FTO Rip Off

[me2]

I'm in shock. I've been looking around for a new car but the trade-in price being offered on FTO's is ridiculous. One car yard offered $3,000 another $5,000 and a couple of others around $7,000.

The car is a white 1996 GPX manual with around 85Km both the interior and exterior are in pretty good condition.

It looks like no one in Melbourne wants to touch imports any more, or at least not the FTO. Caryards that used to specialise in imports don't anymore and none of the caryards I went to wanted to keep the FTO, they wanted to sell it off to another caryard but were struggling to find anyone that was interested.

FTOs that would have sold for close to $20K a year ago would be lucky to get close to $15K today. And if you were to buy one for $15K today you'd be lucky to get half of that back as a trade-in.

With the way the FTO price is dropping, regardless of how good the condition of the car is, I reckon you'd have to be nuts to pay any more than $12-13K

Is this the same for other states?

[poster]

im sure its almost the same in every other states..
i think thats how the world goes around...
if u buy a car and sell it im for sure your not goign to make any money and loss money...thats simple
and never do a trade in...because thats just like "Cash converters" they buy a PS2game for 50c and sell it at $20

i know how shocked u can be....but thats how it works...its the same to every other cars...

but for me i love me car and by the time i want to sell it....it may be $500 and i will stil be happy

[me2]

I'm used to losing 30-40% of a car's value over a 2-3 yr period, not 50% on the same day!

[dstocks]

Sounds like your in private sale territory. There are a few people on the forum that are looking for one at the moment. mivecboy is one of them. I think he is in Melb too. Youll certainly get more than what the caryards are offering!!

[mivecboy]

Yeah I'm looking a manual GPX in silver though. But I will consider white depending on the condition.

No kidding price of FTO have dropped heaps, there are plenty of $9 -$12k FTO around in Melbourne for sale.

[FTO338]

I think when it comes to trade-in you will find all dealers will give you a ridiculous stupid low price no matter what you drive, I had one dealer offer me $11k for a $35k car & $35k is the lowest i can find on the market too. So its normal practice for them to be ridiculous.

Depends on the FTO, some still hold their value really well, while some "sh*t bomb" one are dead cheap. And thats when lots of buyer have the illusion of FTO is getting cheaper, they are getting a cheaper FTO, but also a nasty one too. I dare too say all those people who brought the cheap ass one end up spend a bit of time & money to fix all the "hidden" stuff.

[me2]

There's a phrase that goes something like "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it" and it appears that those in the car industry don't think the FTO is worth much at all, even the guides like Red Book and also insurance companies.

There's a heap of FTOs for sale privately, and it seems that most of the ones selling are advertised at less than $15K, so they're probably selling for around $11 - $13K. There''s still quite a few listed for $15-$20K, but it looks like they've been trying to sell them for months and months and very few are moving.

As an FTO owner it hurts to see this, but the reality is the price of our cars is going downwards pretty quickly.

[mivecboy]

i think this is u trying to sell right?

http://carsales.com.au/please/carsales/!cs ... stance=500

way over the private market price. Trust me, it won't sell at this price.
I have inspect quite a few FTOs in good and clean condition, they all sell around $9-$11k after negotiation. All manuals GPX. One GR manual even sold at $9k few weeks ago not long after i inspected and call back for interest.

[khunjeng]

trade in is always going to be a low price...its always been this way and will always stay the same...you can't go on dealer trade in prices. why? they need to sell it and try and make some money...they can't seel it for much more than the going price after all...

If you think your FTO isn't gonna drop heaps then think again..its an import...its 10 years old and not much is known about them in the mass market...hence you will find a lot of ppl trying to sell them for ages...imports have a rep. of high parts prices despite what parts might really cost

But in the the end of the day if you only paid 15k...then the most u can ever loose is 15k...unlike if u buy a new 350z for 75k 2 years ago and you can't seel them for much over 50k today...

In my opinion not matter what the current proce the FTO is great value...esp. if u get one for 9k....show me a decent 9k GPX in melbourne and I will buy it tomorrow.

