Saying goodbye to a friend
 

The day of darkness has arrived... I must sell my beloved automobile for the sake of financial well-being. She will be missed:

<img src="http://www.alanbellows.com/ebay/front3.jpg">

We've been together for almost four years now. Sniff.

I'm going to try selling it on eBay, and if I can't get what I want for it there, then put it on the local market. It will not be a happy farewell. First Dave leaves the Cellar, now this. What a lousy week.

Mmmm...

Although I don't really like the newer Camaros, if I was in a state of "financial wellbeing" I'd take that of your hands in a heartbeat...looks very nice.

Under that hood hides a 410 Horsepower supercharged V-8. She's got looks, and personaility. Hopefully I'll be able to find her a good home.

Did you go all out with aftermarket parts?

Did you just use it for cruising? Or was it more for screwing around with the Porshes?

I gave my convertible to charity five years ago. I originally bought it in 1987 as a graduation present to myself for a beat up peice-O-junk car and 10k. It had no retail value to speak of. But it was my favorite car.

I drove that car everywhere from Atlanta to Philly to SanFrancisco to Honolulu (a boat was involved :-) and then from San Francisco back to Atlanta, and finally from Atlanta to Virginia.

I'm still kicking myself for giving it away.

I feel for you, man. Here, have my Bud Light... on second thought... :)

The only aftermarket stuff is performance-oriented... a supercharger system, 4:10 gears, Flowmaster catbacks... I'm not into modding the exterior personally. This car has chewed up and spit out many a Porsche, Vette, and Mustang. I even beat a Viper once, until he decided to use the WHOLE throttle at the next stoplight. Ever seen a dog after it's been hit on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper? That was me.

Mostly it was just an enjoyable recreational cruiser, but from time to time I could not resist the revving of an engine at a stoplight. Fun times.

Great car!

Man that is one nice thing!

How much is it for?

I hate exterior mods. I always liked sleepers. All exterior mods do is get attention. Not once have I wanted extra attention on the road.

I'm surprised you did no work with the air intake, or is the stock alright?

What about the brakes? I admit I know very little about Camaros but I have heard that their weakspots are cornering and braking.

But did your parents drive it over from the Bahamas?

/Philly shoutout

I'm trying for about $15,500... Kelly Blue Book estimates a value at just under $17,000 (minus the supercharger), but I know I can't get that much in this economy. I would be OK selling for as little as $13,000, but that would be too painful.
Stock air intake is pretty good... that big scoop on the hood is actually functional on a stock SS. The supercharger, however, reroutes the air intake to pull air from the bottom... but the funny thing is that it works better that way.... the big scoop routes the air across the top of the engine before it goes in the airbox, so the air is heated quite a bit in transit. The rerouted intake draws cool air from outside directly into the airbox.

The braking on the car is awesome... Camaros before 1994 had shitty brakes, but the 4-wheel ABS on these F-bodies make them stop on a dime. I've had some dicey spots where I've needed good brakes, and they've never disappointed. As far as cornering, it corners well, but not as well as some other sports cars. The stock springs and shocks are made to give priority to a smooth ride over tight cornering... nothing that some Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs couldn't remedy in an afternoon. I also hear that subframe connectors and a Strut Tower Brace do wonders for the handling. Don't get me wrong though, the stock handling is pretty adequate, just not super-amazing.
Well, yes and no. Except for the "Yes" part.

Did you ever take it to the track?
If so what were your times like?

I took it to the track once on a test-and-tune day, when I'd only had it a couple months... I hadn't installed the supercharger yet. My launch wasn't perfect because I wasn't used to racing with the clutch. Despite that, it got a 13.8 second quarter-mile... I'm not sure what that translates to at sea level, the track here is pretty high up, with an elevation of 4225 feet. I didn't run it again because I got sick of waiting for the hundreds of drivers to cycle through, the track was very disorganized that day. But I'm guessing that with a better launch and better shifting, it could have done 13.6 or so.

I used to race my 1996 Z28 at the track all the time, and it was much easier in an auto... although not as much fun.

alan,

what year? mileage? do you have a loan to pay off? If you want I'll make a call or two for you and see if I can unload it.

oh, crap, I just realized your profile has you in Utah.....is that right? I might not be able to help after all.

