I've been looking at prices asked for G40's here,Pistonheads even E-bay. How come people ask so little for cars they've put so much time, effort and money into? I took my G down to a local show at the weekend and it got a fair amount of attention. What people were asking was " how much for a decent one like this"? I told them I'd be looking for £3,500 for mine which didn't seem to faze them. But when I told them they could get something pretty close for £2,000 they wanted to know why and I really couldn't tell them. This was against a background where someone was asking £1,500 for a totally shagged old Sunbeam Rapier and got it and a Mini 1000 with fresh paint and not a lot else got £3,600 of an asked £4,000.
People are always on the lookout for something differant, so maybe punting them in Practical Classics and the like might well give them their proper status.
It's about demand mate. Not many people want them so the prices are low. If I think back before I built mine when they were fetching good money it was still £5k tops for a minter. Now you'll be lucky to see £3.5k for the same car. People are scared of the mileage a lot of them are on and add to that the simple fact is you get a lot of car for your money elsewhere as Top Gear recently pointed out.
I know what you mean. I feel like I have mine priced too high with it being a non runner, but I'm really only looking to get back 2/3rds what I paid trying to get it on the road myself. Bad luck put paid to my efforts. Not had any interest at all so far.
An enthusiasts car through and through.
For £4k fo a minter, you can get a 10yr old 300bhp Audi S4, to 99% of the population that's the sensible choice!
^ That's it, a few years ago a G40 was one of the fastest things you could get your hands on for (relatively) little money. Now all the big power hatches and saloons that have been produced over the last 10 years are worth feck all and all have airbags, aircon, leccy windows, brakes that work.....etc...etc..
yoof raised a good point on this subject at action this weekend. Kids on clubpolo are paying £1500 for GTs or even not much less for clean CLs when they could pay the same or a touch more for a g40. The reason is they can't afford to insure and run a g40. Then when they get old enough they have got bored of polos or realise they can buy something faster or more modern for the same or less money.
Like Alex said, the demand for g40s is low so if you want to sell one you'll probably have a hard time of it for £3500 unless it really is mint and low mileage. Having said that, the one in the for sale section you commented on does seem too cheap. But then we've not seen it...
I reckon the G's problem pricewise is the fact it's almost unknown. It's selling to it's own tight market, which sees it literally devouring itself. A bit more exposure to the general car enthusiasts market might see it get a better deal as a genuinely collectable.
I don't think it's a bad thing myself. The more accessable it is to people, the better! Sure you get the odd nobber here and there that does horrific things to one, but they're few and far between.
Vicious circle now given the age of the car...
they need some love - chargers, engines etc need rebuilding. Most now need paint and welding before long. If you do this to a mk1 or mk2 golf gti you end up with the money adding they value to a car... not necessarily the case to a g40 as they are still not as collectable.
As for why they arent as collectable - its cos they aren't iconic like a golf gti. I still think mk1/2 golfs look amazing and turn heads with the general public. A polo is still second best.
Values for g40s have been similar since i've had them (10 years) and I can't see them going up tbh.
It's already been said, but there are much quicker; more stylish; comfier cars available for the same money - and similar insurance costs, so it's not an obvious sensible performance/fun car choice. If I didn't already own one, but was into VWs, I wouldn't be looking to buy one now.
Then as Pete's said, they're just not that collectable given their lack of desireability. Golf GTIs (Mk1 and Mk2 anyway) were iconic, and whored and adored by press and public alike, so remain collectable.
I think insurance is a real factor that's crippling values more in the short-term though. One of the 18 year old Club Polo lads was paying over £2k to insure a standard CL, and that seemed about par for the course from what he was saying. I'd hate to think what a G40 would cost them even with a few years NCB under their belt. I guess that's why GT values remain very solid, as they're sporty(ish) but still insurable.
The G40 remains unpopular, (relatively) expensive to run and expensive to maintain, and doesn't offer anything performance or comfort wise that something else costing the same money can't do better. On the other hand, we all know they're damn good fun!
I have to agree with what you guys are saying, but reckon it could be worthwhile trying to sell to a different market. If you're in no rush, try and catch the eye of a collector after something a bit different.
The trouble is, a collector who was after something a bit different wouldn't look at a G40, there not "different" enough.
I can only see a remote interest if a totally original, very low mileage and truly mint condition car came up for sale. How many of these exist - if any?
1 in Switzerland on about 12k or something daft IIRC? That's probabaly it :D lol
tbh im 20 and looking for a nice little hatch that i can make my own.
ive looked at the 1.4 16v golfs the 1.3 106 rallye's even but the thing that makes sense to me is a g40 i first saw one at the age of 8 when my uncle had one at the time. blitzing through the country side nothing on the roads could keep up either and ever since ive wanted one. Ive had pictures stuck up all over my room and maybe im not a normal 20 year old who knows but the g40 is my ideal car.
