Toyota AE86 Value?

[War_Wagon]

I know a bit about these cars, but not much. I really like them, as in I always check them out when I see them in traffic and think "Man I'd really like one of those one day." And I know they are considered over rated, or under rated, depending on who you ask. But what are they worth? I figure there have to be a few fans of them on here that know waaaay more about that than I do! 8 years ago I missed out on an original paint, low KMs, rusty but savable '86 GTS hatch with a 5 speed for $300, and it still haunts me.

But the car in question is a 1987 GTS hatch, 5 speed. It's original paint black with original decals on it still, black interior, with a factory sunroof (sadly), 188k KMs (116k miles), second owner. Always maintained at Toyota if you can believe that. I used to work with the guy that has it, it was his only car that he drove to work everyday. I used to harass him to sell it to me years ago and he would just laugh. A few years ago he bought an older BMW M3 and parked the Toyota in a garage. I continued to harass him to sell it to me, and he said the usual "No I am going to restore it". Last week I saw him, and he said "Sure, $5000 take it away." Now I don't know for sure if he was serious, but I am debating getting $5000 in cash and showing up at his front door. Let me state the car is far from nice. It does need bodywork, but not for rust. One of the 1/4 panels is crunched, but fixable. And there's 30 years worth of dents, dings, and scratches on it. So to fix it, you'd need to get rid of the original paint and decals which seems a shame. The interior is decent, not mint but decent. Factory Toyota stereo in the dash still. Factory alloy wheels etc. As a survivor car it is badass. Toyota dealer oil change sticker in the windshield still. But it's a lot of money to make it nice. So, experts, whattya think? $5000 is a lot for a 28 year old Toyota that needs work, but it's probably the nicest 28 year old Toyota that needs work you'd find.

[jcp123]

$5000 seems rather high to me. $3k or a bit less seems appropriate?

[darcane]

Full disclosure, I have an SR5 AE86 Hatch...

What you described is basically the holy grail for North American AE86s: An unmolested, low-mileage '87 GTS hatch with a 5-speed with excellent maintenance records. While I personally think the prices are greatly inflated on these cars (still due to the Initial-D tax) he should be able to get that much for it if he is patient and found the right buyer.

If you really want it, I'd mention to him that you are looking for one of these Corollas and have $4000 in cash (and have it, in your hand). And see if you can work out a deal.

[spacemanspif]

Maybe I'm missing something but a 30 year old car that has rust and dents and is worn and torn from being a DD in salty winters isn't worth $5000 no matter how "excellent" the service history. Have you checked KBB or other sources for "book" value?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Maybe I'm missing something but a 30 year old car that has rust and dents and is worn and torn from being a DD in salty winters isn't worth $5000 no matter how "excellent" the service history. Have you checked KBB or other sources for "book" value?

I would say you are missing something.

What if it the 30 year old car were a Buick GNX? Or a Ferrari?

Value is based on what people will pay for something. These Corollas are very popular and there is more demand than supply, hence the price goes up. I think they are overpriced, but many people WILL pay that much for one.

Keep in mind that the OP is in Canada, so that is about $4000 US. Also, he specifically mentioned that it did not need rust repair. I live south of War_Wagon a little ways and the closest comparable car is:
Ae86 for trade.
A dent, rough interior, more miles, only an SR5. $3800 US. Will he get that? Probably not. But I bet he gets close. The cheapest local GTS I can find is $6500 US.

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Maybe I'm missing something but a 30 year old car that has rust and dents and is worn and torn from being a DD in salty winters isn't worth $5000 no matter how "excellent" the service history. Have you checked KBB or other sources for "book" value?

To be honest if I didn't know what these cars were, I'd think the exact same thing! That's how I missed out on the $300 one years ago, I knew it was something, but didn't research it til I got home. Cliffs notes version - an AE86 is an iconic car in performance car culture, especially in Japan, but pretty much everywhere now. If you are old and from North America like me, it's something like the '55 Chev from American Graffiti/Two Lane Blacktop, or the Bullitt Mustang, or the General Lee Charger. The main difference is that the AE86 was actually a spectacular car for what it was! (OK the Two Lane Blacktop car was a properly built drag car, but it was a one off not a production model). There is an Initial D clone that runs around Richmond where I live in the summer that is show quality, I can honestly say that it has some of the nicest body and paint work I have ever seen, someone lost their fingerprints with all the block sanding and wet sanding they did on that car! So when I hear about a nice one selling for a lot of money, I picture that thing in my head, but the paint and bodywork on that one was probably $10k.

I guess the thing I have to get my head around is that an old Toyota is like muscle cars when I was in my teens/20s. I had a '70 Nova SS that was junk, but it was a real SS. You could buy a cheap one like mine, but you'd spend 5 times that much making it nice. Or you could just buy a nice one for not a more money. A decade later though, all of a sudden all the slightly more expensive nice ones were $20k. I paid $1700 for mine! So that $5k AE86 now is nowhere near the quality of the $20k ones. But you'd never find that car again, and I think that has a value. There is a lot of money in the car culture, be it muscle cars, supercars, customs, whatever. Dropping $5k on an old Toyota that needs a semi restoration sounds pretty crazy, but if I had bought the clean '69 Nova SS, numbers matching 4 speed for $3800 when I could have (that was a lot of money then), it would have been a smart thing to do. Of course, you only make money when you sell something, and I don't think you'd ever pry his car out of my cold dead hands if he sold it to me haha.