TR2/3/3A Valuing my TR3...

[wifegonnakillme]

After a lot of thought, I am going to be selling my 3A in the next few weeks. A big part of the reason is my wife who, well, lets just say for those of you who haven`t bought one yet...get permission...(in my case we discussed, decided to wait a couple of years which i read to mean it was ok to buy one two days later...)

Anyway, within the last two years this car has undergone professional body on restoration, from sleeves to distributor, generator, wiring, brakes, steering, body etc. Has three faults, temp gauge, silicon instead of proper pan gasket (drips but is a 30$ fix) and is in need of a fuel sender gasket (leaks a bit when tank is full)...Has wires and steel rims, brooklands and a nice looking new chrome tipped resonator..

Anyway, are excellent drivers now hitting the 20K mark or is that unrealistic? I am trying to do a fixed price sale and avoid ebay....There is one photo of the car posted on the forum site but will be taking more tomorrow...

By the way, I have convinced her to let me start on a lotus 7 copy (Locost 7) as part of the bargain.

Cheers and thanks as always,
Kerry

 

[TR4]

I would say you could start at 20K and see what offers come in. Hopefully you get two or more parties interested which sends the price Northward.

 

[Don Elliott]

A friend I know from Kingston, Ontario just sold his to someone in Oshawa for somewhere in the upper 20s. At least that's what he was asking. He won 1st in class at last summer's Canadian Classic in Collingwood over 4 other TR3As. Mine took 3rd of the 5 entries.

 

[vagt6]

FYI, please don't discount eBay as a sales market for your LBC. eBay provides the widest possible market, and highly targeted buyers. You can't access such sales marketplace for LBCs anywhere else, period.

eBay has been very good to me. For example, I got almost 40% above top retail price for my '70 GT6 on eBay and couldn't have been more pleased with the transaction. The buyer was very happy, too. I also got significantly greater than retail value for two other cars and two motorcycles I've sold there. I've also purchased and sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of parts, never a problem with regular eBay or eBay UK.

eBay can be a win-win. Set your reserve at $20,000 or whatever you wish, accept cash only, demand on-site pickup, a big deposit, etc., etc. If the car doesn't sell in one week, you've lost comparatively little money for the ad cost.

Good luck, I'm sure that nice TR will sell quickly, especially if you use eBay! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

 

[Tomster]

Buy her her own car, keep yours, everyone drives away happy

 

[wifegonnakillme]

re ebay - its been good to me too, that`s where the car came from (course it was in pieces), just when you get up above 10K, i`d rather have the buyer come see exactly what they are buying - may still run it, if only for the advertising...

thanks tomster - already bought her an x3...didn`t quite seal it. part of the problem i think is that in the interest of getting the car on the road, i had all the work done - in all other areas of my life i`ve done the work, like my house rebuild - this and given that most of the car is still sitting on credit - sort of sealed the decision to sell - in particular after investigating this Locost 7 thing, i think this would be a lot of fun and build the skills i would need to do a full rebuild of a lbc in the future - only 37, i have lots of time for cars left,

Don, thanks for the reference - i was concerned buyers might have a mental block with 20K for a hobby - pretty sure i would,

cheers,
kerry

 

[Tomster]

In that case, what do you think you could get for the wife on Ebay...
I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist.

 

[Tinkerman]

I agree with VAGT6, as many of you know I am also a fan of ebay you have to do, due diligence when you buy or sell. Remember that ebay is a huge market place and you will get much more exposure there than anywhere else.

Good luck, Tinkerman

By the way, the way I see things going in the market today I feel that for what you have done for the car 20k might work and work well.

 

[Geo Hahn]

re ebay... may still run it, if only for the advertising...

A really low starting bid will assure you at least get some action even if the reserve is not met. Many of the early bidders will just be virtual tire-kickers but later bidders should be for real. In addition, bidding fever can take hold and people who never would have met a high starting bid will go above that amount by thinking 100 bucks at a time.

 

[mrv8q]

FYI, please don't discount eBay as a sales market for your LBC. eBay provides the widest possible market, and highly targeted buyers. You can't access such sales marketplace for LBCs anywhere else, period.

