I'm seriously looking at buying a vy or later SV8/SS manual trans. But I have found that the prices, both private and dealer (I'm in SA) are quite a bit higher than the Redbook valuations at Carsales.com.au.
For example, I was looking at a vy SV8 2002 sedan with just under 80,00 KM and the guy won't budge under 15 grand with original asking price of $16500, yet the Redbook valuation is between $8000 and $10000 and my car insurance (AAMI) values it at $7700. Considering it's in great cond and the kays I'd reckon it would be worth $12000 ($13000 at a pinch).
Dealers are looking late teens for the same year SS and mid teens for not quite so tidy or high kay examples yet Readbook states $10200 to $12400. I understand the dealers need to make a profit, but that's way over the odds, eh.
Has anyone some insight into this? Yeah I know it's the holy grail of manual V8, but the valuations from my previous experience, can be higher than the actual market and it's possible to get a car below redbooks prices (relative to condition).
I really like the SV8 above. But if these are the prices, I think that going for a later model SS like 09 or 10 which from the examples for sale, actually reflects the market values on Redbook, is the way to go, but I don't really want to commit to that much.
Cheers for any advice.
I don't have advice on this specific car, but this is always going to be a problem when you want a model which is in demand. Less popular models usually sell at less that the redbook value.