Is it just me? Car prices

Is it just me. Or have old Mopar prices gone up 20% or more lately. And they seem to be selling. Every car I've been interested in lately seems to sell quickly. Do you think the new electric crap (my opinion) will hurt of help old car prices?

i have to wonder if some people are back to using cars as a hedge against inflation.

They've been increasing for years, but in the last couple, more so.

1. Fewer good ones, limited supply of top-condition cars
2. Dollar buys less (inflation), especially with current Govt.
3. Inflation = hedge buying
4. More awareness & interest among the general public
5. Price justification due to restoration costs - parts/labor/wait times

I think good cars have increased 10-20% just in the last year.

A local guy here is on the hunt for a solid 68-70 B body , Last year His original budget was 40k , but couldnt find much. If it was decent it was gone guick.
He has since upped the budget to $50 k and is still having trouble finding a good car .

Not long ago one could find a decent 66-67 hemi car for upper 30s to mid 40s. That ship has sailed. It seems 60s ( and up ) is the new norm if you want a hemi car. Of ANY year .
I know a couple clones were listed recently for upper 50s AND SOLD

I was on hunt for most of last two years and I think the bump up was more like 30%. I was lucky to find a seller willing to deal on the “old” price as he didn’t want to fool with general public nonsense. When he found out I was looking and was a legit hobby guy, he made me a deal I couldn’t refuse. He readily admitted he knew the car was worth more, but of course he saved listing/auction fees and mainly all the bs people put you through.

And yes, cars go fast, even junk. You need to go up to the 60k and up level to find ones not moving as quick, and even then the better ones go fast.

Not a lot of done and super nice old cars here have came up for sale. Mostly project cars and average stuff being thrown out there. Prices are way up and a lot of these people are going to get shocked when they haul their overbought hoopty project to the body shop and get an estimate. Waiting and buying a done vehicle still seems wiser than paying 10-15k for a project car that used to cost 1/4 of that not long ago.

Newer vehicle prices are lot more too. Used Challengers, Camaros, Ecoboost Mustangs ect have all jumped up 5-10 in the last year or so. Used to see used 5.7 Challengers at or just above 20 and now those are back up to 35 or so. V6 models were mid to low teens and now 25k and up. These are car lot prices. Might get a slight discount buying from a private party.

The stupid people are the ones now buying used core chevy 350 engines off CL for 500 when the pick a part places still sell them for 150-175. Seeing a number of people unloading spare parts they are never going to use for large money.

20 years ago I remember the discussion was these cars were overpriced and nobody would want them in the future and they would only keep depreciating from what they were in the future....how is that working out for you?

Dave

This rapid price overheating on everything including cars and real estate can't and won't last forever. It will go down eventually and likely hurt a large number of people in the process ala 2008.

Observation is the group propping up old car hobby here where I'm at are largely boomers. Not very many below say 55 or so are interested in this stuff so at some point the demand will hit a wall and things will change.

I don't know if it is just Mopars only but this is what I have seen as far as asking prices.
Old anything, runs and drives (any condition) - $20k
Old, runs drives, might smoke a little - $30K
Old, runs, drives, doesn't smaoke too bad, moderately rare and desirable - $40 - $60K
Old, runs drives, high quality resto - $60 - $80K
Old, high quality resto, rare - $1M - $4M.

Yes, guys here are wanting 8k for 4 door Falcons/Comets, Galaxies, Mercury Montegos, Buicks and oddball family cars that nobody wanted before other than for parts cars to steal the engine and maybe the front clip off of if the parts happened to be desirable for use on a 2 door. Used to be any tired 4 door was parts car only and you paid as little and possible, AND the people that were selling them knew they were not worth much.

Old trucks are the worst right now. Long box beaters with high mileage oil covered six cylinders, three on the tree, drum brakes, ect. are now "collectables" and absurdly priced. Some of this stuff they are just buying up at estate sales straight out of a field and asking the moon for it as soon as the title is in their name.

Lots of people lost tons of money in the last two years and are flipping anything they can get their hands on is what I think is fueling a lot of this BS.

