Another whats it worth question.

[reefdiver]

I was at a local dealership today looking at a 2003 spiral gray coupe. I've been looking for this color for some time now, and let me tell you, it's a hard color to find. They want $36,000 for it. Has all the toys, almost 12,000 miles, and is in great shape. I would be the 2nd owner. My first question - is this too much? Now for the problem,..... I have a 94 arctic white coupe to trade. 70,000 miles, all options, new tires and battery, great shape inside and out. They first offered me $7,500 for it. I looked disgusted and shook my head no. They went up to $8,500 then. Am I crazy to think that my 94 is worth more? I realize that I could get more than $8,500 (at least I think I could) if I were to sell it myself, but in all honesty, I'd rather take the easy way out and just trade it. So,.... what do you guys think? Is $8,500 all I can expect to get for it, or is this dealer just low balling me? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[garlt4]

you really need to decide what you expect to get for yours AND what the 2003 is worth before you determine whether you are getting a fair price for yours. So many people are much more willing to overpay for a car when they hear that they are getting "more" for theirs.
36 sounds kinda high to me but a C5 expert, I am not.
Best to get some opinions from others.
good luck

 

[kingman]

What's it worth???????????

Being that l have not seen this 2003, and it has only 12,000 miles and l'm sure it still has time left on the warranty and has not defects. I don't remember if you said it was auto or not, so here goes.

Wholesale the 03 can bring maybe 25/$26,000 and maybe another $1000 if it was really cherry, that's it and l'm being real loose.

You have to figure that the dealer has to make a markup, pay sales commission
pay for advertising inspecting it and offering some kind of warranty if needed.

So $36,000 is high when you could have bought an 04 for another couple of thou and now the 06's are coming out.

$4/5000 to high.

Your 94 artic white coupe with 70,000 miles probably will only show up at smaller auctions but what l have seen $8,500 is a fair price but you could sell it for 10/$11,000 if it's in good condition.

So what the dealer was doing is charging you more for the 03 and giving you more for your 94. It's a math game and you will lose every time.

At this point in time the price's will decline until Oct and then level off until Feb when they will rise once again.

Good luck in what ever you do, but don't get lazy and sell you 94 first and then look for another vette. You will come across a lot more so be patient.

Alan

 

[andrewc4]

I just bought a 94 and after looking at what was available at what price locally, I decided even though 12K was about mid price, and NOT a bargain, I bought it anyway. If had 73K miles, (not a small amount of mileage), a manual transmission, (for me non-negotiable, the were much fewer manuals produced) with the paint and interior in very good to excellent condition, (much better than the other C4's I had seen), Flowmaster exhaust, K&N filter, Edelbrock throttle body, 'wood' inlays on the dash and doors, MSD plug wires. Bear in mind also that the 94 is a really good candidate as a daily driver. The LT1 was being improved, first year for the passenger air bag, the R134 A/C system. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer would ask 12K-13K for the 94.

 

[vetteboy86]

I would never trade a car in. That is what they want you to do, so they double dip you twice. Over charge you for the car you are buying, an give you less for the car you want to get rid off.

I think that the price they offered you for your car is about 3k low. I am not sure what the C5 prices are.

Be patient, and do what you need to do.

Craig

 

[andrewc4]

Bottom line, I agree with vetteboy86.

 

[o2bnkc]

I wouldn't take less than $10k on the 94 trade in. As far as the c5 goes, the 2003's are a bit pricier (50'th aniversary) than the other comparible c5's. $36k is about the going rate for that around here.

 

[Red VelVette]

First of all, IMHO, yours is worth far more than $8500. I would say that a well-maintained '96 coupe with 70K miles is more in the $10,500 to $13,500 range. Corvette Magazine lists the prices for a 1994 Coupe in their C4 price guide, (July 2005), as $7,100 for "Crummy", $9,500 for "Decent", $11,600 for "Great", and $14,400 for "Fabulous". With 70K miles and if you have good records, minimal/normal wear on the interior, and tires w/50% plus life I would certainly put yours above the Decent category and the better the condition of all wear items could move you even past the Great price level.



Selling your car yourself is really not that hard with a simple ad in the auto trader and/or local paper usually doing the trick fairly quickly if you list at a fair price with good description. Never ever, ever never, trade your car in at the dealer, (dont kill me car dealers out there!), as you will always leave money on the table. Especially with a car like the Corvette that will reasonably sell fairly easily in most situations.



Secondly, the '03 sounds a bit high given the bargain level prices, (under $40K), that were available for coupes at the end of the '04 model year in anticipation of the C6 arrival. Late model C5 prices have eroded well this year. Corvette Magazine's C5 price guide, (September 2005), lists the top price for a "Fabulous" '03 Coupe at $33,500 and "Great" one at $30K so I would more reasonably shoot for the low 30's, ($30K-$33K), for an '03 coupe with 11K miles like the one you describe. 11K miles certainly isn't excessive mileage but not necessarily extremely low for a +/- 2 year old vette. There were 2086 Medium Spiral Gray Coupes produced in 2003 which was actually the 2nd most popular color for coupes that year behind Anniversary Red so I would not say that the color warrants any extra cash.



I believe that you could reduce the overall costs of this deal by $6K to $11K if you sell your car yourself, (net $3K-$5K more), and negotiate a little harder for the '03, (save $3K-$6K). Just keep the new purchase separate from the sale of your '94.



And if you decide to let them have it for $8500 send me some quick pics and directions to your house, I'll be there to pick it up the next day and give you $8600! Good luck with your newest Corvette!

 

[slapshot]

$36k sounds a bit high to me also. I can buy an 03 Z06 for that price or just slightly higher, but under $40k in this area.

Go to traderonline.com and do a search for your area.

You also may check kbb.com and edmunds.com for car values, for both the 03 and your trade.

I'd hope for a bit more on your trade also. I'd think about $10k would be my min.

 

[Chrisr]

I agree with the others that the 03 is priced a bit high.
I bought mine (an 03 coupe) in February of this year and the dealer was asking 33k. Mine also had only 8300 miles on it and is in beautiful condition. From the sounds of the 03 you described, I'd say they are both comparible.
Your correct in thinking you can get more for your 94 selling out right. I wouldn't trade it unless the dealer gives you 9500 - 10k for it. But your going to have to be one heck of a negotiator to do that. And then negotiate the price of the 03.

Another thing you can do (if this is a GM dealer your dealing with) is go to gmbuypower.com and see if the car is listed there. Usually, it's a lower price than what the dealer states on the lot.

Like it was said above, it's a math game and we (the buyers) lose most of the time.

Just my 2 cents, but good luck in whatever you decide to do!!!

 

[gmjunkie]

Like it was said above, it's a math game and we (the buyers) lose most of the time.

I pay more than $8500. for Nice 90,000-100,000 Vette's across the Block!! But they have to be NICE!! Buy the Car outright and Sell your's Yourself!! You Will Be $4,000- $6,000 Ahead!! Oh by the way I can buy from Direct from GM on Dealer & Factory Owned Vehicles !! gmjunkie!!

 

[reefdiver]

Thanks for the advice guys. Think I'll just hold on to my 94, at least till next spring. I'm not even 100% sure I want to move up to a C5 anyway - something about a C4 interior just turns me on.