Has The VX Market Gone Soft?

[fotomaker]

I have noted recently that 2001 VXs with low miles are selling cheaper and cheaper lately. Has the bottom dropped out on us?

Here is a 2001 with 53K that just expired on eBay.
Not one bid at a $ 7100 minimum.

I guess I over paid for mine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=230826157804&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#ht_2580wt_1017

[VX KAT]

I think the New York location (possible rust issues), and high opening bid of $7,100 may have some bidders hesitate.

I've always seen that high opening bids get less bidders....nobody wants to think they "could have gotten it for less".....but a lower opening bid, even with a reserve, gets way more activity.

[Scott Larson]

Sue just hit the nail on the head about rust issues, it seems to scare off more buyers then high miles do!

[VEHISIC]

I just think everyone wants one, but no ones willing to pay or has the money to do so. Mines clean, great mileage, NO RUST and I'm hurtin for a sale.

[Gussie2000]

VEHISIC you press the right button.

I personally wouldn't make a bit of rust to stop me buying a good,well maintained and running VX.

Rust is a fix i rather 100X deal with than engine blowing up and/or transmission,but again, IMO

[H3_VX]

The fact is, people looking specifically for a VX are few and far between.

[H3_VX]

Sue just hit the nail on the head about rust issues, it seems to scare off more buyers then high miles do!

Isuzu's have to be the most rust problematic vehicles in history.

[Osteomata]

Yeah I have been half heartedly trying to sell for over a year, but I kinda swung for the fences on my price. Now that I have gotten serious and realized that there are very few people looking in Florida, I finally broke down and did the ebay thing. reserve met nearly 2 day before auction end, and things are looking good with 2 hours to go, a half dozen different bidders and 67 watchers. Course i assume nearly all the watchers are you people just being curious, heh.

[Scott Larson]

Best of luck Osteo!!

[Osteomata]

And sold at $8,100.

[blacksambo]

Congrats!

[vehiXrs]

99.9% of people have no clue what a vehicross is , or who makes it, so probably 1 reason its a limited magrket & others may be worried about availabilty of parts.

[Chopper]

sold to another Floridian?
We have our share down here. Hope it stays local

[BigSwede]

Isuzu's have to be the most rust problematic vehicles in history.

Guess you aren't old enough to be familiar with the Chevy Vega...

[Scott Larson]

...or the original Honda Civic, or the AMC Matador...

[Osteomata]

sold to another Floridian?
We have our share down here. Hope it stays local

No sold to a North Dakotan. He is coming to FL for the RNC convention, and will pick up and drive back. The irony is not lost on me.

[VEHISIC]

awwwwwwwCOMMON! i live JUST north of north dakota, damn it. yea i had a few florida and cali people interested in mine but the massive shipping or drive home completely turned them off....UGH living in Canada lol jk

[xtrmes]

I've been looking for a VX for a few weeks now. The first one listed in this thread is missing all the AC stuff. So I think that had allot to do with selling it. I was finding on average $8995 for ones with 125000 miles on them at dealers.
I found and bought one locally this weekend a 99 with 98000 miles on it. Picked it up for $6000 its like new. Needs nothing no rust even good tires.
And yes its in NY and has been since new.

[fotomaker]

I purchased My 2001 Dragon with 25k miles for $12k.
At the time prices for such a find were hinting at a potential of 13-16.
We are talking the last year made with really low miles in excellent condition.
This is not a debate about rust or abuse issues.

I now see 2001s with 50K selling for $10.5... MAX!
That appears to be the bottom dropping out of the market for my VX.

My Dragon now has 35K on her and is still in the same excellent condition when I bought her.
I've been considering selling since I bought my new 22 year old Celica AllTrac.

But... For 10.5... I'm not selling!

[Osteomata]

I bought mine three years ago for $8,200, and had to spend another $300 for the back seat, so call it $8,500. Three years 36K miles later I sold it for $8,100, and the OEM floor mats for $100, so call it $8,200. A drop of $300 after that much time and mileage doesn't look like the bottom dropping to me. It looks a lot more like the normal depreciation of a ten year old vehicle is almost offset by a "collector effect."

fotocollector, I don't get your logic at all. Two years ago you bought a 25k miles VX for $12K. Now, two years, later, a VX with 50K is $10K. How is this the bottom dropping out rather than a very reasonable depreciation? 2 years and $25K miles means a lot to a vehicles value.

[fotomaker]

You said it yourself.

You drove yours for 3 years and 36k miles for $ 300.00.
Mine is two years and 10K miles for a $ 1500 drop.

Yours more than held it's value while mine appears to be depreciating faster and harder.
This appears to be the trend for now. The best possible specimens are not holding their value as well as the high milers.

[evillecutter]

i think some people are scared that a car with too low of milage has been neglected (even though they usually look nice) - cars are made to be driven and when they sit too long its not good - plus, ebay is a horrible place to sell a car 99.99999999% tire kickers and low ballers wanting the deal of the century

[Gussie2000]

In my entire point of view the mileage doesn;t scare the ***** of me more the lack of care and maintainance.

Car with 23000 miles and no clue of service records against another with 60000 and all service record available :

Don't know about you,but in am driving off the lot with the the second choice for sure.

[Osteomata]

Well we are all working with limited anecdotal data here, but I guess I just don't see normal depreciation as a "bottom dropping out" indicator or trend. Your depeciation is faster than mine but it is to be expected as the mileage and age goes up.

I would be interesting to get hold of sales data and graph it over time, particulaly if you could control for mileage variance.



You said it yourself.

You drove yours for 3 years and 36k miles for $ 300.00.
Mine is two years and 10K miles for a $ 1500 drop.

Yours more than held it's value while mine appears to be depreciating faster and harder.
This appears to be the trend for now. The best possible specimens are not holding their value as well as the high milers.

[sean_grigoros]

i bought my third VX and paid 11000 4 months ago, with 43000k, spent 3000 for shipping and import duty, spend 2000 for tire and suspension, but yet nothing is better to see other driver turned their head to look at my car, who said only porsche and ferrarai is attractive. LOL

[xtrmes]

I would say the bottoms dropping out. Its the fact that there 11 to 15 years old and there valued just like any other car. The general public doesn't look at the as being rare because 99% of the people have no clue to what they are.

[VXorado]

I would say the bottoms dropping out. Its the fact that there 11 to 15 years old and there valued just like any other car. The general public doesn't look at the as being rare because 99% of the people have no clue to what they are.

This ISUZU badge doesn't help. Check out craigslist... average selling price on a trooper/rodeo is probably around $3k. How much can a VX sell for if other ZU's with the same drivetrain are selling for so little? I love my ZU but the name doesn't hold a good reputation...at least in the US.

Still I don't see the average selling price to drop below $5K-$8K for well running VXes even with higher mileage. The cheap VXes all have mechanical issues.

[89Vette]

i bought my third VX and paid 11000 4 months ago, with 43000k, spent 3000 for shipping and import duty, spend 2000 for tire and suspension, but yet nothing is better to see other driver turned their head to look at my car, who said only porsche and ferrarai is attractive. LOL

"Attractive" can mean more than one thing. Attracts attention OR is nice to look at. Car wrecks and fires attract attention. Maybe you should take a poll for non VX owners to see what their real perception is.

Now that I put big, flashy dubs on mine, it's gets noticed way more often. But, I have no idea what people are thinking. It would be presumptuous to decide on my own.