Will color change affect price?

[Robert]

My '84 needs a paint job and friend who has painted many cars of his own has agreed to help me.

It is Light Bronze now. The color is OK, but not one I would pick if I were buying new.

I saw this website :
http://www.areddy.net/vettepaint/

and I love the color this guy painted his black Vette.

My only concern is what will changing to a different color than original do to the value of the car in later years?? I know a good un-original paint job is worth more than an original one gone bad.

Or is that flawed reasoning??

Robert

 

[Tom Bryant]

Robert,

The early C4s are being judged by NCRS now and if you were restoring your car to that end or planning to try to sell it to someone with those asperations I'd say no, don't change the color.

However, and I'm not trying to insult your car because I believe the early C4s are way under valued for the car you get for the money, let's face it, market value for the early C4 is on the bottom of the Corvette food chain right now. Even exceptional low miles, never driven in any weather and never allowed air to touch the paint cars are only bringing pidly prices compared to older and newer cars. Sure, this won't last forever and I can see the early C4 values rising in the not too distant future. But right now they are the cheap cars and the ones to play with if you want to modify and change things.

I'd go ahead and paint it whatever color you like. With normal use and miles over the years, by the time it's value increases to where you need to consider the color as a deterent to a sale, it will be time to paint it again anyway. That will be several years down the road and even then, there is always someone that wants something different even if it isn't original. Not all Corvette buyers are concerned with matching paint codes and numbers.

Go for it and enjoy.
Tom

 

[GS Diva]

Robert,

About 8-9 years ago, we had a 1985 silver coupe which needed a repaint. We went round and round about the new color...silver was definitely not going to the one! We finally decided on a Saab or Volvo copper color which we loved and which was close to today's C6 Sunset Orange (or whatever it's called). Was it original...most definitely not! It didn't matter to us, though, nor did it matter when we eventually sold it and bought another.

My opinion is to just paint it whatever you personally want!

Good luck.

Elaine

 

[Hrtbeat1]

Paint it what ever color you like. Like Tom said if you go to sell it years down the road you can always repaint.


BTW the link you gave is for a member on here .... Larry Bud. Pretty good job he did himself ... even though he chose a Porsche Yellow. Just a little ribbing Larry, it really looks great.

 

[DRTH VTR]

It is your car. Enjoy it now. Customize it and use it how you like. Possible future price is just that: future and possible. Just my $0.02

 

[Vettelt193]

you may actually increase the value in the short term if you paint it a more popular color. The long run value is so long, it will need a repaint again by the time it is really 'worth something' to a collector.

IMO, factory correct cars are about maxed out on value right now. In the coming years, classics that have an endless style with modern driving comforts will be worth more.

 

[Robert]

Thanks all!! I really appreciate the well thought out comments.


I did forget to mention that the wife wants it repainted Bronze!! So stay tuned as to who has ultimate control over "our" Vette!!!

Robert


and who's to say we will ever sell it.....? I can see us being a 2 Covette family someday.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Paint it whatever color you want and enjoy it. I am SO sick of the "NCRS" and "Bloomington Gold" crowd and their matching numbers, "original ashes in the ashtray mentality". All these people do is end up driving up the prices of our cars such that everything associated with it gets expensive, etc. It's like so many other fun things or activities in life that get screwed-up when someone wants to "organize" it and money enters the picture. Other than that, I have no opinion.
Cheers,

/s/ Chris Kennedy

 

[PLRX]

Pepperoni

Would you date a woman with pimples? I did not think so. Yes, a paint job will enhance your CORVETTE.

 

[Joe C]

paint it any frickin' color you want - PERIOD! don't worry about the bloomington/ncrs crowd - they are not the center of the corvette universe -PERIOD!! besides, those types are not interested in c4's anyway. i actually had one pseudo-intellectual ncrs judge tell me he didn't consider c4's as real corvettes, and that my 85 was only good for a work car.

don't worry about resale value - the world only needs so many museum pieces. they made something like fifty-bizzillon-thousand 84's. one wrong color ain't going to effect anything. enjoy the car - do whatever makes you feel good, and makes you happy. my final suggestion, don't paint it any weird color (like ricer green w/ purple stripes), and make sure the interior/exterior color complement each other.

gawd, did i just vent?

 

[Joe C]

Paint it whatever color you want and enjoy it. I am SO sick of the "NCRS" and "Bloomington Gold" crowd and their matching numbers, "original ashes in the ashtray mentality". All these people do is end up driving up the prices of our cars such that everything associated with it gets expensive, etc. It's like so many other fun things or activities in life that get screwed-up when someone wants to "organize" it and money enters the picture. Other than that, I have no opinion.
Cheers,

/s/ Chris Kennedy

well said!

