I'm just looking around for a few different old Mopars to maybe upgrade to. And it seems like 80% of cars listed for sale are classic car dealers. Do they just swoop up and buy any good deal? And then double to triple the price. I guess you have to be lucky and find something local that's not on the internet.

It does seem that way. Cars sit for a year or more on these lots. I think it’s Uber rich guys that aren’t really running a business. One guy told me he made money doing payday loans and the cars aren’t priced to sell until he’s ready to move on. I’d seen one a few years ago that had come down more to what I thought it should be and called. He said his son died and that was who managed the “business” while he washed and waxed them and drove them for fun everyday. He was ready to thin it out after the kid died. Came very close to saying it was a tax shelter, right to edge of saying it.

I believe that contributes to the decline in interest by young people. Cars go unloved and have issues from sitting when somebody parts with far too much money for one. Then they are boxed in and lose the fire. Hard to get excited about an expensive toy that is broken, and your money to repair it is tied up in the purchase.

Some of the cars listed are actually on consignment. The owner doesn't want to mess with tire kickers, low ballers, and scammers. So they let a dealer do it for a commission or fee instead of messing with an auction house. Sometimes it is a family member wanting to sell a car of an owner who passed awaya nd doesn't know much about cars. Other times the "dealer" does own the car and is trying to flip a good deal they found.

As always, let the buyer beware. If you are the type of guy that's always looking for the rock-bottom price then you likely will not get it at a dealer. But if you do your due diligence it is possible to get a good car at a fair price--depending on the dealer of course.

This plus being on consignment adds a protective layer between parties when title and/or repair issues are discovered.

btw,
Carvana seems to gravitate toward selling stolen cars. Due diligence is needed now more than ever.

Maybe not much longer: https://zacjohnson.com/is-carvana-going-out-of-business

You need to be out on these Mopar web board, ebay, craigslist, most of the Mopar for sale groups on Facebook. ... And get connected locally through clubs, cruise-ins, and shows (regional and local)



Yes, there's a lot of fake and misleading classic cars that have entered the pool of availability. Usually let in by uneducated buyers. Then they just get shuffled to the next dealer, then owner and back to dealer. Of course this washed everyone clean of responsibility on the issue cars.

Worse than that, history is getting lost. Resto pictures, documentation, buildsheets. New owners don't understand the value or history and things get misplaced. Turns out, the safest place for a buildsheet or fender tag in on or in the actual car.

And classic cars are typically sold for cash with bills of sale that don't match the actual transaction amount. Great oppurtunity for money laundering.

Crappy, probably AI written, article.

Lots of nothing in it.

Case in point - my car - 71 Duster w/408 stroker 4-speed, wilwood brakes, upgraded springs, sway bars, bilstein shocks

Really nice car, I spent about $35K total - rotisserie restoration also had a lot of great help from friends

Sold it to a guy in Delaware in 2018 for just a tick over $30K, he ends up selling a few months later to a "classic" dealership in Ohio for about what he paid me - $30K - they put it on their website for $50K

Sits there for about year and a half - moves to another Ohio specialty dealership - now they want $70K (I noticed they installed power steering)

Eventually it sold at the 2021 Mecum Kissimmee auction for $68K including commission - billed as a "restomod"

I've been to several of these classic car dealers just to look, not buy. A few of them are fairly large & almost like a small museum to kill time in for a couple of hours with friends. One thing I noticed that seems to be a common trait with these places is that the majority of the cars are not worth the asking prices. They may be nice & not a piece of crap, but still not worth the price. To the average person they all look great & that's what they are counting on. Anyone who has been around these cars for decades & has worked on them knows this.

There is no way I would ever buy a car online without going to inspect it in person. The classic car dealers have a lot of vehicles that would be disappointing to you if you purchased it online & had it shipped.

You must have missed this then troll;
'The recent announcement of Amazon entering the car-selling industry has sent shockwaves through the market, including its impact on Carvana and other online car sellers. The news of Amazon’s entry has caused a decline in the stock performance of online car sellers, raising concerns about the future of this industry segment.

As news spread about Amazon’s foray into the car-selling market, shares of online car sellers, including Carvana, witnessed a significant decline. This development has emphasized the level of competition and the potential disruption that Amazon’s entry brings to the table.

