[CG Trading]

1: Credit crunch/recession

2: Quick sales needed

3: Too many 'sheds'

4: Comments posted on AO

Below are a couple of quotes from another thread: http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-gtv-and-916-spider/297828-v6s-in-norfolk.html#post4352326

Having hunted for ages for a local v6 and recently found one in London, suddenly there are 2 for sale nearby.
1st one looks a possible good deal.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alfa-Rome...0689998?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2566ee674e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-ALFA...4523899?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c84abdfb

Unless you have to buy locally you will get better for the same price and less. They aren't bad looking cars but in the current market they are pricey.

No wonder prices are low when people on here keep going on about how cheap our cars are?!!

The 1st example is an 2001 3 owner 48,000 miler & the 2nd has a reg no' worth £300ish.

I've never bought 01s that cheap & Rednose is saying they're pricey!!!!!

Prosective customers look on here for guidance before buying & a lot of you are helping keep prices low, even driving them lower, with these sort of statements.

Both these examples would break for more money than the sellers are asking.

Whatever happened to 'the whole is equal to the sum of the parts'?...or words similar.

I've just sold a Cup for £7500 & a Cup-a-like for £5800, plus have taken a deposit for another V6 at £3750. I spent a lot preparing them for retail &, although I doubt you'll believe me, there wasn't a lot of 'profit' in any of them(they all should've fetched between £500 to £1000 more but it's an uphill struggle against the odds). All of them took between 6 months & a year to sell....so to he who can wait.....£????

Prices could/should be higher but too many people are in a hurry to sell & throw away remarks like 'they're pricey' when the cars in question represent v.good value doesn't help any of 'us'(& that includes owners on here).

People are regularly saying how much they've spent getting their car up to spec. I've had one member today contact me hoping to part exchange a V6 that he's spent over £2k on already, & it still needs a lot of money spending to bring it to what I'd call retail standard, for one of mine which is already prepared. It would've cost him less to buy from me to start with but many of you think my prices are unrealistic. If you enjoy doing the jobs yourself that's one thing but to then ignore the costs involved + labour is frankly madness.

We should also remember that although these cars are slightly impracticle, a bit thirsty & probably a 2nd or 3rd car to many.....they also are superb looking, a good driver's car, the V6's engine is an Italian masterpiece & basically very reliable... all for the price of a basic small family hatchback.

It's not only GTVs that take time to sell. There is a huge amount of competition out there, we should be high lighting the GTV's strong points not complaining about how long they can take to sell, IMO. If you want to turn any car into cash quickly then normally you have to accept a lower price than those who can afford to wait.

I expect a certain amount of disagreement & flak from some of you but please refrain from being too personal....remember I'm trying to raise the GTV's image & hopefully it's value.....which would find it's way into your pockets as well.

Clive

 

[tigertown]

Simple answer Clive, on the depreciation graph GTVs are still very much on the down turn...... sorry.

 

[Guest]

I think you can pick them up cheap because there is a lot of dogs out there.

Maybe good cars underneath but need a bit spending on them to ensure they stay right.


So a sorted example goes for £3500


I bought mine cheap but I've had to spend on it to get it up to scratch. I don't want to say on here how much I paid for it but it was considerably less than £3500 but I'll have spent out nearly a £1k sorting it.

Cambelt and waterpump needed doing
4 x new tyres
2 new exhaust flexi joints, a CV boot and a drop link.

All it needs now is a 4 wheel alignment and a couple of cosmetic touches.

I may have to get a new clutch soon as the pedal is getting heavy and the bite point is getting towards the top but it could well last another 12 months before it starts to slip.

I've got a fully sorted GTV, fully powerflexed, braided hoses, CSC cat back exhaust with full history for still considerably less than the pre-sorted asking price.


I think the demand is less for these cars and it won't be helped by the fact petrol is expensive and people want to be seen as green.
I'd say probably 90% of GTVs (especially V6s) sold now are bought by people who set out to buy a GTV rather than someone who just had a budget and wanted / needed a new car and took a shine to it.

