page62

My answer is a resounding "No!" And I can prove it...

A '98 Electron Blue C5 coupe sold down here for $23.5K. The car was immaculate. Very low miles, and the carpets had literally never been stepped on! It could easily have been mine. And yes, I could afford it without mortgaging everything else I own.

I thought long and hard about that car, and decided against it. Why? For starters, it's still depreciating (fast!). Insurance would have killed me because I couldn't have done a Hagerty-type policy in this case. And cost of repairs! Regardless of how well-kept this car was, it's still a 5-year-old sports car. One set of tires could have sent me reeling.

There are lots of other reasons -- like I greatly prefer how C3's look -- but you get the idea...

So instead, I'm spending a few bucks to make my '79 as mechanically perfect as I can . . . now that I'm CERTAIN it's a keeper!

:seeya


[Modified by page62, 9:17 AM 12/22/2002]

'79ProwlerOrange

:cool: i wouldda bought it. but i impulse buy alot. :D good decision! :cheers:

MassVette

New ZO6's are going for 46K............falling fast.
:yesnod: :yesnod:

Corey_68

$5,000 off MSRP on all Vette's (Coupe, Convertible, and Z06) here. Tempted, but why buy a slower car?? :lol:

Toy4Two

Good choice, I'd pass too........

OHSIXX

Must have been something other than "Electron Blue" since it is a 2002 color. :blueangel:

virtue4u

A dealer was selling a "new" C5 convertible with only 2k miles for $38,500. That means someone probably lost $20,000 on that vehicle. I may have gotten it, but my wife said she would not drive a stick shift. :( That kind of loss is worse than if someone stole my C3 and the insurance refused to pay. It is hard for me to justify.

78Vette-SA

I paid just under 24k last year for a 98 with some miles on it. I love it, and no regrets. I would never part with my 78. It's a blast. But the 98 is a great cruisin' and long distance car.

My insurance is $672 per year under my regular policy. If you do the regular maintenance yourself it's not bad, assuming nothing breaks of course. OTher than a $15 idler pulley and a few appeareance mods I chose to do, it hasn't cost me anything. Oh year, around 27mpg on the highway!




[Modified by 78Vette-SA, 10:55 AM 12/22/2002]

Chris@VetteFinders

Yes, it is true that early C5 prices are fairly low. They are about where the earlier C4s were at the end of the C4 production run. Man, what a great value they are right now. Especially if you are looking for a track car!

The economy and winter are two more contributing factors right now. Still, you won't lose a lot of money on a 2001 or 2002 vette with low miles (private sale).

You may think it is not a good deal, but we are sure selling a lot right now!

Smokehouse69

Page, in another two years that C-5 will probably be down in the $16-18K range, I have no idea where they'll bottom out at, seems like late production C-4's have bottomed about $14K. At least I recently saw a nice '95 model sub 30k mile that had sat for 3 months at that price. The guy finally decided just to keep it.

page62

The irony here is that good, clean 78-82 C3's are going to be very close in value to C5's in a couple of years.

And pick-of-the-litter chrome bumper sharks are already there -- or even past that point! :yesnod:

QuickVet

I wish i could afford one. I am really loving the Hardtop corvettes made in 99-2000. Looks just like a Z06 at half the cost :cheers:

phrogs

I bought a 2002 Z06 last year I got 5K of sticker and I traded in my 89 vert on it.
I had the Z06 and my ZR-1 at the same time but I loved that Z06 it was a nice car fast as hell but the wife busted me down and said she wanted a truck so I sold the Z06 because I saw how fast they were depreciating!

I got 42K for mine with 9K miles so I made out pretty well I pocketed some cash and I was happy to have had the car while I did.

I still like my ZR-1 better because it has a lot more history behind it im my opinion

since I just picked up a new toy 69 coupe I wont be having a Z06 for some time!!

jp


[Modified by phrogs, 1:07 PM 12/22/2002]

Michael Tucker

a little off topic but here at the san antonio tx police auction last wednesday (12-12-02) we sold a 1980 purple vette with 7?,??? miles on it with no real problems for a low price of $3,700. i bet you would have liked and bid on it page. i would have bid up to $5,500 on it but they will not let me bid. i get to see all the good stuff go for next to nothing. a guy came up to me after the vette was sold and said the buyer told him he would sale it to him for $5,000 and he said no saying he told him he was not going to let him make $1,300 in less than 30 minutes.
mike
don't forget to say good-bye to your family if your going to drink and drive over the holidays

Paul L

No I am not tempted. I have a very nice and dependable 2001 Impala for everyday use. And quite frankly, the C5s do not appeal to me. They are finely engineered cars and I can't put my finger on the reason, but I would not consider purchasing one. Even at a rock-bottom price.

Temptation for me is MassVette's 1967. That is what would loosen up my tightwad ways ;) .

Eddie 70

A friend of mine on the C5 board just bought a 99 FRC for a steal. The car has had a ton of bueaty mods done also. We drove it back from Ok to Tn and it averaged 31MPG!!! This was on open road and cruising about 75 MPH. Can`t complain about that at all. I feel like he got an excellent deal.

GrandSportC3

You can pick up 97' C5's for less than 20k... I might consider getting one as a daily driver as soon as I sell my 80' Duntov...

:cheers:

Olivier

Double Aught

I will be getting a FRC most likely in the spring. I have the money now, but I want to wait and see what happens in the Middle East. I have a bad feeling that this war we are going to get into will be very bad for our economy and the rest of the world. Once that poopie is taken care of and things settle down, I plan on getting with a dealer friend and go to the car auctions up in LA. I will be paying dealer cost on my C5. BOOYA!

page62

Aw Mike . . . you really know how to hurt a guy! I would've bid $5K+ on that car in a heartbeat... :cry

mayberg

I think the C5's will drop another 10 to 20 percent once the new ones come out - just like the C4's did when the C5 came out.