355. How does this sound?

[RJR]

Although im desperate to find a car (i've been looking since December) i haven't really had the time to go off looking at loads of examples... However at the weekend i was offered a 355 ...
Its a 355 Berlinetta '97/p with 37k miles, 5 owners, lots of history stamps, le mans blue, with crema interior, tubi, challenge grill, just had belts, clutch and tires, so its well up together. Its in really nice condition, not concours, but seems a really honest car if you know what i mean, theres no signs of corrosion anywhere, the odd stonechip but thats all...
Im really not sure how to value it, the market seems so varied at the moment, ie 30k up to 55k! and a lot of stuff doesn't seem to be selling at all... i was kind of thinking around the £37k mark, does that sound right???
Any advise much appreciated, thanks...

[tonyh]

sounds very nice with perfect spec, tho the colour wont be to everyone's taste come resale time. If you're serious , time for ppi and hpi . As for price , £37k would be on high side for me. Try £35 k and see what seller says

[jos]

Hmm - I think Tony is being a little mean

You might get away with it but all the new parts plus grille & exhaust suggest to me you are closer

But if the car is advertised above £ 40 you may find even £ 37 is too little - much will depend on how quick a sale is sought - I recently saw an early rhd red with 60000 miles for £ 29 needing belts

At the end of the day if the car presses all the right buttons you may need to stretch your personal valuation a little to ensure getting that car and not spending months (eg all summer) more looking & end up wishing you had bought that one

[RJR]

Thanks for the comments, i haven't seen many cars, but despite the mileage being slightly higher than i hoped for, its probably the nicest one i've seen... There seems to be a lot of cars 'sticking' at the moment in the market, i think £37k ish is realistic, will let ya know how i get on...

[Ade]

There is a good reason why the price bracket (£30-55K) is so wide. See a few cars and you will see why. You are no going for resale red, or a very low-mile car, or a spider, or a late year (98 , 99) car...... so straight away you are NOT going to be paying 50K.

[Murph7355]

From the info provided so far, I'd go with MLT. 35k offer, see what happens.

37k would be the max that car is going to be worth assuming it needed barely anything to make it perfect.

[RJR]

Thanks again for the comments, i think i may hang back a while, having had the time to do a bit more research the last couple of days 33 - 34k is a more realistic value i think.
The search continues....

[tonyh]

Thanks again for the comments, i think i may hang back a while, having had the time to do a bit more research the last couple of days 33 - 34k is a more realistic value i think.
The search continues....

where those leads any good?

[spice]

you would be lucky to get £27k from a dealer, lots of sucking through the teeth, "wrong colour" "spider and GTS fetch more", meet in the middle and it is £33k, wot about warrenty ?

[jdwheeler]

Within reason don't mess about as it takes frickin ages to find a good one.

I paid £45k for a yellow spider early this year. I expect I will lose shedloads when selling it!

I loved the colour and it is in fantastic condition compared to loads I looked at.

Its not worth losing the car for a few K when running costs are so high (few K gets lost in the wash over time) and its so hard to find a good one to your spec.