[AndrieK]

What are people’s opinion in general on carsales?

I’ve been browsing on the site on and off for a few months, looking for a potential project for my son and I (probably more signs of me going through a mild case of midlife crisis ) but it just seems to me that either the site, or the people posting on it, or both, have lost touch with reality.

Today I was looking at anything Nissan between 1985 and 2005, with two doors, a manual transmission and a ground clearance of less than 200mm. The site has this “pricing insights” feature that gives estimated price ranges for private and dealer prices, but 99% of the listings are at least double, sometimes triple what the site says it should be, so who’s out of touch with reality?

IMO, I think the pricing insights is more aligned with my expectations and some of these cars have been listed for YEARS on the site, so I’m inclined to think a lot of sellers on carsales are still living the Covid dream, but how many idiots are there still out there that’s going to pay an exorbitant price without doing at least some research?

I’m scared of gumtree and I’m not on Fakebook, so I don’t really have anything to compare against but am I just wasting time by looking at anything on carsales, or are people really getting that sort of money for 2-door coupes from the 90s?

Examples:
V35 Skyline. Highest dealer price is $6500. Cheapest car is $13,500
R34 Skyline (not GT-R). Highest dealer price is $20,000. Cheapest car is $38,000

 

[Ethanissan]

The way I usually like to look at it is:
FB Marketplace - cheapest stuff, highest possibility for dodginess (I've built my car off marketplace 😅)
Gumtree - middle ground between the 2
Carsales - most expensive stuff, least possibility for dodginess.

In my experience yes, Carsales is more often than not overpriced for what you're looking at, and an equivalent vehicle can be had elsewhere for cheaper, but it's generally where the most honest(?) sales happen.
I quite like Marketplace but obviously of no use to you, what makes you scared of Gumtree? If you know what to look for all 3 can be good. In saying that there's plenty of people older and more experienced than me who've probably bought a whole lot more stuff, but that's my limited experience and thoughts.

 

[Atherton]

Carsales is the wrong place to be looking for a "project" car IMO. You're mainly getting dealers and "nicer" examples of cars on there- People have to pay a bit of money to advertise so generally they're expecting a larger return. Agreed that the prices on 4WD's still have a lot on them- plenty of people still dreaming.

Facebook market place and gumtree are the place for bargains. no-one is selling their rolling chassis on a website where you have to pay 100 bucks to list it.



On the subject of rare jap cars though I think that's the new norm. Many of these cars are now eligible for export to the USA and that as much as anything is driving prices sky high- Plenty of people my age (and younger) watched Fast and Furious when they were kids (and played video games like Need for Speed) in which a lot of these cars were featured.
The US has an import ban on anything foreign under 25 years old and so they were never available- Getting to the point now where those "newer" model skylines and Supras etc. are within that window and so a heck of a lot of them are heading stateside- There's also very few clean ones left, hell of a lot of them were put into gutters or wrapped around trees by P platers thinking they were Ken Block (rip).

 

[AndrieK]

The “scared of gumtree” comment was tongue in cheek. I have no experience with it but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories of deals going South. But as with most things, you generally only hear about the bad cases. At least my wife is on Fakebook so I’ve been around that platform, be it from a distance, so I have some knowledge/exposure to it.

@Atherton your comments on 90s Japanese cars are very true, but it also goes for most things European of the same era. I grew up on a healthy appetite of 80s and 90s VWs, most of which weren’t sold in AUS, but have you seen the prices of things like a MkIII VR6 Golf, or an E30/E36 BMW?

I’m even contemplating importing a MkII or MkIII Golf from SAF. They’re also becoming harder to find in rescuable condition, but you can still pick up a fairly decent example for ~AU$10k. You then just have to deal with the importing headache.

On the one hand, I’m in no rush and I still have to get it past the Minister of Finance anyway, but on the other hand I feel like these things are getting more expensive by the day, so the longer I wait, the less obtainable they’re getting.

I’m just looking for something that has a clean title, that hasn’t been written off and is not a complete rust bucket. I can pretty much handle anything mechanical, but I don’t have the time or skills for extensive bodywork. I won’t mind stripping the thing to a bare shell and then have it painted by someone else, but then I’d need to start off a reasonably clean base as I don’t want to sink triple the car’s value into bodywork.

Maybe I should conquer my fears and get onto gumtree.

 

[Atherton]

Yeah, can't say that I've know much about the Euro stuff- doesn't surprise me though.

The 90's were an amazing decade for Jap cars. I know speaking personally as a Toyota lover (that doesn't get me kicked out of here right?) that they made their best stuff then- the amount of 80/90/100 series and LN106/167 lux's getting around is testament to that- Definitely haven't carried that same level of quality forward into the newer LC's and Hilux's.

Nissan were also on top of their game then, the GTR skylines are a marvel of engineering and S and Z cars are still some of my favourite looking cars.

Gumtree and marketplace are great for bargains- just have to sift though the "specimens" lets call them that are either trying to scam you or have junk.

