Selling an FSJ. my experience

[alexander]

hi, this is just a short post-mortem, having sold my 1981 Cherokee, as it is hard to know at the best of times what to expect when selling any car! briefly...
*car was in fair condition cosmetically, pretty good mechanically.
*few light oil leaks and a/c not cooling
*loads of new parts
*a/c aside, everything worked.
*advertised for $3000
*was advertised here and later Carsales.com
*got off to a slow start, but picked up after putting it on carsales.com
*had about 10 people contact me over the space of 4 weeks. 1 bought it. 2 were interstate. the other 7 all said they would come have a look, but not one of them did!
*sold it for $2500, having lowered the price
*one of the interstate parties did offer to buy it, but only minutes (literally) after the one person who inspected it, said he would buy it.
*the buyer was actually an italian here on a working holiday, so not at all the sort of buyer i was expecting. i actually tried to discourage him several times as not being suitable for him.. funny how these things go.

so, i think $2500 to $3000 was the right price point. straight onto Carsales.com would likely have hastened the process. it reminded me the importance of starting well before rego becomes an issue. in this case it only had 2 weeks left when it sold; much less than that and you have to either give it away, or be prepared to send it to the crusher!

anyhow, just some thoughts in case it assists anyone else getting ready to sell an aging jeep .

cheers
alexander.,

[tassiecj6]

Originally Posted by alexander

hi, this is just a short post-mortem, having sold my 1981 Cherokee, as it is hard to know at the best of times what to expect when selling any car! briefly...
*car was in fair condition cosmetically, pretty good mechanically.
*few light oil leaks and a/c not cooling
*loads of new parts
*a/c aside, everything worked.
*advertised for $3000
*was advertised here and later Carsales.com
*got off to a slow start, but picked up after putting it on carsales.com
*had about 10 people contact me over the space of 4 weeks. 1 bought it. 2 were interstate. the other 7 all said they would come have a look, but not one of them did!
*sold it for $2500, having lowered the price
*one of the interstate parties did offer to buy it, but only minutes (literally) after the one person who inspected it, said he would buy it.
*the buyer was actually an italian here on a working holiday, so not at all the sort of buyer i was expecting. i actually tried to discourage him several times as not being suitable for him.. funny how these things go.

so, i think $2500 to $3000 was the right price point. straight onto Carsales.com would likely have hastened the process. it reminded me the importance of starting well before rego becomes an issue. in this case it only had 2 weeks left when it sold; much less than that and you have to either give it away, or be prepared to send it to the crusher!

anyhow, just some thoughts in case it assists anyone else getting ready to sell an aging jeep .

cheers
alexander.,

I sold my 85 Sportsman to my neighbour

[Richo]

A bit like every car/badge community......
A lot admire it on the build.
Some wish they had one.
Very few will.
But EVERYONE says its too expensive when you go to sell it and they could build one for cheaper.

I tipped a lot into my FsJ build. Literally everything had been replaced, renewed, or rebuilt. Including some very expensive upgrades, ie full float high pinion Dana 60 rear diff.

I tried to sell it complete for $8500, then eventually dropped as low as $6k.

Ended up parting most of it.... At last count over $14.5k. Including some bits I gave away ( as you know Alexander ). Still have another couple of grand in bits in the shed.

[alexander]

geez Richo, you did well parting it out! i might have tried the same but for lack of any space to use for the process.

and while i am posting, many thanks for your help with some parts along the way Richo. you are a very helpful and agreeable person to deal with, and that was most appreciated.

so true what you say about it being too expensive when you are actually selling it! i was most amused by the fact that of about 8 people in the sydney area who called, and a couple of whom said they were really keen, only 1 actually came to look. now, at this time, there were only 2 of these for sale in australia (well, looking here, Carsales.com and Ebay). neither was in NSW. one was asking $6500 for an unregistered inhabitant of a barn, and the other wanting $11,000. so, if there was NO other car to look at in sydney, and i am asking < half of the cheapest altenative, why would you even call if you didnt want to come have a look?? not that i mind, or was even surprised - i know what it is like trying to sell cars. still, i just cant figure out why one would even call.

[Wooders]

Grave Dig.
Glad you didn't part it out Alexander because I now own it
Currently off the road for rust repairs and bit of freshen up.

[Bomber]

Sounds like it suits the foreigner perfectly. An unregistered, untraceable, station wagon to live in while on the road. Thousands of them on our roads, just go to any holiday spot from Coffs to Broome.