bladex10

You dont like my post so you go through my history to find stuff to say about me? lol. My daily driver costs more than an average C5. You know me so well obviously. You act like im talking about an $80k car or something. Let me guess, You must be one of those delusional old fart corvette owners who think their "super car status" C5 is still worth what you paid for it 10+ years ago and refuse to except the fact they are now affordable to your average minimum wage workers of America?

Once i find a decent 6 speed coupe locally that is REALISTICALLY priced, itll be mine. In the meantime, i'll continue waiting.

Mr.Bill

ClipperFan

Southern CA area, check autotrader and Craigslist. If U insist on paying $20-25k you will find them. There is a yellow one on Craigslist for 15k but its got some miles on it. Its in the Los Angeles area

jdot

Take your time; I didn't find my Vette for a number of YEARS. But when I saw it I knew it was the one for me. Stay patient, do you research, study them and ask the people on this forum for advice as you've just done. Remember, YOUR Vette is sitting out there somewhere waiting for you to find it. Good luck!!

bladex10

Seems like i'm the one with the clue and not others. I know how market works. You have 2 C5s. 1 with 120-150k miles for an average selling price of $9-12k that is in good running condition, Then you have the other c5 that is identical to C5 #1 except it has 60k miles on it that has a blown up "out of range" price of $22k. What you have is a car that is worth $22k to YOU. While the average market is $12k for that SAME car SAME condition you have, Just with average miles for the year, Which nobody will even know without the key to check the odometer.

People(usually 1st owner or people that bought their cars 10 years ago) cant grasp the fact that the average C5 only costs ~$10-$12k for a person looking to SELL their car, not hold onto it.

KBB for a mass produced base 1999 Corvette with 120k(average mileage for year):


Excellent
$12,430

Very Good
$12,055

Good
$11,755

Fair
$10,655

Evil-Twin

Other than your obvious cluelessness that is becoming more evident to many here.. here is the flaw in your thinking.. the difference between a n excellent C5 and a beater with poor paint and a 14 year old beat to death interior with stock wagon wheels and stock exhaust is less than 2000 dollars.

Now lets take my C5 with an original MCM carbon fiber hood that I could get $2000 from almost anyone, just for the hood. Add my 3000 dollar interior, and my 1500 double din navigation and blue tooth system with HD radio and DVD and upgraded speakers, and my 1500 dollar rotors and my 3000 dollar CCW wheels, and my 1500 dollar exhaust system, and my LS7 Clutch and C6 hydraulics., 1000 dollar brake coolers, etc, etc. and 1500 dollars doesn't cover much of that. So take an excellent C5 at 12500 and add 15000 dollars worth of high end upgraded mods and you have a C5 that worth 20 or 25 K to someone looking for a car with every maintenance receipt and piece of paper associated with the car since the day it was purchased... adding a full history disclosure can bring an additional 1500 dollars to the selling price. IM not talking about a Carfax, IM talking about a paper trail that includes everything that ever transpired with the car. There are many people looking for a base C5, but there are many looking for an exceptional C5. I know this because I see them everyday asking me to sell them my car. They all say they have been looking but all they see are average beat up looking C5's with poor paint and interior.

bladex10

I want your take on this car:
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/3723471788.html

Aside from the miles, which is an easy engine swap away if it goes( which i doubt it needs to be since it passed CA's smog test) , Is this car "beat" to you?

Evil-Twin

Its got 200,000 miles, it has no tire pressure sensors, the paint is less than perfect. If that car was well maintained, then IM a virgin. Rotors are rusted. Its an automatic with a rebuilt transmission. Probably the right price.
An engine swap>>> ???? that's 8 grand with labor. unless your putting in another LS1 with 100K on it. Anything newer will put the cost at 10 K.

bladex10

Hmm, That paint looks damn good as far as i could see. 2 hours with my DA Polisher and 105/205 Megs and itll look better than factory. Rotors rust regardless since its untreated. Rebuilt transmission is a very good thing. Engine swap, a weekend and a $1000 dollar low mileage ls1 motor. $9500 and itll be on the same level as those "mint condition" $20 something thousand dollar base model C5s if you parked it next to one.

racebum

without inspecting either car i couldn't say

lower mileage typically means you'll have fewer issues and a nicer car.

but

how the 20k miles was put on matters. 100k miles on the freeway with good oil changes creates virtually no wear

if the 100k car was maintained well, has records and wasn't beat on i'd probably consider trying to get it in the 14's, why? you're in the car $10,000 less

as time goes on it's fairly certain that the c5 isn't going up in value, z16 might, pace car might. that's about it. so. if you buy the low mile car and run it up to 80k, then sell it i think the loss will be quite a bit higher than running a 110k mile car up to 160k or so. you run that 02 up to 160k in 4-5 years and still get 9000-10,000 when you sell it. what will you get for an 80k mile coupe in 5 years? 13 maybe?

bladex10

I think what differs me and alot of Corvette owners(car owners in general) is that im a gear head. I dont let "future issues" that come with higher mileage cars steer me away from buying a car. On my 1998 Camaro Z28 i had a couple years ago, The water pump completely went out in a parking lot. I walked over to O'Riellys, Bought a waterpump and the appropriate tools and replaced it in the parking lot in alittle under an hour. Paid alittle over 100 bucks for everything. While most people would pay that just to tow it over to a shop to fork out a huge repair bill. Fixing stuff doesnt scare me in the slightest. So if i see a black MN6 C5 that needs alittle fixing up for a reasonable price, Ill jump on it like white on rice.

