86 GN 69K 1 owner I am looking at -value ??

[murphinator]

86GN owned by 73 year old woman , kept in a 3 sided building and no winters so its very decent , nice interior other than horizontal chrome trim on dash is peeling off - no mods ever , no cracks in 1/4 panels or sign of repairs

exterior has 1 door ding each side. , current inspection , pinholes in exhaust , tires dry rotted, orig. chrome wheels need polishing - a couple small rust spots but never dull should bring them right back.

the car was locked when I looked at it so I still need to make sure it runs OK check door bottoms , look for signs of having paint work etc..

the car is listed at $12,500 and it looks like I can own it for 10k

biggest negative is its a t top car and I know that affects the value some.

I am looking at it more closely later today so if your reading this please give me your 2 cents

Thanks in advance guys

 

[Dabigguy]

Take the t-tops out and look for signs of rust, also look for signs of moisture in the interior. If there are moisture signs, you probably have floor pan rust. Look under the car for floor rust and frame rust.

 

[murphinator]

Take the t-tops out and look for signs of rust, also look for signs of moisture in the interior. If there are moisture signs, you probably have floor pan rust. Look under the car for floor rust and frame rust.

thank you I will look closely under the t tops

the floor pans and frame are excellent including the rear portion of the frame thats notorious on all the gm 5 mph bumper cars

really looking for some input on value/pricing on an 86 t top car with 69k in decent condition

 

[charlief1]

If it starts and runs see if she will let you take it to a shop and get under it. Rust is one of the biggest problems especially up north. Check in the trunk as well. Lots of problems with the rear seams/quarters too.

 

[murphinator]

If it starts and runs see if she will let you take it to a shop and get under it. Rust is one of the biggest problems especially up north. Check in the trunk as well. Lots of problems with the rear seams/quarters too.

that is happening later today , her son in law has the car for sale at his shop and he is putting it up on the lift for me but I have been around cars enough that from what I saw looking under it yesterday undercairage rust is a non issue on this one.



what is its value ? am I in good shape at 10k from my description so far ?

 

[charlief1]

Until you get to see if it runs and drives there's no way to tell. Wait until you get through with checking it out first.

 

[bayareaturbo]

It's hard to put a price on these cars some want a lot of $$$ and they are not selling as if they would a few years back. Being the market is not so good 15K cars are selling for 12K as I seen on this board. These cars for 10K 9K sell very fast anything over that will sit for awhile. Sounds to me if everything is solid (no rattle runs good no leaks) car would sell for 12k with that low miles. If they are motivated to sell you should have no problems getting the price down. To bad you don't have pics to post.

 

[murphinator]

the car is running /driving , currently inspected ,registered ,etc.. I will see how well later

 

[murphinator]

just had it on the lift and drove it.

undercairrage , frame , floors , trunk etc... are 100% no accident damage or obvoius paint work

thanks for the heads up dabigguy there is a bit of rust under the t tops - what is involved with replacing that panel ?

the lowest corners of the doors both by the fender & by the 1/4 are starting to bubble about 2 square inches affected in each location

I offered $9k and should know by tomorrow if we have a deal , if not is it worth 10k with these issues ?

they refused a 10500 offer but the guy was partial cash and personal check and they were offered a big block chevelle straight up trade but the woman isnt looking for trades.

her husband bought it with 12k in 1998 so they are 2nd owners not original owners. some receipts from both owners in the glove box along with original window sticker

 

[The_Six]

86 GN value.

I didnt want to post this do to the seller of my car being on the board and not knowing if he wanted this posted or not but I bought my car 6 moths ago.
I paid 9500 for mine with 130k on the clock and it needs some paint work and the passender seat need redone. so I would say if you can get it for any thing under 12,000 your getting a good deal.
Here are pics of my car they start on the bottom of page one. My car was stock except the frount mount intercooler and the VDO gages when I bought it.

86 Buick GN pictures by earl87gta - Photobucket
hope this helps Earl

 

[charlief1]

I hate to say it but if there's a lot of rust under the T top then it's a lot of work to re-do. Check in the resto/show car section for more info. It's not a fun job and I have one I'm dreading taking apart myself. I live in Texas and the car is from here so it shouldn't be that bad but still...

