When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Actually, yes you can. Peruse any of the used Corvette sales companies, or even Craigslist. This car was stated as NOT being an "ultra low mile" car. This Forum is a great learning tool, for sure. Today I learned that if, and when I want to sell my 2000 Vert, I'll skip listing it, and head for Mecum!!
It was in fact a 34,000 mile car...not ultra low but low enough to bring over $23,000.
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16'-'17-‘18-'19-'20-'21-'22-
'23-'24
That is a high price for a C5 coupe. It would make me happy if all C5s sold at this price but that's not the case, especially on Facebook. I just checked eBay completed sales for the C5 and they really are not selling at all. Probably will pick back up in the Spring time.
Since we have now established the C5 is worth very little, here are a couple more that sold last week at the same sale. They sold a 2002 Z06 with 62,600 miles for $24,200. They sold a 2003 Convertible with 19,707 miles for $28,600.
That's a little higher than normal for the Z06, and batshit stupid for the vert. $28k is LS3 C6 money - a better car in almost every way. But, again - auctions typically bring higher than normal sale prices than the real world.
This topic gets fired up continuously when folks report exceptional cars being sold for exceptional prices on this sub-forum. I for one don't understand why folks want to deny the value they are starting to represent and want to compare a car like this with what people are paying for nice 90,000 mile examples. I guess it is a desire for the cars to maintain a lower price so they can someday buy one.
That coupe looks really mint. But 23k is over typical pricing. Nobody with a similar car should expect that kind of money from it. Just being realistic. I'm not trying to talk down the market since I already own a C5.
Last edited by Corvette#2; 01-11-2021 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: brevity
For those of you who like to watch auctions, the Friday lineup at Mecum Kissimmee starts with 25 Corvettes in a row, ranging from 1954 to 2013. There's something for everyone. I won't be bidding, but it's fun to watch.
Auction fever, combined with maybe a few beverages can cloud one's reasoning. Sometimes a clash of egos with other bidders is another factor that results in price creep. Someone may say to themselves, "My max price I'm willing to pay on this car is $18K". The bidding hits $18K and then they say to themselves, "I'll go another 500 bucks. What the hell, I don't want to lose this car over 500 bucks". Then they get caught up in it especially when they have buddies around egging them on.
Have you ever watched these auctions on TV? They have the "fluffers" working the bidders trying to get them to bid up. Works especially well when the fluffer is a good looking woman. They get the crowds worked up too and the bidder wants to look like he is Mr. Big Bucks so he keeps bidding. It's only after the auction ends and the "winner" has to write the big check that they realize they overspent.
On the other hand, let's say the buyer overspend by $5K but he keeps the car for ten or twenty years and enjoys the hell out of it. Does the extra $5K really matter then? No worse than the guy that bought it new and took the depreciation over the years.
Last edited by ChiliPepperGarage; 01-12-2021 at 12:44 PM.
Very High price I think we'd all agree...for a '97....??? wow, lucky seller indeed..didn]t even say if it had new tires...or new this or new that...I just bought my '01 Z51 last month about the same with new tires and new this and new that and mint for 7 less...this 1 had the F45 suspension: mine doesn't, that's a negative in my book because of replace/repair cost.
though as said above... lower mileage and impeccable shape really is getting harder to come by.... I think the beautiful C5 will be revered and collectable: 15-20 years from now, when most are dead and gone...
Maybe to 1 person on Earth. This car was WAY overpriced. 25G with tax is pretty much C6 area, IMHO. But hey, congrats to seller.......
I have found as niche/hobby/performance vehicles age (or complete opposite when they’re the latest & greatest & people will way over extend themselves to afford) people don’t necessarily use the same rational train of thought for valuation- why would someone pay $25k for a turbo V6 Buick w/ a 4 speed slush box? Why does a dig lick his sack? Cuz he can!
