Westfield Resale values

[owlscastle]

I dont know why people appear to get hot under the collar about comments, you are entited to your opinion as is everyone else, as it is a discussion forum you surely can voice them without riskof upsetting people?

Its only a game!

Ritchie

[windy]

If anyone feels their car is not fetching the money then they should consider breaking it and selling the bits individually.

[SteveD]

I personally dont think there is anything wrong with commenting on the price, if someone aks the question why they have had little interest ...... how many times do we get asked to comment on a cars price?

cars are selling at the moment but not at the prices of previous years - there are also more cars on the market - In October last year I was looking for my first westy and remeber on Piston heads there was only 20-30 adverts there are now over 40 featured -

at the end of the day if you want your car to sell at a good price, the car that you have put blood, sweat and tears into for the money that you would like, the first thing you do is place the best advert possible - if we are talking about the car in the advert with the 1.6 zetec - if this is an all singing all dancing engine ideally suited to a westy, then let your clients know - the content of the advert was TBH poor with very little detail, which was the main gist of my first post

I would still say that the car is over priced compared to what we have seen other cars sell for over the past year or so ( yup it would P**s me off selling a car that has cost me 20k to build for 12.5k with only a few hundred miles on it) - I have not re-visited the post to check but I dont remember seeing TB's on it, so a couple of K could be spent there if the buyer wanted to upgrade - and to repeat again there was very little spec listed on the advert other than some nice bits on the suspension and some snazzy wheels

from what I have seen over the last twelve months is that cars tend to get bracketed into price groups and dont vary too much - so x-flows 4-6.5k - pintos 5-8k - std zetecs - 7-10 etc etc - I wont even put a price on duratecs for a fear of a battering

the problem here is defining what you feel the car is worth and what it will actually sell for - some people at the minute need to sell and do it quickly, which Is a P**s poor situation to be in - If you have time to sell you have much more chance of finding the right buyer that falls for your pride and joy

I agree with one of the comments below in particular - these cars are toys, and no matter what you spend on them, unfortunately you will not see much of that money back - beacause of the nature of these toys they have a ceiling price, at the end of the day if you had 10k in your pocket a westy sounds a sexy sounding toy for a motoring enthusiast, if you have 20k in your pocket perhaps more exotic toys loom into view - in fact I would suggest if you spent 12k building a westy and sold within a year you may get a reasonable chunk of that money back - if you spent 22k I bet after a year you would be lucky to get 55% back at the moment - so you have to ask yourself if this is a hobby you are prepared to shed money on before you build - if you cannot afford or stomach to loose that sort of money then go buy a bargain, there are plenty about

all said and done I was pretty dissapointed with some of the comments made in the post in question, and not just the ones aimed at me - this forum did not used to be like it has become over the last handful of months

the way some boardroom members are spoken to in here is becoming very tiresome and TBH unpleasant and abusive - I find it quite embarrasing and have on more than one occasion PM'd the person at the receiving end and explained we are not all that unpleasant - I am a big boy and can look after myself, but I do slowly see people drifting away from the forums and not returning for various reasons

vegetables rights for peas man !

edited to say - just seen the original advert has been updated with extra spec which now looks a bit more like it

look at it from the sellers point of view in that add

you are basically judge a jurer  to his car when posting comments about it ,and  you know chuff all about his car tbh you couldn't even tell which engine he has in it ,so potentionaly puting people off it

at least when i pointed out about simon thingys honda car it was fact ,steve

at the end of the day its up to the seller to word his add how he wants to ,and if you cant be constructive then dont post owt ,if you feel he could do better with his add pm him ,and if you dont know jack s**t shut up and dont do owt

[lippydave]

Interesting couple of threads....

I can see most of the POV's but the reality of any such situation is that any car is worth exactly what a buyer is prepared to pay.

To be honest the car in question looks b****y lovely and has obviously been built with pride, competence and professionalism.

Nikpro , maybe you could have pointed out the error of Cleggy's ways a little more diplomatically... It did make me P**s myself laughing tho'......

To address Mark's point about people selling their Westies when times are tough , well I flogged my road car instead and bought a cheapie to run rather than sell my Westie......Even though it's only done a handful of miles over the last two years....P'raps I'm just a prat?    

Also on the 1.7 Zetec thing. Just bought an ultra cheap Puma for the Frau with the VCT engine...It's a  b****y lovely engine, rev hungry yet torquey, and light too..... Perfect for a westie I reckon......

Tho' I think I'm gonna buy another Puma and see how light I can make it...They are cheap as chips.......

You sholud all join me ina Stella or two  and relax...It's Friday, nearly xmas, peace love and goodwill to all, even opionionated Westie owners....Hic,        

[Guest]

Special and unique have their own problems , and its a tough market at the best of times .

i have to say i was lucky when i sold mine because i actually believe that both myself and the buyer got a good deal when it went , and it then went on to change hands easily on each occasion after that ....

however its not often a 10 year old zetec car gets a decent amount north of 10k no matter how special it is , right person right time is always a little to do with luck but i totally agree with frazers views on this .

