I posted some various things online and on craigslist lately and marked everything "OBO". I've not had a bite on anything, not so much as a tire kicker. I've got hundreds of dollars in parts and stuff that seem like I couldn't give them away. Is this the norm right now?

It is for me - after 7yrs in business, Jul/Aug/Sep are the bottom 3 months for revenue - sucks that they are back to back to back. Things typically pick up for me in Oct/Nov.

My theory is that folks either have their cars dialed in for Nationals and have essentially stopped development, or are busted and broke and on hold till next season.

I just don't want the hassle of trying to sell it, so i hold on to most of my stuff. I couldn't give away the 17x11's for the cost of shipping when time's were good.




Im ready Alan

No one is spending money right now. I've been fixing up/selling beaters for the last 9 months for race money and even that's slow. People are holding on to what they have until it dies and then they want more money for it.

Last winter, I could buy broken cars all day long for $250-300, now the same cars are $400-600.

Sadly I guess that means I'm also going to be stuck with my Camaro too. I had pretty well decided to part it out and get rid of it, dump the truck and find a fun driver that burns less fuel. However, if nobody's spending money that isn't much of an option right now. I suddenly have this itch to downsize and simplify things (I wish I could unload this house too).

The only way to sell stuff right now is to basically give it away. Made $200 on the last beater and I had over 100 hours into it.

Ouch TJ, that's rough...

I was considering buying beater vehicles and reselling them like was mentioned but there are too many down sides to it as apposed to buying and reselling parts. The vehicles have a higher initial cost, can potentially lose a lot more $ if something is wrong, and they take up a lot more space.

I always check a bunch of forums, Craigslist, and swap meets for the things I buy and repost everything there to sell it. Despite the bad economy, it's been working out pretty good for me lately. I just went to a swap meet Saturday and picked up a new set of MSD 8.5 wires for the Camaro for $20. At that swap meet I also picked up a pair of 6 piston motorcycle calipers with braided lines and new pads for $70 and received a payment this morning from someone on an R1 forum for $150.

What I'm doing is similar to playing the stock market. Do it enough and you get a feel for what things will go for and like Alan said, you'll also know when the better times are to buy/sell. Those of you doing vehicles should give the parts market a shot.


Also, is it just me or does it seem like suspension and brake components are selling pretty easily lately?

I have a storage shed full of LT1 vintage parts that I couldn't give away if I wanted.

I think this is the real key... uncertain economy leads to uncertain jobs which leads to holding your money for the "just in case" fund....which in turns aids the uncertain economy.

Yea, I'm sure that's part of what's driving me to reorganize and quit dumping money in this project. I want to get back to dumping heavy money into my 401k and I currently have little interest in this albatross. So I was starting to sell off some of the parts that I had gathered up for "some day...when I get around to installing that" and other things I don't need. The last time I posted stuff for sale, most of it moved pretty quickly. Now it's "crickets", there's nobody even asking questions.

Maybe I should push it all outside and light it on fire. I'd probably still come out ahead in the long run (and I'd get my garage cleaned out which is one of my goals these days).

How much stuff do you really have?

And in a year or less you'll be right back into it with another project car wishing you hadn't sold the one you have now. Just a prediction.


Locally used car prices seem through the roof-trucks especially. Used trucks seem to have skyrocketed since a year ago at least locally. F-bodies are worth just about nothing however. A local picked up an '01 SS in decent condition for $5500. LT1's aren't worth much which is why I haven't parted with mine.

My entire car and its parts, plus assorted other parts and extra parts that aren't on the car, stuff that is on the car and just "stuff".



If I do, it will likely be a Corvette of some description and it will be a street car. I have started to realize that I don't think sanctioned racing is really for me. I seem to lack the dedication, budget and attention span for such things. I always thought I would go racing, but I am realizing that it's just not terribly likely anymore. And I'm starting to think that I might actually consider getting remarried (in the somewhat near future) and I don't know that project cars are going to be much of a priority for a long while. I don't see me running off to the track for racing weekends (that stuff didn't help my last relationship any) and I try to avoid running local SCCA events as a rule (I will run, but my last few outings left a bad taste in my mouth and autocrossing is up to about $50 an event locally these days and that's $10+ a minute to drive my car).



I'd like to sell my truck. I love the truck, but $75-95 for a tank of fuel (her Honda uses $30 to cover the same distance) and since I'm not doing much towing these days... I'd rather have something fun and cheaper to drive. I can't part with the truck if I own the car because at some point I'm going to need to tow it somewhere (potentially).


All of that aside, I was amazed that the stuff I did list hasn't had a single nibble (from craigslist or anywhere else) and that got me wondering if everything had just curled up and died. Looks like it has. Bummer.

