ERA ad idea: IE: I'm so unloved these days

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by kgs365

Bill

the car is beautiful...but ERA Chas nailed it..and please take this with a grain of salt ...(and a stiff drink)..a newer ERA has had some improvements that your car does not..the price you are asking is not that far away from a new ERA built to how an owner would like..if you have $45K to spend you most likely have $50K to buy new and set up how you want it (color, interior, motor etc..Jag rear end vs. ERA rear end)..I appreciate you not wanting to lose $$$...but Bill this is a car not a mutual fund!...most cars depreciate...you buy and sell all the time..there is certainly a better market for these toys in the $20K to $30K range then $40K to $50K (unless its an original classic, and even those have lost significant value in these times, I think you even said your business is down 30%...?...peoples disposable income has also decreased)...

$50K for a small block maybe. No way you're going to get a sideoiler in it for $50K.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

... as the first person I took out for a ride and it started to drizzle, and he flipped out...

Bill, do you not let prospective buyers drive it themselves?

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Bill, do you not let prospective buyers drive it themselves?

No, I took him for a drive. If someone insists on driving it themselves, then they had better come up with my full asking price in cash and I'll have my wife hold it until the car is safely back in my garage. With that in mind, I actually pissed off a potential buyer of Rogers car because I told him that he needed to do that before he was allowed behind the wheel. I told him it is quite simple, if you die in the car, I do not want to have to chase after your widow for the funds to cover my loss of my car. Funny he never came out to look at it .


Bill S.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

...I actually pissed off a potential buyer of Rogers car because I told him that he needed to do that before he was allowed behind the wheel. I told him it is quite simple, if you die in the car, I do not want to have to chase after your widow for the funds to cover my loss of my car. Funny he never came out to look at it .

Uhh, that might sour me a bit as well. But I can see both sides of the issue....

[kgs365]

Bill

the point that sold me most on an ERA was the drive!...once I drove I had to order!...

[PANAVIA]

Its the gerbil brown carpeting.

-- change to black or actual tan. or a deep green, -then the car would sell.

Steve

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

$50K for a small block maybe. No way you're going to get a sideoiler in it for $50K.

I agree. I'm building my ERA myself, doing just about all the work including paint. Using a Keith Craft built 428 and toploader and there isn't any way it is going to come in for under $55K. A sideoiler would probably be another $3K on that. And ERA kit prices have gone up $2K since I took delivery of mine.

Dan

[kgs365]

..great looking car...if you really want to sell it lower the price to reflect the age and color....pouring money into changing carpets, seats etc....doesn't make sense....the price your
($45K) asking is in the neighborhood of a new car..if people are going to spend $45K for a toy they will spend $5 to $10K more to get a new car in the color of their choice

[Got the Bug]

kgs365,

I'm not 100% clear on this, but I think what you're saying is that the car is overpriced (in your opinion). Others seem to disagree. Now that price issue has been discussed, is there anything else that can be done to support your fellow ERA owner and help him sell his car?

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Not even close. You cannot compare a BDR or SPF with an ERA w/427 side oiler. I don't know where you get your prices from, but this car would cost 65k min to build. Buyers are fickle.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

You cannot compare a BDR or SPF with an ERA w/427 side oiler. I don't know where you get your prices from, but this car would cost 65k min to build. Buyers are fickle.

Look, I'm the first one to agree with the ERA/BDR/SPF comparison -- there's no doubt about that. But the truth of the matter is that there are a whole lot of SPF and BDR owners out there that never even heard of ERA. They don't have the slightest appreciation for the differences and, frankly, ERA doesn't put much effort in to educating the pool of potential Cobra buyers. They don't have to -- there's a hefty line of guys waiting to have their's custom made to their liking. All of that though conspires against Bill. Bill has to compete against cars that are not on an equal plane, but the prospective purchasers don't know that. It makes for a tough sell.

[Cashburn]

An ERA is not a car to flip, I think you are learning that the hard way. Stick to cars that are built on par ("factory" types) or down the chain with a $23K FFR. That's the reality of the market.

If you are thinking an FIA is a good candidate for flipping... I think that's even further out there.

Old car, older version, colors are not at the top of anyone's list (and I am a huge green Cobra fan). It's a buyer's world on used cars. I don't know if the changing price has anything to do with it either

[patrickt]

I agree with Cashburn. The reason most of us went with ERA was to get what many of us believe to be the finest Cobra made tailored exactly the way we wanted it. I didn't want an ERA -- I wanted a custom made ERA that has unique settings and characteristics that are exactly geared to me. Now if I were to sell my car, I would either have to drop the price down to where it was a real bargain or find someone out there that was exactly like me (and RodKnock already has a Cobra).

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

... Now that price issue has been discussed, is there anything else that can be done to support your fellow ERA owner and help him sell his car?

Well, although I'm the only current ERA owner, Buckley, Steve and I have attempted to do that. Lower it, change the carpet and tires but realize that the market has been telling you to reprice it. Sexy pictures and Curt Scott will only catch a fool, not a home-work studied buyer. Bill, as an experienced pro, is surely entitled to ignore that advice-but he did ask for it.

Cashburn is totally correct-wrong car to flip and worse yet, bought 'wrong' (too high) for that purpose.

