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Help: I have to sell my 78 corvette… but what’s it worth?

silver78

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Connecticut
Corvette
1978 Silver Anniversary Edition
Hello all,
I’m a newbie to this forum and I own a corvette, but the time has come to sell it. I’m looking for your advice/input before I head to the C3 For Sale forum or to my local auto classifieds.
I really am at a loss as how to price the vehicle. It’s not in pristine condition by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s certainly not a heap of junk that should be sold off as parts either. What should my asking price range be?

It’s a 1978 Silver Anniversary Edition. It’s an automatic transmission, it has roughly 85,000 miles on it. I believe I am the third owner. I purchased the car in 1990 and drove it until 1998. That year I moved cross country and had to leave the car behind with relatives…. so the car has remained garaged (but not maintained) since then. The front end was replaced and the car was repainted after an accident, so all the parts/paint are not original. There is currently some minor damage to the body/paint from an unfortunate run in with a relative who put their car into reverse instead of drive and hit the corvette – ouch! The interior is in fair to good condition. The engine runs fine, but I imagine that everything from the filters to the sparkplugs to the gaskets to fluids all need to be replaced at this point. I would love to keep the corvette but I just don’t have the money to restore it , so the only viable option is to sell… before the car becomes worthless. Honestly I think it would make a excellent project car for someone. Now I guess I need to figure out how much I can get for it.
Over the years I’ve received ridiculously low offers from friends and family for the car and for what it’s worth I’ve also had a corvette specialist tell me not to sell the car for less than $10,000.
With that said - I placed an ad in a local paper last year with an asking price of $10K… there was no interest generated from the ad, but then again the economy was bottoming out at that time.
So now – here I am asking for your input. I’ll answer any other question you might have regarding the car (to the best of my knowledge) and I look forward to your comments on pricing.
Thanks,
Ryan

P.S - I posted exterior images of the car to the album in profile silver78 if you want to have a look.
 
You can add a photo from your album to this thread:

silver78-albums-silver78-s-car-picture3163-rside4.jpg


Photos always help... good luck with your sale!

:wJane Ann
 
I'm not in the market but it doesn't look all that bad in the photo.I can tell you from experience the market is really soft .But there is a buyer out there somewhere and this is the time of the year people start to look.
 
You need to get it running - and running well. I understand not wanting to restore it, but it will sell far faster if a potential buyer thinks it has been properly cared for, Replace belts and hoses, plugs etc. If a buyer only has to worry about cosmetics, and not mechanicals, he/she can do the math that will make you happy. If you can't/won't get it running well, don't expect too much - cars that aren't running are often though of as parts cars. The good news is that the commemorative edition should bring more buyers the the standard 78.

P,S. bill the relative for the rear end damage.:chuckle
 
You need to get it running - and running well.

I really don't have the money to get the car back up to the state that it was in when I garaged it 13 years ago. That could be many hundreds if not thousands of dollars... and trying to accomplish this while living 2500 miles away would be a massive undertaking.

So let's just say I'm selling the car as is with all of it's imperfection... waiting for someone to give it some TLC. Right now... is it worth $100? $500? $1000? $4000? $8000?
 
You say you're 2500 miles away from the car....your info shows that you live in CT....where's the car? Might make a difference in how much you may or may not get for it.

With that being said, I'm no expert, but here's what I've seen recently; mint condition (low low miles) 78 Pace Car sold on Mecum for around $17K. Realistically, start at $10, but be prepared to take offers in the $3-5K range, with the work you suggest it needs, $6-7k is probably a good deal for you. You are right it would be a great project car for someone, but like you said, you can get quite a few thousand $$$ in it pretty fast. The prospective buyer is thinking that way too.

Good luck with the sale! And I hope I'm wrong about the price.
 
I basically agree with Tom except I think you'll end up in the $4000-$5000 dollar range .I'm also curious as to where it's located .
 
I think that in the condition your '78 is now, you are looking at $4-5k. Also, a '78 Indy Pace Car will sell more than a '78 Silver Anniversary. It's just the way it is. The market is very low on older Corvettes now. My advice is that you will have to get that car in at least decent running condition, as difficult as that may be.

Let us know how you make out.

Elaine
 
Where is the car? Prices vary across the country.

Who is selling the car for you? Considering the distances involved, you are an absentee owner. Does your representative know the particulars on the car, or will the inevitable potential buyer questions have to be forwarded on to you for answers?

Do you have original documentation with the car? The car's value is the B2Z option.

:thumb
 
I had a friend sell one very similar last year for 10 grand. It ran well, didn't really need bodywork and was driven home by the new owner. That said, it wasn't near pristine, but the new owner knew almost exactly how much he would have to spend before he made his best offer. I agree that about $5K is what MOST buyers would offer not running.
 
Where Do you have original documentation with the car? The car's value is the B2Z option. :thumb

What type of original documentation are you referring to? I probably have some of it, but not in front of me. It's in storage.
... and what is the B2Z option?

I set my profile location up as the cars location. The Corvette is in Connecticut - I'm on the west coast in California.

I will have to rely on family to sell the car... well, that's the plan right now. If they're unwilling/unable to help or this proves to be more difficult than I imagined then I might have to take time off from work - fly back and have 1 week (possibly 2) where I dig in and get the car sold while I'm there to sell it.

I may also have to start looking into mechanics (corvette specialists?) that can look over the corvette, know what needs their immediate attention and have a few items taken care of before I put it on the market.

I want to thank you all for your ongoing input into my troubles here. I really appreciate it!!
 
I have to agree with what's been said. It's worth more if it runs and there isn't much demand for a 78 (unless it's a pace car).

If it was running fine when you parked it, then it may not require much $$ to get it running. Just some time.

I'd replace belts, fluids, and filters. Inspect the hoses and replace any that look bad. That's probably less than $150.

I know it has been sitting for years, but was it just sitting or did someone drive it from time to time?
 
...What type of original documentation are you referring to?...

Original invoice, original window sticker, tank sticker, original Corvette order, etc., any/all of which lends confirmation of how the car was originally equipped. B2Z will show on all of these documents.

... and what is the B2Z option?...

B2Z is the factory option code for the Silver Anniversary paint scheme. In addition to the two toned silver paint and tape stripes, the option required sport mirrors and aluminum wheels.

Documentation of the B2Z option confirms it's a genuine Silver Anniversary car.

Paint code on the trim tag will show 13/07.

As suggested on another forum, consider getting the car to California where you can sell it in person and be able to answer potential buyer questions.


:thumb
 
As suggested on another forum, consider getting the car to California where you can sell it in person and be able to answer potential buyer questions.


:thumb

Assuming the smog system is all intact, functioning, and passes the California smog tests; if it doesn't, you can't register it, and neither can a buyer.

:beer
 
I know it has been sitting for years, but was it just sitting or did someone drive it from time to time?

It was driven a few times early on but then the registration expired... so the car gets started up every few months but not driven. I noticed that the brake fluid has dried up, so the brakes don't work - that would be one of the first things I'd want to address if I'm putting $$$ into getting the car in good running condition.
 
Assuming the smog system is all intact, functioning, and passes the California smog tests; if it doesn't, you can't register it, and neither can a buyer.

:beer

Sorry - I see no reason to drop who knows how much money getting the car to California to register it and have it smoked (and who knows what else) - JUST to try to sell it. It's staying in Connecticut.
 

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