I'd say we're near the bottom now, I can't see them getting much cheaper.

All in all though I think each of your 4 reasons at the top of your OP have all attributed to the lower price of GTVs

 

[alexGS]

Interestingly if you want one of these cars, or a Spider, in New Zealand, you end up paying way more than in England. Suspect it's probably the same in Australia too. There are very few on the market to choose from (we have more Spiders than GTVs) and often the current owner has bought from a dealer and already lost a large sum.

The dealers sold these cars first in NZ as used imports for around the $20,000 mark (something just under £10,000) and 5-7 years later, they find their way onto the used market. Understandably the owner doesn't want to part with it for less than $10,000 (£5000) and often they get a bit more.

-Alex

 

[steveisfrowning]

I bought mine cheap but I've had to spend on it to get it up to scratch. I don't want to say on here how much I paid for it but it was considerably less than £3500

Bit pricey that, like.

 

[Dave Brand]

Surprise, surprise . . . a dealer wants prices to be high, punters want low prices! I'm not really sure of the benefits of driving up the prices of a particular make/model - on the one hand you're pricing a lot of potential owners out of the market, on the other hand you're making expenditure to bring a car up to a reasonable standard more justifiable. Personally I've never seen the point of cars as an investment - they are something to be enjoyed & above all driven.

(Nothing personal, Clive, the world was ever thus!)

 

[turbonutters]

1: Credit crunch/recession

2: Quick sales needed

3: Too many 'sheds'

4: Comments posted on AO

Below are a couple of quotes from another thread: http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-gtv-and-916-spider/297828-v6s-in-norfolk.html#post4352326

No wonder prices are low when people on here keep going on about how cheap our cars are?!!

The 1st example is an 2001 3 owner 48,000 miler & the 2nd has a reg no' worth £300ish.

I've never bought 01s that cheap & Rednose is saying they're pricey!!!!!

Prosective customers look on here for guidance before buying & a lot of you are helping keep prices low, even driving them lower, with these sort of statements.

Both these examples would break for more money than the sellers are asking.

Whatever happened to 'the whole is equal to the sum of the parts'?...or words similar.

I've just sold a Cup for £7500 & a Cup-a-like for £5800, plus have taken a deposit for another V6 at £3500. I spent a lot preparing them for retail &, although I doubt you'll believe me, there wasn't a lot of 'profit' in any of them(they all should've fetched between £500 to £1000 more but it's an uphill struggle against the odds). All of them took between 6 months & a year to sell....so to he who can wait.....£????

Prices could/should be higher but too many people are in a hurry to sell & throw away remarks like 'they're pricey' when the cars in question represent v.good value doesn't help any of 'us'(& that includes owners on here).

People are regularly saying how much they've spent getting their car up to spec. I've had one member today contact me hoping to part exchange a V6 that he's spent over £2k on already, & it still needs a lot of money spending to bring it to what I'd call retail standard, for one of mine which is already prepared. It would've cost him less to buy from me to start with but many of you think my prices are unrealistic. If you enjoy doing the jobs yourself that's one thing but to then ignore the costs involved + labour is frankly madness.

We should also remember that although these cars are slightly impracticle, a bit thirsty & probably a 2nd or 3rd car to many.....they also are superb looking, a good driver's car, the V6's engine is an Italian masterpiece & basically very reliable... all for the price of a basic small family hatchback.

It's not only GTVs that take time to sell. There is a huge amount of competition out there, we should be high lighting the GTV's strong points not complaining about how long they can take to sell, IMO. If you want to turn any car into cash quickly then normally you have to accept a lower price than those who can afford to wait.

I expect a certain amount of disagreement & flak from some of you but please refrain from being too personal....remember I'm trying to raise the GTV's image & hopefully it's value.....which would find it's way into your pockets as well.

Clive

:thumbs:
:thumbs:
:thumbs:

I agree it is the so-called enthusiasts who force the prices down and then later on complains about it.

