How to tell if its A Real Saleen & Whats It Worth??
 

If you are new to this thread....PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE POST #1 before asking for help!!

PLEASE do not send me a PM as I don't get them. There are several folks in this thread that will respond and help you out.

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME WITHOUT READING THIS ENTIRE POST FIRST!!
I have received dozens of emails the past 10 years that I cannot assist with......

Are you looking at a Saleen, or even own one and not sure if its the real deal? If it is a 1985 - 2003 its very simple. Post the VIN as well as the bumper/firewall/console Saleen ID number (these should ALL exist and match as your first hint). Also tell us if its hatch, coupe, or convertable. If you do not have both numbers, please get them before posting! PLEASE DO NOT ASK US to tell you what the VIN should be or what the Saleen Serial# should be, or to lookup a car by only giving us a VIN.....the registry is VERY large and looking through pages of 4pt font is NOT any fun!

If its a 1984, forget about it. There were only 3 made in '84 and same guy owns all 3 of them here in Indy. If its a 2004+ then you'll have to call Saleen as the book was published after the '03 model year.

There are SEVERAL of us in here with the ever popular and handy Saleen Book & Registry. A simple check on our end can verify if its real or not. If you don't get a timely response (this means a day or two, not hours ;)) feel free to email me at sowaxeman@jdsaleen.com

Please do not start a separate post about your car because we don't answer right away, if you are in a pinch them PM one of guys in this thread. Otherwise it will get answered by one of the few of us that keep up on this thread.

DO NOT ASK US TO TELL YOU HOW MANY WERE MADE based on your color or options. The Saleen Book/Registry does not keep track of this information. This is all on file at Saleen by contacting Team Saleen and getting a "Letter of Authenticity".

If you want to know what its WORTH - then go to www.nada.com and select Consumer, then Classic Cars, then Sports Cars, then Saleen. You can ask us all you want, but we use Nada as a guideline and add our opinions.

Hope this helps and frees up a few duplicate posts ;)

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Rather than bothering Liz over at Team Saleen, if you have an '04 or newer car, send an email to techline@saleen.com with the VIN and bumper #. We can quickily tell if the car is real or not.

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Im thinking about picking up a used 97 Saleen S281. Saleen This is a link to some pictures of it. Some things I wanted to find out were A) Is it real? The VIN number is 1falp42x6vf101886 and it is #13. B) Im pretty sure they didnt but the kid says it came factory with a Vortech blower on it, is that true? and C) Can anyone tell by those pics if that is the factory interior for the car. Thank you very much for the help.

Mike

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

I sent you an email last night. The car is legit - in that the VIN ending in 886 matches 97-013. However, according to the book/saleen registry there is nothing about sc'd 281's until 1999 or 2000 - so I highly doubt that Vortech is Saleen stock. Unless of course it was some sort of promo car or employees car.

Also, the interior looks stock with the exception of the custom red accents on the seats. I don't believe that is stock Saleen.

According to NADA a stock, mint 97 S281 should command $18K at its highest value. I don't consider 43K miles to be a highest value car, maybe more like $15k which just falls below the AVERAGE mark. A car like this that has been modded will always be worth more in the sellers eyes - but in reality I would not give more than $15K for it. It should only have 220hp stock at the flywheel (thats all a S281 was back then) and he is claiming over 375 to the wheel or 400+ with a 104 race tune [&:] IMO thats way too much power than that 2V was built to handle.

I'd be worried about the longevity, not to mention the CURRENT status of the internals [&:][&:][&:]

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Thank you for your reply, I very much appreciate your insight on the situation. After reading I dont think that is really the car for me

Thanks,
Mike

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Can you guys help me determine if the one I am looking at buying is an extreme? If nothing else I will call on Monday and talk to Liz, but I am looking at buying this weekend.

1fafp45x04f227121 Saleen #243 as my screen name implys.

Thanks in advance,

Adam

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Sorry Adam - I missed this one last week. I'll look it up tonight and see what I can find out for you.

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Thank you.

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Oops - sorry about that, the Saleen book is only current through 2003. You'll need to email your information to techline@saleen.com as mentioned above for 2004+

RE: The Unofficial, Official How Tell If Its A Real Saleen Post
 

Gotcha. Thank you much!