Z51JEFF

Although there are still some deals out there to be found. I think it was DEMPS that had a nice deal on a 91 about a year ago. I think the owner has commented in this thread with the black car. There was another 91 not too far from me about 2 years ago 17,000 miles needed injectors and the guy was asking $17,000 for the car.

blownrunner

That is a beautiful car! I have a red/gray 91 myself, put about $5k in parts into it, under 30k miles, and a gateway dealer 20 miles from me. Maybe i should trade up? I am sure they would work with me.

ghlkal

Here's my story ...

Initial Z repairs

Here are the issue I knew existed and those I had to address to make the car “right”

New Tires – actually I initially bought a good used set of Sumitomos (today I have real tire - s on it :-) ~ 400

Fuel Injectors – interestingly the car ran well initially, but at ~ 50K miles two of the primary injectors died. I replaced all 16 with news ones from FIC. ~ $700

Spark plugs (but, I replace these often anyway)

clutch – this was a big job, but I had help to install a new clutch, pressure plate, etc ~500, oh and the slave cylinder was leaking too

AC recharge; replaced condensor ~$200

reverse ring on shifter

new pioneer head unit – the PO replaced the Bose with a POS system which didn’t even work ~ $300

tach repair – the tach was way off; repaired by adding resistors

TPMS sensors – two didn’t work, so I removed them all (no light on a 90 without TPMS)

windshield – the PO “forgot” to mention that the OEM windshield was cracked; I replaced it with a standard Vette windshield ~ $300

no start condition from time to time – bypassed clutch switch

removed aftermarket alarm system since it didn’t work and I thought it might be related to the “no start” condition

My son and I did these repairs ourselves with the exception of the clutch, AC, and windshield. So, for 15K I had a pretty nice driver.

Since that time I did spend “a bunch” having Marc H mod the engine :-)

DRM500RUBYZR-1

LTPWS light combined with sudden vibration on new tires suggests a sensor that has either come apart, or the band has failed, if in fact both occurred about the same time.
Check that out!!!
If the entire sensor is flying around in there keep the speed down until you check it out.
Such situations can cause a tire failure at high speed.
Not good if it did occur, just get it all out of there.

Marty

DRM500RUBYZR-1

Prices:
Low but stable.
The bottom has quite likely been hit awhile ago without much upward movement.
But as correctly said earlier, supply continues to be plentiful.
Bargains galore; but pristine cars selling for more than most think!
Some folks pay up for the EXACT car and condition that they want, especially when "paying -up" still is below original sticker.
Once they become common restoration candidates, which is not far off, watch for prices at all miles and conditions to begin their slow climb.

As always; buy the best that you can afford, whatever that may be!
The better the car going in, the better it will always be as you improve it.
The better cars cost more to acquire, but far less than taking the **** off of the dog in the long run.
Good luck in your search!

Marty

zrc3john

Good job..Yes,that sounds like a great deal when you can start modding at the 15,000 $ mark....Mines at Dempseys shop now in Virginia.....Had headers, exhaust,top end port by Pete, hurst shifter all done last year...I saved on the labor by removing plenum and I/Hs and sending them to Pete....

Dempseys porting the heads ,installing intake cams, Fidenza flywheel, secondary delete, water delete and custom tune....Should be a "real blast" to drive when it's done...

ghlkal

Yep, you'll enjoy it when it's done

cv67

x2 probably the only car id look to buy modded unless you can DIY
any other car prefer to buy bone stock that noones messed with yet

VT not sure Id buy a "roach" Z but for teens you can still get a clean sub 100k mi Z thats not full of problems. Skip over the LTx and go straight to it trust me. Not worth spending the money for the same thing with a differnt intake basically

Rkreigh

If you are serious about ZR-1 performance this car is an excellent buy.

FYI, the receipt on my LPE LSV was 36k. And that was in 1997 money.

This car is super nice and has some very nice mods. Worth a look.

zrc3john

What does LPE LSV exactly stand for ? Is it Lingenfelter ? 36K? Yeah that's a pretty penny especially in 1997....

Photoguy000

It's wintertime in parts of the country and prices are all over the board.
You can find ZR-1s with 90k miles for $15k at a dealer, and you can also find cars with less than 1k miles for $6ok. Everything is only worth as much as someone wants to pay for it and a lot of these cars tend to just sit at the dealer. ( I say this as someone who chronically cheats on his car by looking at other cars )

If you are looking to buy one as an investment to make money, you can find low mileage early cars for $20k or a little less but a large majority of ZR-1s are the early cars. You can find later cars for $25-35k (minus some exceptions). Key is that if you are looking to make money on the deal, you're going to have about 20 years to wait for that to happen and in all reality who is to say how much you'll make.

I agree with DRM500RUBYZR-1 that some cars are selling for more than people realize, but the issue is that they are special cars. Recently I was in contact with a dealer in Reno who has a 1994 Black/Red ZR-1 with 29k miles on it. (My Dream color cobo). They said they would take $22,500 for the car but no less. I'm not in the market, but I had to ask and if you ask me that's an absolute sin of a steal.

My goal personally with my cars is to enjoy them because they are worthless to me when I am gone, and if I do want/need to sell them at some point I don't want to lose my shirt on the deal.

