Friend with an RC-10T

[CavScout58D]

Hello All. First a quick intro: My name is Jake and I'm just now getting into RC cars. My only experience with RC Cars is I've recently built a Tamiya Hornet on video for my son to help him build his. I'm deployed to Afghanistan and I could not be there to help him in person. The Hornet and RC10 had me captivated when I was a young kid and the Tamiya re-release seemed like a perfect way to help my son learn about tools and patience. Anyway, driving the hornet around I've caught the RC Car bug pretty bad. I think I'll eventually end up with an SC10 or similar, as I really enjoy watching the full size SC trucks race.

Anyway, I've got this friend who has an original RC-10T back at home and he wants to sell it to me. I'd like to have it, but I want to pay him a fair price. He is a friend of mine and I don't want to take advantage of him. Neither one of us knows what it's worth and he's not even sure what kind of shape it's in since he has not touched it in years (it's back home in California and we're here in Afghanistan). What would be an offer that would be fair to both of us, provided it's in decent shape. I realize there is a rule against asking what a particular car might be worth, but I just need to know the general trend so I have starting point to give him a good price. I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

Jake
Jalalabad Afghanistan

[slotcarrod]

Hi Jake, welcome to the group! I know this bends the rules a bit, (Not that I ever have! ) but I think your situation is a little different. If you have an eBay account, you can look up completed items for RC10T's. You will see that nice used 10T's will sell for $40-$80.

Thanks for helping keep us all safe, and you keep safe over there as well. We (in Canada) just arrested 3 of the bastard terrorists yesterday in our country! Makes me mad that they come over to the West and take advantage of what we have to offer and then try to kill us! FukEm!

[aeiou]

Welcome, Jake, and thank you for your service. I hope you get home to your family safe and soon.

As you might imagine, without knowing the details and condition of your friends truck, it's hard to say what it's worth. One way to come up with a price you both can agree upon is to watch some sales on eBay. There are almost always a handful of 10Ts for sale one there, and there's sure to be one or two that have similar components and such.

Something to keep in mind, however, is the cost of getting - and keeping - vintage RCs running. As a vintage runner, the RC10T has some advantages in that it has several parts that are still available new. But unlike the SC10 and Tamiya re-releases, you can't find everything you need at the hobby shop. Don't get me wrong, vintage RC is great hobby, but if you and your son are going to run that truck, something is going to break. Again, without knowing if it's in good condition, has working electronics, etc., you really don't know what the total cost will be to get it up and running in the first place.

Just as a comparison, a new SC10 Ready-to-Run will cost you about $220, and for another $50, you'll get the version with brushless power and a 2.4GHz radio. Either way you go, you'll probably need fresh batteries.

I know this was not the answer you were hoping for, but I hope it helps.

[CavScout58D]

Thanks for the replies guys, it does help a lot actually. I wasn't really in the market for an RC10T but he saw that I was interested in RC and it reminded him about the car he's had since he was a kid and would not ever use again. On the spur of the moment I told him I'd buy it, not really thinking it through. He said he'd give it to me for whatever I said I thought it was worth - because he didn't have any idea. So, long story short, I appreciate you getting me in the ball park. I'll check out ebay as well.

To the Mods - Great site by the way! I run a forum similar to this one on full size homebuilt aircraft and I can tell you that it takes a lot of work to make a site as nice as this one. Good job.

Jake