People selling their Goblins

Brian74

Goblin Guru
It seems rather common. I get financial reasons. I also get new opportunities. I also notice many people now know what a Goblin is; who didn’t a year ago.

I drive a 2001 Saturn SL. I could do a far better car payment on my wages. I rebuilt that Saturn over 50,000 miles ago. The AC sucks. Its a complete, reliable piece of ****. I still love that car at 225k on the odometer. I rebuilt it at 160 with my own two hands.

I’m just trying to relate. I’ve also had my clumsy, underpowered sandrail for 5 years. I’m one who has a hard time selling cars.

Is there something about a finished Goblin that repulses some of their owners?

At the same time there are a few in here on their second builds, destroying lap records at tracks, who love this car.

Thoughts?

Not criticizing anyone for whatever their choice or motive may be; whether it be to build or sell. Just want to hear perspective.
 
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Dale E

Well-Known Member
Forgot --- if you can reset codes in OBD then do that - I had to reset codes in a Toyota Tundra once for it to start. Kept code reader in it and when it wouldn't start reset codes and kept on driving.
 

Karter2026

Goblin Guru
It seems rather common. I get financial reasons. I also get new opportunities. I also notice many people now know what a Goblin is; who didn’t a year ago.

I drive a 2001 Saturn SL. I could do a far better car payment on my wages. I rebuilt that Saturn over 50,000 miles ago. The AC sucks. Its a complete, reliable piece of ****. I still love that car at 225k on the odometer. I rebuilt it at 160 with my own two hands.

I’m just trying to relate. I’ve also had my clumsy, underpowered sandrail for 5 years. I’m one who has a hard time selling cars.

Is there something about a finished Goblin that repulses some of their owners?

At the same time there are a few in here on their second builds, destroying lap records at tracks, who love this car.

Thoughts?

Not criticizing anyone for whatever their choice or motive may be; whether it be to build or sell. Just want to hear perspective.
I am sort of the opposite of you. I never get attached to a vehicle. I have owned some for less than a few weeks. Did a fun little thing while the lock down was happening on Facebook. Listed each vehicle with photos that I have ever owned. 31 so far.

I have a few reasons for selling my Goblin.
1. I have become to hate the traffic around Pittsburgh. There must be a unwritten rule that if you drive with your head up your ass you must move to Pittsburgh.
2. The weather here is not fun. If it is a good year I get 4 to 5 months of drive time with a open car. With an average of 2-3 days a week. It is either raining or hot and uncomfortably humid.
3. To get to good roads with out a ton of traffic and that are great cruising roads that you can run for 20+ min without seeing a stop sign or light is a good 45min drive away. By the time I get to that area I am sore and cramped up ( old and Lyme's disease doesn't help) time to turn around and head home.
4. I have been a car guy my whole life. At age 10 I would stand on a milk grate to change oil at my dad's shop. I also have been an avid fisherman and boater. Lately that has been much more enjoyable for me. I have a camp on Lake Erie I spend as much time on the boat as I can. I am even considering getting my captain's license. So my next project when I sell the Goblin will be a new to me 24 to 30 foot boat.

When I sat out to build the Goblin I wanted to be the first street legal one in PA. Did that. I also accomplished some other things like the feature in the Rock Auto newsletter and magnets that I never thought would happen. I think I speak for a few other guys who have their cars for sale also. That it is more about the build than the car. I have seen some of them mention like me it is on to the next project. I do not have to sell the Goblin, but I will not give it away either. I saw one yesterday on the facebook page for $12.5k and one a while back for $14k. I will have mine for a while if I have to go that low to sell. I have way more than that invested in the kit and parts.
 

ZacMaster

Well-Known Member
Karter is right about it being a build, especially for me.

I’m a move-on guy. I loved the build (especially the harness! Seriously!) but I have too many other wishlist projects (go kart for kid, Jeep, boat, etc.”

But the price isn’t quite fair when he said “that low.” I listed mine in the $14k range, but that was my build strategy.... build a naked, normally-aspirated UPGRADABLE goblin. I wanted to let the next guy do the body, engine upgrades, wing, etc.

if the sales I’ve researched, they seem to be going at cost, whether that is $14k or $20k.

it worked perfectly for me.

I priced based on what I had in it. I assume Karter did too.
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
That's pretty much what I figured. 50% of the fun of the car is the build process. I know for me it was a big deal because I've always wanted to build a car but didn't want to have to do all of the math and engineering and deal with the major mistakes along the way and start over. So this was the perfect project for me. I also considered building another, just not as detailed at the first, and selling it. But was forced to build a second after the first was done in; and I'm not selling this one. However, I never sell things. I get way too attached to sell some things. I still have my '94 Kawasaki jet ski for heaven's sake (Kaleb is having a blast with it).

Brian, I'm with you, why does it seem that so many are selling. Then I rationalize and realize it's not really that bad. There are over 200 of these cars out there now and we get to hear about most of them. If there are 3-4 selling at a time out of 200, that's not really any worse than any other car but it may seem like a lot that we hear about.

These types of vehicles do have a limited use because of the openness of them. However, I find them very much more usable than say and RV, boat, or ATV. Not that there is anything wrong with the other toys and some may have them and use the hell out of them. My ATV sits in the garage most of the time and won't go out for weeks or months at a time. My jet ski has only been on the water once so far this year. By all standards, I should be selling these toys. However, I fortunate enough to have a shop/garage that can house it all and I have no reason to get rid of them just yet.

