I have two station wagons sitting in my driveway...*long first post, sorry*

One is my 1993 Buick Station Wagon and the other is a 1984 Chevy Caprice Station Wagon that my parents bought yesterday. Here's the dilemma...

My mom hates the Caprice, she wanted something newer with a better interior. The Caprice's interior is pretty worn out but the seats are intact and it is totally rust free (we live in NE Ohio but the car spent the last 12 years in Mexico so it's never seen snow/salt). It has a very strong 305 and 4 speed tranny and was modified to remove all computer components. Well my dad took it to a local car wash this morning and the owner of the car wash offered him $3000 for it.

I proposed that we trade them my Buick which has a nearly perfect interior, runs great, and all it needs are back brakes. I offered the trade because my husband loves the Caprice (he's all for no computer in his vehicles and an engine that makes sense) even though it needs several small repairs. Like window seals, something in the tilt steering, and windshield wipers.

My parents are considering trading but they want to know what each vehicle is actually worth. Most likely they'd end up selling the Buick and using the money to buy a minivan but they want to know if the trade is worth it.

 

If all you are trying to do is determine the difference in value between the two wagons, I would just go to www.nadaguides.com and run values on both of them. Subtract a few dollars for any part of either vehicle that is worse than average. Conversely, add a few dollars for any part of either vehicle that is better than average (don't get carried away on this). I don't think NADA adjusts for mileage, so if there's some extrordinarily low mileage, make an adjustment for that, too. This will only give you a 'ballpark' figure on the values, but should get you close enough. When vehicles get this old, condition is more important than how old the vehicle is.

 

Hi, I am looking for a 1956 chrysler station wagon to restore. Can anyone point me in the right direction. They are very hard to find, Help!

 

The problem with NADA is they consider the Caprice to be a "classic" and the Buick just a regular old car. So the Caprice is more valuable as a classic car but to us it'd just be a daily driver.

 

From what I've seen in the advertisements, the two cars are worth pretty much the same amount, in equal condition. After that, the only people who can decide which is worth more are you and your parents. Nice to see that wagon love is alive and well in your family! Let's see some pictures!

 

You should probably start your own thread about this but try http://www.autotraderclassics.com/index.xhtml, http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/, eBay or Craigslist.

Here's one at Hemmings: http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/chrysler/unspecified/1396850.html

 

Mileage and pictures of vehicles would help, but I'd be inclined to say that the Caprice will be worth more to most unless the Century just had really low miles.