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Been looking for a GS for a while. Found one that fits the list (mag ride, 3LT, NPP). It's at a dealership and it has a clean CarFax with 26k miles and they want $40k for it.
Drivetrain is stock but it has some appearance mods (see photos). Looks clean and I will have a mechanic check it out. CarFax shows it once was sold at an auction, which gives me pause. Also, the first 2 oil changes on record were at 6k miles and then at 12k miles. Not a fan of going that many miles on oil changes.
It has had 4 owners in its lifetime
Picture by dealer is blurry but something appears strange on the oil pan. Almost like it was scraped at some point?
If everything checks out with your mechanic and it checks all the boxes on your want list I don't think the asking price is that out of line. I purchased a 2012 and similar optioned car for $41k 6 months ago, mine has a manual trans and is a convertible.
I dont think it’s terrible. There is going to be some wiggle room in the price. I wouldnt let the oil change interval get to you bc they may have done it themselves in between.
Also, lots of cars are sold at auctions…especailly if the dealer is in a market where they couldnt move it
That's a very good price for a low mile GS. Nice looking too. Oil pan looks like it's just angled there.
Like they said, cars being sold at auction is the new norm. Someone trades their Vette in on a truck, that dealer doesn't want to try to sell it on their lot and knows someone else will have better luck, so they sell it at auction. Not only that, over the past few years wholesale values have been so strong it was a fast and easy way to make money, sell new vehicles over MSRP and then sell trade ins at auction at a premium.
The car itself looks good from those few pictures. The mods I can see (e.g. emblem on front bumper, smoked lights, yellow dash logo) aren't terrible and can be reversed. The side skirts require drilling or rivets so those are on there for life. The spoiler may come off depending on if they drilled into the bumper or used the existing screws + tape. It does look a little lowered so have the mechanic confirm the condition of the lowering bolts. Door sills look a little scuffed.
That said, the 2012-13 has all the best upgrades that the C6 got over the years and is worth a little more than the 10-11 Grand Sports just for the better seats alone.
Just curious if yellow is your first color choice?
I wouldn't worry about the oil changes interval either. 6k and 12k, the synthic oil most people use says 7k miles. It's old school way of thinking to change every 3k miles. The Vette will say change it once a year, but I doubt some owners do this if they haven't driven many miles. Total 26k miles in 12 years is a little over 2k miles a year.
That's a very good price for a low mile GS. Nice looking too. Oil pan looks like it's just angled there.
Like they said, cars being sold at auction is the new norm. Someone trades their Vette in on a truck, that dealer doesn't want to try to sell it on their lot and knows someone else will have better luck, so they sell it at auction. Not only that, over the past few years wholesale values have been so strong it was a fast and easy way to make money, sell new vehicles over MSRP and then sell trade ins at auction at a premium.
One of the 4 owners might also be the auction, it was on mine
I personally think yellow and brown cars should never happen. With that said, the price is right if the car is solid. If you're not set on that color, there is a black 2011 GS convertible here in Utah that has 56k miles. They are also asking 40k but I'm sure they would negotiate as the car has been up for quite a while. There's quite a bit of Corvette inventory in Utah.
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That said, the 2012-13 has all the best upgrades that the C6 got over the years and is worth a little more than the 10-11 Grand Sports just for the better seats alone.
Unless you want Jetstream Blue, which wasn't available in 2012-13.
That said, I've owned six Corvettes, four of them C6s, and not one of them had the 2012-13 seats. I wouldn't base my purchasing decision on seats alone since prior years have worked just fine.
Modern synthetic oil can go far beyond the old 3K interval, as noted above. And auctions don't mean anything bad, unless there were several consecutive auctions between owners.
My color choices for a C6 are blue, red or yellow. I know yellow is a love or hate for some but on a C6, the yellow works for me.
At 26k miles, would the breaks need replacing? I guess that depends also on how hard they were driven.
My 2011 has 39K miles on it, and the only reason I'm doing the brakes is they have the factory squeak. It annoyed me on my Z06 also. I have a set of Power Stop Z26 Street Warrior brakes on the way, though. I'm pretty sure the brakes on mine are still factory since the first owner was just a street cruiser (I am the second owner).
My color choices were same as OP and I was actually pretty hung up on yellow as I think it is a great color. I wound up with Monterey Red as it checked all the boxes.
As to brakes I bet yours are still good. Mine had 24k on the clock and were in good shape. However the rotors were rusty and I was getting a lot of brake dust. So I changed them out and painted the calipers at the same time.
Good idea with painting the calipers if that's something OP is interested in. It's yellow on yellow right now. I like that look, I was thinkin of goin with red calipers for my Victory Red. Some would say the contrasting colors look better
Reading your post reminded me of the 2013 GS convertible I helped a good friend (who was in seriously ill health) sell back in December 2020. Really highlights what has happened to car prices over the last few years. The 2013 was in excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition...actually looked new. Two owner, 34,000 mile car in a great gray/gray color combo. He priced it at a solid market price then...$38,500, and it sold at that. Now to see over 3 years later the price for the yellow car is perhaps attributable to the popularity of the GS.
Just to add my two cents. I agree with most of the posters so far in that the price is reasonable based on the research that I have done. Yes, there may be some outliers, but it appears to be reasonably priced. Usually, the dealers will haggle just a bit as well. I bought a 25,000 mile 2013 GS with the anniversary package last August for $42k and have been following prices ever since just out of habit. So, if you like the GS, the color, and the options, I’d say go for it!
It doesn't hurt to offer them $38,000. I feel that would be most fair. If not, $40k is close. It is fully optioned afterall. Just make sure the transmission and colors are exactly what you want.
04-12-2024, 02:04 AM
2012 GS - What do you think?
