Customers cars - Values and advice

[Saul Commer 9]

Hi Guys,

Somebody local to our shop asked if I could take a look at his sons RC Cars and see what it would take to get them working so his grandchildren could use them.

It turned out to be quite a collection and all cars are complete, in used condition, with radio gear and are all original releases. Now the questions relate to, how would you deal with this?

I am tempted to tell him to sell the complete collection individually to collectors and then replace the Brat and Lunchbox with re-releases and new radio gear and Lipos etc. purely because of the liklihood of the plastic parts breaking due to the cars age.

I would be interested in the Brat, Audi Quattro and maybe the Bruiser. I havent checked yet but assume that every car can be paired up with period transmitters and battery packs.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

*Edit* Forgot that there is also a Subaru Brat which wouldn't upload.

 

[Kol__ 3947]

25 minutes ago, Saul Commer said:

I am tempted to tell him to sell the complete collection individually to collector

Makes the most sense to me mate, like you say those brittle old plastics won't last long in young hands. And even then a Tamiya might not be the best option for the replacement due to their relative fragility in general.

As long as he gets fair prices from you then I see no issue. Maybe bung the rest individually on eBay. However, I'd wait until around March time as I always find that the RC market for that level of stuff at least always takes a bit of a dive for 2-3 months around this time of year, due to all the Christmas spending/debts.

Oh and if the box of celebrations is for sale, I'll take those😆

Edit: that Panda (Pandamonium?) thing us quite rare. Doesn't got for crazy amounts iirc, but Glenn on Tamiya Legends and Andy on Andy Robinson RC both did videos on that. I think Glenn ended up buying it from Andy, and then subsequently breaking it!🤦‍♂️😂

[Saul Commer 9]

4 hours ago, Kol__ said:

Makes the most sense to me mate, like you say those brittle old plastics won't last long in young hands. And even then a Tamiya might not be the best option for the replacement due to their relative fragility in general.

As long as he gets fair prices from you then I see no issue. Maybe bung the rest individually on eBay. However, I'd wait until around March time as I always find that the RC market for that level of stuff at least always takes a bit of a dive for 2-3 months around this time of year, due to all the Christmas spending/debts.

Oh and if the box of celebrations is for sale, I'll take those😆

Edit: that Panda (Pandamonium?) thing us quite rare. Doesn't got for crazy amounts iirc, but Glenn on Tamiya Legends and Andy on Andy Robinson RC both did videos on that. I think Glenn ended up buying it from Andy, and then subsequently breaking it!🤦‍♂️😂

I might offer to sell them on his behalf as I am not interested in most of the cars or parts.

[Kowalski86 5012]

5 hours ago, Saul Commer said:

I am tempted to tell him to sell the complete collection individually to collectors and then replace the Brat and Lunchbox with re-releases and new radio gear and Lipos etc. purely because of the liklihood of the plastic parts breaking due to the cars age.

Outside of the Lunchbox, none of these are really "kid-proof" and updating them with bearings/new tires/escs/fresh plastic would be quite expensive, or even impossible for a few models. I'm not a shelf queen guy, but I wouldn't dare run a vintage Audi or Panda.

I'd reccomend selling them off and buying a pair of newer entry level RCs, once that's said and done ideally he'll have plenty of spare funds to put into an "upgrade/maintenance" budget to keep things interesting.

[ADRay1000 745]

are the kids are in the know about the rc car plan? they might not be as interested as to justify the idea and the legwork. 
(my own kids haven’t taken to it they way I’d hoped).

if they aren’t interested in rc cars, I’d leave them as is, and wait to see if that changes. 
 

if they’re interested in rc cars and want to “drive the wheels off them”, consider new stuff and leave the old ones as is or restore for display. 
 

if they want to drive those particular cars because of the history, I’d get them running but with the understanding that they are old and special and need to be driven with care. 

[Saul Commer 9]

1 hour ago, ADRay1000 said:

are the kids are in the know about the rc car plan? they might not be as interested as to justify the idea and the legwork. 
(my own kids haven’t taken to it they way I’d hoped).

if they aren’t interested in rc cars, I’d leave them as is, and wait to see if that changes. 
 

if they’re interested in rc cars and want to “drive the wheels off them”, consider new stuff and leave the old ones as is or restore for display. 
 

if they want to drive those particular cars because of the history, I’d get them running but with the understanding that they are old and special and need to be driven with care. 

I haven't had too much of a look at them yet but I don't think they are worth the investment to get them as runners. Am I right in thinking that the 58036 Tamiya Audi Quattro hasn't had a re-release?

I have a lunchbox and other cars in the shop so tempted to see if he would do some kind of a deal.

The collection is:

58036 Tamiya Audi Quattro

58038 Tamiya Subaru Brat

58063 Tamiya Lunchbox

58048 Tamiya Toyota 4x4 Bruiser (3 speed)

Panda Pandemonium

Nikko Sand Eagle

 

[TurnipJF 10969]

I would say that if he is not interested in keeping them pristine and is willing to let his grandchildren drive them, he is probably not a collector as such, and the vehicles would probably be better off in the hands of somebody who was.

I quite agree that his grandchildren would be better served with new vehicles with new plastics and easily available spares. As for what those vehicles should be, that is another topic that has been debated on here at length and will probably continue to be debated for many decades to come. 😁

Selling them on his behalf if you are not interested in the cars yourself would be a good and ethical way forward I believe.

As for value, such things are highly variable and the short answer is they are worth what somebody is willing to pay for them. Looking to see what similar products sold for on previous eBay auctions would give you a reasonable ballpark figure I think.

[Elbowloh 1486]

Maybe find out what the son wants to do with them, they're his cars right, not the grandad who wants them for his grandkids?

[Saul Commer 9]

At the moment he is happy for me to make an offer for the Tamiya cars, which I am happy to do depending on value.

The Sand Eagle and Panda I have advertised as open to offers. He is reluctant to sell them as non-runners but I have tested the Panda and it is a runner requiring work and the Sand Eagle I will try and test over christmas.

[MadAnt 887]

I used to give rough appraisals to customers who wanted to sell their RC cars. I hated doing it, because when I told them what it could be worth if they fixed a few things, they would then go and ask for that higher number without addressing the issues. These cars were being sold on consignment and would sit for months to a year, so they took up space until thery were sold. 

Now that I think of it, some asking prices were high on cars that did not have an appraisal. 

Anyway...

 Two options.

1. Make a CASH offer for the lot and leave some wiggle room for negotiating.

2. Tell them to sell everything at auction and explain the whole process and extra details.

Always be honest, and use good judgment.

[Exit13 780]

I like that Audi Quattro Rally