Ever wondered what a Pristine MG Montego is Worth?

[MG Mal]

The very best example of an early MG Montego is now on ebay.
This car has genuine mileage and was lovingly restored by it's late owner.

It truly is the very best of it's kind!.

Don't be put off by the starting price, the car has been valued by a club official in my presence, and it is worth every penny and more!.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-Montego-EF ... 4ad695b609

[Laird_Scooby]

Made quite a good bid price Mal, how come it didn't sell at that price? I know the reserve wasn't met but was the reserve that much more?

[MG Mal]

Originally had a buyer at 5.5k, buyer dropped out due to being OCD about very very minor things.
Then had a buyer at 4850, who also for some reason dropped out.
Listed on ebay with reserve of 4850 (I think) but failed to reach target.

I believe it will soon be listed on car and classic site at top value, as owners are now willing to wait for right buyer.

Mal.

[JPB]

It's about its money I guess, yet you couldn't restore any car to that standard for less, which means that surely it's not too dear. Maybe people want something for nothing these days. Actually, scrub the "maybe", they just do.













Edited as original post made with T9 device and according to that, the word "scrub" and the word "pasta" are interchangeable which they are, technically, but there's that slight difference in their meaning..

[Laird_Scooby]

Doubtless the right buyer will come along Mal, it is after all a "New Old Stock" car except for 24000 miles. Granted the paintwork was restored (according to the fleabay listing) but looking at the general condition of the car i would guess this was more of a "freshen up" than a full on paint resto?

I think John has hit the nail on the head - people want top-dollar cars for banger money aka something for nothing.

[tractorman]

Perhaps the problem is that it's a Montego. With the best will in the world, they weren't the most popular of cars and had a (partly unfair) reputation for all sorts of problems (the three I can think of are HGF, low oil-pressure failures and rust). My five-year old (1985 model) 1600 certainly suffered from the last problem - in spades - and it was the best one I could find in the area! The attitude of the Rover agents and the rust problems were the reason I gave up on Austin/Rovers and would never have another!

If the car had been something more collectable (even Sierras are becoming more collectable these days), I could understand the frustration - but I'm sorry, a Montego will never appeal to the wider audience. By coincidence, my dear Brother-in-Law was slagging them off yesterday - he has always hated them and laughed at me for buying one - I was actually defending them!!!

I'm sorry for sounding negative - each to their own and all that. It is a good car - in condition etc (though brought back a lot of bad memories to me).

Perhaps the under-bidder realised that he had been bidding against the "winner" for a while and that, had the winner dropped out, he may have "won" the car for much less. I have to admit that, if I had been in a similar situation, I would want to come back a lot from my losing bid - almost to the point where there were only two bidders. It's not a case of something for nothing - it's a case of I would have won the item for much less, so why should I pay more?

[Laird_Scooby]

Some good points well made there Tractorman but the big thing is there is a hardcore band of followers that would recognise the value in this particular car and others similar and happily pay the money for it. That said, you are right about the reputation and to a degree it is unfounded but mainly for the reason that a lot of the failures were down to lack of or skipped maintenance - same story applies to things like the 6-cylinder SD1 models amongst others. Regardless of which way you look at it, it is a machine that requires human input in the form of servicing/maintenance. If that human input falls short then the machine will fail.

They did however seem to rust quite badly if you bought a white, beige or brown model, other colours seemed to be better protected. Maybe it's down to the chemical composition of the paint and the other colours had something in them that acted as a corrosion inhibitor, i doubt we will ever know why.

I think you're right about the ebay second chance offer system, if the high bidder drops out then the second high bidder should only have to pay one bid increment above the 3rd highest bidders highest bid IMHO, not the bid their maximum bid which is usually only one bid increment below the high bidders winning bid. That's a whole different can of worms though and possibly best left for a different thread for discussion!

[Fatbloke]

Some good points well made there Tractorman but the big thing is there is a hardcore band of followers that would recognise the value in this particular car and others similar and happily pay the money for it.

Where were they during this auction then?

They did however seem to rust quite badly if you bought a white, beige or brown model, other colours seemed to be better protected. Maybe it's down to the chemical composition of the paint and the other colours had something in them that acted as a corrosion inhibitor, i doubt we will ever know why.

They Probably did but it didn't show up as much against the darker colours!

Having said all that, I do actually quite like the Montego...but not enought to buy one!

[MG Mal]

Let's just say that one of the failed buyers was from said "hardcore group", who deemed it not worth the asking price, although thinks his repaired car is worth much more.

[Laird_Scooby]

Let's just say that one of the failed buyers was from said "hardcore group", who deemed it not worth the asking price, although thinks his repaired car is worth much more.

Sounds suspiciously like a case of double standards there Mal!

Mike/Fatbloke - the people that didn't bid weren't the people i was referring to or if they were, couldn't afford it.

As for the rust not showing against darker colours, i thought that as well but was repeatedly assured by someone who owned/ran a bodyshop that the darker colours didn't rust anywhere near as much - my own observations confirm this and probably the worst of the lot is Champagne Beige followed by a dark brown (Russet ?) then white. It could also be a different primer was used for dark colours and that maybe that gave better protection?