It Sure Pays to Do Your Research !!!

[shootnstarz]

Drove to Baker yesterday, cash in hand, to buy this rare car:

http://okaloosa.craigslist.org/cto/4631367908.html

Once I got into the usual inspections I quickly discovered the car is a fake, had been repainted and badged as a GTA.

I've been looking for a Z/28 but a friend pointed out this Trans Am and how rare they are so I figured it would be a good investment. Not being educated on Trans Ams I spent several hours the night before studying and absorbing all I could find out about those cars, including a lengthy article on how to spot a fake.

Everything on the car was correct for a GTA except the 2 things they can't change, the VIN and the RPO codes.
The VIN showed it was originally a 305 car, all GTAs came with 350s. And the RPO codes showed no GTA code nor the suspension code that usually comes with those cars.

Had I not done all that research I would have probably fallen for a fake, the rest of the car matched perfectly. So if you're not 100% sure of what you're buying spend some time doing research. It just may save you five grand.

Rick

 

[RidgeRunner]

Very True Rick, I couldn't tell you how many times I have been saved by a simple search, when the sellers will tell you how much it is worth and how rare. Most folks will look for the highest asking price on the net, and tell you that is what they go for. I always adhere to the old saying " Buyers are liars and sellers are too!"

 

[dirtysouth]

Lots of clones out there. Still not bad money if it's clean.

 

[Seanpcola]

I've gotten taken before. My second wife was advertised as low mileage, one owner and garage kept. Come to find out she had been ridden hard, abused, had a lot of names on the title and all kind of cosmetic dress ups had been done to hide the damage. Fortunately I was able to drive her for a few years and dump her while she still retained enough resale value so that I was able to pawn her off on the next victim........errr.......owner.

 

[madeSICC88]

Good catch, did the owner know it was a replica or was he under the assumption it was real as well?

 

[madeSICC88]

I've gotten taken before. My second wife was advertised as low mileage, one owner and garage kept. Come to find out she had been ridden hard, abused, had a lot of names on the title and all kind of cosmetic dress ups had been done to hide the damage. Fortunately I was able to drive her for a few years and dump her while she still retained enough resale value so that I was able to pawn her off on the next victim........errr.......owner.

Hahaha

 

[shootnstarz]

Good catch, did the owner know it was a replica or was he under the assumption it was real as well?

Well I usually don't point out discrepancies in what is advertised and what is real to sellers, just move on along. But this guy acted so dumb about the car I went ahead and pointed out that is wasn't originally a GTA, thinking he might have been scammed.

When I informed him of the forgery he didn't seem the least bit shocked, surprised or upset. When I offered to show him the codes on how to tell he just said, "Na, it doesn't matter to me". And he claimed to be a 30 year paint and body man. I'm about 99% sure he knew what he was doing.

Rick

 

[dead-bird]

He certainly has NOT changed his add...

 

[JBryan314]

What a bastard. He knew exactly what he was doing. He's going to get his cash from someone. Really sucks.

 

[Welldoya]

Somebody call him and ask him if it's an original or a clone. Then everybody flag the ad.

 

[Seanpcola]

What does an authentic GTA bring?

 

[shootnstarz]

What does an authentic GTA bring?

Not really sure, I haven't been following Firebirds. But like everything, condition dictates value. I would guess that a garage kept all original cherry with less than 20K miles would fetch 5 digits, maybe $12.5K. Value would go down from there with less than primo condition. I'm basing that on what people are ASKING for cherry IROC Zs.

Believe it or not a lot of the performance cars are being bought and taken across the pond. There's a big market for them in Europe.

Rick

 

[Seanpcola]

I was just wondering if the price in the ad was good for a regular Firebird and if a GTA was like double or some such. No doubt the dude should word the ad to be honest if he didn't actually know before you pointed it out.

 

[Snow Bird]

Have to be careful with the old Dodges and Plymoths to with Hemi engines. Alot of Hermi and 440 were put in thoue 60s and 70s cars and tried to be sold as orginals.like the thread says Do your home work before you get there.

 

[shootnstarz]

He certainly has NOT changed his add...

Nope, he even relisted it Monday.

Rick

 

[shootnstarz]

What does an authentic GTA bring?

There's a value sheet in his ad, last picture.

Rick

 

[Seanpcola]

Hmmmm. If he would rewrite the ad to be honest maybe $6k would be reasonable. He's playing a dangerous game though.

 

[shootnstarz]

The car isn't quite as nice as it looks in the pic, there's a quarter size dent in the port side sail panel (after he promised no dents) and there's some spots occurring on the hood like the clear coat is starting to separate from the base coat.

It's not the original engine either and has been rebuilt so taking it anywhere to be worked on would be iffy. It doesn't look like a very good job on changing the engine, some stuff is just left loose and hanging. Front end has been lowered and the exhaust pipe stops ahead of the rear axle and is way too low. These cars are already so low to the ground a snake has to low crawl to get under one.

Rick

 

[Seanpcola]

Sounds like a Frankenstein ride. I wouldn't want to deal with putting an engine compartment back correctly. I'm doing that on the Studebaker right now.and its driving me nuts.

 

[dead-bird]

Someone take out an add detailing how to spot a fake GTA...