Reasons I can see why they would sell:

  1. Financial - May have gotten in over their head. Other financial burdens have come in to play.
  2. Moving - Extra vehicles are a pain to move to a new location.
  3. The build - The fun was the build process.
  4. Don't use it as often - Because of the open cockpit, weather can be a factor.
  5. Boredom - Some just get bored and want to move on to something different. They probably move from project to project to keep things exciting.
I don't think is has much to do about a disappointment in the car (unless they just did a terrible job building it). The rest of us owners wonder - WHY? What was so bad about the car that you had to get rid of it? In reality, there is nothing really bad about the car that they decided to get rid of it, it's that they have changed and it doesn't fit their needs anymore.

I do hate that they are selling them for only what they have in them. That sets the precedence on what they are worth. Also I know I have over $25K in my car and to see another one that selling for $14K makes it **** hard for me to try and get what I have in my car. But that is their prerogative and I don't hold anything against them for it. They want to be able to just get out from under car and move on. And if they only have $14K in the car, it's probably only worth that. Besides, I don't plan on selling mine anytime soon anyways. Most likely it will go with Kaleb once he is established.

Besides, the next owner of the vehicle will probably end up on this forum and in the end the only difference is the car has just changed hands. They didn't sell if for scrap and just junk it.
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
I can only speak for myself, but I've invested way too much of my soul into this car to ever sell it. I'm in IT by trade, barely ever so much as picked up a wrench to drain my own oil, much less strip a donor (or two) and build a car. The stumbling blocks along the way have made me "closer" to the car as it were, and I know I will have a very, very hard time parting with it in the future, if it comes to that for any reason.

I've over $17k deep in mine, and it's bone-stock. Just the fact that it's a 2.0L turbo added $2k to the price tag, as you all know. I feel like I wouldn't be able to let it go for under $20k, with all the blood, sweat, and tears etc. Of course, if someone knocks my socks off with an offer, then things might change, but for now, I see myself holding onto my Goblin for as long as possible.
 

Brian74

Goblin Guru
I kinda envy you guys who can sell and move on. Given proper skill, that can be lucritive! (Look at people like Richard Rawlings)... I still contemplate doing that as my retirement gig.

I’ve owned many cars. The cars I have had sold easily because peoole can see that I took great care of them and spared no detail.

I grew up working on cars and motorcycles and have had owned many. My first career was as a mechanic for nearly 10 years.

I’d never break even on my Goblin (especially considering that time is money), but this to me is the chance to explore every practical design option out there and try new things with time not having to be a factor. Since owning this car I’ve developed a few new skills, such as welding, CAD, resourcefulness, and much more on the electrical side.

As much as I do enjoy the build, its a fantasy the day I will get to finally drive it. I’m not sure what I’d enjoy more. I really enjoyed rebuilding/customizing my sandrail and boat, but I definitely enjoy driving them more. I may let go of the boat soon only because the garage space I would gain for future projects.

I certainly share your sentiment cuinstra, and you’re right about only a few actually selling over the couple hundred owned. Your build is what inspired me to go all out. At this point I think I will feel at a loss when I’m done with this build and find an urge to do something else; as stressful as it is at times. I wont be inclined to sell it though.
 

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
Had to think about this for a while and see how other family members feel about this subject. Almost all of us must believe that the challenge of building a car (almost) from scratch is what attracted us to the Goblin initially, otherwise we would not make the purchase in the first place. We all have many similar experiences doing our builds, but also many unique ones depending upon the circumstances. Some are fulfilled just building the car, then want to be off conquering the next challenge. Others put so much into their builds there is almost nothing short of going broke that would cause us to part with our Goblin. I would believe that the majority fall somewhere in between, enjoying the build challenges and the pleasures of driving it once it is finished - but also would part with it if someone offered up that magic number we believe it is worth.

Myself, getting closer to my hoped for retirement, am definitely taking my time building my Goblin. I'm in no rush to get it done - having nothing else but the honey-do list to work on - some of you will understand this. ;) But taking my time allows me to exercise my engineering brain to analyze the DF design and determine if there is possibly some way to do it better (note: there is no fault to the Goblin design, just my tweaking ideas). This time adds up, I've been tinkering for 8 months now, but also adds $$$ to the cost of my Goblin with all the mods and upgrades (and new tools). In short, the time, money, and personal investment into my Goblin project means it will have a home in my garage for a very long time.

Everyone has their own personal attachments to their Goblin, some are stronger than other, but we all decided the blood, sweat and tears (or is that pegging the cussmeter) was worth the money and time we put into our cars.
 

Karter2026

Goblin Guru
But the price isn’t quite fair when he said “that low.” I listed mine in the $14k range, but that was my build strategy.... build a naked, normally-aspirated UPGRADABLE goblin. I wanted to let the next guy do the body, engine upgrades, wing, etc.

if the sales I’ve researched, they seem to be going at cost, whether that is $14k or $20k.

it worked perfectly for me.

I priced based on what I had in it. I assume Karter did too.
I was not referring to your build. I can believe for a naked car that is where you were price wise. I was referring to one with the body that was sold a few months ago. And this one that just showed up on Facebook yesterday Goblinfor sale
 
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