NADA Pricing Guide

Bob Johnson

Bob Johnson

Well-known member
NADA has an online pricing guide. They have quotes for Model A Fords. In 2007 I posted their quote for a 1930 Cabriolet and a 1929 Town Car. Looks like my Town Car has lost value in the last 14 years.:eek:


Here is a post I made in 2007:

I came across a web site that estimates the price of cars (see link below). It has a section for Classic cars. The prices it quotes for Model As is quite interesting. They have 3 categories Low Retail (daily driver), Average (20 footer) and High (excellent condition). Such as 1930 Cabriolet $19,600, $31,000, $51,600. They also listed the Town Car at $12,500, $19,500, $28,200. Since they list the original price along with the quote it was definitely a quote for the ($1200 original price) Town Car.



I looked again today and quotes are:
Such as 1930 Cabriolet $17,535, $26,670, $43,785. They also listed the Town Car at $11,340, $16,590, $25,470


Link for Cabriolet quote:
https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/1930/Ford/Model-A/2-Door-Cabriolet/Values


Link for Town Car quote:

https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/1929/Ford/Model-A/4-Door-Town-Car-5-Passenger/Values.
 
The perceived lost value is interesting to say the least, curious what drives those prices on antique vehicles. Clearly the supply of old vehicles is not going up, likely going down if anything. Maybe someone can help clarify the value algorithm.....:confused:
 
Probably driven to a certain extent by demand,the latest craze seems to be “ratrod”bs . I noticed that many people today can’t drive a standard shift car , imagine how lost they would be a car that you have to set the spark and fuel adjustment!!! I would like to also know what they base the pricing on, it’s not the likely that there are many of the rarer cars, like a Peerless or Packard are being sold that often. Maybe insurance value?
 
Hagarty also has a valuation guide also, but it seems to be more for post war cars ,like muscle cars, another triumph of advertising over engineering.
 
Usafexplorer said:
The perceived lost value is interesting to say the least, curious what drives those prices on antique vehicles. Clearly the supply of old vehicles is not going up, likely going down if anything. Maybe someone can help clarify the value algorithm.....:confused:
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The price on any item is based on supply and demand. The demand for an A has been reduced as the the older generation leaves the hobby.
 
I do not own an A but desire to. I have been looking (not seriously, no room right now) for the last 5 yrs or so. I check hemmings mostly, keep an eye out for auction prices, and any classifieds. I would say that the values were indeed down, but as of late they seem to be on the rise ever so slightly. I think the pool of buyers is much less than the pool of buyers for muscle cars.
 
I find that Hagerty and NADA, come up with some pretty wild ideas in regards to value on some vehicles. While Old Cars Price Guide, is almost always on the low side. Seems like it depends on where they are getting most of their information from. I think a lot of it is from auctions.
If you follow any of the big auctions including Bring A Trailer, you will sometimes see a vehicle go for some outrageous price simply due to two or more uninformed idiots trying to out bid each other.
In my case, one of my vehicles, a 1949 Ford F1, is valued way out of the ball park of reality. I contribute this to several resto mod F1's selling at auction for ridiculous prices. When you average those in with some of the more normal examples, you come up with skewed pricing across the board.
All one needs to do is look at how Hagerty comes up with a value. Take a look at their website and you will see they use auction results, asking price, dealer pricing and so called peer to peer pricing. Now if they were actually able to get true peer to peer transaction results, you would have something worthwhile. But when you toss in dealer asking price along with private party asking price, (hello ebay), you might as well throw everything out the window.

Tom L.
 
Most valuations are collected from public auctions vs private sales which aren't anyone else's business.
 
McMimmcs said:
The price on any item is based on supply and demand. The demand for an A has been reduced as the the older generation leaves the hobby.
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There are too many variables on a 90-year-old car. I think each car needs to be evaluated according to the condition of its component parts, brakes, tires, radiator, carburetor, transmission, springs, shocks, body parts and engine. Are the doors aligned, does it sag (possible bent frame), steering parts, does the horn work, does the generator charge, battery, cables and wiring condition, lights. Price out these items if they need replacing. Also, labor costs if you take it to the man. These are just basic things that will be added on and will determine the final cost of the car. Don't be fooled by a cosmetically nice looking car that may be a mechanical mine field. I see nothing wrong with asking for a compression check. Dropping the pan?? No. Clean title.
 
I don't plan to sell so... value is down? Great! I can buy more. My property taxes have went up x4 in the last 4 years, mainly because the value is going nuts. I never plan to sell so its only bad for me. If real estate taxes fell into the toilet I'd be tickled pink.
 
Well Bob, we well know you cant buy a town car for 25k, but nonetheless, I will take 4 of them should anyone have a few to get "rid of".

those value guides arer so often skewed as to not be worth their weight in paper.

I remember not long ago seeing Mercer raceabouts and bearcats valued at around 40k. once again, would someone please show me where I can get one for that price?
 
A couple of weeks ago I was watching a Mecum Auction on TV. Mostly the usual muscle cars, foreign sports cars, etc. But, one super nice 1929 Model-A cabriolet (AACA first place winner) auctioned for -$13,000-!:eek:
What a deal! I would never buy an auction car. However, I sure wish I had been there for that one.:(


Bob-A:D
 
eagle said:
I don't plan to sell so... value is down? Great! I can buy more. My property taxes have went up x4 in the last 4 years, mainly because the value is going nuts. I never plan to sell so its only bad for me. If real estate taxes fell into the toilet I'd be tickled pink.
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High real estate taxes, I sympathize but our real estate taxes here in Minnesota are half of what they were in Nebraska for a similarly priced home. Nebraska sometimes known as the tax me state.
 
Any visible peer to peer ad price would have to be listing price, not selling price. I could list my car for any outrageous price I wanted to, which would be listed in an ad, but that more than likely would not be the selling price. So basing a value, on the listing price, would be worthless. I did see one value guide a while back that did state, eBay was a source among others.
 
I have bought and sold Model As for over 30 years and my opinion is the price is coming down quite a bit as someone else also mentioned. Most auctions are not realistic prices to use in establishing value. A model A is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, the location, condition, and the body style. If you are going to buy a Model A to flip and make money you should know what you are doing. If you want hat Model A It is worth what you are willing to pay for it. My 2 cents for what it is worth
 
I would love to have my two cars worth the BAT prices of similar models. I paid significantly less for both in the last ten years. I'd be happy to get out of mine what I paid for them, but they are not for sale.
 
31a said:
I have bought and sold Model As for over 30 years and my opinion is the price is coming down quite a bit as someone else also mentioned. Most auctions are not realistic prices to use in establishing value. A model A is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, the location, condition, and the body style. If you are going to buy a Model A to flip and make money you should know what you are doing. If you want hat Model A It is worth what you are willing to pay for it. My 2 cents for what it is worth
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Flipping Model As would make for an entertaining story for most trying to do that. Not saying it couldn't be done but not for your average Joe.

This past year in our area there was a beautifully restored 31 roadster for sale asking $32k. Didn't sell. Was told $60k had been spent on the restoration. How true, I don't know but that was what I was told, not by the seller. Obviously wasn't intended as a flip. I know $60k is pocket change to some, but not me.
 
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