It's a 2000, with about 54,400 miles on it. I do have a loan to pay off, but the car's booked value is well over what I owe.

I am in Utah, yes. It is pretty expensive to ship a car a long way, I know it's just under a grand to send one from here to New York. Plus, most people are understandably twitchy about buying a car they can't easily test-drive first.

But if you know anybody who's looking, you can have them drop me a line a hot_pastrami@yahoo.com, and I can answer any questions they may have.

yeah, I was thinking of a wholesaler who could pay you cash. Won't get retail, but it's much quicker. Try Autotrader.com for a week or two before you go ebay. less risk. If you DO go on auto trader, I can give you a few tips to make your listing come up toward the top. I used to use them when I was the internet sales manager here. good luck, looks like a sweet ride.

So, Utah, huh....which one of your wives is making you sell it? ;)

It's my second wife making me do it. The car is my first wife. ;)

You think eBay is that risky? I was going to put it on a 7-day auction, and require full payment by cashier's check before delivery. Seemed like a pretty safe method to me. I may have a problem with someone backing out of the deal, but I shouldn't be at risk for getting ripped off. Or am I missing something?

As long as you put a 13k reserve on it, you should be alright.

It's tough to sell performance cars on eBay. On one side you have to try to highlight the performance upgrades and the general performace of the car yet at the same time you need to make it clear that the car wasn't driven at 5,000+ rpm the whole 50k (even if it was).

no, i meant the auction/price thing....if you put a reserve or starting price in that's too high, you don't get bids. If you go too low, you risk selling it for less than you need.

Something else to consider:

You'll need to get your title cleared in order to sell the car. This can be tricky. It depends on how flexible the buyer is. Some time will need to go by after you have their money and while funds are in transit to the lienholder. Also, you'll then need to sign it over to the buyer. I would suggest that you go to a tag place ( if they have those in Ut....some states don't) [if they don't call a dealer and ask their title clerk what to do] and getting a secure power of attorney set up and let the tag place make the payoff for you along with a title release that the tag place can then use to get the title sent to them , and from there transfer ownership to your buyer.

Or you can pay the loan off now, and get the title. but, if you are selling it cuz you have to, i doubt that that is an option.

Well, most people hate reserve prices, so my plan is to just put the starting bid at the minimum amount I am willing to accept. If no one is willing to pay that minimum, then it won't sell. The only risk there is that it won't sell, but that risk is present when selling through ANY medium. In fact, doing it this way helps shield me from calls I'd get if I listed it in the paper or AutoTrader, offering me less than I am willing to take.

As for the title clearing process, I planned to note in the auction that I have to close the loan once I receive payment, so potential buyers would need to expect the associated delay. Hopefully that won't scare off too many bidders. I've never heard of a tag place like what you describe, but of course that doesn't mean we don't have them. I don't really understand how they work from your description, though. I assume they're using power of attorney to do all of the administering of the loan payoff and the title transfer, all for some sort of percentage or flat fee?

I talked to my bank, and they said if I plan to sell the car, I can call them two days ahead of time, and they can get the title to my local branch. Then they can just hand it over when the loan is closed. So I don't anticipate a problem with acquiring the title if the car sells.
Yeah, that'll be tough. The car's been treated well though, with only occasional racing... hopefully I can convey that in a believable way.

hot_pastrami,

If you do post it on eBay I suggest you advertise the auction in all the chevy/camaro/musclecar forums you know. Attention is good.

If I had the $$ I would by it from you but... um... I don't!

Well, if you are moving in w/ (sugar) daddy then just get him to pay for it. I mean, he doesn't want his l'il girl driving around in a 1987 Ford Fiesta now does he?

Then, just change the arrival city of your plane ticket from Denver to Salt Lake, meet the Pastraminator at the airport, trade cash for keys and everyone is all set! :D

Funny... my AIM account name is "Pastraminator." hot_pastrami was already taken, even way back then. Probably some rotten AOL dial-up subscriber. Damn AOL.

Hehehehe hehe hehehehe he posted at 4:20 hehehe hehehe...

:confused: Um, you lost me there...

This might help.