Do your homework before you start shopping classic muscle cars for sale!
 Custom Search There are somes areas of research around muscle car prices you should become familiar with before you buy. These are:
Value and/or Price Muscle car prices can vary depending on these factors and also by time of year or location. Convertibles are worth more in the spring and summer in northern locales! More on those specifics are covered on this page and other places on this site, but for now, let's just review the best places to get current prices for classic muscle cars. Stay away from large auction price lists as a guide. Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine prints the prices of classic muscle cars for sale and what they ultimately sold for from large regional auctions. These prices provide good information, but should not be taken as a true guideline for you. If you've ever been to an auction you know how the excitement of beating someone else drives up prices. This happens on Internet auction sites, too. People become addicted with winning and don't stop to consider the true value of what they are buying. So, while auction prices are interesting information and can show trends in muscle cars for sale, they really aren't a true guide for the average guy looking at buying his dream car. Another place to avoid checking prices is online dealers. You'll notice most of them don't post their SOLD car prices. Looking at car prices on classic muscle cars for sale at online dealers just isn't a good way for you to figure out a fair price but, like the auction prices, they can provide useful information on trends. The best places to find true muscle car prices are the traditional car pricing guides such as
The online sites are updated more frequently than printed guides and prices and values for muscle cars for sale change often. Keep in mind that whatever the researched value is on your target vehicle, it's only one factor in your decision. If the car you've been waiting for is available right now and it's $4000 over what you see in the guides, it's up to you to decide if that price difference is okay for YOU. Validation/VIN As the popularity of classic muscle cars has increased, and the prices of muscle cars for sale have increased, there has been an increase in the popularity of clones or tribute cars. These cars appear to be highly desirable muscle cars but actually are standard, base model cars that have been modified to look like higher-end, specialty models. This is an excellent way to buy a specific model that may be out of your price range; however, when you are the buyer instead of the owner, you don't want to pay a premium price for a GTO Judge when you're buying a base GTO that was re-created as a Judge. The difference in price and value is dramatic. Of course, if the seller advertises the car as a clone and you are making an informed decision - that's a great find! So how can you validate that you are buying what is advertised? Here is another place in your journey to your dream car where it is really important to know in advance exactly what you want. Please don't skip this important preparation step before looking for classic muscle cars for sale. Refer back to the page on
selecting your muscle car
for more detailed information, but for now let's assume you know the specifics of what you want.
It’s not necessary to memorize every detail of the seventeen character VIN either. For instance, when checking out Mopar muscle cars for sale, we prefer one with a factory 340 ci engine. This is shown on the VIN with an H in the fifth position. If we see a 1970-72 Dodge Dart for sale that has a 340 engine but the character in the fifth position is a G, we know that the car was built with a 318 ci engine from the factory and that some aftermarket parts and work were done to upgrade the car to the stronger 340 ci engine. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to know so you (or a third party inspector) can examine the work that has been done to make sure it was done correctly and with good quality.
Note that different manufacturers provide the details of the engine, the trim model, year, city of manufacture and other information in different places. Some specific information that may be important to you may need to be verified by reading fender or door tags, instead of just the VIN, depending on the manufacturer. To see decoded VIN and fender tag information for RB’s 1973 Plymouth Duster, click
here.
http://www.vintage-mustang.com/topics/decode/decode.html
If these don’t work, just type in the car type and the word “decode” or “VIN” in any search engine and you’ll find multiple places to help you out. You need to know about registering or titling your muscle car, too. Click here for more info. For more information on finding classic muscle cars for sale, go to the home page.
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