 

[Bruce Urie]

1986 NADA Value

thank you I will look closely under the t tops

the floor pans and frame are excellent including the rear portion of the frame thats notorious on all the gm 5 mph bumper cars

really looking for some input on value/pricing on an 86 t top car with 69k in decent condition

According to the NADA CLASSIC CAR VALUE webpage I just went to they value yours as follows:

Condition

Low: $8,718

Average: $13,850

High: $26,510

And yes, the T-Top rust problem is a pain... it can be fixed depending on how much you want and love this car. Figure in the other factors that the guys here are telling you...go from there. There are some members here on the board who have done an excellent job of repairing the rusting parts of their T-Top. Don't forget to check for rear main seal leaks which you can usually tell by looking at the black bellhousing in front of the transmission, just look how much oil is leaking out of that little hole on the bottom of the bellhousing. You can do like I did...run a plastic line from there to the back to let the oil drip out there until you get the busted knuckle urge to replace that rear mail rope seal with a neoprene one. Something else facing me but just check the oil leak to see how bad it leaks. Take off the aluminum rocker panels on both sides, lift the carpet and check for rust spots on the floor under the pading. T-Tops are known for leaking slowly over a period of time. Hope this helps somewhat.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[bgndobe]

Anything less than $12K is a good deal.
Don't over think it man.
You're getting a beautiful classic that doesn't need much work.
There's nothing wrong with this car that isn't wrong with the majority of similiar cars around.

 

[turbo39151]

Personally, I think the 12k price is pretty good considering it's an unmolested car. Sure you could buy a GN cheaper and maybe with the same mileage but there is a huge peace of mind that you get from knowing the car has been untouched. (ie: not modded, beat on, abused, or hacked on).

Many of these cars that you will otherwise find will have prior "mods" and who know what else. Much of these things will have no documentation or history so it will be hard to know what was done, when, and by whom.

Then there's the electrical issues. Most of these cars have had alarms and stereo systems added and removed numerous times. Idiot hackes that cut up wiring harnesses seem to gravitate toward these cars... Just my opinion, but I've seen countless TR's and the majority of them have had a hacked visit at least once.

If this car is as untouched as you say it is, spend the extra money and buy the peace of mind. Trust me, you'll thank me later...

Good Luck on your purchase.

 

[murphinator]

I offered 9k and she isnt coming off 10k yet

after finding the rust bubbles on the lower door corners and the rust under the t tops along with the need for tires ( wheels are pretty crappy too) exhaust , some window seals and a couple decent dings that need attention I am having a hard time parting with 10k knowing collector cars have to be selling short with the economy - I sell boats and the deals we are giving to get off inventory are stupid - some times 30% less than we bought them from the MFG. for

the last 2 posts have me rethinking though........

It does have a K&N cone and there are a couple things in the glove box about a syclone fuel pump upgrade , 10 second recipe ,maintenance , etc... from another GN forum but the IC ,intake , Downpipe , etc all look stock and when I drove it my FWD Regal would kill it so its definately a 14 sec car - I think it only went as far as the K&N. The stock airbox is in the trunk and it even has the GN key chain:biggrin:

If I thought I could throw some tires and an exhaust on it and detail it out properly and it would be worth 13-14K I would be all over it at 10k - I like to own my toys right that way if you do need to sell breaking even is not a problem

 

[charlief1]

With the fact that it's a T top and the other rust issues I'd hold out. The T top repair will cost more in the long run and if you don't take care of it soon the car will be ruined. Just my .02.

 

[Ryan87GN]

Give them a week or two to come down to $9k. If you can fix the rust yourself, then don't worry about it. There have been some real nice cars here pretty cheap lately.

Has the car been driven or started regularly? If the tires are dry-rotted, theres a good chance some of the seals and gaskets are too. Just add it all up to be in ideal condition.

New exhaust- 300
Tires- 500
T-top pieces- 300
Paintless dent removal- ~100
Roughly $1200 over purchase price to get the car close to how you want it. Also is this original paint? It will check soon if it is.

Just think about it before you buy it. If the car was really that great of a deal @ 10k, you would've had 37 guys asking you where exactly the car is.

 

[Grumpy]

the last 2 posts have me rethinking though........

NO way would I pay $12k for the car . I don't care whats in a book for value. Look at the economy Cars are NOT selling . Rust cost $$$$$ !! and on a t roof car its a PITA... How was the cowl area ?? I think $9k is more than a fair price. good luck.

 

[ttaowner]

i have had 6 t top cars that i took apart.if the outer panels that unbolt are rotted the the rot hiding below will be even worse.from my experience if the outer plates are not rotted then you will only probably some small holes underneath.all 6 cars that i took apart all had rot under the plates some were real bad!

doors are also quite expensive and very hard to find not rotted,almost all the cars i find have holes rotted in the doors unless they have been garage queens.

i would pass on this car at this price and keep looking.

there was a southern gn that was forsale on craigslist in new hampshire a couple weeks ago.keep looking !

rot is always worse than what you can visually see.