 

[C-4 Now]

This is one of those ongoing debates. The percentage of cars that are involved in NCRS or Bloomington Gold type judging is a small percentage of total Corvettes yet everyone seems to worry about this. I really enjoy looking at show cars, just not sure I wan't to do that. Dealing with this problem myself having bought a 89 Callaway that has a fresh repaint in the wrong shade of original blue metallic. Car will have to be fully redone and I have to decide to either do in correct original color or do a color change! Don't plan to sell car but never know what is in future. In end it's your car have to do what makes you happy!! Ike

 

[Robert]

Thanks Joe, I appreciate the venting!

What kind of judge would ever say that about any Vette???!!! I guess from 1984 to 1996 the Corvette factory was run by monkeys??

Robert

 

[tyrel]

I agree with the consensus, don't worry about NCRS or bloomington. Paint it whatever color you like, very few people will care about originality on a 1984 corvette when it comes time to sell it. Don't worry about ruining the value, there were so many c4s made that this isn't as much of an issue as it is for, say, the midyears. I think that a nice paint job will be more important to potential buyers than color, and will probably fetch a higher price anyway.

 

[Toms007]

Do whatever pleases YOU (and maybe the wife :L). Just do it right if you are switching colors. I have seen some color changes that were done all wrong. Make certain that they paint all the appropriate places under the hood and around the door jambs. Nothing, in my opinion, looks worse than opening the doors and having a different color than the outside color showing in the jambs.

 

[silverja]

Paint it whatever color you prefer. C4's are never going to fetch high prices like the C2's or C1's. If it needs a new paint job and you like black, I suggest go for it. NCRS and Bloomington Gold, as stated in earlier posts, is for a very small percentage of Corvettes. And sadly, many of them are trailored around instead of being driven.

Zora would not like that.

 

[Brianjt1987]

i actually had one pseudo-intellectual ncrs judge tell me he didn't consider c4's as real corvettes, and that my 85 was only good for a work car.

That "judge" had his head up his A$$. The C4 saved Corvette. If he knew anything, he would know that GM was seriously cosidering putting the Vette out to pasture after the C3 (the later ones are a pretty pathetic excuse for a sports car. I can say that because I had several & they couldn't hold a candle to the C4). I'm a big fan of all Corvette's and have been since I was knee high to a hubcap, but it really gets my going when I here this crap about the C4 being the bottom of the Corvette food chain. The C4 was a milestone when it came out, and it restored people's pride in American built sports cars and it will always be a favorite of mine. ad

The C4 is a good vehicle for a color change because you don't have to worry about the engine compartment & trunk. I'd say, it's your car, paint it whatever color you want.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

i actually had one pseudo-intellectual ncrs judge tell me he didn't consider c4's as real corvettes, and that my 85 was only good for a work car.

That "judge" had his head up his A$$. The C4 saved Corvette. If he knew anything, he would know that GM was seriously cosidering putting the Vette out to pasture after the C3 (the later ones are a pretty pathetic excuse for a sports car. I can say that because I had several & they couldn't hold a candle to the C4). I'm a big fan of all Corvette's and have been since I was knee high to a hubcap, but it really gets my going when I here this crap about the C4 being the bottom of the Corvette food chain. The C4 was a milestone when it came out, and it restored people's pride in American built sports cars and it will always be a favorite of mine. ad

The C4 is a good vehicle for a color change because you don't have to worry about the engine compartment & trunk. I'd say, it's your car, paint it whatever color you want.

I certainly understand how you feel, but the bright side is that if the NCRS and Bloomington Gold crowd don't like our cars then we are not going to see the hyper-inflation and trailer queen syndrome take all the affordability and fun out of owning our cars. You know, we've all seen how when someone wants to "organize" something that was simple, informal and fun, THAT's when all the politics and everything else starts. One thing the NCRS/Bloomies may help is encouraging the parts industry to keep making both mechanical and body/trim parts for our cars, but even there I think the fact that our cars are simply Corvettes and still in wide circulation means there are manufacturers who will make things to keep them going. Frankly, calling it a "work" car may be a compliment, as the C4s are extremely practical to use on a daily basis as your only car---there's nothing dated operationally about them. They are also affordable. All this adds up to fun without the office politics-type stuff spoiling things.

/s/ Chris Kennedy

 

[steelblue75]

GM was seriously cosidering putting the Vette out to pasture after the C3 (the later ones are a pretty pathetic excuse for a sports car. I can say that because I had several & they couldn't hold a candle to the C4)..

i greately represent that remarkad

 

[steelblue75]

Sorry, i meant resemble.:ugh