Did you post that stuff here at all? I'd take a look.
FWIW, my TA is costing me a lot of $$ this year for some reason, and my Honda wagon too. My wife's car blew up so we bought a new Honda Fit this summer. I'd like to have put that money into real go-fast parts, but that's how it falls. My next fun car is gonna be a little thing, like a 1st gen MR2.

I didn't post the car yet or the main parts, but I have a few things in the classifieds (ATL surge tank for a fuel cell, Spoolgun for a mig welder, I forget what else, and I have some LCA's to get out of the parts pile, etc). I would want to know that I could sell all the parts in a reasonable time frame if I started to strip it. I don't want to deal with having to buy the stuff back again and paying retail. I'd just lose a bunch of money and finish the car anyway. So I haven't posted the full list of stuff for parting it out.

That's almost exactly where I am right now only my car can still be converted back to street duty which is what I'm doing right now. I'm burned out of autocross because of the high $/seat time ratio, but don't have the budget for a full blown W2W race car, trailer, and rig. Not to mention there was a definite clique at local events. I sold my truck in December since I don't tow with it anymore and replaced it with a Honda Fit which actually pays for itself in fuel savings. My wife actually drives the Fit and I drive a beater car since I work at a powerplant. My work is terrible on cars so driving the Camaro is usually out of the question. I've come to realize a nice daily driver is not in future nor is a race car. Instead I'm picking up a supercharged waverunner this weekend something my wife and myself can both enjoy, but that's a tangent.

If you haven't already done so, try listing your spoolgun on weldingweb and the hobart forums. As someone that watches used welding machines and accessories prices almost daily, I think you're going to need to lower your price to sell it. I know you have tips and consumables included, but I can find it for $199 shipped new. If I'm going to buy used from an individual I don't know it's going to have to be a pretty big discount for the risk.

Instead of waverunners, I'm doing more shooting. I taught the G/F how to shoot and she's purchased a Ruger 10/22, an M&P Pro 9mm (with 5" barrel, great gun but it doesn't fit her hand, know anyone looking for one? It has between 190 and 210 rounds through it, LNIB), and an M&P 15. I taught her how to reload and I can't get near the loading bench these days, she's having a ball. So I'm shooting far more than I'm wrenching. I might enter a 3 gun match this weekend (I think I have enough equipment to do so). On the other hand, she's been to the BMW driving school (a couple times as I remember...she worked for BMW) and supports car activities too.

I listed the spoolgun expecting someone to make an offer (I paid $199 new for it myself). You always build in a little for that. I'm not sure why I bought that thing in the first place. I figured it would be quick and easy for aluminum work. Honestly I'd rather just TIG it, so that's what I do. If I have to give it away, I'll just throw it back in the pile of cases in the garage. I doubt I'll ever use it again, but I can keep it for a rainy day if I have to. I'll try those other sites, thanks!

Having reread the above about four times, I now understand why you might be considering getting married again.....

bock

I know with me, my interests tend to go with what I spend my time doing. If I neglect the car and spend a lot of time golfing, I want to get into golfing. Same for shooting, fishing and many other would-be hobbies. But then I come back from a track day and find myself just wanting to get out to the next one...no other hobbies have a lasting pull like that on me.

Seems to me you should stay the course and finish the car. Give it a try before you abandon the idea or you may wind up regretting it someday, and who knows - you might find yourself re-dedicated to your motorsports efforts. If not, the car will probably be worth more as a running driving car than it is as a bunch of disparate pieces. If you're worried about gas costs or whatever in the meantime just sell the truck. Always another truck out there to buy when the car's done.

The way the market looks, it's worth far more in pieces than it is assembled. Sadly there's over $30k (maybe closer to $40k) in this car and I'd probably struggle to get $7,500 out of it. In the current market I'd probably get offers for half of that...if I get any at all. Once it cools off outside, I may just finish it. Right now it's too hot and sticky to work on a car that I don't really feel like dealing with, so nothing else has been accomplished lately. We'll see, I haven't made up my mind yet. Racerdad916 here on frrax is working to convince me that we will finish it and run it. He might be right.

I still haven't decided about dumping the whole project. For now I'm just getting rid of stuff that I don't think I'm going to use for a long time...if ever (even if I keep the car). And even that stuff doesn't look like it's going to be leaving anytime soon.

I'm sure you could give them to me. You know, if you wanted.

Times aren't like they were from 2000-2005, thats for sure. I sold my Camaro-Mustang DVDs on eBay for almost $20 each, those days are long gone, as I'm lucky to sell half the volume now at half the price.

Also, summer is just a bad time... days are longer, people are doing projects and burning the daylight hours. Winter is a better time for the market, as it gets dark early and people are indoors more or in the garage working on the project cars... and spending more time on the internet.