You need to realize- for alot of people a C5-C7 Vette is simply a toy- when you start introducing mods, performance wise, any of the 3 gens can be the top performer. A HUGE reason why the C8 is Dual clutch automatic mid-engine? GM already pushed the performance envelope as far as they could in a rear drive, front engine, front weight biased, manual tranny vehicle....& the truth is that pinnacle was the C6 ZR1, mild massage & it’ll work a C7 Z06 or ZR1- throw a C5/C6/C7 up on a lift in a row & walk underneath- they’re nearly identical. All kinds of parts are interchangeable between the C5 and the C5.5 (I’m sorry “C6”) - & the C7 simply introduced a fancy interior, more gadgets, & creased sheet metal. My modded 700whp C5Z will destroy any stock C7 in any measure of performance. Period.
do I have the $$$$ to buy a C6 Vette? Yeah no problem- I probably have $65-70k total into my C5Z I’ve owned 35k miles & 9 years including the purchase price, but only car I drove the I liked as much for reasonable $$$ was a C6 ZR1 & a good one starts @ what I already have into my C5Z & I’d a) wanna mod it immediately = more $$$$, & b) would “feel bad” kinda for modding it since it’s already a collector car.
for some people C5-C7 is more preference than ability to afford, I can afford a C7- just don’t want one. I have a 2020 Ford Raptor owned outright that puts out 460whp & 492tq on the same dyno my manual tiny Vette put 700 down on. Got like $5-6k in mods on that thing (mostly appearance & - can get 60-100whp on a tune alone)
I don’t view a C6 as an “upgrade”, instead I view it as a minor progression before GM got their **** together after bankruptcy & came out w/ C7 (which is REALLY a stop gap measure to pad their pockets before the C8) the C7 will go down as the most irrelevant of gens C5-C8- fo sho, there’s NOTHING a C6 gives me that a C5 doesn’t & then some w/ mod $$$ I’d spend either way.
I like the raw bare bones feel of it - the analog basic nature of it. DRIVING it
I also have a 2016 S4 as a fun banger car I’ll be “downgrading” (LOL) to get into a cheaper subie wrx
If you get to the level of finance where the vette truly is a toy- no different than a mountain bike or a jet ski- you’d start to appreciate em more for the purity of it & for what you simply LIKE than automatically assuming the more $$$ you make or have available meaning you need to “upgrade“ to the next gen/year available- it ain’t always an upgrade!
However- my next addition to garage will be a C8, as base/stripped as possible, ‘23-‘24 model year as the kinks get worked out & will keep it mostly stock- intake/headers/exhaust/tune- & hopefully my wife will agree to go for rides in it & date night etc, b/c w/ built C5Z she says “I am NOT going to ride in that thing anymore it scares the **** out of me & I’m embarrassed by how it sounds & smells”
and see- that’s EXACTLY how you know you’re doing it right!
Headers, cammed, blown, suckin meth, every nut bolt subframe suspension piece has been touched, upgraded cleaned coated & quite literally better than new. Think I give a flying F about a C6?
I've watched a lot of televised Mecum auctions and I've noticed a couple of things. Often, a buyer is obviously picking up stock for resale - you see the same guy buying multiple vehicles, usually of the older collectable variety. Then you see someone bidding on say a later Vette or Porsche, and all it takes is another bidder and the price very often goes over what is sane. It happens when buyers get into the "that's the one for me mode" and don't seem to have a cap on what they are prepared to pay.
Someone posted that the Vette in question here was a '97. Unless it was the first one down the line or similarly rare, it's worth about half the quoted price under normal circumstances. I have a very early '98, bought new, one owner, etc., etc. And when they built it, they still hadn't got them sorted as a lot of stuff got fixed under warranty - especially the C5's Achilles Heel - the electronics. Sensors replaced, new key/TPMS receiver, the BCM; then the battery split apart on my way to work one day. Add in a couple of front rotor swaps, and a new clutch assembly and you get the idea. The saving grace was that back then they were rare and almost nothing else available at a reasonable price at the time could compete. And the C5 always looked good.
Me? I think GM should have paid us early owners for all the beta testing we did.
Last edited by jackthelad; 01-14-2021 at 10:01 AM.
01-11-2021, 03:31 PM
that’s right up there with liquor and ******.
