Help! - Sell it or Keep it?

[04ninjachic]

Hi everyone,
I need help/advice on what my options are.
The story: my dad bought an 84 GN in 1996 and did a lot of mechanical work to it to get it running right. Well I inherited the car in 1999 when my dad passed (I was 16 - first car ) so this car has a lot of sentimental meaning to me. I drove it until college when it started having transmission problems. I decided to park it and buy a more reliable car hoping to one day restore it.

Well fastforward 7 years and the car is still sitting at my moms house. I'm married now and would like to have this as my daily driver and give my husband my truck, but financially don't have the money to do so. I could get it going mechanically, but it isn't pretty after sitting for so long. I tried to get a loan from my bank but they wont approve a loan because of the amount of work it needs.

So, should I sell it, what kind of money could I get for it? It needs: Tranny, paint, interior. There is some rust on the bottom of the doors and the trunk lid.

I'd fair better if I could keep it, but don't know how to finance the restoration. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot for your responses!

 

[tb3]

cover it up, store it in a nice dry place till you have a few grand to start putting into it. you'll be glad you did if its so sentimental. its probably only worth about $2,500-$4000 from condition you've described. and thats only if somebody has the money to shell out for it

 

[paintitblack]

Keep it because you might regret it later on. I had the same choice about 5-6 years ago because of a divorce. Even though I haven't driven it in about 7 years (started out as a wiped cam) i'm glad i never got rid of it. I stay positive and throw any extra money at it whenever possible, it's slow but month by month or even year by year, lol, its getting closer to being done. Mine has some sentimental value too, but more of a f-you to my ex-wife because she wanted the sale money out of it, so I will keep mine till the day i die if it ever drives again or not.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Hi everyone,
I need help/advice on what my options are.
The story: my dad bought an 84 GN in 1996 and did a lot of mechanical work to it to get it running right. Well I inherited the car in 1999 when my dad passed (I was 16 - first car ) so this car has a lot of sentimental meaning to me. I drove it until college when it started having transmission problems. I decided to park it and buy a more reliable car hoping to one day restore it.

Well fastforward 7 years and the car is still sitting at my moms house. I'm married now and would like to have this as my daily driver and give my husband my truck, but financially don't have the money to do so. I could get it going mechanically, but it isn't pretty after sitting for so long. I tried to get a loan from my bank but they wont approve a loan because of the amount of work it needs.

So, should I sell it, what kind of money could I get for it? It needs: Tranny, paint, interior. There is some rust on the bottom of the doors and the trunk lid.

I'd fair better if I could keep it, but don't know how to finance the restoration. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot for your responses!

Store the car and keep it. Mine is done and I see all the thumbs up signals when I drive it. The new Fast and Furious movie will only increase the value. Brad

 

[conn84gn]

Keep it
It's taken 10 years to get mine to where I wanted it to be
I get repaid every time I take it out Not many 84GN's out there restored
and people just stare at the interior

 

[charlief1]

Keep it! I have sold several cars that I regret selling, and yes, one of them is because of an ex. This car has 2 good reasons to keep it. 1) It's your first car and the memories are there. 2) This car was restored by your now deceased father and you have the opportunity to do the exact same thing and maybe one of your kids can drive it for their first car. Kinda a cool legacy huh?

 

[04ninjachic]

Thanks a lot for your responses guys!
And f-in funny story paintitblack!

Some kinda good news - I called my uncle (dad's bro) and he wants the car. He's restored at least 5 classic cars in my conscious life so hopefully I'll be able to buy it back from him down the road.
Now, how to get it from FL to Iowa....

 

[turbonut85]

Thanks a lot for your responses guys!
And f-in funny story paintitblack!

Some kinda good news - I called my uncle (dad's bro) and he wants the car. He's restored at least 5 classic cars in my conscious life so hopefully I'll be able to buy it back from him down the road.
Now, how to get it from FL to Iowa....

Who is your uncle, and where does he live in Iowa?? I'm in Des Moines and would love to lend a hand in saving another TR. Of course, I could always keep it for ya if you have to send it to Iowa.

 

[Dwayne]

Might as well keep it, it's not eating anything.......besides....this is a piss-poor time to try and sell a specialty car.

 

[Boostnitup]

Take some pics of it... share it with us!

I couldn't imagine giving up the turbo beast... it isn't about the money.


[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2Gq-KCrik[/YOUTUBE]

 

[novaderrik]

i've had hundreds of cars come and go, but there is only one that i wish i would have never let go.
it was a 1930 Ford Model A 5 window street rod that my dad built back in the 60's. it had a big old Buick nailhead backed by a TH400. big and little reverse steelies, chrome side pipes, no hood, no fenders, '32 grille shell. all steel original body.
my dad died in 1984, and i inherited the car. in the spring of '88 a guy offered me $1500 cash for it- a big pile of $20 bills- and i took the money. i was 13 and grew up poor, so that seemed like a lot of money.
a few years later, after i had gotten my license and really into cars, i wanted the car back. so i tracked the guy down to try to make a deal- he told me "too bad, we made a deal. i'm not selling the car back to you". the real sad part was that he had done NOTHING with the car except let it sit outside behind a barn thru 4 MN winters. i bet if i was to track the guy down today, the car would still be in the same spot, except sunk about 6" into the dirt.
so, no- don't sell it. not even to your uncle. keep it around, and work on it as time and $$$ allow. you won't regret it. as was already pointed out, it isn't costing you any money right now.

 

[turbonut85]

i've had hundreds of cars come and go, but there is only one that i wish i would have never let go.
it was a 1930 Ford Model A 5 window street rod that my dad built back in the 60's. it had a big old Buick nailhead backed by a TH400. big and little reverse steelies, chrome side pipes, no hood, no fenders, '32 grille shell. all steel original body.
my dad died in 1984, and i inherited the car. in the spring of '88 a guy offered me $1500 cash for it- a big pile of $20 bills- and i took the money. i was 13 and grew up poor, so that seemed like a lot of money.
a few years later, after i had gotten my license and really into cars, i wanted the car back. so i tracked the guy down to try to make a deal- he told me "too bad, we made a deal. i'm not selling the car back to you". the real sad part was that he had done NOTHING with the car except let it sit outside behind a barn thru 4 MN winters. i bet if i was to track the guy down today, the car would still be in the same spot, except sunk about 6" into the dirt.
so, no- don't sell it. not even to your uncle. keep it around, and work on it as time and $$$ allow. you won't regret it. as was already pointed out, it isn't costing you any money right now.

Well said.

 

[O SO LO]

Keep It!!! I sold my first fully loaded '84 T-Top GN (a car I actually showed on the ISCA shows for 3 years- pics in sig.) in Aug. 1994. (started family-needed 4-door) Missed that car since the minute it left. I bought my current
car but it won't replace the memories with my original. I located my original about 1 1/2 yrs later and talked to owner-won't sell/or trade and this car has 25,000 less miles than my original. Original T-top car is now sitting in a carport in Washington (yeah, it rains here) and owner won't sell it back. It's been sitting for at least 14 years.