Alright so whats your opinion on this one?

I orriginally had this in the wanted section but it wasnt seeing much action.

Alright got a contact by a guy living about 2 hours north of me that he has a 77 Maverick for sale.

Here is his initial e-mail:

I have a 1977 Ford Maverick for Sale..... Ill take 2200.00 for it.. It was a Grandma Car with 51k..It has the 250 6 cyl... Red on Red.... Interior is in good condition.. Body is in good condition..Passenger side has minimal surface rust,drivers side has some surface rust on door,behind front wheel,all below the trim piece on center of door..It has quite a few new parts on it... Ive enclosed a picture

He said it belonged to an old lady who died and left it too her son who sold it to him a few years back. Said it was daily driver for a couple years and now his son drives it? Something like that. Here are some pics - let me know what you think of car and price/what I should offer aswell as whether his story could be accurate. I know there are plenty of Mavericks that are claimed "orrigional miles" but in my opinion that is very unlikely in a majority of cases.

no powersteering and no factory a/c

White vinyl top painted black by current owner, aswell as the current cragars.

 

its nice and all but i wouldnt pay that much maybe 1500 or 1700

 

Don't look bad in the pictures. What does it look like underneath? I’d test drive it first

 

Just looking for opinions on it and the price before I drive 2 hours.

I was thinking about $1500.00 myself. The guy isnt actively trying to sell it, just saw that I posted a want ad on craigslist and responded.

 

i'd offer him $2000 if the cowl and undercarriage is intact. looks to be a very straight car that with minimal effort could be very nice looking. I haven't seen too many red on red mavs. there have been a few pop up but not alot.

 

I think it is worth around $1800. Maybe $2000. If all is said to be true. Would not take much at all to make it look really good. I would offer $1500 and see if he bites.

 

Thats always my plan when buying a car

Should I see if he can get some undercarriage pics?

should I let him know my offer up front? I don't wanna drive 2 hours and have him stonewall me.

 

What section of the VIN would show if its orrigional red on red?

 

The door tag.. You will have to decode it.

 

how do I decode it?

 

http://home.comcast.net/~petebre/maverick/decode/1977.html

 

Thanks, I will print that out and give it a test run on my 76 title before I head up to check the car out. Hopefully I can figure it out lol.

Any final thoughts on this car as it sits or input about buying it?

I know a couple of you have said it wouldn't take much to make it nice (assuming undercarriage is decent) but what steps do you think should be taken to make it nice? What should be added? I have some brand new shielded patriot side pipes I assembled for my blue maverick but with the body work it needs I think they would look better on this red one if I bought it.

 

Check the roof. Vinyl tops can rust out roofs but this one looks pretty solid.. Check undercarriage inner quarter panels. To make it look good you could change out the rear and front bumpers to small bumpers and it would look sharp.

 

Thanks for that tip...a lesson well learned from not thoroughly inspecting my first Maverick which was quoted by the previous owner to be 99% rust free...That was a load of bull.

So is the roof ok as long as there are no tears in the vinyl? If there is a small tear or two how else can I be certain of roofs condition?


The small bumpers are a definate must in my opinion also but i haven't had any luck locating any in my area within the past 6 months. Theres 2 sets front and rear on some junkers a person has on my local craigslist but he is unwilling to part them out. Even for a couple hundred dollars.

for a laugh:

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/1742947315.html

 

Looks to have power steering to me.