Full Records, what's the worth?
 

With the insane increase in prices, my SC is probably worth a small airplane now (mid-time Piper Cherokee). So...thinking about selling. I'm the fifth owner and have had it for about 9 years. It's a regular driver, not a show car. 156k, etc. etc. I know full records are important and increase value for a show car, but what about for a middle of the pack car like mine? I have every record since day one, all in a big three inch binder. What's that worth?

An extra $10k

Isn’t a thorough PPI worth more than a stack of past records on a driver ?
A PPI doesn’t run that much ...

Interested in others thoughts

Makes it easier to sell if unrestored.
Not sure I’d pay more, but I would be way more likely to pass on one without.

Tough to say but I would place a small premium on it. I have an 66 Mustang with a few records going back to day one, a ton of registrations from 1970, and pictures of it with previous owners. Obviously it also has a ton of maintenance records as well.

Definitely adds a little value to it. It also shows that previous owners cared about the car.

The latest Pano has an article on the value of records kept. I can’t remember if it talked about $$ value but certainly more worthy to a prospective buyer.

I'd rather have recent paperwork of a engine or tranny rebuild and a current PPI than some old records that would just collect dust.

Yep, I think I agree with you there. It's interesting to leaf through the binder and see what happened when. The scheduled maintenance stuff is interesting, but the top end rebuild and knowing all the studs were replaced is what allows me to talk about the car authoritatively.

I'd say complete records are worth a lot if the car is in good condition and has been maintained to a high standard since new.

Full records also verify that your mileage is correct. Too many 911s are sold on mileage claims that can't be verified. Speedos can be swapped in minutes and the odo gears commonly break.

If a 911 doesn't have thorough records, it's a TMU in my opinion. And that's probably over 80% of them.

seriously?

Yep. As others have said it creates provenance and verifies history. My assumption is a car that has records since new has always been well tended. And if there is a gap in care you know it.

I had every record on my Boxster too bad they aren’t worth anything in a $10k car.

Wouldn’t it be a 20k car with records, or am I having problems with addups and takeaways again?

:D

If the Danish Dangler was buying, records and books might add $20K.

It's not 10k to most people. An extra 10k for an SC would have to be a lot more than records. Original paint and rare color maybe. A Longhood isn't even 10k for records. A couple thousand.

To be clear I’m not saying just records. Not seeing pictures of the car I’m making assumptions. I’m suggesting it’s $10k more because of what the car probably is, not that a stack of paper is worth $10k. I’m guessing this car will sell for the kind of money that ‘88 brought on BAT.

I just sold a 98 Tacoma that I purchased brand new. I had every piece of documentation possible with that car with the exception of gas receipts and insurance receipts. Mfr brochure, contract agreement, etc etc as well as receipts of all scheduled services.

Of course the fact that it was in excellent condition surely helped but it was pretty obvious I still loved the car 19 years after buying it. It had one door ding. that's what happens when you marry into a Jewish family where not one out of 40 members don't own a pickup and they ask to borrow it. At least they admitted to it and offered to fix it.

Back on topic now, yes it ran and looked great but I'm sure all the documentation proving that I was the sole owner really helped me get very very top dollar for it. My very non scientific guess would be maybe 500.00 or 5% on a 10k dollar sale (at least as it related to this Tacoma). Personally I would pay a decent amount more for a nice Porsche or old Shelby with equivalent documentation.

Look up some past sales and see the difference between a $25k car and a $35k car.
They may also differ by 75k miles.

I buy cars not paperwork.

Assumption would be a car with all paperwork will be a well cared for and loved car thus worth the extra dollars.

Yes, that's my way of thinking. Full documentation on the top-end rebuild doesn't add a whit of value if the leak-down numbers suck. As I have looked through other cars being sold, it's really hard to control for other variables (read: impossible).

Obviously a rusted out rag of a car with records, paper work will not make much of a difference in price if at all.
But, a real nice car with good documentation of care by the previous owners, records with the car is worth a huge premium in the price.
A good PPI will inform you the car has no broken head studs, the full records will let you know why and who corrected the issue, when and what they did while they were in there. Good records will let you know stuff that will not show in a PPI, new CV joints two years ago, rebuilt trans with a LSD, etc.