[FTO338]

I have inspect quite a few FTOs in good and clean condition, they all sell around $9-$11k after negotiation. All manuals GPX. One GR manual even sold at $9k few weeks ago not long after i inspected and call back for interest.

If the one you seen are good, clean & cheap, why are you looking into a "write off" repair FTO??

[khunjeng]

in addition all the ppl I spoke to wouldn't bother going much lower than 13 to sell a decent GPX...for that money you might as well keep it. I actually paid 15k for mine like 6 months ago...it was a little on the expensive as I found a few with better paid jobs but mine engine has only done 35k! In my mind that was work an extra 2k---oh Kev plus the Uniroyal tyres...they are worth an extra 3k at least

[SchumieFan]

i rekon in about 5 years when all us young blokes have written them off the price will go up again cause they will become collectors pieces.... especially the "Car of the year" model

im holding onto mine, dont care how worthless it becomes, ill never run it into the ground

[BuCkEt]

Car's are a liability, not an investment.

Part of me is happy that the price is dropping, cos I know that I'm not selling mine and if they get cheap enough well hey.....can anyone say Rally FTO?

[mivecboy]

If the one you seen are good, clean & cheap, why are you looking into a "write off" repair FTO??

Thats because they weren't the colour Im looking for. I'm looking for silver and maybe black

[mivecboy]

it was a little on the expensive as I found a few with better paid jobs but mine engine has only done 35k!

Srry to tell u but Im sure your odometer reading had been clocked!! Think about it, its a 10 yrs old car with 35,000kms???!!! U bet its been clock big time.

[FTO338]

If the one you seen are good, clean & cheap, why are you looking into a "write off" repair FTO??

Thats because they weren't the colour Im looking for. I'm looking for silver and maybe black

I don't get it, if they are not the colour you are looking for, why did u bother to inspect it at the first place?? And if you didn't inspect them, how did you know they are clean & good condition?

[dstocks]

Im sure your odometer reading had been clocked

Wont have been clocked. May well have been swapped. This is commonly done when the cars get imported. It is actually quite hard to wind on/back the speedos as they are digital (So I guess they dont wind either). Just find a wreck with a low mileage gauge. Takes about 10 min to change over.

[mivecboy]

don't get it, if they are not the colour you are looking for, why did u bother to inspect it at the first place?? And if you didn't inspect them, how did you know they are clean & good condition?

Thats because i wanna compare them, test drive them and get a feel of what a good, average and bad FTO is. Things like clutch, engine smoothness etc. So when I see a good silver FTO, i can compare it mechanically. In another word, u can say im a time waster in testing other colour, hey but who knows i might like it too much to buy. Just like this black one(my 2nd favourite colour) before, after i test drove it, next day i called it was sold at $12,500. It was under 100,000km, been resprayed so the paint is spotless clean, interior in "PERFECT CLEAN" condition with momo stuff, manual, mp3, exhaust sys..etc... It was a dealer in Richmond, the car was sold about 2 months ago in one of the big car sales website. Either trading post or carsales.com.au

So FTO338, these days I wouldn't pay more than $13k for a good condition FTO. The ones on carsales.com.au and tradingpost above $15,000 have been sitting there for weeks and even months and still not sold. Too bad everyone with an FTO has to suffer. But its only worth what the market pay, if u know what i mean.

[mivecboy]

Wont have been clocked. May well have been swapped. This is commonly done when the cars get imported. It is actually quite hard to wind on/back the speedos as they are digital (So I guess they dont wind either). Just find a wreck with a low mileage gauge. Takes about 10 min to change over.

U will be surprise how easy it is too clock a digital ones then the old anolog or sourcing a low km gauge. There are professional clocker out there and clock cars for a living for car dealers and importers. And with digital clock, its just a matter of wiring to their laptop and clock it!! which may take less than 10 mins too. No kidding.

[BuCkEt]

So FTO338, these days I wouldn't pay more than $13k for a good condition FTO. The ones on carsales.com.au and tradingpost above $15,000 have been sitting there for weeks and even months and still not sold. Too bad everyone with an FTO has to suffer. But its only worth what the market pay, if u know what i mean.

That's generally because those FTO's in the higher price bracket have been modified with some decent brand name gear.