I bought my basket case 72 Duster last year for 1500 because I saw they would be hard to obtain in the future. I was right. But never would have even touched this 15 years ago for any price.

How about the '79 Cordoba in the Ebay section that brought 24k on Bring A Trailer?

The dollar is being devalued by the day, so best to buy things with your money while it still has any value!
My dad was an antique things that go boom dealer and I still remember going to things that go boom shows with him in the late 70s and hearing him tell customers hesitant about something on my dads table they were interested in buying being priced a little too high, and my dads sales pitch was a year from now you’ll look back and it will have seemed cheap!
In an inflationary time this is very true.
I’ve been trying to sell my ‘71 Challenger for a while but took it off the market recently as it’s a better investment than cash in the bank to be sure!

An interesting auction blurb in Old Cars magazine last month is that they think mopars have lagged in this run up. Makes me question what these guys do for research. Was mentioned in a report on a 70 383 cuda automatic that gaveled for 60k.

Look back 50 or so years at the the model T, Model A, and restored V8 ford prices. As the generations that grew up around them passed asway so did the prices. History repeats itself. Throw in the greenies, the EV push and Restomods with the newer drivelines. Remember when the 70-80's Street rod market overtook the 100 point restored cars price wise?
I want a car like grandpa had but I want tilt, heat, air, PS,PB, PW, CC and the ability to cruise at 70 MPH all day long
It's just a matter of time IMO.

This is probably only having a small effect on the low end of the market, but I read an article a while back about people using older cars for regular transportation. The article specifically mentioned that some younger guys see the advantages of buying an older, compact car for frequent use. (They can repair themselves, purchase price is, or should I say "was", reasonable, fuel consumption is reasonable, etc.)

I've talked with a few guys in this area that are driving older vehicles for regular transportation. They prefer the "character" of the classics. The one guy said he couldn't find a new car he liked, so he fixed up an old pick-up truck instead. He had a newer vehicle to drive when the weather was bad. On sunny days, he drives his truck with a smile on his face!


Edit: The forces mentioned in some of the previous post certainly play a larger role in shaping the market, particularly on the more desirable / expensive cars.

Our cars are being retrofitted with all that every day. Ever heard of a 'resto-mod'? The housing and car markets may well be over heated today. But then so is the stock market. But while they may take a hit and return to reality, that doesn't mean that they will collapse and die. And those old Fords you mention are still very hot as rat rods and as original hot rods. So, while the total OE restos may fade a bit, new updates will keep those cars popular. Same as our Mopars. I added a 518 to my Cuda so that we can cruise to events farther away. And A/C may have to come in order to keep the wife involved. Those are things that I would not have considered years ago. But, technology and our flexible platforms allow for progress. So, it's possible that our cars may go up or down in value at any given time. But they were cool (and desirable) 50 years ago and will be for the foreseeable future.

It's a world wide market for the muscle car and old cars in general that can be comfortably enjoyed. The overseas market has become a huge driver in pricing. It out weighs the lack out interest in the younger US population enough and seems to be increasing. Prices will fall when the economy eventually takes a nose dive but I believe there will be enough world wide interest to keep things going.

Predicting future vintage car prices and trends of what cars will get the most money at some future time is like predicting the stock market. Everyone’s got an opinion and no shortage of big hat no cattle types out there who will insist they’ve got it all figured out.
At best peoples opinions range from WAGs to educated guesses.
At least for me, I buy what I like and if a car I own goes up, great. If it being worth less later, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a hobby, not my 401K. If I’d focused on boating or RVs as a hobby, or even another facet of the automotive world like racing or off-roading, I wouldn’t be speculating about what my boat or RV, bracket car or Jeep would be worth in 5 years, it would be worth less than I’ve put in it! So if I buy a vintage car I’ve lusted after for a long time, and enjoy fixing it up, and driving to cruises and shows, but down the line it’s worth less than I have in it, why should that be any different than those other hobbies?
For the record I’ve never sold a car for a profit and although I’d like to think several of mine are worth more than I have in them, I hang onto stuff forever so they’ll likely get sold at an estate sale someday meaning I’ll never even know if they were a “good investment”.
I can understand people getting upset about feeling priced out of the market. I’ve wanted a hemi car since I was a teenager and due to how much they’re now worth I may well never achieve that dream. But there’s always cars available in lower price points. My most recent Mopar acquisition bought last summer cost around 20 grand, and so far I’m enjoying it more than I’d enjoy a hemi Challenger I’d love to own but would have costed 10 times as much and maybe I’d even be scared to drive much. So everyone should be able to own some cool car they’ll like even if they’ll never be able to afford a hemi cuda or Charger Daytona.