 

[mark089]

Oh I miss the days of 5k rx7s s13s and 15k r32 gtr's 😢😢 even cheap ss/hsvs and xr6 turbo. I only use gumtree but in reality I won't be buying or selling a car any time soon but I find carsales for dealers cars or more modern cars and gumtree for projects and private sales however I don't have Facebook so wouldn't know how to use marketplace!!! I remember the days of quokka/trading post. Imagine going to view a car now without seeing pics Hahaha

 

[NissTorq]

Years ago I sold a car sucessfully on Carsales.
Gumtree is fine, set your notifications in GT to email you when an ad is listed in your search term criteria.
Call or message immediately if you think your interested to view it, ask if you can be the first to view.
If you want a good buy be prepared to travel and never bother if you don't like the attitude of seller off the bat, like if they can only send one or two word texts and other communication handicaps etc LOL. Don't be in any hurry and even if you want to buy, say I need a few hours to make a descision, let em stew a bit.

 

[RickGQ]

When I had to sell Dad's ST30, workmates told me to use Carsales to get a better price and fewer bargain hunters. Gumtree, they said, was full of rubbish cars. Probably a grain of truth there.
My Carsales experience, from a sellers point of view, was pretty good.
If I was buying I'd look at both Gumtree and Carsales. I'm not on FB but if there's good deals to be had there I'd probably join up if I was in the market for a car.

 

[NissTorq]

What are people’s opinion in general on carsales?

I’ve been browsing on the site on and off for a few months, looking for a potential project for my son and I (probably more signs of me going through a mild case of midlife crisis ) but it just seems to me that either the site, or the people posting on it, or both, have lost touch with reality.

Today I was looking at anything Nissan between 1985 and 2005, with two doors, a manual transmission and a ground clearance of less than 200mm. The site has this “pricing insights” feature that gives estimated price ranges for private and dealer prices, but 99% of the listings are at least double, sometimes triple what the site says it should be, so who’s out of touch with reality?

IMO, I think the pricing insights is more aligned with my expectations and some of these cars have been listed for YEARS on the site, so I’m inclined to think a lot of sellers on carsales are still living the Covid dream, but how many idiots are there still out there that’s going to pay an exorbitant price without doing at least some research?

I’m scared of gumtree and I’m not on Fakebook, so I don’t really have anything to compare against but am I just wasting time by looking at anything on carsales, or are people really getting that sort of money for 2-door coupes from the 90s?

Examples:
V35 Skyline. Highest dealer price is $6500. Cheapest car is $13,500
R34 Skyline (not GT-R). Highest dealer price is $20,000. Cheapest car is $38,000

also if you are looking for a project one should not look past Manheim Auctions.

I can join simulcast and bid now and buy now, auctions and bid in most of their auctions nation wide.

I particularly like their salvage auctions and have bought quite a few motorcycles over the years that were repairable write ofs, repaired them and had them approved for re registering.

The prices are much higher than they used to be but you can get lucky with a good buy still. You have to factor in 13.5 % and a $77 admin fee on top, plus any freight costs to get it to you, they freight australia wide or you can get your own freight.

 

[AndrieK]

also if you are looking for a project one should not look past Manheim Auctions.

I can join simulcast and bid now and buy now, auctions and bid in most of their auctions nation wide.

I particularly like their salvage auctions and have bought quite a few motorcycles over the years that were repairable write ofs, repaired them and had them approved for re registering.

The prices are much higher than they used to be but you can get lucky with a good buy still. You have to factor in 13.5 % and a $77 admin fee on top, plus any freight costs to get it to you, they freight australia wide or you can get your own freight.

I’ll look into that, thx.

I didn’t think Manheim would bother with vehicles that are 30+ years old so didn’t even think about considering them.

 

[Overboard]

What are people’s opinion in general on carsales? Anything worth looking at?

The answer to that question changes daily.

 

[NissTorq]

I’ll look into that, thx.

I didn’t think Manheim would bother with vehicles that are 30+ years old so didn’t even think about considering them.

Yeah It might be worth just calling one of their sales guys and ask if he can look into their sales history. They get just about every vehicle come through, private sales, dealer sales, and insurance sales. May be worth putting it in your searches. Auctions are auctions and come with some risk, but so does buying private or from a dealer.
Are you looking for something mint, or a bit rough to restore?

 

[AndrieK]

Yeah It might be worth just calling one of their sales guys and ask if he can look into their sales history. They get just about every vehicle come through, private sales, dealer sales, and insurance sales. May be worth putting it in your searches. Auctions are auctions and come with some risk, but so does buying private or from a dealer.
Are you looking for something mint, or a bit rough to restore?

I'd be looking for something that has minimal accident damage, i.e. is not a write off and can still be registered and that's not a complete rust bucket. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of oney on bodywork as I do not have the skills or space to do it myself, but any mechanical / electrical issues I can handle. I also wouldn't be against having to do a complete respray as I would then strip it down to a bare shell myself and have it professionally painted, but with minimal bodywork required.

I had a look yesterday on Manheim's site and there's a 1984 300ZX on there that would typically be the type of thing I'd be after. This specific one seems to have some hail damage and possible previous dodgy repairs. This is something I'd have to inspect first before comitting but the car is in Sydney so I'd pass on this one.