:thumbs:

 

[Turtle4288]

I agree with what Dave just said, you don't really buy a GTV as an investment, or any car for that matter. So why is it important that the values are so low?

I couldn't own a GTV if the prices weren't as low as they are... Is this a bad thing?

 

[GTV 3.2 OWNER]

I've just sold my gtv 3.2 for my asking price.

I agree with alot of what clive has written.

There are far too many people on these forums that believe good, sorted gtv's should be given away. This also goes for gta's.

Their great cars, and sorted ones like clive is selling, will save you money in the long run.

And no, i dont work for clive....

 

[tom0311]

To me it seems that because some are being sold for quick sales at low prices, it makes all GTV's worth sod all? Absolute rubbish in my opinion, I've put mine up for sale at what I think is a fair price yet have been told it's too expensive. Well if it won't fetch more than circa 2.2k (at least!) then I'll be keeping it for sure. It's a lot of car for less than 3k.

I don't understand why people keep saying 'it's too pricey, it's too expensive, lower your asking price' about v6's. Tigertown just sold his for 2800 with no problems at all, so if people are prepared to pay that sort of money why sell yourself short?

 

[Davemackenzie]

In all honesty, I'm backing Clive on this one, The GTV is probably one of the best handling cars i've owned, I paid a little more than the going rate but I knew what I was buying, I call it a poor man's Ferrari, it attracts the same looks and you still get a great smile driving it

Touchwood I've not had any major faults with the car, it gets a regular polish, Gliptone on the leather, Underseal treated to prolong its life, Oil is always changed aswell as the filter, I could go on and on etc.....

I've noticed more and more members joining but not posting, they're using this forum as a source of info which sometimes does put them off and gives a mis-representation of what they should pay money wise, Has anyone ever looked at other forums for other brands of cars? Alfa's suffer less electrical faults, no rust problems, gearbox issues, perished cheap bushes. There's still this stupid Alfa myth that they're going to fall apart, It infuriates me quite a bit! I once had a female friend who doesn't have a car or license come up to me and laugh saying it won't last 5 minutes on the road! I told her where the door was and take her clothes with her while she was at it!!!! :cheese:

I think it will be quite good in the future when there's less GTV's because people have ruined the value and rep, it meen's they'll get the deserved classic rating aswell as Marque

 

[turbonutters]

I agree with what Dave just said, you don't really buy a GTV as an investment, or any car for that matter. So why is it important that the values are so low?

I couldn't own a GTV if the prices weren't as low as they are... Is this a bad thing?

No it is not

One of the problems with low prices is that people who can not afford them buy it and then complain that parts are expensive.

Clives actual point is that he basically restores the cars to the same if not better than new and the next person will not pay his price since they can get a unmaintained one for 20% of what he is asking.

Actually this is a waste of time since it is human nature to buy a piece of crap at 20% of a descent examples price because it looks the same from outside.
The surprises are waiting for them and then we have to listen to.

I could only do 50miles with my GTV after I bought it and it is costing me more to fix than what I paid for it.

If you can work on your own car yes buy the cheap one but it seems like most people buy the cheap ones and then complain that it is costing them an arm and a leg to maintain.

 

[Davemackenzie]

Besides, We're the type of driver that always look good when we get out, we could be smoking a large Havana and wearing a Khaki Corduroy jacket with Aviators and still look just as good because we own Alfa's not ***** like a lot of magazine's type up in error!!!!

 

[Davemackenzie]

for some reason the Censor tool selected A.L.P.H.A as a bad word??

 

[turbonutters]

:cheese:
Someone got fed up with all the apes misspelling Alfa.

 

[Mr_Caine]

£2000 - £2500 would seem to be the going rate for a 3.0 GTV that is 10 years old between 5 - 10% of original sale value sounds about right to me. I wouldn't say they were cheap but I wouldn't say they were expensive either. I expect the biggest factors counting against the GTV is age, they are old cars and recently excessive petrol prices.