All cars have skyrocketed in price over the last year.
I don't buy cars as in investment unless I know I'm buying a car at a great deal that I know i'm gong to sell at some point. Otherwise I buy what I want and since I don't have endless money usually it needs to be a good deal to get me interested in buying to begin with.

We're seeing similar prices on the FMJ forums. People wanting $20k for a damn /6 Aspen and $2k for a roached out roller with holes in it. No idea if the stuff is selling though.

Used car prices are up WAY more than 5-10%
Try closer to 30%

Meant to say 5-10 thousand and not percent.

How do people get loans if the high and low book values for used vehicles is out of date and doesn't apply? Seems that way for in demand vehicles at least.

We don't use 'books' anymore. Evaluations are done with on-line sources. Much faster updates.

A 30% increase in value is actually a bit light. Somewhere closer to 40% would be more accurate. And reasonable mile older stuff can be double. Just one example; I evaluated an '09 Lincoln MKX a couple of weeks ago. Last year's Manheim Market Report put a 100k unit's average selling price at auction at around $2,200. This year, that car is averaging over $4,000. And the MKX is not exactly a primo piece.

Crazy stuff which will continue until new vehicle production catches up with demand. But that is not imminent. And meanwhile, some manufacturers are changing the game by moving away from large inventory on lots and to a build-to-order profile. Interesting times in the car industry which will never again look like it did a couple of years ago.

i still don't understand 68-70 chargers needing EVERYTHING restored, selling for 14.5k.............
i have seen that in person, and i still don't understand it !

Uncle Fed tossed thousands at people with the idea being they were going to use it on essentials like food and rent. Instead, they spent it on toys and inflated the prices. If you are in the market for a toy then wait a little while longer.

Mark, you have a point about "unkle fed", but examples like i have seen, have been going on for at least the last 4-5 years.
if i had not been present at the transactions, i would have called out a big B-S !
i guess owning my car since 1970, and knowing how much it cost me back then, makes my old mind act like an old tv when it's on the fritz seeing prices in today's market.

Chargers have always been more money than other B bodies as far back as I remember. Only so many nice ones left, and they look amazing so lots of people want them.

Vintage trucks and SUVs have been going up up up for awhile now, even before Covid hit and government started helicoptering out huge amounts of money and devaluing the dollar.
Certain classes or cars will routinely get popular and rise in price greatly in short time periods. When I first started getting interested in collector cars in the 76-77 timeframe 55-57 T birds were the hot collectible if my memory serves. And I’ve seen many other car classes and cars get hot in the 40+ years since.
Mopars have had a few spikes in that time. Late 80s/early 90s and the 2001-2008 periods most notably
Recently it seems that it’s been more specific Mopars that have got hot. Forward look cars, 68-70 Chargers and ‘71 cudas.
But perhaps now the whole muscle era Mopar spectrum is spiking again?

Have you seen the prices of the 70s-99 GM trucks? if they are clean they cost as much as a new truck, then of course everyone with a beater thinks they're sitting on gold too.

So the prices might be high!
Are there really buyers right now?
I listed a rarer 71GTX a couple months ago.
It wasn’t astronomically expensive but it wasn’t 40,000 either.
There was some action when the ad was new .
But .. not many offers .

So what is really going on with the market right now ?

10 years ago the for sale swap meet was blowing up .

And not for nothing, but why shouldnt values be goin up
It costs a fortune to restore one..