Quote from: envious on November 03, 2011, 12:06:20 PM
tbh im 20 and looking for a nice little hatch that i can make my own.
ive looked at the 1.4 16v golfs the 1.3 106 rallye's even but the thing that makes sense to me is a g40 i first saw one at the age of 8 when my uncle had one at the time. blitzing through the country side nothing on the roads could keep up either and ever since ive wanted one. Ive had pictures stuck up all over my room and maybe im not a normal 20 year old who knows but the g40 is my ideal car.
Get one! I've had mine since I was 18 and loved every up and down I've had with it
It's strange, they're a real cult car. Mine's become a bit of a talking point when I'm with groups of journalists - moreso than the few others with Mk1/2 Golf GTIs. And the few people who know what mine is are really interested to talk about it when they see it on petrol forecourts etc. I think it's because people don't see them around.
But cult doesn't always fetch high prices.
That said, £2,000 for an old Polo is a lot of cash. I've seen RS Clio 172s for less - and they're half the age.
Plus there's a lot of bad press knocking about, and the insurance is steep for a G40 even compared to similar cars. They're easy to nick and if you hit something head on you'll take out the charger and intercooler, which means high repair costs, which means a high insurance group.
I think a lot of people buy a Polo as a first car then, when insurance allows, migrate to the better known Golfs and so on. Then continue upwards to Skylines/Subarus/Evos and that sort of stuff if they want to go up another step in performance. Making a truly rapid G40 takes a lot of time and effort, most people don't have the patience when you can buy a faster car off the shelf and put the time into making it stupidly rapid.
Quote from: Alex on November 26, 2011, 10:22:28 PM
But cult doesn't always fetch high prices.
That's very true Alec, but with cult comes an increasing awareness and maybe a bottoming out/increase in prices. I think the G's biggest enemy is it's easily acquired performance upgrades and as soon as you get one you automatcally want more. You end up pushing a very old car too hard,breaking it and selling downwards.
My own personal experience is that I bought my second G in Brum and within days of getting it up to Inverness I was getting a bit jumpy about the attention it was getting. People (mainly young guys...that means they were under forty) were turning up to have a look, photographing it, asking if I was selling it ????
That interest hasn't waned especially since it's re-furb and there's hardly a day when I take it out that I'm either approached or find a phone number tucked under a wiper with a request to sell.
As you say that interest might not turn into capital, but when I sell, I will be able to hold out for a solid price which a lot of young guys can't afford to do.
Very true. Mine's hidden away in my garage now but back when it was parked up outside my parents' house each night I did used to get people asking how much I'd sell it for and leaving notes under the wipers (I still have them at home somewhere haha!)
But it's one of those where if I did sell it people will either think it's a chance to buy a rust-free G40 with most of the basic performance-related boxes ticked and want to pay for it... or they'll see it as a 185,000 mile GT with a G40 engine and near worthless as a result.
Personally if I was looking for another one it wouldn't bother me what the V5 said, I'd be looking for one that's been well cared for. But I would say that.
Anyway my point is that as always the market is driven by what people are prepared to pay. Lots of people love the idea of owning a G40, but wouldn't actually do it. It's just a case of finding the ones that do.
Yeah there is people out there who know what they are and know that they want one. Cant believe it but i just sold mine yesterday but at least i am happy with the price i got £3300
Pictures here
http://s364.photobucket.com/albums/oo82/GAF2_photo/?action=view¤t=PoloG40K788WND269.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs364.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo82%2FGAF2_photo%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DPoloG40K788WND279.jpg
im 22 and im on my 2nd g40, i love them i know u can get alot faster car for the money but they are no way near as rear, i get so much interested in my original L reg g40 in tornado red, when did you last see one?? they only sell to people who are looking for one, i went 200 miles to get mine last month
Quote from: Alex on November 27, 2011, 02:37:57 PM
But it's one of those where if I did sell it people will either think it's a chance to buy a rust-free G40 with most of the basic performance-related boxes ticked and want to pay for it... or they'll see it as a 185,000 mile GT with a G40 engine and near worthless as a result.
Personally if I was looking for another one it wouldn't bother me what the V5 said, I'd be looking for one that's been well cared for. But I would say that.
Very true... I'd have the same problem if I came to sell my Genesis. People would just say it's not a real G40(like there's a difference in the bodyshell?!) and it's got 225,000 miles on the clock.
The fact that it's solid, well maintained and has quite a few nice bits and pieces on it would be irrelevant ::)