1980 Buick Centruy 7,000 Miles Found in Storage Unit!

Good day all!! I wanted to get some input on a value/ sale price I should start at on this treasure I just purchased! I buy defaulted storage units and recently purchased a 1980 Buick Century Wagon!! with only 7K miles on it and it is like a new car!!! amazing!!! I also bought a Buick Regal also with only 6,000 miles on it but this isnt the forum for that one lol

I am not per say a "car guy" sorry but I can say I dont know much about the motors bells and whistles etc!

I plan on putting them both on ebay and trying to get a target fair market value price to set on it/them... any help would be great!

 

The Old Cars Price Guide, whose advice you are perfectly free to take or leave, values a 1980 Century wagon in showroom condition at about $2700.

I know. That seems real low. But you have to remember that THREE things determine an old car's value.

1. Condition (this car has this in spades)
2. Rarity (yes, it's as rare as any '80 vehicle is these days, which means not that rare compared to a '70 or a '60 model year vehicle, but still rare compared to a late model car)
3. Desirability. This is the kicker. It has to be a car sought after by old car buffs. This is where this car falls down. Station wagons in general are not that heavily collected, and later-model, small wagons, even less so. That hurts value as the pool of potential buyers is small. Many people make the mistake of assuming that, if #1 and #2 are true, then #3 will be true automatically. In other words, if the car is in great shape and rare, people will want it and it will automatically command a high price. This is not so.


If this were my car, I might put a $5,000 price tag on it and see what happens. Think of it more as a used car than as a collector car. Someone looking for cheap transportation would not get much in a late model car for $5,000. It'd be something 10 years old with 100,000 miles on it. This car, with only 7,000 miles on it, would be like buying a new car, even though it's 35 years old. That might appeal to some people. Not to everyone, though, because some will worry about parts availability and getting this car fixed down the road.

Cool find. Good luck with the sale.

 

Very well explained jaunty75.

This is better then a barn find, sweet little wagon in amazing condition. Good luck with your sale. I hope someone who apperciates it finds it.

 

Thank Jaunty75 for the input! I do agree with your points especially the first two I really thought the wagons wouldn't be that desirable either.. but doing some research in my area I found out that the Hershey antique auto museum is having an exhibit of wagons!!! so I am in contact with them to see if I can get mine in there to see if I can find that $$$ buyer from there maybe! thanks again for the input!

http://www.aacamuseum.org/family-affair-station-wagons/

 

These two thoughts are not necessarily connected. Yes, the Hershey museum wants to have a wagon show. That's been discussed several times on this site, and it's great they're doing it. But it doesn't mean that wagons in general or any wagon on display at that show will suddenly go up in value.

It will be interesting to see if they will take your car. It's not on their "wish list" of wagons they don't yet have and would like to.

http://www.aacamuseum.org/family-affair-station-wagons/


On the other hand, any wagon 35 years old with only 7,000 miles on it would seem to be something they'd be interested in just for the ability to display a car as it might have looked in the showroom 35 years ago.

 

It's quite a find. eBay is certainly worth a try.

Also feel free to post the Buick Regal here also under the "car & truck talk" thread as part of "station wagon lounge.".

 

I would go along with jaunty's thinking. Unfortunately, that period of mid-size GM wagons just doesn't bring in the money, as compared to other generations. For some reason, the '68 - '72 generation of mid-size GM vehicles bring in quite a bit more money. If that was a very low mile '72 Buick Skylark wagon (that's what they were called then), I could see it bringing in maybe $10k or so under the right circumstances.

It should also be noted that your Buick appears rather sparse in the way of optional equipment.

And another note: A lot of prospective wagon buyers refused to buy these mid-size GM wagons because the larger portion of the rear door glass, that normally rolls down into the door, didn't. The large glass is fixed. Only the smaller vent-size glass opens, on a hinge.

 

Nice to see a flipper stop by for free pricing advice.

 

Please keep us posted as how you make out .

 

Is there some law against this? Seems like a rather nasty comment. Guy has some luck and happens to acquire a car for a low price and wants to sell it. What a sin.

 

I can think of a few reasons.

1. Styling. By the '80s, it was bland.

2. Engine availability and power. Pre-'73 was still largely before emission controls and insurance rates did in the performance cars. Even a wagon from back then could have been equipped, and now retrofit, for some fun on the road.

3. Ease of working on the car. No computers, no complex electronics, etc. on the older cars. Easier for the shade-tree mechanic to work on.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what are the hurdles with titling the vehicles when you find them in an abandoned storage unit?

 

what a find, congrads! agree with the above statements on determining value; might even be a good car for yourself by the business you are in and you may become known with this car!

 

Wow, what a great question. I hadn't thought of this.

If you buy sight-unseen what's in an abandoned storage unit, you presumably have no knowledge of the the prior owner of the stuff. Obviously the owner of the storage unit would have the name, address, etc. of the person who rented the unit, but that person, if they've abandoned the storage unit, might not be findable. You might not want to find them, anyway, as they might not be terribly friendly or in the most cooperative mood and just sign the title over to you. All you would likely get is a receipt from the owner of the storage unit, and the owner of the storage unit would claim ownership of the car (prior to selling it to you) based on the terms of use of the storage unit.

I've used storage units myself, and I don't recall offhand what the wording is, but I imagine there is a feature of the contract that says that if you stop paying the rent for the unit and don't clear your stuff out by a certain period of time (30 days? 60 days?) after your last rent payment, the stuff in the storage unit automatically becomes the property of the unit's owner.

With all this paperwork in hand (storage unit contract, date of last payment by the storage unit renter, receipt or bill of sale for the car from the storage unit), could you walk into a DMV office in your state and get a title? I would think so. I have to assume that people abandon cars for one reason or another from time to time, and there has to be a away to get these cars back into circulation.

 

No, no law against it. It's when I see someone pop in here as the "new guy" and his first comments concern "what's it worth?" and admits he's flipping it...not exactly the remarks of an enthusiast, but that of a flipper. But, at least he's upfront about flipping it, versus others that have shown up in this Forum and tried to be coy about their intentions, I'll give the guy that.