I have a silver parade hard boot cover . I am selling the car, the parade boots are bringing $600 on Ebay. Would i be better off selling separately ? The car is needs a paint job, but other then that it is in good shape, needs fender filler right side and the fillers below trunk.(//)
It should go with the car. You're going to have a hard enough time selling it in this market anyway. (Not your car specifically.) Old cars are not selling well right now it seems.
If the boot's in good shape and not faded/cracked, sell it on eBay. It might take a while, though. Stuff like new tires, shocks, etc. never return your investment in a sale, and here's something you can remove and sell separately and still have a complete car. No one's going to pay an extra $600 for the car because it has a parade boot.
For me that might be a deal-breaker, not having it. I'd rather sell the car than get the $$$ from the boot. (I tried keeping the skirts once on a 1941 Cadillac. Didn't work.)
I have bought and sold parade boots on eBay in the past.
You'd be lucky to get $400 and don't forget between eBay and PayPal you pay 13 percent in fees.
I'd price it with the car or use it as a bargaining tool.
To me if I'm buying an Eldo convert and the boot attachments are on the car I would want the boot and would be more likely to pay the right price for the car if that goes with it.
Something like 31, 32 years ago, Sandy and I flew back to the Northeast for her birthday. That being September 24th, we wanted to include many miles of driving for a couple of weeks through beautiful Fall foliage. After flying in to Newark, our first destination was Manhattan, where Sandy had never been. We intended to get a rental car out of N.Y.C. to be returned in Boston, our departure point. The price was so high for the rental car for a one way, two week cruise, that I decided to hit the rags for local Cads (what was the name of that local ad mag back then?), and ended up with a ragtop out of a substantial estate in Port Washington. '76 garage kept, 22 thou' miles, $5000. Just an old used car from a VERY nice lady, as handled for her by some of the full time help.
What does this have to do with the topic at hand ? If I haven't lost you already, read on :
O.K. That was a very good deal for such a beautiful car, even more so in that we also saved the bucks otherwise to have been squandered on the rental. Obviously I was happy with my Cadillac CONVERTIBLE to be used for the leaf cruise, but the hard boot was missing. The guys said they had never seen such a thing as I described, but I asked them to keep it in mind, and please let me know if it turned up.
We had a fantastic time, top only went up if there was TOO MUCH rain (remember, we are from Seattle - rain is usually just an interminable soft drizzle - where if you don't occasionally drive top down in the "Liquid Sunshine", you simply don't drive much with the top down). Oh, one rainy day we did have to cover up. We had eaten one, and then took another pizza to go, from Frank Pepe's in New Haven. The to go was partially consumed the next morning ; the rest was wrapped in foil and given the 500 cubic inch warm up in the "oven" as we drove, while a six pack of "The King............. " stayed cool back in the Stern. We enjoyed a misty stroll through Mystic Seaport. Upon return to the Eldo, we took additional advantage of the now wide open yawn of the still thankfully warm, engine compartment. Back then, being relatively young and agile, we were able to stay out of the rain and cozy, while depriving the black leather 60/40 seat of a taste of pepperoni juice. On and on we went for the duration, poking into so many interesting places. We even ran the full length of Fleetwood Laurie's stompin' grounds out where cod fish have been known to frequent. "Big Dan's" in New Bedford was, sadly, closed. Some scandal, we were told. So we had our clams and beer elsewhere. All kinds of fun, history, frivolity, along scenic New England back roads. Even got to meet my favorite fighter, "Marvelous Marvin" Hagler. Left the car with the Cadillac dealer to have all the little things taken care of as fill work - you know what I mean - and flew home.
Quite a few months later, a letter came. "Guess what we found down in the boathouse !" I paid shipping, and it arrived in perfect shape. It was part of the car, proper color and all.
Oops. I have to take a time out. I will be back if necessary with my conclusions. Perhaps you have already figured out what I think about ransoming off color coordinated original car parts. What about the hubcaps ? - Cadillac Carl
P.S. The car became a daily driver for many years for me. I still take it out occasionally. The hard boot seldom leaves the trunk.
IMHO, Barry, Brian, and Dr. Fielding are correct, the hard boots go with the car, period. If its a beater, or driver, or show car, all the parts need to be there. We don't take out the jack or spare when we part with our treasures, so my advice is include the hard boot and make a point of telling the buyer that it stays with the car. Adds Value.