Provenance...

[Scott Larson]

As our VXs get older, along with the rest of us, that all-too-important word "provenance" comes into play, regarding it's value! To that point, I'm curious; who among us knows and can prove the true history of our individual vehicles? I thought it an interesting question, as I know nothing of my VXs history, but am surely curious...

[Scott Larson]

Deermagnet, I'm thinkin' you can prove yours to conception!

[Ldub]

I have no absolute proof, but have the word of the used car dealer, & the original POS dealer, that mine spent the first years of her life, & the first 9700 miles, here in Fargo.

The PO bought it new in late 99/or early 01, & drove it very little.

I've maintianed stewardship of her since I found my "life size HOTWHEELS" ever since the " @ 1st sight" moment back in the spring of 04.

All the rest is history...mine & hers...

[Scott Larson]

"POS" dealer, would that be "point of sale" or "piece of sh%t", inquiring minds want to know?

[RickOKC]

The records that came with my VX don't include everything, but I have receipts going back to 2007. At least it's later life is somewhat-documented and covers a lot of the "biggies" (timing belt, water pump, CV boots, brake pads & flush, etc.)

[Ldub]

"POS" dealer, would that be "point of sale" or "piece of sh%t", inquiring minds want to know?

I knew that would get asked....

[johnnyapollo]

I have everything relating to mine - even some paperwork I'm not supposed to have.
http://www.wildtoys.com/Vehicross/MyVX.asp

-- John

[WormGod]

I have at least the window sticker of mine from purchase. From 32 miles on the ODO, it has been in my possession. It's seen some good times, and bad. But no matter what, if I were to ever hand over the keys, I could personally answer every question about it's history to the new owner.

[vt_maverick]

Seems like provenance would only matter if you were the original owner or if you had documented proof that someone famous owned your VX at some point. Those of us that bought ours used with low miles have some advantages on maintaining our VX's, but if the previous owners weren't famous I can't see that helping resale value.

My VX is a bit unusual because it had 4 owners in the first 22K miles (counting me). But thankfully the previous 3 owners managed to keep all the original materials so I have everything that new owners were supposed to receive.

[frankd14321]

Don't know the whole story but it spent it's whole life in Ohio mostly... the car fax was 100% clean and had every time it switched owners down. Seems it got repoed a couple times.. but with only 60k on it no dents, a perfect roof, and NO RUST... i think it was a garage queen.

[nfpgasmask]

Well, I am the second owner. Had it since 23,500 miles. Bought it from a Mercedes dealership after the original owner traded it in. I supsequently found the identity of the original owner (his name and phone number were in the VX manual pouch) and I contacted him about maintenance records which also resulted in getting an additional key fob that he found for it after he traded it in. So I know my VX was sold in Chicago to the original owner who had it since 2002-2006 and then traded it in, whereafter I bought it and the rest is my history.

Bart

[Scott Larson]

[QUOTE=vt_maverick;239845]Seems like provenance would only matter if you were the original owner or if you had documented proof that someone famous owned your VX at some point.

Rarely does the notoriety of previous owners come into play, it's more about proving the history of a collector vehicle to prospective buyers. The more documentation you have for said vehicle, the more saleable that vehicle becomes. Of course if you also have proof that Angelina Jolie owned it too, that certainly doesn't hurt it's resale value...

[Ebenezr]

Well the first owner of mine put 75,000 miles on it the first 3 years. It was originally sold to an individual on the East coast of Florida. There was also a police woman in that area that had a VX. Mine has Police Interceptor badges and the rt side markers are blackened out. Hmmm. Then the next owner cut a twelve inch hole in the cover over the spare tire for a sub woofer. but someone put a nice lift on it.

[Etfren]

I like to make jokes about how mine is a clean 1 owner (now two) rig, clean title, no accidents. Everything I know about it is from reading through Alan's forum posts. I was mostly looking for what mods and such he did to it, but I found some stories of his driving practices as well.

[vt_maverick]

Rarely does the notoriety of previous owners come into play, it's more about proving the history of a collector vehicle to prospective buyers. The more documentation you have for said vehicle, the more saleable that vehicle becomes.

Do you think that still applies in the modern age of CarFax, AutoCheck, and dealership VIN databases that track rare options? No they're not 100%, but neither is some guy's memory and his documents which may or may not be authentic.