1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Date: 16th April 2019
Username: TwistedGray
Full Name: Thomas Gray
City, State, Zip: Monterey Bay, California
Contact: 831-233-9523 or skionicatyahoodotcom
Selling or Wanted Price: $7,000 - negotiable
Description: I have listed everything that I know about the car. Should you have any questions please let me know. Pictures at the very bottom.
1984 Chrysler Laser XE
37,858+ miles
5 speed manual
Here is the history:
The car was purchased from Pacific Coast Interprises (Santa Cruz, CA) in 1984 by Dwight G. on October 30th, 1984 for $16,547. (I have all of the original documentation, some of which I have posted to the group.) Dwight bought it while living in Felton, CA and eventually took it up to Oregon where he currently resides. From there, it sat in a garage and was rarely driven. He kept the registration current and took it out for cruises every once in a while. It was definitely not a daily driver by any means. (From the second owner) "I'm the second owner, and the original owner, despite barely putting any miles on the car from 1993 until 2015, still kept it registered and smog tested it as required, all recorded in the CarFax report."
The second owner flew up to Oregon in 2015, and they drove the car back. I forget what the mileage was when he bought it; however, I know he didn't drive it much since. It had 37k when he bought it and 37k when I bought it from him (I am almost positive I have put more miles on it in the short time I have had it). He bought it to fix it up and sell it, but it just sat in his garage (?) for three years. He, too, would drive it once in a while to keep everything in working order, and it remained on the road during this time.
I have replaced the windshield wiper wiring, tubing as well as some wiring under the hood. While it was not a mouse house, it did have a few mice related issues (mainly in the washer area because it is a nice dry area under the hood). I have not tracked down the last issue which is a power load issue. There is a likely (I am not a mechanic) short somewhere in the network of ground wires (there are three contact points) which causes the engine to increase RPMs when applying a load to the car (load = electric load ... heater and/or air conditioning). That is one of two issues with the car...the second is complex because I can't quite figure it out.
There is also an issue with the radiator fluid reservoir that I cannot wrap my head around. The second owner claimed the reservoir was cracked and leaking ("I filled it with fluid, drove it around, came home, and it leaked fluid."). I flushed the radiator and removed reservoir, examined it for leaks, and it is fine. With that said, I had the same issue as the previous owner...filled with fluid, drove it around to get to operating temp., and parked it where it then leaked out some fluid. I at a loss, but for now it's holding fluid (you'll know when it's not courtesy of the car yelling at you).
Those are the two main issues that the car has; otherwise, it runs perfect. The interior is in excellent condition (9.5 out of 10) with exception of the headliner (pull and replace). It has no dash cracks nor any leather issues (some rubbing on the driver side exit area - left pad that run along your left side as you are sitting). The buttons are squishy and finicky (I guess this is the norm.), but they all work. Everything electrical works fine, power everything still works. The electronic monitoring system still works fine...the car will happily yell at you for leaving a door open, not fastening your seat belt, leaving the key in the ignition, and other fun sayings.
Note: The car was rear-ended in a parking lot at the Northridge Mall (I will share the pictures of both cars to show the extent of the damage). I have not fixed the car (small dent in the lower right, rear bumper), and I will leave that decision to the new owner. If the new owner wants it repaired, it will be repaired through insurance at no cost. If the new owner does not want to risk the blemish on the otherwise untouched history, I will not discount the car accordingly. In fact, you can probably just heat and pop it out...I won't...you can.
I have the 2-book Chrysler service manual, the Haynes manual, and a bunch of sales-y brochures of the car that will be included as well.
Why am I selling the car?
I am not a car collector, and I was very lucky to have stumbled upon this one. I have got my fun out of it, and while it is an extremely fun car to have, I do not want to kill the value by using it as a daily driver. Someone looking for a clean '84-86 Laser will not be disappointed!
https://imgur.com/SJVLjoS
Pictures:
https://imgur.com/SJVLjoS
I am struggling to post pictures, so for now I included the Craigslist photos. I know that they will expire in 30 days, so I'll have some time to figure this out. Meanwhile, I have also included a picture with my user name and the date with the dash inside the car (https://imgur.com/SJVLjoS)
Picture from a weekend cruise down Highway 25/198 - No, it is not that shiny/glossy. The cell phone photos, below, do better justice as far as the paint condition is concerned.
https://images.craigslist.org/00i0i_...Q_1200x900.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00909_...d4_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/01010_...e7_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00h0h_...wk_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00606_...ar_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00l0l_...mH_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00c0c_...L1_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00303_...YZ_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00u0u_...3n_600x450.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00H0H_...6_1200x900.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/00c0c_...8_1200x900.jpg
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Update: I talked to the second owner yesterday afternoon, "The car had about 32K when I bought it. I put about 5000 miles on the car over 3 years, with most of that during the first year I had it."
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
martin kolner
engine bay pics needed
As requested
https://images.craigslist.org/00s0s_...e_1200x900.jpg
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
First offer near $5,500 drives it home.
