In my view its all subjective from the perspective of what a potential buyer wants to pay. For me, 'mint condition' means a car that has never seen winter salt in its life, has been meticulously maintained, detailed service records kept, and has minimal modifications done to it. It helps a lot if all service records are dealership receipts that are verifiable.
Like it or not, 17 year old Toyotas can still be expensive to properly maintain, and there are many examples around that have been poorly maintained and regularly beaten up on.
Given the time I would look very carefully at any car, but quickly ascertain what its worth to me, particularly if I have to sink 2 or 3 grand into it to achieve safety firstly (brakes, tires etc) then the essence of reliability. On the other hand if I'm lucky to find a car so rare that it actually fits the 'mint cond' cateory, then I'm prepared to pay good money for it.
It would seem that anything from $4500 up to the ocassional $9500 is the current range of asking prices. Depends what you want, and depends what you determine as mint cond. If you are really keen, put the car up on a garage hoist and have a good look at the chassis underside, it will tell you a lot about the car. If its full of salt rust and decay, either walk away, or be prepared to make a lower offer and then put some money towards basic restoration.
An extensive list of modifications doesn't always get top dollar, it can often be a significant detraction, unless you know the car and the owner personally.
Look wisely, choose carefully.
Good luck
Like it or not, 17 year old Toyotas can still be expensive to properly maintain, and there are many examples around that have been poorly maintained and regularly beaten up on.
Given the time I would look very carefully at any car, but quickly ascertain what its worth to me, particularly if I have to sink 2 or 3 grand into it to achieve safety firstly (brakes, tires etc) then the essence of reliability. On the other hand if I'm lucky to find a car so rare that it actually fits the 'mint cond' cateory, then I'm prepared to pay good money for it.
It would seem that anything from $4500 up to the ocassional $9500 is the current range of asking prices. Depends what you want, and depends what you determine as mint cond. If you are really keen, put the car up on a garage hoist and have a good look at the chassis underside, it will tell you a lot about the car. If its full of salt rust and decay, either walk away, or be prepared to make a lower offer and then put some money towards basic restoration.
An extensive list of modifications doesn't always get top dollar, it can often be a significant detraction, unless you know the car and the owner personally.
Look wisely, choose carefully.
Good luck