VtVette

C6's are depreciating rapidly which is driving the price of C5's down more and more. It's the economics of the Corvette and had happened to every generation. C5's are on every used car lot in town these days. They can be had for a song and are only getting cheaper.

It does not detract from the value of these cars as great Corvettes only the price is dropping which should be expected from any mass produced luxury car as it ages.

bladex10

I agree. Its going to get worse and worse as the C7s start hitting the streets and even more when used C7s start coming around. Im already seeing a flood of cheap c6s for sell to fund for down payments on the c7

racebum

i agree

and i think guys who buy 10yr old cars with low mileage and THINK they won't have future issues are living in a pipe dream. age wears a car just like mileage

as for the c6...i was looking at them and if they are rapidly falling i sure didn't see it at auctions. nice stuff was still 23-24k+ and those were 70k mile 2006 cars with 2 owners, sometimes 3. the only c6's that are on discount are 2005's and even those are 20k on a good deal for a 70k mile average condition car.

i think c6 buying will be much better in about 3 years once some c7's are rolling around and there is a good supply of c6's out there

today i think the 5's are a better buy IF you find a well taken care of one

bladex10

Couldnt be anymore truth in that statement. I dont think some people realize that the rubber bushings that hold the suspension together and the gaskets will crack and rot faster or just as fast as the daily driver opposite of it unless you have the car in a heated bubble. I refuse to pay premium prices for lower mileage cars that will have the same problems as a realistically priced higher mileage car. You can lock yourself in a closet for 10 years, youre not going to be any healthier or as fresh and the guy who spent the last 10 years roaming around.

Its also like tires, you can put a new set of tires in a room for 10 years, They are still new but arent even safe to put on the car anymore because they have a huge risk of premature failure.

Sidewayz6.0

I started reading some of the replies to this thread and thought I was in the Twilight Zone. I understand not digging the C6. I'm on my 3rd C5 for a reason.

However. In 2007, I bought an absolutely perfect 2004 MSG coupe. Fully loaded, 6-Speed, Garage queen, 19,000 miles. I bought it October 31st, and I paid $22,500. From a leading Corvette dealer in Chicago.

Now. Here we are 6 years later. And we're talking about cars that are 3 and 4 years older than that one, and people want to give $25,000 for it? It's nuts.

FlywithV

A lot of good post, thank you. After doing some research in a 500 mile radius it is fairly clear that an excellent C5 with low miles >50k can be found at about 19k from a private seller and 20 -22k from a dealer. Of course this is asking, I do not usually pay asking.

The 2001 that is local has not been priced but at first ask they said somewhere around 25k. I never said I would pay that.

Based on what I see on the 2001 I would offer no more than 22k. It is basically new, it absolutely is showroom condition. 22k is top retail pricing, I will most likely shoot for 20K but I do not feel this dealer will accept. Honestly I am not even sure they will take 22K and I not sure I will pay it either.

I understand what the car is worth but I also understand that sometimes dealers have marketing plans. I will show them equivalent cars that I could and may purchase and see if they want to sell. I would prefer this car, it is local.

For the 2002 I do not think I would pay more than about 14.5k. Honestly, I have built engines and I can fix most anything on the car, but the wear and tear on the 2001 is nothing. I understand what sitting does to a car but I also understand what driving and using all of the components on a car does. When you look at an early 2000 car like this with 100k+ you know it was driven. When you see the same age car with 24k you ask why wasn't it driven? It does concern me a bit, but this car was driven and serviced regularly even though mile where not accumulated, oil was change at least every 6 months and sometimes it only had 500 miles between changes. I honestly think his weekend ride was to the dealer for oil.

Offer will be made today.

Evil-Twin

I disagree. With the upcoming launch of the C7 at 72,000 dollars, a 20,000 dollar C5 in perfect shape looks pretty good. Also a 35,000 dollar C6 looks good. I could buy a C7
but why should I trade in my C5 and give them an additional 55,000?
What I would get for the 55,000 is not worth the buzz I get and the kudos I get daily with my car. Sure the C7 would be new, but newness is not worth 55,000 dollars to me.

VtVette

Where did you hear $72,000 MSRP on a C7?

A base C6 Coupe is MSRP $49,600 right now. Everything I've read projects the C7 to be roughly the same when launched. I don't believe Chevy has ever raised MSRP on a vette significantly with the introduction of a new generation. In fact, IIRC when the C5 debuted the MSRP was was $1,500 to $2,000 less than a 1996 C4.

Evil-Twin

Let me see, The C3 MSRP was 6200 dollars, the Chevrolet Corvette C4 (1984); Also known as: L83, Sixth-Generation. ... Corvette C4 (1984 - 1996);... The base price was set at $21,800. and increase of 15500 over the C3 ...... the C5 was 39000 dollars, an increase of 17000 over the C4. in just 2 generations an increase of 32,000 dollars .... and you say there no significant increase. The C7 will come in at 69,000 to 72000. You are confusing the last year of a generation with the first year of a new generation. There are 7 to 12 years of increases within a given generation.