Carvana, being one of the prominent players in the online used car retail space, is likely to face intensified competition from Amazon. With its vast customer base, robust logistics network, and strong brand reputation, Amazon has the potential to reshape the industry dynamics and capture a significant portion of the market share.

The market’s reaction to Amazon’s entry will serve as a crucial barometer for Carvana’s future performance. As the industry adjusts to this new competition, Carvana and other online car sellers will need to adapt their strategies to differentiate themselves and provide unique value propositions to customers.

That doesn't seem like nothing to anyone that knows anything about the car business. So, thank you for showing your working knowledge on the subject.

And here's some hard financial numbers on Carvana from another source that reinforces the conclusions in the link that you can choke on while trying to find fault:

'Carvana has been struggling to sell cars acquired at elevated prices as buyers, hit by inflation and worried about a recession, cut spending. Carvana shares have lost 87% of their value in the past two years. The company's market capitalization is $7.5 billion, well below the $60 billion it commanded in 2021.'

I was just at the Volo Museum and classic car sales yesterday to inspect a car. 90% of the cars there are on consignment, been going there for decades as it is about 5 miles from my house. Usually very nice cars that they know nothing about. Always at least 30% over priced if not more. Of course I go to the auctions and other classic car dealers around the country and most are like that. I find that no reserve auctions usually have a lot of dealer owned or consigned cars that they are just wanting to get rid of and talk the consignors into taking it to auction ...

We had one of those around here for about 3 years. Yep, most of the cars were consignment but at least they seemed honest in one aspect, The cars were nothing special. 74 Camaro, 70 olds cutlass, etc. They had no 442, Z/28s etc. Now the prices, this was around 2015 and they were asking 50k for that Camaro. I figure the owner wanted 20-25k and the other 30k was going to be profit. Like another has said, I was just looking to waste time. Sadly, these type of businesses are not really going entities. Go look on ebag. 20 years ago there were real people selling "real" cars. Now, 90% of the cars are from shops like was mentioned. One also needs to wonder about what lurks beneath with these cars. I might buy a car from someone on this sight who has been here forever and talked about their car. I might buy a car from one of my buddies. I would never buy a car from a dealer. I have bought 2 cars from ebay. Both were exactly as described and it didn't matter as I knew that I was going to have to rebuild everything. Only surprise was the barracuda's rear frame needing replacement.

I wouldn’t use these guys if you are in the market.

http://www.truemusclecars.com/

Would help a lot if guys would stop consigning cars. Plenty of horror stories out there on people not getting paid. You sign over rights to your car when you consign. One classic place in Florida just went belly up, people moved on to using their land for a wedding venue. About 4 million went “missing.” Nobody will get paid after the bankruptcy process, you just know it.

If only people weren’t too lazy to sell their cars themselves, these clowns wouldn’t have inventory, wouldn’t have a chance at a hefty payday to an uneducated buyer, and couldn’t take off with the loot.

most classic car dealers are nothing more than pimps promising you a virgin. What you normally get is a perfumed pig that is nothing close to what was represented. And as mentioned many go from dealer to dealer via auctions. Proceed with extreme caution.

There's a place not far from me I keep an eye on. They've had a few nice looking Mopars in the last year, and every one of them was a clone, but not advertised as such.

And how do the differ from any used car salesman?

so these cars being sold for 50k/100k, 250k, r being sold for cash???? - i find that hard to believe

A fellow vet friend of mine bought a 64 thunderbird in the 60,000 dollar range,a beautiful car and he bought it off the internet before he ever saw it in person I don't think we're that brave!lol!

I believe they are. Every known big time drug dealer where I grew up had a collection. Especially the major one that was tied into the cops so he moved his entire operation the week before a sting. He had more than a few, plus a “used car lot,” that had some classics on it. Somehow every person in town except the cops(ha ha ha) knew he hauled drugs in the tires of used cars.

As was said, paperwork is dodgy on what is actual paid. You can hide a lot of money in plain sight by sticking it into a classic car. Decent inflation hedge, not a real money maker, but is a lot better than securing a pile of ill gotten gains or explaining where it came from.