Leaving aside mopeds and women of substance...

I went through the exercise of pricing used LS4s in the US about 10
years ago. I put together a little spreadsheet to make sure I
maintained some discipline during price negotiations. Basically you:

- Define a "baseline" aircraft and trailer combo. For an early 80's
LS4 in the US that was:
* Komet trailer.
* Basic xc instruments (in those days it was required instruments plus
becker/filser radio, M-Nav or equivalent, Winter mechanical vario or
equivalent)
* Airframe with no significant damage history plus gelcoat with some
crazing but no checking or major problems
* No parachute or tow out gear

I think I ended up with like 10 attributes to describe he baseline
ship. In those days, my recollection is that this priced out at around
$30 grand give or take.

- From there, I rated each one that came up against that baseline and
added/subtracted accordingly. For example, a crappy homebuilt trailer
might subtract $3,000; upgraded instruments might add $2,000, etc.

You'll quickly find out that gelcoat has the single biggest impact on
resale value, at least to knowledgeable buyers. The corollary is that
you'll NEVER recover the cost of a commercial refinish at time of
resale. At least around here you're looking at probably $20 grand at
one of the major shops, maybe $15 grand if you go with a local shop.
So, if you're even contemplating buying it and refinishing it, then
reselling it, be aware that you will lose money on the deal. On the
other hand, if you are planning to keep it a long time, then don't
worry about it. Or, if you have he skills and time to refinish
yourself.

Anyway, I loved the LS4 and could unequivocally recommend it. If
you've got budget issues, getting one that is cosmetically a little
less than perfect is a fine way to get the most performance for the
buck.

Erik Mann (P3)
Formerly LS4 driver, now LS8 driver