I couldn't agree more! Check out this car on eBay, and what if finally went for: 300118938722 At this rate, $20K is not unrealistic, though I might do those "quickie" fixes....

Best of luck, whatever you decide.....

 

[Brosky]

I'm sure you've given it the proper amount of thought for your situation, but I have to say this anyhow. I thought that I wanted to sell ours many times over the years, especially when I was ending my management career with a large Lexus dealer. I was sick of cars after 25 years and wanted no part of fixing them any longer.

But for some reason I never sold it. I ignored it, never drove it for two straight years, but kept it in the garage, when I could have had a Miata, T-Bird or whatever I wanted. My wife really didn't care,but we still kept it.

I can't tell you how many times that I've read here or on the 6-Pack forum, posts from guys who have sold their Triumphs and came to regret it soon after. These cars are not really replaceable, in the sense that are the Miata, Z3 or 4, Solstice or whatever two seat modern spots car is today.

The old English charm, the looks that you get when driving them and the comradery that you find here and elsewhere, along with the decency and civility in which the forums are conducted and the owners display at events, make this one attractive hobby.

Do what you have to do, but please think really hard before you make a move to sell what you might never be able to replace.

JMHO

 

[Got_All_4]

In that case, what do you think you could get for the wife on Ebay...
I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist.

I like Tomster's idea and I've had a Tr3A for 25 years now. I just recently got a Tr250 for the wife. BEST TRADE I EVER MADE!

 

[Don Elliott]

Kerry, I have a friend who has an MG-TD, an MGA, an MGB, a TR4 runner which he doesn't use and 2 years ago, he bought a TR3A. He loves it more than all the others. He wants to sell some of them, but he would never sell his TR3A.

Whenever I'm out driving and we stop somewhere, someone invariably comes up to me, admires the car and says he used to have one. Then he adds how he wished he had kept his.

Maybe it's all about nostalgia. I stored mine from 1972 to 1987 then I did the full body off restoration to 1990. I would never sell mine. I've owned it now for 49 years. Now that's nostalgia !

Don Elliott, Original Owner 1958 TR3A

https://www.zen21606.zen.co.uk/Forum%20Gallery/don3a2_big.jpg

 

[wifegonnakillme]

Well, I have given it lots of thought, and to be honest one of the real drivers is financial. I'd waited for so long for an LBC, I had to have it on the road right away. As a result I paid lots of $$ to some good folks to get her up and running, then the engine went bad last summer and I had to fork over another big chunk of change.
Unfortunately, althogth I have a good income, I ended up with all of this on a line of credit and that is making things just a little too difficult - I don't like managing my life close to the line.
I hear what you are saying though, took it out this am for some pictures, no less than 6 people stopped to admire the car. And a TR3 really is one of the best in my mind, between the cut-away doors and sufficient power (after the rebuild) to chirp going into second, it really is a great car.
We'll see, I have a good price in mind and am not so desperate that I have to sell immediately, thus, I may end up hanging on to it for a while - perhaps long enough to manage through this tight spot.

Cheers and thanks for the advice,
Kerry

 

[Brooklands]

Beautiful car Kerry. Love those windscreens. You don't see them like that too often.
Enjoy it while you have it, and hang on to it if you can...

 

[Brosky]

That car needs to stay in it's current home....

I hope that everything goes well for you.

 

[habaneronut]

Me too. When I decided to buy my TR3, eBay was one of the first places I looked. Found a good candidate just 300 miles from me, contacted the owner through eBay and got his address and made arrangements to go down and see the car. He didn't have any bids yet (a twin in better shape was selling at the same time and getting all the attention), I was happy with what he really wanted for the car, and we made a deal on the spot. He just cancelled the auction (perfectly legit) and we did the sale.

Fred

 

[wifegonnakillme]

Crap...

Was I too honest or is it the fear of shipping a car over the border? I posted all relevant shipping information - I know my car is worth a lot more than $11,900... Hate to think one has to be sneaky to get a good price on ebay...

Guess I'll have to try autotrader,

Kerry

 

[TRDejaVu]

Autotrader is for X3's, not TR3's.

 

[habaneronut]

Kerry, see my earlier post on your other thread. I'd give it least one more try on Ebay.

Fred