If the car had: the Griffin/ERA aluminum radiator, Wilwood big front brakes, Tilton/ERA brake masters, Billboards or Avons and probably a black wool/leather interior instead of tan, the car could be considered 'good value' at 45K. The powertrain alone cannot support that ask price. The advert does not specify any of these so I conclude the car does not have these later ERA upgrades. Bill's specified a 'non-race' car aimed at the lawn chair and tour buyers-which is fine-but they've shown they'd need this kind of content at Bill's price point. I'd venture that Billboards alone would bring more interest but Bill's made clear he's not going to sink another K into an already too costly car.

In my business, we had an expression to die for: "A good out". If we bought something too high and market conditions turned against us, to free up capital and turn to a better play, we sold at a loss. The trick being to sell at the least possible loss. That was "a good out."

Bill doesn't have to listen to any of us-the market has been telling him what to do. I just don't think he can accomplish the zero loss transaction he desires-but I surely wish him luck.

Uncle Sammy taught me that "There's an ass for every seat..."

[RodKnock]

I think we all can pick on things with everyone's car, Bill's and mine included.

I think it's probably a combination of what everyone has said so far, but mostly, as someone once said, "It's the economy stupid."

[Cashburn]

And dollar vs. euro ain't helping no one

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Uncle Sammy taught me that "There's an ass for every seat..."

Ditto.

This is a really nice looking, WELL POWERED car. Either you wait it out for that buyer who wants this very car/color/engine combo (in which case price will not be the primary buying driver) or you start cutting the price until you find the guy who thought he wanted a silver Backdraft with a 408 until he saw your compelling price. I am also a firm believer that the word "firm" in a car ad is a bad word. Firm says you won't negotiate, so a guy with $40k to spend won't even come look. And if he won't come look, you miss the chance have him and the car together where the car can cast its spell. And you can still be firm at $45k and he can beg momma or plunder the kids' college account for the $5k.

But then, you already knew all this.

Just my 2 cents...

[mrmustang]

Guys,

I want to thank each and every one of you for your posts/view points, this is the type of stuff that really helps..........


Last question for now, if you were to redo the carpet (seats are 2 years old and not going to be recovered again), would you do light tan(similar to the seats) , dark brown, black? If black, wouldn't it look funny with the tan seats and door panels?

Bill S.

[427Aggie]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Well, although I'm the only current ERA owner, Buckley, Steve and I have attempted to do that. Lower it, change the carpet and tires but realize that the market has been telling you to reprice it. Sexy pictures and Curt Scott will only catch a fool, not a home-work studied buyer. Bill, as an experienced pro, is surely entitled to ignore that advice-but he did ask for it.

Cashburn is totally correct-wrong car to flip and worse yet, bought 'wrong' (too high) for that purpose.

If the car had: the Griffin/ERA aluminum radiator, Wilwood big front brakes, Tilton/ERA brake masters, Billboards or Avons and probably a black wool/leather interior instead of tan, the car could be considered 'good value' at 45K. The powertrain alone cannot support that ask price. The advert does not specify any of these so I conclude the car does not have these later ERA upgrades. Bill's specified a 'non-race' car aimed at the lawn chair and tour buyers-which is fine-but they've shown they'd need this kind of content at Bill's price point. I'd venture that Billboards alone would bring more interest but Bill's made clear he's not going to sink another K into an already too costly car.

In my business, we had an expression to die for: "A good out". If we bought something too high and market conditions turned against us, to free up capital and turn to a better play, we sold at a loss. The trick being to sell at the least possible loss. That was "a good out."

Bill doesn't have to listen to any of us-the market has been telling him what to do. I just don't think he can accomplish the zero loss transaction he desires-but I surely wish him luck.

Uncle Sammy taught me that "There's an ass for every seat..."

Bill,

I'll give you my experience on selling #122 and I did that 4 years ago. I had black carpet but red seats and pockets..that caused some concern but I was willing to lower the price $1000 to get it sold. I had the 427SO with 48IDA Webers on it and I got $45 for the car. It had ALOT of the new upgrades.

ERA brake masters, Billboards, aluminum in the engine compartment, new gauges, new steering column, wheel, STAINLESS SIDE PIPES...go on and on. I even bought a new wiring harness for the engine compartment because it was dingy looking to me. I bet I put $10K into upgrades to bring it up to par for what I wanted after I bought it Your competing against much newer cars and unfortunately your going to be compared to an SPF thats probably only a year old and has 3K miles on it.

In my opinion if you want to sell it then your going to need to list it at the current price but put something in the add about a credit to change the carpet and seat color. It needs to be black just because of the broad appeal. Ultimately I sold the car on Cobra Country after about 4 months listed. I know you don't want to hear it but I don't think you will get over $40K for it unless you just catch a person that has to have it and hasn't done their homework.

I know of another ERA locally that sold for $45 and was a newer car with, so it had the exposed rollbar and round tubes on the cross brace. It also had a 427SO but was blue and white stripe so it appealed to a greater audience.

Good luck with the sale.

Matt

[xb-60]

Hi Bill,
Been a member for a while. Never posted before. I've seen your car advertised for a while and thought 'really nice'. I'm in Australia, and import restrictions are very 'restrictive', otherwise I'd definitely be in touch. Price sounds very fair to me. If I bought the car, the only thing I would change would be to put in a black carpet. Best of luck.
Cheers,
xb-60