Value of my 1974 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[FeralOne]

I'm curious what the Mud members think my rig is worth:

For Sale - 1974 FJ40 San Diego, Ca.

It's listed in the classifieds, I'm asking for 12,500. What's your opinions? It's worth at least that to the right buyer, being stock and straight with minimal damage.

Thank you,

Dave

 

[3_puppies]

has there been any inquires?
why the different color paint on each side?
I think there is more rust than you think. rear sill, fender, hardtop just from the pics posted

 

[FeralOne]

None yet. True there will be bondo and rust in the rear sill, etc. and the usual rust. But looking at the backside (under the truck) of the sill not much goes though all the way. I welded in stock patch panels because the PO had cut them out and installed flares. The rattle can "sky blue" obviously did not match the rest of the truck.

 

[Pierps]

I really don't want to insult you; please don't take this personally. If I were in the market to buy, I would react to your rig as follows:

FJ40's are very rust prone. Any signal that the rig might have significant rust issues or may have had low quality prior repairs will either scare me off, or require a very low price (i.e., less than $5k), since the cost of tub replacement or patching is considerable.

Your rig has some of those signals. The rust coming through on your front fender for example, shows a good amount of bondo around it. This indicates that a previous owner was in the practice of covering rust spot with bondo. The dark blue paint on the quarter panels also indicates a hasty repair. There's through-rust in your rear sill, which rusts from the inside out. The rust on the hard top is in a spot that is tricky to repair.

This fact pattern will give buyers concerns that there are many more issues he or she can't see. My experience bears this out- i paid $11,500 for what I thought was a nice rig, only to find gobs of bondo covering rust. 8 months later i'm ALMOST done fixing all of the rust and body damage.

So my brutally honest view is that it is worth about $5k. Again, I really mean no personal insult here.

 

[Ian Macdonald]

I would pass on it for $12,500. I may test drive it for $7,000. I'd buy it at $5,000. After a test drive, still. Not buying sight unseen (except for a couple of pics and the owners 'assurances') again . I paid $3,500 for mine. Lots of little things to fix.

 

[thebigredrocker]

You mentioned the right front was hit. When I read that, I assumed it was bashed in then repaired. I see a big scratch, if that’s all the damage you might expand on that in your for sale listing. Also if I were buying I’d want some interior and engine bay pics. Nice work on the rear quarter repair. Cheers

 

[FeralOne]

Live and learn, I guess. Just because I love the thing doesn't mean others will.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

 

[sproggy]

AS they say, it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It certainly looks pretty nice. It would depend a lot on how it drives. If it feels real smooth and reliable, stops well, starts easy, etc...that would make all the difference. We east coast folks probably are not bothered as much about some rust/bondo. Unless you did a frame off super weld job/new panels all of us in this neck of the woods are driving around with varying degrees of rust and bondo. We wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[FeralOne]

Thanks sproggy, it's hard to put a price on these things. Also, I assumed anyone searching this site would know about and expect rust on these rigs-except for the frame off restos you mentioned. Guess I'll be keeping her for a while longer!

 

[sproggy]

Hard to put a price, especially when you see them listed for over 100 grand on ebay...what???!!!! Here in Mass, they price them at $5000 for parts cars just about.