[Lurksalot]

This is a difficult one to argue either way , everyone has a right to request a price , everyone has a right to offer one. The web has so much info at your fingertips that price research is fairly easy.

Everyone one has a right to big up what they have to sell, but by the same call others have the right to suggest that they have just bought one similar for less .

One thing is for sure , I do not believe that anyone builds a westfield to sell it for more than it costs , even the major manufacturers struggle to pull that trick off.

I think a westfield build is a balance between cost , quality , technical back up , and end use , and I am sure that this site is a pre-build reference point for a lot of info . Building a car is an itch that lots of people want to scratch , and westfield ticks most boxes .

Residual value may well be a downer but I am sure that builders are aware of this before they start .

If you don't build and are just looking to buy a value for money car, the age of the westy seems generally irrelavant compared to the spec , and thus you generally get a good car selling, but not for the value of all the parts .

A lot of people seem to upgrade to specs that only top racing drivers could appreciatte and expect a return !!! when did you see a race car without a decent pedigree fetch top money ?

I can understand the desire to build , though I haven't got that need , I bought a good spec car and don't expect to lose to much on it if I sold it,and I think a lot of Westfield owners enjoy the marque the same way .

[PeP]

from what I have seen over the last twelve months is that cars tend to get bracketed into price groups and dont vary too much - so x-flows 4-6.5k - pintos 5-8k - std zetecs - 7-10 etc etc - I wont even put a price on duratecs for a fear of a battering

You'd have to prise the keys of my zetec out of my cold dead fingers if you wanted it for 7k  

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

it is irrelevant as to the understanding of all the variants of the zetec engines - most punters will look at the car on a more basic level (like me  )

they will see - a lovely looking car - they will see zetec - they will see 1.6 - they will see standard induction - they will perhaps guess at 130BHP - they will see an undetailed spec sheet as it was stated at the time of of the original advert - they may also wonder how much it would cost them to upgrade the engine to more BHP in the future should they wish - and they will see 12.5k

or they can go view another advert - a lovely looking car - 2.0 duratec - TB's - 170-200 plus BHP - and massive spec elsewhere  - loads of pictures and 12.5k or maybe less asking price

and I honestly think that the average punter (and probably a good many of the regulars in this forum) would be drawn by the headline grabbing figures- no doubt some of you will disagree

if you feel that this 1.6 engine is a better option, then that is your opinion and I do not feel the need to belittle you - we dont all spend the weekends wizzing around tracks, many of us believe it or not use our cars on the road and look for other things in a motor

some of us also love the feeling of raw acceleration and where the oppertunity allows safely to be able to show a clean pair of heels to more expensive machinery - and again if we stop being elitist about everything most of us have enjoyed these secret guilty pleasure   - which car of the above choices would satisfy your needs?

seems that "enlightened ones" opinions are the only ones that matter - anyones elses opinions should be sneared at, followed by the usual cronies piggy backing on and hurling insults for very little reason

I stand by my first post in his thread - the car looks great and will sell but maybe not for the full asking and a better spec list/pictures needed to be added

if you read that chaps post again - the guy asked for an opinion as to why he was having trouble selling - I gave him my opinion based on my reasons above - the guy wanted an opinion !!! not to be told that everything is rosie in the world at the moment

Bernie - those figues were just guide prices as to the range I have seen cars go for -  the zetecs I have seen go for 7k were probably put together by a blind donkey  

SteveD - I would expect nothing different from you - read his post again, he asked for an opinion, he said "is it the price?" - I posted my opinion and I  would very happily remove my opinion upon request from the seller  

Windy - that would be a b****y shame if this car came to that which I am sure it wont

[Guest]

in all fairnes asking an opinion on price somewhere your trying to sell a car is always going to be a liability, and he did ask .

the right price at the right price will sell when the buyer is about , its hard not to panic and slash prices when things arn't shifting as quick as you like but that goes for anything your selling.

[SteveD]

cleggy you were giving an opinion on his car and you didnt even know what the engine was until it was pointed out to you ,thats were the problem lies ,its the old my mate at work said sindrome .people should not  post on a thread giving an opinion unless they  know the facts ,espesially in for sale or in technical because of the consequenses

cleggy wendy did break his car and sold it and did very well out of it

[Flat Eric]

We do mock Caterham owners for constantly talking about heritage, but this is what keeps their resale value relatively high. Their Brand identity/protection.

As a forum how good are we owners, at protecting our brand/investment?

Sometimes think that a PM can be a better than a POST in some cases.

