I agree with you as far as you go, but there were other factors that weighed in on the general consensus here:
Strike 1: First, not having the book, window sticker, and jacket is only one part of the equation. They are important from the investment side, and their absence and the difficulty of replacement-- especially the original window sticker-- does devalue the car. But this was certainly not the *sole* reason by any stretch.
Strike 2: Condition is very important as well. And looking at the incorrect parts and obvious wear and tear, sub par paint work, ratty rusty underside, etc.-- there are much nicer examples to be had. Plus the visual indications lead one to believe that the car has not had the greatest of maintenance or TLC.
Strike 3: The situation. Michael has a near mint GN which rightly holds great sentimental value to him and his wife-- they dated, were married, plus he's owned it for a very long time. And look at those pictures-- a super nice car.
So what we have here is the "chance to own a lower grade X" but only by giving up a pristine GN in the process. That's a stretch that each of us would have to decide individually. So for someone else, perhaps this X will be a great deal-- a driver quality car. But as Michael has presented things, a number of us are leaning toward the "hold on to what you've got" side.
Make no mistake, I am multiple X's now (as I see you do), and these cars will always be very special and very much in demand. But as the price approaches 50 large (and I'm sure it will go higher), there should be no stories.
For me personally, I would not trade my mint Rosewood/Chrome/T-Top car for that X-- even for an even-up trade. But that's for each of us to decide individually.
Just my two cents...:wink:
I do not understand????? How can you choose not to buy a car because it does not have the jacket and the books? I can understand the window sticker being important, but there was a NOS blank one on ebay that just sold. You can always buy the manual set(I have NOS GNX supplements if anyone needs), and the Jacket, it is just a 20 year old members only jacket that can be replicated if you really want. Even if those items can never be bought, who cares........you will own a GNX.