Used older legacy diesels value

The price guides are generally WAY off in their pricing. Good reference for what's out there buy checking eBay's completed auctions is usually the best guesstimate for what something will actually sell for on the secondary market. Be sure to pay attention to Condition as it is a large determinator of final price.   Good luck and venture in slowly...

Used Legacy locomotives cost whatever the market will bear.  Keep an eye out in the OGR For-Sale forum, lots of decent stuff at good prices comes by at times.

From what I am seeing, Legacy engine resale values are holding up pretty good (about  75 to 85 percent of original selling price if in excellent or better condition.  

I feel that some of Lionel's best engines with TMCC and speed control were produced from 2000 to 2006 and many of these can be found in the $150 to $250 range on the secondary market.

Good luck on your search,

Don

I personally won't pay 75% or more MSRP for any used engines or rolling stock unless it's a unique situation.

I hearken back to the Coors Silver Bullet Tail Car, I paid considerably more than MSRP for that one, but they're in very short supply and will certainly never be made again.

I say the newer tmcc stuff is the way to go! they are cheep and they are all pretty much bullet proof. In terms of the older legacy stuff I seem to see that dealers will price them really high, but if you are patient and go to shows you will end up finding good deals on that kind of stuff. The only thing is you cant be picky with what you want, if you want something specific your gonna have to expect to pay top dollar for it but if you are just looking for deals they will come you just have to be patient.

I think it is going to depend on what you are looking for too. Engines that are new in box and not been run (sign of a collector), in perfect shape are gonna be more expensive than one that has been run and is used by someone who operates it. If someone has their heart set in a new in box, perfect example it will be really expensive, if they don't mind if it isn't perfect, might have some dings on it, you may be able to find a decent example you can afford. TMCC IME unless it is some rare collectible, is going to be cheaper than legacy so if you like a model you would likely find it more affordable if it is a TMCC version.

Can I suggest something? If you have specific models you want to find, like an Acella engine or whatever, create a list , it is something you can do at the moment. Do some research and see when or if they were produced, so for example if you did a search on a Hudson (I know, I know, you are into modern equipment) you would find, well, a ton of models ranging from Lionel and K line TMCC to MTH DCS to Legacy models.  Decide which ones appeal to you, which make/models you potentially want/like.

Once you have the list, do a search online. On Ebay, look for models that have sold, see the price they sold for, or if dealers have used equipment for sale, see the price (dealers are not realistic pricing, lot of that is wishful thinking/waiting for someone to come along willing to pay the price, but it is still prob a ballpark figure on the high end of the curve). With ebay, never use one sale to determine the market, because lot of times someone wants something and will pay a price outside the not. And obviously, monitor the for sale forum on here, you will often get a good price here and most of the people are willing to negotiate, if you make a reasonable offer.

The other thing is if you have a reasonable idea you have the funds (and I know your situation likely means that isn't going to be true), you can put an ad on here in wanted to buy, but that is always a crap shoot, depends on someone seeing it and having the unit you want.