Here are three more reasons why. We'll start with the best let it get worse.
1.) $4500, Clean Title, AC, 90,XXX Miles, and the paint looks great. It's automatic and SOHC. If I was in the market, I'd go for this and figure out the motor and the transmission later. It's OBO so I'd negotiate and see how it goes. Spending a little more initially and having to wait to get the SR/manual trans is worth it...but it doesn't hit that 'instant gratification' box for most.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...412724485.html
2.) $9500, Clean Title, SE, 75,XXX Miles, pearl paint that looks awesome. DOHC but still auto. This is the mid-range seller: trying to make a buck but wants to seem reasonable. Price is still fucking nuts but if this car was EVERYTHING I wanted I could see myself trying to negotaite the price down to ~$7000...after I watched the dude get zero offers at $9500 for a month lol.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/la...409835503.html
3.) $12,995, Clean Title, SE, 83,XXX Miles, paint still looks good. Automatic...but it only has one owner. This represents the WORST of the bunch. $13k for this shit? Read the summary and you can see these guys are playing on your 'hard-to-find-in-good-shape' ideals.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/la...409835503.html
Which one does the 'purist' go for? They're all OEM and look like some of the best cars on CL right now...but what is someone willing to pay, and how much work are they willing to put into the car? Most guys shit on the $4500 car because it's Auto/SOHC. No one wants to be bothered with swapping the transmission or sourcing an SR. The third car on the list is keeping it out of the hands of someone (maybe like me) that would pay great price for the car but definitely not what they hope to get. The second car is a manual transmission away from being a fun, awesome car...but the theme of this thread seems to be 'time' and no one is going to want to swap it. It's a shame.