But thx for the tip. I'll keep looking on their site. Something might pop up here in Melbourne.

 

[NissTorq]

Don't mean to be off topic as I know this is not the vehicle you are looking for but just to give a example of what comes through auctions this was a surprise.

Todays auctions just wanted to have a look. A gov vehicle, Patrol Cab Chasis, TD42 T, 45xxx kays only, bid started 15k and no bids so passed in, what a cracker guys !

Edid: that will be relisted and maybe there will be two bidders next time, if there was only one bidder it may have been a referred sale which means they negotiate with the highrest bidder if the reserve was not met.

 

[Benny Jahmin]

You might want to check about repairable writeoffs in Vic.
Not possible any more in nsw and qld is going through a transition at the moment where if you have one it needs to be registered by a certain date. Now all write off's now are parts cars.

 

[AndrieK]

Don't mean to be off topic as I know this is not the vehicle you are looking for but just to give a example of what comes through auctions this was a surprise.

Todays auctions just wanted to have a look. A gov vehicle, Patrol Cab Chasis, TD42 T, 45xxx kays only, bid started 15k and no bids so passed in, what a cracker guys !

Edid: that will be relisted and maybe there will be two bidders next time, if there was only one bidder it may have been a referred sale which means they negotiate with the highrest bidder if the reserve was not met.

View attachment 548998

When I looked there were quite a few GUs on there which seemed in quite good condition. One even had a video showing it driving out of their turntable/show area and not a hint of smoke out the exhaust. I think Manheims might be a pretty good place to look for a Patrol in general.

 

[RoBoCoP]

Don't mean to be off topic as I know this is not the vehicle you are looking for but just to give a example of what comes through auctions this was a surprise.

Todays auctions just wanted to have a look. A gov vehicle, Patrol Cab Chasis, TD42 T, 45xxx kays only, bid started 15k and no bids so passed in, what a cracker guys !

Edid: that will be relisted and maybe there will be two bidders next time, if there was only one bidder it may have been a referred sale which means they negotiate with the highrest bidder if the reserve was not met.

View attachment 548998

There will be a lot of cars that would be selling unreg and most likely not registerable as they were written off to flood damage. being an ex-gov car at 45,000km on it it would most likely be a written off vehicle. Usually government vehicles are used until the warranty period ends (either km or years).

However cars like Skylines - R32 - R34, you won't find much under $30k, unless it's just a shell. Same for Toyota supras and MR2's. The only sort of sports cars that are still cheapish are Toyota Celica's 1990 - 2006. They range from $3k - $10k. The Redbook or Pricing Insights only accounts for the depreciation of the vehicle age/km and not the rarity or popularity or current market trend or demand for secondhand cars.

I have a 1999 Celica (first of the gen 7). Mine has a 2zz engine with 6sp manual.

@AndrieK Look into them as an option. There is 2 variants. SX and ZR. ZR is the optioned model with sunroof and ABS 16" wheels. Both are 141kW N/A engine but with the right kit can be supercharged. Add a body kit and you can also get butterfly door hinge conversions as well.

Gen 7 1999 -2006

Gen 6 1994 - 1999

 

[NissTorq]

There will be a lot of cars that would be selling unreg and most likely not registerable as they were written off to flood damage. being an ex-gov car at 45,000km on it it would most likely be a written off vehicle. Usually government vehicles are used until the warranty period ends (either km or years).

It's true that some cars at manheim will be statutory write offs and repairable write offs which can either be parts only or be fixed and re regoed easily in any state but NSW (if my latest info is correct) but there are more that are not damaged or listed on WOVR, so that's a bit general to write off the auctions, no matter what vehicle one is looking for Auctions should be a consideration, even if some things about them are a pain in the backside.

With the auctions I'm surprised what comes up, people park cars at airports and fly away never to return, the cars go to auction to pay thousands in parking fees, and only need to cover the bill so they can go bellow market value. Perfect nice cars. Last week at Perth Airport a td42 patrol wagon with all the fruit sold very cheap.

Keep in mind they categorise the auctions for damage, so it's not all bad or damaged vehicles but they are good for parts, and have 3 grades of premium vehicles, and each vehicle will have been graded prior to auction. Theres a clear grading chart of definitions of the grades 1-5 in those 3 good categories. I just think it's a good option to consider or cover if you are buying anything.

Who knows when a car dealer will go into receivership and all the cars go to auction, these things are happening more and more with the economic fallout from Covid, inflation and so on.

The other thing is perhaps consider advertise wanted on carsales or GT, newspaper or notice boards. Look into jap import too, is there any thing to save ? There are Aussie companies that import from the US and other countries too and can ship compliance your import.

Wanted adds can get someones attention who may not need to sell but has it in the back of their mind, that unfinished project collecting dust in the shed that the missus keeps ticking him off about or what not. with the hard to find one needs to increase the chances, logic says to cover many bases.

 

[klappers]

2 door Japanese car from the 90s are worth coin. Whatever they are .. no way around it

 

[geeyoutoo]

2 door Japanese car from the 90s are worth coin. Whatever they are .. no way around it

Oh Yes! Son and Grandson inlaw both have models they have had for quite a few years, worth hanging onto.