'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Topic: '86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but..... (Read 1215 times) previous topic - next topic

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #15 – October 10, 2011, 10:56:05 PM

^ agreed.. i've come across some decent, easy resto TC's and 5.0 birds for around 2k less, that wouldn't take much more than a week or 2 at a body shop to be mint.. maybe not AS low of mileage, but still under 70k on the clock.. for someone to pay 5800 for a 3.8 bird to just swap a 5.0 or 2.3T in, is just non-sense in my book.. 5, 10 or 20 years from now, you'll be lucky if the car is worth what it was as a 3.8 because it's no longer numbers matching. and to keep the 3.8 in it would just be stupid in my eyes.. 3.8's suck.. that's not my opinion, that's a cold hard fact. they have nearly no power and aren't that great on gas.

say you want to show the car. most people are going to walk up, say ' that's a clean bird,' then basically shun the car because it's a 3.8. at least that's what i'd do :p lol it's my strong belief that the 3.8 shouldn't have even been considered for the birds until 89, when the SC/XR7 was introduced. i also believe it was a bit stupid of ford to squash the 3.8 SC motor for the XR7 for the 91 model year.

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #16 – October 10, 2011, 11:05:57 PM

I think the right way to look at these cars is simple math. Could you find a clean rust free car with a super clean interior, and have only a motor swap to do, or join the throngs of us endlessly searching for things as simple as a console plate or a moulding? I like the search and find, but its not for everyone. I had a easier time rebuilding my front clip on my 70 Torino vert, (now sold) with NOS parts than locating the most basic parts for my 83 Heritage. So, a mint original paint job, with a rust free body and mint interior for a 83-86 Bird/Cougar is worth at least 6K if you want your sanity. We are so used to stealing these cars for parts and such, that it seems very high a price to pay. But its really not..... JMHO.........

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #17 – October 10, 2011, 11:14:41 PM

Quote from: vinnietbird;369733

I'm starting to question if it really is too much. I mean, these cars are getting harder and harder to find, especially in great shape with really low miles. You may look back in another year or two on that "too much" statement and and think twice.

+1. I think that's around a realistic price for that nice of a T-bird. I'd rather start with a car in good condition than one that needs a bunch of work to make nice before it gets modified. Think about it. If you have to do body work, repaint the car, and then restore the interior (which is a pain since there are no reproduction interior parts) you'll end up close to a $5000 clean car when you ad up the cost. Then again my T-bird never degraded to "beater" status. It's been constantly maintained all these years. If something broke it was always fixed. It doesn't feel like a 24 year old car. If you can find a well kept one for less it is a great alternative to a low mileage car.

Quote from: ZondaC12;369756

There's a 20th anny in I dunno Illinois or wherever it's in that's been listed on ebay like 4 times in a row, the last couple of weeks he hasn't re-listed it. But each time the bid went no higher than $3k. I think the last time it faltered at like 2,500!! 50k on it, claimed never seen rain, etc. A low-optioned one but really nice. There's one in about the middle of this state that seems in about the same condition, on CL, for the last year and a half I've seen it listed for $3950. Just dropped his price to $3700. I'm kinda surprised these two aren't asking in the range of that T-bird. I'm thinking of snapping up that one near me pretty soon, once some space becomes available.

I've seen T-birds have greater asking and selling prices than comparable year Cougars. I think it has to do with T-birds having a larger following than Cougars.

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #18 – October 10, 2011, 11:22:42 PM

In the big picture, how could you go wrong for that price for a like new car to jump in and have fun? A rebuilt smallblock will cost you that much. From the pictures it looks clean and I'm sure it would get a lot of attention even w/ the 3.8. You just don't find low mileage clean examples of these cars everyday. It might be a tad bit high based on some low mileage examples I've seen sold recently but not too crazy.

Just glad it's not close to me! :hick:

JMHO too.

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #19 – October 10, 2011, 11:46:43 PM

Well a nice Bird that has near perfect paint and rust free is defiantly worth something... At 13K mi, should be able to sell the drivetrain and offset some of the cost... Yeah I mostly agree with Carm on his engine observation, though it doesn't take much to awaken the Turbo engines, but I wouldn't have anything that sounds like a old tractor when idling(4cyl with performance exhaust)... If I had to drive it with the 3.8, wouldn't want it at any price...

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #20 – October 11, 2011, 02:21:11 AM

+10 Vinnie

'86 V-6 T-Bird for $ 5,800 ??? ....less than 13,000 miles....looks nice, but.....

Reply #21 – October 12, 2011, 11:21:58 PM

For my 2¢, it's a very reasonable deal ---- assuming that the car is what he says it is.

If I was serious about it, I'd probably show him $5k as an offer. Money talks.