Quote Originally Posted by Innuendo View Post
People who apparently know their Holden's know you can't buy a HBD canopy and you certainly can't get one for 2 to 3K so I have no idea where the Red book value comes from or where they feel you can get one from? OK you can get an AMCAT version new for over $7,000 fitted but these are not exactly the same as the original HBD (even though out of the original mould) the mould has been modified. I suppose it could be a factor of depreciation but that is unrealistic if you can't obtain one the very day it's required. I'm guessing they are talking some other type of bolt on canopy for that money? As for the young blokes HSV Ute you mention $18K plus NEW canopy makes it $25K plus and he would still not have an official one of the 224. Where as on the market recently has been a couple of genuine HSV R8 factory HBD Sandman versions for sale at between $27 and $35K.
I do know my Holdens & yes, I do realise that the HBD canopy cannot be purchased as a separate item & that they are different to the AMCAT, or anything else on the market.

All I am quoting is things as they are ATM in the used car market in Sydney. I still say that $15K-$17K is very very high for a 205,000 km VY SS ute, in this condition, HBD canopy or not.

Red Book is at best a quide, but I use it as a starting point. They have been wrong before & yes, I may be slightly out of touch with these 'vans'.

They compile their figures from actual sales, from car yards & auction house sales across the country. The $2K-$3K figure for the HBD canopy would be the average figure gleaned by comparing VY/VZ utes (without canopy) with the equivalent model with canopy that actual sold.

Those figures might be based on a very small statistical sample, but they a real sales, not what somebody is asking.

If the OP's car was in better condition body & paint-wise & had much lower kms on it, then based on what you say about the rarity of the 224 HBD canopy versions, then yes, a figure somewhere between mine ($8K-$9K) & yours ($15K-$17K) could be achieved.

The golden rule in all used car sales, is that cars are worth what they actually sell for, not what somebody is asking.

Dr Terry