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

Most storage places have to comply with specific state laws before they can auction a vehicle. This usually gets done by hiring a firm to do all the legwork of checking for liens and getting the lien sale paperwork taken care of. Some states now allow just having an abandoned car towed to a vehicle storage yard that then does all the lien paperwork. The auction buyer should not have to do anything more than walk into the DMV with all the paperwork he gets at the auction and any inspections required by the state in order to title the vehicle. If you don't get the lien sale paperwork then you haven't really bought the car.

 

Not necessarily. There's a thread going on right now elsewhere on this site with a lady whose got a '77 Mercury she's trying to sell because her father passed away, and the family no longer needs the car. She's no different than the OP of this thread. She's not a station wagon enthusiast. She had a wagon fall into her lap that she needs to deal with. She comes here for advice. No one's accused her of being a flipper.

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35305


People sometimes just have a wagon to sell, and instead of expecting everyone who comes to this site to be a full-fledged wagon enthusiast, we should recognize that, once in a while, someone just needs advice, and we should be glad to give it to them.

 

Temporary Members

WOW! This post brings up many questions and few real answers. The one about getting a storage unit vehicle titled is a biggy. As with all such matters, each DMV and state decides.
As for people joining just to flip a wagon or car, I have always been against it. But I also see the reasons why they join. In that light, I understand it can be to our advantage as members getting first chance at some low mileage vehicles.
jaunty's first posts were good answers.
Keeping wagons out of the scrap yard are our biggest concern. It would be nice if there was a way to become temporary members just for these reasons.

 

I think it's a good thing to be given first choice on a wagon that comes up for sale. That being said it does make me mad when we see a $4500 wagon being flipped for 12 grand. Guess we need to buy them all at $4500. Too bad that's not possible.

 

In AZ all the title work is done by the storage facility before the car goes up for auction. They give you the proper MVD form and you go the MVD and walk out with a good title in your name. I've bought several this way. In fact my Magnum I'm driving now came from a friends towing impound yard. Same procedure.

 

It's only being flipped for 12 grand if someone pays 12 grand for it. Flippers try all day long to get top dollar for a car they bought cheaply. Some do luck out and make a buck. Many others don't.

Besides, shouldn't we, as wagon owners, be happy when a wagon sells for 12 grand? After all, everyone complains about how little respect wagons get compared to other old cars when it comes to collectibility and value. Well, if wagons start routinely selling for five figures, that means they've gone up in value, and we should all be thrilled.

It seems that we can't have it both ways. Either we want wagons to be affordable, and therefore we should be upset when someone tries to sell one for more than we think it's worth, which is what flippers try to do, or we want them to be valuable collector cars, in which case we should cheer whenever someone, flipper or not, sells one for a small fortune.

 

Temporary member? This seems pointless. Given that it's only slightly more difficult to sign up on this site than it is to fall off a log, and that it costs no money to do so, what's to stop someone whose "temporary" membership has expired from just re-registering?

Anyone who's here to sell a car doesn't stay long, anyway, and when they're not visiting the site, they're consuming no resources. If they stop posting (because their car sold or for whatever reason), their presence just fades away, anyway. In that sense, membership here is self-regulating. No need to set an expiration date on someone's membership.

 

I understand the membership part. I belong to a motorcycle forum that has over 9000 members. Many with several memberships and the same avatar. Hard telling how many have several avatars. Yet there are less than 12 active members.
According to the administrators every member helps pay through the advertisers even though they don't buy anything.
It was just an idea. I am only a member here.
To me any member of any group inactive for more than a few years should be automatically deleted.

 

Reminds me of a funny saying. Ask a flipper if an old station wagon is a good investment. His answer, yes it already doubled for me!

 

Well, golly gee, ya think??? She inherited the wagon! Apples and oranges here. The OP bought a car and didn't inherit one. Different critter.

 

The G body wagons are semi-hot right now...if it were a Pontiac or Malibu, I'd be all over it myself (different style lines from the Buick and Olds). Many consider them to be the last cheap full frame GM car to hotrod....they do make good drivers, I've owned a few and still regret selling the last one.

 

He bought a storage unit that came with a wagon. He does not sound like a professional car flipper. I doubt he is.

It's not at all apples and oranges. Neither person is station wagon person. Neither is, apparently, even a car person. Both basically had the wagons they're dealing with fall into their laps, one by family, the other by chance. Both are looking to sell. Sound like very similar situations to me.

 

I'm going to agree with the others, $2500-3000 is about max you'd expect from the right buyer. Starting at $4000 or so and accepting you'll go down is probably the way to go.

 

$2,750 is what I'd go on this one, just so I can say I answered the OP's question.

 

Interesting article about what determines old car values. It seems that documentation is as important as anything.

http://view.autocommunity-hub.com/?...7716605757c14&et_mid=723773&rid=241912534&r=0