values on corvettes going down?

[jsteezy129]

i have a 95 2 dr coupe six speed manual, 92k,zr wheels and its in prestine condition. i recently went to a vette show and to my suprise people thought i was asking to much 12500, i had people saying you can get that year on ebay for like 10 k and im like ya right until i go home and look. you can get them cheaper than that. whats the deal i thought a 95 was worth like 15k?

 

[BarryK]

it's not so much that the value on Vettes in general are going down, it just that certain stles or years are currently in a downward movement but they will eventually find a new stable price point although at a lower price than current values.
C4's in particular and C5 resale valuses are down right now mostly I think because of the new C6. C4's have been going down for a while and are right now probably the overall best value in the Corvette market if you are looking to buy a car (but not to sell one). C5's have been going down because of the C6's and dealers dumping their remaining C5's they had in stock. Who was going to buy a used 2, 3, or 4 year old C4 for $30,000 when you could get a left over brand new 2004 C5 a dealer was dumping out at only $34,000 or $35,000.
Keep in mind that other "limited" cars such as the C4 ZR-1's have not really been hit by this downward spiral of prices like the "regular" C4's.
As bad as I feel for the current owners of C4's who are selling their cars and not getting the pricing they expected, when I need to get a C4 for my wife in the Spring to go along with our '65 C2 it will be nice to not have to pay a huge fortune for the car. At the very least, by paying the same amount of money than as i might have expected to pay 6 or 12 months ago I will be able to get a later model year and lower milage car in better condition.

On the other hand, C1's, C2's and C3's seem to keep going up in value!


Oh, another factor to keep in mind when considering the values of the different generations. They produced about as many C4's or C5's in one MONTH as they did for total YEARS production on the earlier gneration cars!

 

[kingman]

Value's!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi

This time of the year all vettes will drop in value until Feb/Mar and then go up once again. This has nothing to do with model year except the C1 & C2, will remain solid in excellent condition.

Your 95 has too much mileage and you are not in the right part of the country to expect any kind value because of your weather conditions. Now if you lived in a warm weather part of the country you might be able to get a couple of extra bucks but Ohio!

I have a 96 in minto condition with l feel high mileage (48,000 miles) and l barely can get $13,000 and l would be thrilled.

Most of the neat corvettes that do not sell by mid to late Nov will be garaged until the weather breaks.

Just be realistic and you will sell it.

Alan

 

[cesully]

Gents,
Just my opinion but I've never gone wrong with the C3's I've purchased. I like these models and they are in my price range what with a small family my dreams of a C5/6 are a long way off. I have had 4 C3's, currently have a 78 Silver Anni, I buy L82 4-spd's, I like to detail these cars so by the time I'm done with them they look great. I also like to keep them original as possible. I have never lost any money on the sales, in fact I make an average of 1200 bucks on each sale- this usually is a wash/break even since I may have to buy tires/battery. Point is, if you're in the market to buy a C4, the world is your oyster, however if you're selling one, you're probably are going to take a bath. It's a shame because those cars are safe and quality built as compared to the (later) C3's that were sloppily put together.

Sully...

 

[Striker 85]

Hey if you look at Corvette Trader and such, the C3 market wich was bottomed out about 4 years ago is going up. As the Corvettes age, the go down, then up. My boss bought his 65 Convert 10 years ago for 20K!!!! Now look at the price. I have an 85. I drive it around on nice days, restore all the interior to stock, and placed a few, non super noticable MODS on it. I watched its market value go down from 10K to about 8K in the last 5 years, however, with love, care and not beating it, I am sure the value will pop back up again. The C5 prices will go the way of the C4, and have started to. Hold on to your C4 unless you really need the money, the value will go up again

 

[jsteezy129]

you have a 96 collectors edition? anyway ill give you 13 k right now for it. what are you talking about, your car is worth way over that price and mileage. ive had people tell me that cant believe i have 92k on it. it doesnt matter the mileage if the car overshines it. plus its only a average of like 10k miles a year and thats not bad just a person that likes to drive it on nice days

 

[markone]

Hi:

My two cents worth...it is the mileage and the time of year. Anything that is low milage will generally retain its value, as you move up to the other end of the spectrum the price will suffer greatly. Of course if you hold onto the car for a long enough time then the milage becomes less of a factor, relatively speaking. The C 2's can have virtually any mileage on them now and it doesn't affect price much, unless you are looking at an original, documented, low mileage car. If you sell in the spring time/early summer the price will be higher.

markone

 

[B17Crew]

jsteezy129,

I like what Striker 85 had to say about taking care of your car and not beating it. A well taken car of Corvette will always bring a higher dollar.

C4’s will continue to depreciate, even the special editions, i.e. ’93 40th Anniversaries, ’96 Collectors Editions and even the low volume ’96 Grand Sport (GS). I have seen some tempting deals on the GS. These cars will eventually start to climb in value over time if they are well taken care of and kept as original as possible. Admittedly, your ’92 is high in mileage in Corvette speak, so I can see the car being in the $10,000 or below price range. A positive for a high mileage car such as yours is that it’s proven to be road worthy; cars that sit can develop more problems than they are worth headache wise.

What’s important is that you enjoy your car. No one like to loose money, but thinking of any run-of-the-mill C4 bringing a cash windfall anytime soon is not realistic (not that you said that). I consider my LT4 to be run-of-the-mill; it’s production numbers were in the thousands, in no way shape or form can be my LT4 be considered a “rare” car. Single to double digit production is rare.

