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LT4 GS/CE LT4 Values Drop

1996 LT4 Topic
S

Stan A

Guest
Newest Released figures from the National Association of Auto Dealers shows a sharp drop in wholesale "trade in" prices on the GS/CE LT4 models.

It appears that mileage is not much of a factor. Very low mileage cars have been hit the hardest. Where the market for a showroom GS/CE LT4 with mileage under 20k was hovering between $17,000 to $19,000 has slipped to $14,000 to $15,000.

THis means that a showroom quality GS/CE LT4 may well sell or re-sale from a dealer in the range of $18,000 to $20,000. Previously, a car like this was retailing between $25,000 to $27,000 through Xmas of last year.

However, the convertible edition with regards to both models has held steady as supply vs. demand has not wavered.

Good time to buy a coupe if your looking.
 
Wow....I think the '96 model year definitely represents the best quality of the C4 generation. When it comes to the LT4, this is an excellent performance bargain.
 
I dont know where they got their numbers, but there have been several GS's trade hands in the last few months that I know about, and everyone of them was well over the 20k mark. These cars had varying mileage but where all in excelent condition.

I bet if you where to ask a GS owner to sell his/her car for 18k they would either be insulted or fall to the ground laughing.

Jason
 
GS/CE Values

The numbers are wholesale values not retail. They are gather by the association every quarter quarter as I understand it. Again, we are taking "trade In's/dealer purchases not selling privately.

Sometimes not all the news I pass along is good. In fact, I would have thought that if any model/year would hold through trying times, it would be the LT4. But it appears they have not.

The last local sale that I have knowledge on locally was a GS trade in with 13k mileages to a local dealer for a Z06. Dealer allowed him $18,500 but the buyer got no discount on the new Z06. It washes out either way.

Personally, I expect the wholesale values to dip even lower after the summer months. Current owners should just "sit out" the downside activities until we see an upward trend. It could take sometime. If I owned a GS/CE LT4, I would not consider selling under any circumstances. It is the best LT series car GM built.

Have a good day everyone.............
 
I have never seen a GS this low before, but there is an ad in the local Want Advertizer for a GS CONVERT in "excellent" shape for $21500. It's been in the Want Ad for several weeks now. Wish I had the $ or I'd check it out. I wonder what's wrong with it.

Guy
 
Act Now!!!!!

Hi Guy,

Call this individual who has the ad listed. Get the details and get back to me. A GS convertible that cheap must have huge mileage on the car. If it has under 60k, I still may have an interested party.

Thanks for the help,
Stan
 
Stan

You have mail. I sent the ad. Please let me know what you find. I did'nt want to waste the guy's time. BTW - 49k miles. Must have a story.

Guy
 
I guess I can see why the GS/CE
cars are losing value--
in my area, I have seen '99
hardtop C5's with 18k mi or
so from private owners for
30 K asking.

If you paid 28-29k for a stick
C5 with low milage, and 3 years old,
you'd want to pay less for a 6 year
old car with arguable less overall
performance (straight line might be
same, but overall, C5 cannot be
rivalled by the GS/CE).
 
twiget said:
I dont know where they got their numbers, but there have been several GS's trade hands in the last few months that I know about, and everyone of them was well over the 20k mark. These cars had varying mileage but where all in excelent condition.

I bet if you where to ask a GS owner to sell his/her car for 18k they would either be insulted or fall to the ground laughing.

Jason

I'm thinking they might even roll around a few times while their on the ground laughing . . . :upthumbs
 
Yeah,

If anybody sees these really low mile showroom condition cars
for 18K please let me know immediately. I will take them all and resell them for the real market of low to mid thirties.......


JasonB
 
There out there!

Hey Jason,

If you really mean it, check Ebay and the Corvette Forum, and the national Corvette Auto Trader. There have been no less than 25 CE/GS with low mileage in the high teens and very low twenties. Its a buyers market!

Also there were two GS convertible for sale on ebay with under 50k for under $20,000. You could not even locate this model under $30,000 no matter what the mileage was before last Xmas.

The market on these cars has slipped greatly no matter what the conditions. selling a very low mileage GS/CE anywhere close to the 30k range is a real dream in this market. The only exception to this would be a buyer who is not aware or whose knowledge is very limited of the current re-sale market conditions.

Why would anyone pay a mid 30k price for GS/CE when for the same price or a few thousand dollars more you can buy a used 2001 Z06.

The ZR1/Callaways are suffering with this same re-sale issue.

The cars are out there. If you want to invest in this market, I hope you have very deep pockets because it is going to be a long time before we see prices back on the raise.

Sometimes bad news is not taken very well. I too really would like to see this market stop dropping. However, until the over all economy moves in that direction, we will see depression on cars (all types) in an accelerated mode.

Good luck....................
 
I'm going to keep an eye and see how much that second GS goes for. It only has a little more than 20,000 miles on it!

If the prices are going down as Stan has said, I may have to take that LT4 plunge earlier than I have anticipated.
 