Toying with the idea of tossing it up on BAT just to see what it gets, but I don't want to be heartbroken.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
For those interested and/or following along, I took a deposit on the car a few days ago.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
It is still for sale.
Do you think it is worth posting on Bring a Trailer? Anyone want to guess what it would fetch...
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TwistedGray
It is still for sale.
Do you think it is worth posting on Bring a Trailer? Anyone want to guess what it would fetch...
My honest opinion is that it would fetch 2K on the very high side and 800-1K on the low side. There isn't much about an 84 that's desirable, and with the condition the car appear to be in, it's not much of a show car. Heck, I would probably shoot you a low ball offer and be willing to fly out and drive it home, but there's so much to the 84s that is oddball that I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
your problem here is you listed it and expect it to sell
reality is .. it will .. eventually
problem with these cars is that's going to take some time - you may have to relist it several times
in several places
my advice is don't burn yourself trying with listings
if the car does not need to go immediately then get used to the idea of "keeping it around" in the listings
there was a beautiful 90's daytona listed on turbo dodge and the local pages here
took 2-3 years to sell
another thing this hobby is full of guys with limited funds
they may see your car but have to wait hoping it comes back along
I was doing that with the car I mentioned above
someone posted he's going to pick it up.. oh well
my charger <<< pic IS from the seller's listing (LOL)
I found the add for it , locally, on some ontario mustang/shelby owner's site
ad languished for 3 years I know of before I even asked about the car
hell I even bought a brand new transmission for the same money .. knowing the car was going nowhere but the trans wouldn't come along again
my best advice .. if you don't need it gone , don't sweat it to much.. it's entered the .."it's ALWAYS for sale stage" .. now
anytime it goes out make sure someone who walks up to it can find a for sale sign with your info
leave it on the seat or hatch floor to avoid park with F/S sign tickets (not taped in window)
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Thank you for all the comments, and yeah I think you are certainly correct. I talked to the seller who I bought it from for months until I eventually bought it, too, so yah...there's that. I think it might do well on BAT, and I would rather toss it up there than continuously adding miles and struggling to find a place to park it. Four cars and a motorcycle...something has to go :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dr. Johny Dodge
your problem here is you listed it and expect it to sell
reality is .. it will .. eventually
problem with these cars is that's going to take some time - you may have to relist it several times
in several places
my advice is don't burn yourself trying with listings
if the car does not need to go immediately then get used to the idea of "keeping it around" in the listings
there was a beautiful 90's daytona listed on turbo dodge and the local pages here
took 2-3 years to sell
another thing this hobby is full of guys with limited funds
they may see your car but have to wait hoping it comes back along
I was doing that with the car I mentioned above
someone posted he's going to pick it up.. oh well
my charger <<< pic IS from the seller's listing (LOL)
I found the add for it , locally, on some ontario mustang/shelby owner's site
ad languished for 3 years I know of before I even asked about the car
hell I even bought a brand new transmission for the same money .. knowing the car was going nowhere but the trans wouldn't come along again
my best advice .. if you don't need it gone , don't sweat it to much.. it's entered the .."it's ALWAYS for sale stage" .. now
anytime it goes out make sure someone who walks up to it can find a for sale sign with your info
leave it on the seat or hatch floor to avoid park with F/S sign tickets (not taped in window)
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Let the bidding begin - https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Chrysl...E/372670154225
ps: Bring A Trailer denied the listing. " Unfortunately, we do not feel that your 1984 Chrysler Laser is a good fit for our site and audience."
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Wow. They're awfully uppity to deny your listing with some of the cars I've seen on there.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
I just did some bidding. We'll see where it goes.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cordes
Wow. They're awfully uppity to deny your listing with some of the cars I've seen on there.
In respond to my appeal, they wrote
Quote:
Recently, we’ve been inundated with submissions, especially in the general price range of your Laser of under $10k, which means we’ve had to make tough decisions and turn down a lot of cars including yours.
- - - Updated - - -
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cordes
I just did some bidding. We'll see where it goes.
Good luck ... better than the $100's that it was at yesterday afternoon, lol.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cordes
I just did some bidding. We'll see where it goes.
I posted it to about a half dozen or so car groups on Facebook, so hopefully that'll give it a boost! It was at like $900-something when I last checked.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Less than a day left in the auction, and it's been at the $2800 amount for a few days. Remember...whatever mine sells for is a precedent of what yours is worth. Preserve your value and buy mine! ; )
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TwistedGray
Less than a day left in the auction, and it's been at the $2800 amount for a few days. Remember...whatever mine sells for is a precedent of what yours is worth. Preserve your value and buy mine! ; )
The value of my wife's car has skyrocketed if we're basing the market off of this car.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cordes
The value of my wife's car has skyrocketed if we're basing the market off of this car.
In that case, I am sure she is thrilled!
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TwistedGray
In that case, I am sure she is thrilled!
Indeed she is. These cars get very little respect given how incredible they were in their time.
Re: 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo
ETA: Congrats on the sale. That went for great money.
- - - Updated - - -
ETA II: I see the reserve was not met. How does that work? Can you accept the highest bid, or do you have to turn it down?