We’re going to try something a bit different here. MaryAnn sent me this picture of what was her uncle’s pristine Mark VII LSC, and she’s looking for help figuring out what it’s worth and how best to sell it. Who better than you all. And if any of you out there you really like it, you’re also welcome to make a (serious) offer. I wouldn’t do this for just anyone, but then this looks to be a beautiful LSC, and MaryAnn asked so nicely. (Update: it has just under 16k original miles). In her words:
Hi, I just found your site, as I am looking for information about the 1990 Lincoln Mark VII LSC we have. We are planning to sell it. It’s in beautiful condition, it even has that new car smell still, and the original window sticker. It belonged to my uncle, who owned a gas station. It’s been garaged since, and rarely used. Could you suggest a site where I can find its value or make any suggestions about selling it? That would be great. Thanks, MaryAnn
I realize that no one is likely to buy this sight-unseen, and I’m not interested in being a broker. But if anyone has a serious interest, send me a message at the Contact form or curbsideclassic(at)gmail.com. I’ll forward them to MaryAnn. The car is located in Sparta, NJ.
This strikes me as a very hard car to place a value on. Published values are probably a lot lower than what the right person would pay for this car. I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these in decent shape and this one looks to be a real peach. I never rode in one but heard they were very fast. If I was a Ford guy instead of a GM guy, I’d probably be all over this.
It’s very cool that you posted this car because there’s a good possibility that “the right person” visits this site regularly. I’d love to see it go to someone who knows & appreciates what it is & takes appropriate care of it.
As much as I hate what E-bay has turned into, it may be the most appropriate means for selling though. A friend of mine got a little over $7000 from an overseas buyer who chose “Buy It Now” just a day or so after he listed his dad’s ’69 non-running 6.3 Mercedes. He got a valid cashier’s check immediately & the shipper removed the vehicle exactly when it was supposed to — everything went 100% (believe it or not!)
Craigslist will generate a lot of local losers who’ll offer $1,500 for it but if the seller has patience, she may get “lucky”… and Craigslist is free.
It can’t hurt to create an ID on a Lincoln-Specific forum & go that route. Some vehicles have excellent forums (ClassicOldsmobile.com is a good example) while others totally suck (try getting any reliable info on a first-gen S10!)… I’ve noticed the forum route generates a whole lot of enthusiasm & questions but not a whole lot of reasonable offers and actual sales.
Tough call. Hopefully someone here will save her the trouble.
Found this forum via Google: http://thelincolnmarkviiclub.org/phpBB3/index.php
Not sure how active the community is, but I agree with Junqueboi that these message boards are often a great place to find this sort of expertise.
Agreed I sold my 1996 Cutlass Supreme on W-Body.com a couple of years ago FAST. the guy drove from Dayton to STL on a sunday night, paid me and drove it home. The only people that would appreciate this vehicle and pay a fair to better price would be there
Post this car on the Lincoln Mark VII Club’s website. I’m a member and own a very nice ’86 Mark VII LSC. Our guys know their Mark VII’s and I’ll bet if someone there doesn’t buy it they’ll know someone who would. Don’t know if it’s worth a $ per mile on the car but it’s probably not far off that…
That’s a beautiful car for sure, one that actually seems to look better as it ages.
Anyways, I would suggest putting her in touch with Sajeev Mehta. If anyone knows Lincolns of this vintage, it’s him.
I would second both this and the Mark VII forum mentioned above.
Now if it were a pristine Mark VIII, I’d be on a plane to New Jersey. 🙂
I think the odometer reading is number one here. Miles are a strong determinant of value, especially with a 22-year-old car. As someone who peruses e-bay frequently, searching for those rare gems of the past with low miles, I’ve come to realize that older Lincolns seem to depreciate quicker than older Cadillacs. Who knows why. Do FoMoCo products have a worse reliability history?
Anyway, some sites (all followed by (dot) com):
Auto Trader Classics – Cars For Sale – Hemmings
In addition to ebay and Craigslist, these are a good place to start a search for values and info. Again, mileage is a huge factor.
I gotta start reading a little slower. On the first pass, my brain morphed “peruses e-bay” into “e-pen**”.
That delightful image out of the way, I’d have to third (or fourth) e-Bay and Craigslist (though I’d recommend not putting your phone number in the ad, unless you want to talk to every cheapskate, scammer and lunatic in your area).
Just heard from the seller:it has “just under 16,000 miles”.
Actually for a car of this age mileage does not make that big of a difference in value, it’s condition, condition, condition. The really low miles of this one probably only add maybe $500 to it’s value. There are way too many people who will pull out the old line “with that few of miles it’s going to need all the rubber bits replaced”. Though with a mechanic as it’s sole owner that stuff may have been replaced, but for the collector that wants to put it away, that can detract from it’s price as it would likely no longer have the hoses, clamps, belt and plug wires with the proper factory markings and date codes.
Agree and disagree. If it were left in a field for most of it’s 16K miles there is no value whatsoever to low miles, it could be a $1000 car if the norm is $3000. If pampered and unmolested (condition, condition!) and has detailed records the low mileage can add 100%.
I’ll do a search and see what I find………
I’ll agree with you partially. Yes that low of miles could double it’s value vs one with say 100,000 in identical condition. However the if and it is a big IF is that you can find a buyer that needs one of these to preserve. For the entry level collector he is likely going to want to drive it and the low miles would actually make it less desirable to many of those people. The reason fear of ruining its value if it racks up too many miles, the need or want to replace those rubber bits to ensure it’s reliability, is also a concern for ruining its value.
