. etc...

It has had very few problems in that time... the issues it had were all in the first year or two when it was still covered under the bumper to bumper warranty and were all fixed by my dealer.

But it will soon have 140,000 on it and I wonder if I am on "Borrowed Time"...

I keep thinking that something EXPENSIVE is gonna happen to it, which I either have to fix and then hope nothing else expensive happens anytime soon or trade it and take a BIG hit on trade in because something is wrong with it.

It is at the point where it isn't worth much on trade because of the high mileage.

[99EldoETC]

Your fellow Texan, Houstonian, Scotty MacClymonds, (who's website I really enjoy reading), puts it this way (just substitute Cadillac for Austin Healey and Bentley):

A question we often hear is, " Why should I spend all that money fixing my trusty and much beloved old car that has given me countless hours of fun when I probably cannot sell it for a small fortune or even for the restoration cost?"

Well, what worthy objects of desire are worth what was paid right after purchase? Is the immediate goal of restoring a car to sell it? Sometimes this is the plan and sometimes the point is to be able to enjoy driving the car.

These days lots of things, everything, loses value after purchase, yes? A new car loses lots of value when first driven from the car lot. Most products have greatly diminished monetary value after purchase and are difficult to sell for much.

We buy these products simply to do the job they were purchased for. In stark contrast are certain cars in good condition that deliver continuous pleasure for protracted periods and still maintain considerable value that in many cases hold steady or rise.

The enjoyment of owning and driving a fun car cannot be accurately nor quantitatively measured with traditional accounting methods.

Having a great time driving a cool Austin Healey or Bentley is just that. of all the things in life worth paying for, food, health, shelter and fun are surely to be ranked amongst the highest of priorities. Money can't buy you love but it sure can buy you a fine car.

Source - http://www.britishcarpartsco.com/

[Bruce Nunnally]

Nicely put.