It feels like there has been a slew of for sale ads recently in the “Overlanding” market, and the list price for a 10 year old used truck is staggering to say the least. After reading through a few of the for sale ads, we’re tempted to sell the DirtRoadTrip JK and 4Runner to buy a new Bentley Bentayga.
Selling a vehicle is never really fun. There are some car guys out there that do it every 12-24 months, but regardless of your negotiation skills, you’re still going to lose money. So unless you’ve got a mint condition Buick Grand National sitting in your garage, be prepared to take a loss.
So what is my rig worth? A good place to start is Kelly Blue Book or the NADA Guide, at this point you also need to be brutally honest with yourself. Your 140,000 mile JK with pin-striping, rock strikes, and 140,000 miles of ass sweat monster energy stickers isn’t in excellent condition, so don’t price it as such. Also all of those modifications? They’re only worth as much as the next guy is willing to pay. Don’t expect to get back 100% of the price of your parts, and you might as well throw labor costs out the window.
Now the good people over at Expedition Portal/Overland Journal/Scott Brady’s basement have decided to list a 2007 Lexus GX470 Sport that has 140,000 miles on the odometer for the reasonable price of $78,500 (you can see the ad here). This ad is a perfect example of what not to do. Is it a clean truck? Absolutely. Is it well built? I’m sure it is. Is it worth $78,500? Possibly, but only to the same guy that just sent his life savings over to the First Bank of Nigeria for a loan to buy the Golden Gate Bridge.
“Why are you shitting on the price of this vehicle?” Because the price on this is just absolutely ludicrous. I get that the price is whatever the market will bear, but a Lexus GX470 with this mileage is worth $14,000 per KBB’s pricing suggestions in excellent condition. That means you have $64,500 left to modify a truck! With $64,500 you can buy a new Land Rover LR4, a new Lexus GX 460, or you can buy a GX470 and build it exactly the way you want it.
Don’t get me wrong, here at DirtRoadTrip we’ve spent a substantial amount of money modifying our rigs, more than we’ll ever want to admit to our wives. Yet we’re also not delusional, and we know that vehicles (with a small exception) are not an investment grade asset. At the end of the day, we don’t expect to get a dollar back for the modifications we’ve put onto our trucks. Are they worth something? Sure. Are they worth retail + labor costs? Let me tell you about this bridge that I have for sale.
So what is your rig worth? It’s worth whatever the guy that wants to buy it is willing to pay. My advice is to keep your truck until the wheels fall off, but if you must sell, you’re better off parting out the truck and getting it as close to stock as possible. If you’re able to find a special buyer that wants exactly what you’re selling, that’s awesome. Just realize that if you’re selling a custom motor home built on an old dodge truck, you might be waiting a long time for that special someone.
it’s worth whatever you can sell it for, but you’ll never get the full msrp of your aftermarket parts back.
Amen. There’s nothing like getting scolded for asking about the price too. I was thoroughly reprimanded for asking a gentleman why his 20+ year old 80 series with over 200k on the clock was worth 80k. Got all the normal responses. “You could never build it for that price”
Amen, as I sit waiting for my mint 1976 scout traveler I constantly debate how much to build it knowing it’s not my final project but a step to enjoyment the next 5 yrs or so. I’ll never expect to get back out what I put into it but hopefully close to the purchase price again would be nice.
Would love to see some photos of the Scout, if it were me, I’d keep it in all it’s stock glory. There are way too many butchered ones out there.