Sajeev Mehta, where are you?
+1
She should contact Bring A Trailer.
http://bringatrailer.com/
+1
I’ll add my vote for Ebay. Craigslist is worth a try, but as stated, expect a lot of flakes and lowball offers (but you never know, and it’s free . . .).
A beautiful car. I was looking at these cars back in the early 1990s when I bought my Buick Electra T-Type, but they were still out of my price range (and, at the time my state based the license tab renewal fee on the vehicle’s value, and used their own depreciation scale instead of TMV, resulting in a tab renewal fee of over $500).
Tell me about it (re: registration fees)! Michigan does this, and it uses its own depreciation scale…. for three years. Then the value stays static. I have to pay $183 a year for my 1995 Mercedes, almost twice what I paid for an ’09 Jeep Liberty when it was two years old!
Stick it on Trade me $1 reserve it will sell eventually
Yes! I would bid! Though the only $1 reserve Trademe auction I ever did, for my crappy old mountain bike, went horribly wrong when bids went way over what it was worth (and I was honest in describing it as a rusty old heap of junk!). The winner was seriously miffed that it was, in actual fact, as described… But I’d bid on the Lincoln and be super-happy with it!
I’d put the value somewhere near $8000 if it has all the original pieces, like the spark plug wires stamped with cylinder number and 1990. If those pieces have been replaced then I’d say around $7000. In both cases that is assuming the interior is perfect and everything functions as it should.
Nice ride. Hope someone buys it to keep as a rare unicorn instead of a daily beater.
Ebay…set a high reserve, higher than you expect, don’t do a buy it now price. If it doesn’t sell you don’t pay, but it will give you idea on what the market thinks its worth. If you want relist with a price that seems more realistic.
Option 2 would be Hemmings. Might be worth the investment to have it appraised…
I’d say that is the best course, putting it on E-bay with say a 10-12K reserve and see how high the bidding goes. The relist with a Buy it Now price a couple thousand higher than what it topped out last time, set the reserve around what it was bid up to and start it say $1-2K less than that.
I posted before reading the replies to not have my opinion influenced by others. To see us at the same place makes me think that’s about right. That and your comments always seem to be spot on.
Here’s a 2 time National show winner with 12,400 miles in perhaps a more desirable color combo for $8500.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/3431755805.html
It’s less than that I’d guess. But without many more LARGE and detailed pics I can’t say.
Here’s a pretty nice 89K mile Mark VII for $2000.
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/3412451541.html
Here’s a really good valuation from Haggerty that seems consistent with condition: $5700 for a #2 condition (excellent but not concours).
http://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/HVT/VehicleSearch/Report?vc=1093943
Of course that craigslist posting is asking price, hard to say if it will sell for that much and if they have been trying to sell it for just a couple of weeks or it’s been on there for months.
Tell MaryAnn to send a link of this ad to Jack Baruth of Sajeev Mehta over at our old panther-loving friends at TTAC. They’ll turn a link to the ad into a very long post and offer to buy it unmolested and keep it that way, along with giving HUGELY over-inflated prices and offers for it.
Kelly Blue Book comes back with $3,730 as top dollar for a private party ’92 LSC with 16,000 miles in excellent condition with the equipment this one seems to have. Seems light to me. I’d think she could get $5,000.
Let’s say it’s all original with no panel repairs, chips, scratches, tears or wear. $6-8K but you may have to wait a bit for that price. A museum piece with no aging at all would fetch well over $10K but I see that the bumper fillers are starting to discolor and am therefore guessing there are other signs of age.
If you list it on Craigslist or eBay anyone looking for one will find it.
I’m not an expert on these but have always loved the LSCs. If those wheels are not original that would take away from the price. Great year, great color, great car!
90-92 Mark VII LSC and 91-92 Bill Blass Mark VIIs had BBS style wheels from the factory.
I would say this car is worth between $7-9K, depending on condition. If it is just as it was when it rolled out of the showroom than I could see it listed more towards the high end. If it were me I would be very picky about who I sold the car to. I would try to make sure that it went to a home where someone would take care of it and keep it in the pristine (I assume) condition that it is in.
Mark VIIs are not worth that much if they are not in mint condition. For instance I picked up this 152K mile 91 Mark VII LSC for $800 last week. It needs a bunch of cosmetic work but it’s a good “20 footer” as it sits.
I have a very firm policy regarding a ‘good home’ for any merchandise I sell (not animals).
You have the money, you qualify as a good home.
Once they buy it, it’s theirs.
You can hope they’ll take care of it, but if you’re that worried about what happens to it, don’t sell it.
My name is Greg and I am the Pres of a local NYC based auto club called Marks Of Pride. We are all Lincoln Mark 7 owners. I also buy and sell Mark 7s and parts. I know these cars very well and would be more than glad to offer my assistance! Please feel free to reach out to me at bk2blk@yahoo.com.
If you still have this vehicle for sale please e-mail me. I’m looking to buy a 1990-1992 Mark VII in very nice condition and I’d like to know more about yours. I might be interested in making an offer so please feel free to write back… e-mail: naascr@gmail.com. Thank you.
If this Mary Ann had any brains at all she would drive it and get some fun out of it. As it is she has no right owning a great car like that and I hope she did get it sold to some one who appreciates this great American classic. Who ever bought it got a great car from an idiot who did not know what she had.If I were Mary Ann’s husband I would keep the LSC and get rid of her