My 51,000 mile LT4’s value is plummeting, doesn’t bother me one bit, it’s too much of a fun car to worry what it’s worth.

If you are looking to sell, you may want to hold off till spring, Corvette prices do seem to fluctuate by season.

Just my humble opinion.
B17Crew

 

[brimis]

I own an 84 in good condition, looks goods and runs strong. 166,000 miles and I would not sell it for under $10,000.00. I could only imagine what my dream will cost, a 67 BIG BLOCK!

 

[jsteezy129]

the retail on mine is still 15k. and wouldnt sell it for less than12k

 

[craig0ry]

the retail on mine is still 15k. and wouldnt sell it for less than12k

Not to be an ass, but considering you can get a good C5 for 16k, or an LT4 C4 for 13-15k, there is no way in hell I would pay 12k+ for a 95 with miles like that. It would have to be some cherry collectible mint car.

C4's are not some rareified collectible - I hate to say it but they are almost a dime a dozen. Look around - you will see more C4's on the road than any other generation Corvette.

This happens with all car people. Everyone wants to believe their car is worth a million dollars, until it comes time to buy

 

[jsteezy129]

by the way what kind of car do you have? what a early c4? the car is mint and if blue book says its worth 14900 i should be able to pull at least 12, i mean its a 95 vette. and i see more c5's than c4's

 

[girvin]

by the way what kind of car do you have? what a early c4? the car is mint and if blue book says its worth 14900 i should be able to pull at least 12, i mean its a 95 vette. and i see more c5's than c4's

I purchased my 94 this past March (summer = higher price - as has been mentioned) for $12,300. It had 74K miles on it, is red with black interior (desirable color scheme), exellent condition and has many good options (ride control, performance rear axle ratio, LTPWS, tinted & colored tops).

Please don't be offended, but the others are correct. There are many better deals out there than what you are asking.

 

[safety_match]

All (?) cars will bottom out in price between 12 and 20 years. Then inevitably they go back up. Collectible cars like Corvettes are no exception. I deliberately bought my 90 two years ago when it was 12 years old. I expect it will go down from my purchase of $13K somewhat more but basically hold its value reasonably closely. It has 53,000 miles and includes the hardtop.

You like your car? Hang on to it...it will go down more but never to zero. Otherwise expect increasingly less value for a few more years.
C1 & C2 have shown huge increases in value, C3 has been going up in recent years, C4 is near bottomed out, C5 owners are taking a bath.

 

[safety_match]

I will quote Vette Magazine May 2004 issue: Corvette Prices

Team VETTE's suggestion is "Get a C3 while you can; they won't last at this price forever."....Prices on Third Generation Vettes will continue to climb, and the entry-level Corvette buyer will have an easier time with the early-C4 market.

1995 Coupe / 6 speed
Excellent 22.75K
Good 17K
Average 15.25K

Keep in mind that this magazine issue was pre-C6 release and it is now September too. While your car is certainly worth more than the 10K suggested don't forget that these people are also low-balling you.
Wait 'til spring.

 

[craig0ry]

by the way what kind of car do you have? what a early c4? the car is mint and if blue book says its worth 14900 i should be able to pull at least 12, i mean its a 95 vette. and i see more c5's than c4's

I do have an early C4. However, I realize that it is worth jack-crap. You don't see me asking $9k for it or something, do you?

My point is, you have a very nice car and it is worth a lot of money. But you are not going to find someone who will want to buy it without waiting a longer period of time. There are better deals out there and you are going to have to wait for the right person to come along. At $12k dollars, yes, you will probably sell it just fine. But the KBB is out of touch with the real world market - it will be a lot harder to sell at the $15k that it says it is worth.

 

[Edmond]

C4's are definitely the best deals out there right now, IMHO. Now is the time to jump into a C4 or C5 for much less than usual. I think the C6 debut has hit the C4 and C5 hard but it's only a temporary hit. It will start to rise up a little bit as more C6's hit the road and some people may think the C6 isn't for them.

The ZR-1's are a Corvette that will always retain a very good dollar amount. The engine and low production contribute a lot to that. Plus, most ZR-1's, I believe, are taken care of better than the regular C4 because they're not too many around.

 

[Vette_Newb2]

I was pricing C5's today, they are getting real cheap. The 97-99 are going in the mid to high teens, and you can pick up a nice Z06 for around 28k. The C3's do seem to be on the rise, but the regular C4's (2D coupe) look to be falling off rapidly.

 

[Edmond]

I was pricing C5's today, they are getting real cheap. The 97-99 are going in the mid to high teens, and you can pick up a nice Z06 for around 28k. The C3's do seem to be on the rise, but the regular C4's (2D coupe) look to be falling off rapidly.

I think you could get an even better deal in a few months on the C5's with winter coming. Are you going to jump into a 97-99? It is very tempting! Though if I did it, I would have to go 02' or beyond Z06.

 

[garycr14]

All of us C4 & C5 owners took a pretty big hit when the C6's came out. It's easy to figure out why, the C6 sells for what (MSRP) the C5 sold for new, so the "04" dropped in value, and pushed everything else down. Plus the fact is that thee is a lot of C4's & C5's around. The early C3's are on the rise, due to the fact that they are smog exempt in all states. JMHO, but I think it will be a long time before we see any real gains in the C4 & C5 era cars. Drive em like their meant to be driven! Have fun!