BullWinkle said:
I'm going to keep an eye and see how much that second GS goes for. It only has a little more than 20,000 miles on it!

If the prices are going down as Stan has said, I may have to take that LT4 plunge earlier than I have anticipated.

Good Luck !
 
All this talk of this great LT4 engine has me wanting one real bad!:D
 
Your come back show you missed the point!

Jason,

You seem to miss the whole point. A private owner can ask anything they want for any car but its the sales prices that counts.

I can find ads in many places where people will run high and low prices. Most people who own cars like this want more than they are worth anyway. I am not saying they should not get what they ask, I am saying that when the money changes hands is the green that hits the palm is the only thing that counts.

Dealers control these these markets and they do not want to pay out any more than they have too. Its a business withe them. It pride to an owner! The majority car transactions take place through a dealer than through private sales. That is why they can set the standard and the reminder of the industry follows.

As I mentioned, The LT4 series along with the ZR1 and Callaway cars are all in the same boat. Checkout these car sales for trade in's and you will see that they are actually taking a greater beating than the GS/CE.

By the way, in the Atlanta Journal Classified section there is a 2002 Z06 with 1k mileage for sale through a dealer at 43k. That's cheap!

Like I said, look at the wholesale market to led the way in pricing, not the private sector.

Stan
 
Stan,
You are correct in your findings. All vettes seem to be taking a little dip but the ZR1, GS/CE, and Callaway are getting hit hardest. They held their value because of their supremecy but as technology increases and performance gets cheaper it is difficult for the value to remain high.
Unfortunately, as you mentioned in a previous statement, ownership pride is tough to swallow. No one likes to see their vette value decline but if you are truly in love with your car, the value shouldn't mean anything but lower insurance premiums! :D It is definitely a buyers market!
Scott
 
Thanks for the kind words!

Hi Scott,

I really do hate to pass on this type of information but sellers have to be realistics in this market.

The sad thing about this whole market is that the buying consumer really needs to do his or her homework before they decide to buy or sell!

I have a collector here in Georgia that wants a 1987 Callaway TT coupe and a 1990 ZR1. He has done his studies and knows that he can buy these cars at his price.

I have spoken with over 20 owners over the last few months and they too had not keep up with what was taking place in the market. 9 owners decided to lower their asking price and the others decided not to sell.

We have three 1987 Callaway TT with under 25k mileage pricing between $18,000 to $19,500. He will buy one of these. Also six 1990 ZR1 owners whose cars have less than 35k mileage are willing to sell in the range $17,500 to $19,000. He will get one real close to the $17,000 mark I am sure.

To me all these prices are really low but when you have a buyers market like you said, things go cheap.

This is the time to just sit on your car or buy one!

Take care,
Stan
 
Re: There out there!

If you really mean it, check Ebay and the Corvette Forum, and the national Corvette Auto Trader. There have been no less than 25 CE/GS with low mileage in the high teens and very low twenties. Its a buyers market!

Can you link to any of these? I would really like to see some examples. I have watched all of these very carefully and haven't seen the same activity.

The first error you are making is lumping the GS's and CE's into the same class. If you have truly watched the market, you would understand that the GS's have and probably will continue to hold a premium over the CE's and other LT4's (Retail, not neccessarily wholesale). There is definitely a distinction there.

If you have links to the two GS verts that went for under 20K on ebay, I think we would all like to see that as well.

Cheers,

Scott
 
No Mistakes!

Hi Scott,

The pricing is based on wholesale not retail. Most dealers will treat these cars the same except for the convertibles. Simply, I agree that a GS is somewhat rarer but dealers for the most part do not care. Like I said, its a business to them. Buy it or steal it but show a profit!!

As to ads, you will not see wholesale pricing there. The ads I made reference were just an indication of how low the market is going. I spoke with an seller on ebay this morning who sold his GS convertible for 27k. It turned out he was a dealer. He took it in trade for around 21k. I think that this car is worth more than that but like he said, " the market is moving the wrong way". He had no complaints about his profit!

Again, I don't agree with what is happening but we all must face the music. The market is on the down side and the dealers will take advantage of it anyway they can.

All references I made were wholesale "trade in's/direct buys by the dealers. Can you ever think of a time when a dealer ever paid what a car was worth (market retail). They would not be in business very long if they did.

It is just too easy to think from the heart and not from the wallet. I suggest that a search over the net to all auto sales sites for these models is the starting point. Track the sales closing figures if possible. Ebay is usually good with this but you have to contact the seller because in many cases the bid winner backs out and the car goes unsold or to the next highest bidder. The selling figure could be less than indicated at the end of the auction.

Current Ebay GS/CE sellers are probably close to the retail market as the two current listings are at 23k (which is a little low) and 27k which a little high (if its a coupe). I cannot remember. Last December you would not have seen a GS coupe on the market for less than 28k and a convertible under 35k. Now they are showing up in many places.

Like I said, Wholesale guides retail. Not the other way around.

Stan
 

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