[hilux]

QUOTE

if you had 10k in your pocket a westy sounds a sexy sounding toy for a motoring enthusiast, if you have 20k in your pocket perhaps more exotic toys loom into view - in fact I would suggest if you spent 12k building a westy and sold within a year you may get a reasonable chunk of that money back - if you spent 22k I bet after a year you would be lucky to get 55% back at the moment - so you have to ask yourself if this is a hobby you are prepared to shed money on before you build - if you cannot afford or stomach to loose that sort of money then go buy a bargain, there are plenty about

I`ve seen this discussion on other forums.

Regarding bargains....................

Z3`s for £5-6K, Boxsters for less than 10K, 400bhp M3/5`s for £6K, scooby`s for 5K................... all solid, warm, dry etc etc..................its a tough market so to find punters with 5 figures burning a hole for a hobby car is rare and there`s a lot of deals out there in competition.

Prices are so low even I am thinking of having a punt on a locost or Westy as I know what to look for in a kit car.

[cast iron]

b****y ell good thread, but whats the problem with 1.6Zetec Se's Mine whizzes round tracks even motre so with Nunny driving    

[nikpro]

We do mock Caterham owners for constantly talking about heritage, but this is what keeps their resale value relatively high. Their Brand identity/protection.

As a forum how good are we owners, at protecting our brand/investment?

Sometimes think that a PM can be a better than a POST in some cases.

This is the point I am trying to make.

Market forces dictate the price something is sold at; there are to parts to the Market; the buyer and the seller.

Most people in the Club have a Westfield and when the time comes to sell it they can choose the price - unfortunatley on here they can't!

If someone Posts a car for sale they are immediately informed if the price is to high by people who haven't seen the car, don't understand what's in the car and have never spoken with the owner.

Cars are only priced into price brackets because we have made it that way ourselves by ill informed posts on what's the best engine etc, etc.

Bit like the diamond trade; diamonds are not rare it's just the South Africans don't sell many and keep the price high for their own economy.

We have the ability to increase the re-sale value of Westfields - yet people on here like to brag about the 'bargains' they bought or how much other 'x engined' cars sell for and belittle anything else - it's because of these comments on a Public forum that the new Westfield owners form the sameopinions.

Cleggy - in every single post you make on cars for sale/potential purchasers you mention how much your beloved Duratec was and how much people should pay for different engined cars - your post frequency is very high and therefore reaches a large potential audience yet I personally don't feel you are qualified to comment on what is a good engine for a Westfield as you can not differentiate between the engine types - this is the second post in 2 weeks on a car for sale where you have got the engine type completely wrong then refuse to admit the mistake    (I don't have a problem with a lack of technical knowledge)

Your posts are like adverts to potential costomers who are eventually 'brainwashed' into thinking that a Westfield without a Duratec I4 isn't worth having.

There is another thread running about a Westfield for sale with a Zetec Engine at the moment where, not supprisingly you postagain stating that the potential purchaser should try to get the price down hinting again that it is overpriced - This is in the Newbies Section where people new to the club tend to visit first!

Westfield for Sale

You are entitled to an opinion like everyone else but if someone asked me how to grow potatoes I wouldn't comment on that thread!

As said - P.M.'s are better where price is concerned.

For Cast Iron

IMO the Sigma is an outstanding engine ideally suited to a Seven  

[Bob Green]

I absolutely agree with Fraser.  This issue has been in my mind for some time so now I will vent my Spleen with absolutely no apologises.

To be blunt, there is far too many “bar room barristers” on this site, both members and non members.  Far too many people who believe they can assess and value a car based on a photograph.  How in Gods name can they do that without seeing the car in the flesh?

There are far too many people that “band” the price of a Westfield due to the type of engine fitted; it’s fitted with a Pinto Boat Anchor or a Xflow so it’s worth £1.  It must have the latest engine to be any good.  What sort of snob value is that?

If I was to sell my Cosworth Westfield (which I’m not Hammy), I would not dream of placing the advertisement on this site.  Gut feeling tells me that if I did, someone would post a comment berating it being a “Green Top” without having a clue what “Green Top” actually means in terms of specification.  It will go straight on Pistonheads or the like.

I have been a member of the WSSC since 1997 (and before you go into my profile, my membership lapsed for a period of time due to personal circumstances).  Over this period of time, you get to understand what members give good factual and salient information and who give, shall we call it, not so factual and salient information.

Folk sell their cars for a reason, whether they fancy something different or personal circumstances.  For what ever reason behind the sale, the seller has a price in mind to which they would like to achieve.  Coupled to this, the buyer has a price in mind to which they would like ownership of a Westfield.  At the end of the day, a Westfield is a car and the deal is between the seller and the buyer, like road cars.

I would demand folk who are not aware of the full facts do not place adverse comments on the boardroom criticising the price of a car.  They would be mighty p****d off if it was their car the adverse comments were aimed at.

Remember the old adage; “A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing”

I rest my case.