 

[Mr_Caine]

1: Credit crunch/recession

2: Quick sales needed

3: Too many 'sheds'

4: Comments posted on AO

1) Credit Crunch / Recession - yes, people are being more careful with their money and if you want a car to get you to work economically GTV doesn't make any sense

2) Quick Sale Needed - doubt anymore than normal, expect alot of people are offloading big engine cars, GTA is affected the same, herds of people trying to offload them, the performance might be fun but £80 for 250miles is not

3) Too many shed - doubt anymore than normal. Age and normal depreciation will have brought GTVs to their expected level. These are 10 year old cars!

4) Comments on AO - definately not, it's not going to have any significant impact on car values one way or the other.

 

[tigertown]

To me it seems that because some are being sold for quick sales at low prices, it makes all GTV's worth sod all? Absolute rubbish in my opinion, I've put mine up for sale at what I think is a fair price yet have been told it's too expensive. Well if it won't fetch more than circa 2.2k (at least!) then I'll be keeping it for sure. It's a lot of car for less than 3k.

I don't understand why people keep saying 'it's too pricey, it's too expensive, lower your asking price' about v6's. Tigertown just sold his for 2800 with no problems at all, so if people are prepared to pay that sort of money why sell yourself short?

I sold it for 2800 but thats not much money, so i'm sort of happy mainly cause she cost me 1900, but ive spent to make her nice again but really i just wanted to off load her, i love the car love GTV's but right now see them as a liabilty so got rid.

I will bet anyone on here that in 1 years i'll be able to pick up a decent GTV V6 for under 1500 pounds and probably ones needing bit of work for 500 quid but still runners.

In answer to Clives points the biggest factor i beleive is people chopping them in against economical cars and then dealers selling them off for small profit but mainly to turn round quick sale.

I wanted to drive my V6 everyday but my journey isnt long but still i will now save 80 quid a month on fuel with my current hack 156 sportwagon. For me i couldnt leave her at home in the garage and forget about her for winter like some people do, also you still have to keep them insured and taxed etc, i'm saving close to £150 per month now.So why keep it? she wont be worth 2800 in 1 year thats for sure...

 

[tom0311]

I sold it for 2800 but thats not much money, so i'm sort of happy mainly cause she cost me 1900, but ive spent to make her nice again but really i just wanted to off load her, i love the car love GTV's but right now see them as a liabilty so got rid.

It's not a huge amount of money but it's a good price for a gtv mate.

Agree about the petrol saving thing, even with a fiat coupe (hardly efficient) I will be saving a good few quid a week. You could say it was ignorance me expecting to commute in this car but even though I love it it is killing my wallet. I didn't realise it would be quite as thirsty as it is on mixed roads.

 

[130 rosso]

This is an interesting thread. I'm one of those people that tends to read what's posted but doesn't usually reply or get involved, usually because my personal opinion is the polar opposite of what others are saying & I can't be bothered to get into a fight over it.

My GTV is an eleven year old 'V' reg. It isn't used every day, it's a toy. It comes out on sunny days when I feel like having some fun on the local B roads. I spent over 3K buying it (late 2009) & well over the same again getting it something like decent - suspension & brakes all round, stainless exhaust, timing belt, paint, etc, etc. I don't care that it only does 20 ish to the gallon - probably much less when my right foot's buried in the carpet all the time. Yes, parts are expensive but I didn't walk into GTV ownership with my eyes shut & I bet they're no more expensive than any other manufacturer's 3.0 litre sports offerings. I'm not a mechanic & I'm happy to pay a fair price for someone who knows what they're doing to look after my car.

Clive's right, values should be buoyant - ES30 SZ's have risen by getting on for 10k in the past couple of years. but it's a sad fact that everyone assumes that because the 916 GTV is an "old" car, they should automatically be cheap.

I know that right now it's not worth what I've spent on it but it's a keeper - I'll not be selling it any time soon. Our time will come - ask anyone who owns a good example of a 105 series GTV or, to a lesser extent (at the moment), an Alfetta GTV.

Maybe considering an "investment" 916 GTV or Spider now isn't such a daft idea.....