IMO if you go to buy one and you get a deal you are happy with then you got a good deal no matter how much you paid.

ZR1Bob

Thought I would chime in as I just received my new 2017 Edition Pocket Price Guide from Sports Car Market Magazine. They cover auctions—a very nice monthly magazine. Their Pocket Price Guide lists median prices from their Platinum Auction Database, a compilation of all auction results in the past year. They used to list high and low prices as well but no longer do, as the highs and lows were often so far off the median they were confusing. So here is their list for ZR-1s. My notes: (1) They do not list how many data points their numbers are based on so it could be a small number is distorting prices, especially in the 93-95 years; (2) I will never understand why Anniversary cars get priced so high since they made so many of them; and (3) I don’t know why their number for 1995s is so high; again maybe a small sample size. While I think I did well, I know I didn't get $48,600 for mine! But here is what they list:
Year Median Auction Value
1990 $24,200
1991 $22,000
1992 $20,000
1993 $25,400
1993 Anniversary $48,600
1994 $27,500
1995 $48,600

--Bob

Photoguy000

I still wish I could have bought your car Bob. What a beautiful car, all the mods I want already done. So good. (The Z06 is nice too).

To me your list says that the prices are getting better for the "right" cars. There are just A LOT of cars on the market at the moment and most of them aren't in "collector condition". Most cars that bring the real money have 5k miles or less. Sometimes even below 1000! There are also so many out there that nobody knows about. That may seem discouraging to some who want to sell to make money, but it excites me greatly! I still eagerly await the Yellow/Red ZR-1 up in Minnesota to pop up again someday, just to know a little more about it.

Bob, unfortunately you were on the wrong side of the sale of your 95. I can tell you I paid nowhere close to $24,200 for my 90 with 25k miles on her. Marc Haibeck called the car "Shockingly original" when I took it to him to flush all the fluids. Again, there are just A LOT of ZR-1s out there and some things are worth more to some than to others. If someone offered me what I paid for my Z, I'd laugh at them. I got a good deal that was the right price for the previous owner at the time. Now, if someone offered me $24,200 Im not sure I'd sell, but I'd sure think about it.

zrc3john

Those prices seem very high.....Are these cars museam quality?'48,600 for a 95 ? I see nice 95s advertised for mid 20s.....You can pick up an 06-07 Z0-6 for 35,000-38,000.....I have seen very nice quality ZR-1s for sale for not even close to that, and there not selling...A 93 anniversary for 48,600? I have seen nice examples where the dealer or the owners of are asking around 35K and there not moving....

It's a great time to buy but I don't care what the shape is of those high priced anniversary or 95s but never seen one sell that high.....

OneFastC4

Bought my 91 red/black 36k mile car for 17,900, which I think is an absolute bargain considering this car is in mint condition and was owned by a zr1 registry member. Of course the car sat for 6 months at the dealer and I sent them that offer, thinking they would laugh at my face, but they accepted it to my suprise. I got a 6k discount I suppose lol. Everything worked on the car except a few burnt out bulbs and the cdm was bad on the radio. Most dealerships are usually quite urgent on moving inventory, so send them an offer that you can afford. If they dont accept, come back in a few months and do it again. It's totally a buyer's market.

zrc3john

Yes they are a good bang for the buck....What I feel hurts the car in pricing is that you really think this car was worth 65K when new? Forget about the 24 hour record it set...In the real world your never going to see those speeds...

The ZR-1 held its own during the decade of the 90s even when the C-5 came out in 97......Never drove a C-5 but I heard the chassis is worlds apart from the Z.....I personally don't like the way the Z rides, than again I live in NY.,need I say more...I don't think I have ever had the setting set on sport....

When they tested the 90 Z they said it ran a 12.9 1/4 and 4.5 0-60.....
I have a feeling that 90 was a little juiced " maybe some porting and some cam timing if you ask me...I mean they were hand built....A 3,500 pound car with 375 horse doesn't really add up to those performance numbers...

The following year when road and track tested the 91 it ran a 13.8 1/4 mile and I think a 4.8 0-60.....Why such a difference from year to year when it was the exact car....

Either way like I say they are a good bang for the buck ..Yet if your waiting to see prices shoot up like its a 427 C-2 I really don't think will happen...

Mod it..Drive the hell out of em..

ZR1Bob

Yes those auction prices do seem high for a couple of years. But two things should be noted: 1. the prices include a 10% buyers premium on top of the bid so a seller gets about 20% less than the noted median values and 2. I would speculate that most cars brought to auction are in very good condition and often low mileage. --Bob

TealZR1

With the prospect of Chevrolet coming back with an updated LT5 powerplant for their 2018 mid engine Corvettes help in the value of our original LT5? Couldn't hurt the original LT5 brand.
"But probably have those plastic covers anyway."
Be great if the engineers could develop a 2018 version hi horsepower LT5 but keep the original look of our 90's LT5's. To this day at carshows, the LT5 always stops everyone for a look!

ghlkal

I agree. I always have my hood up (when stopped at a car show ) and it usually draws a crowd.

2000Spirit

I sold my 91 with 19k miles on it last year. The car was as close to perfect as it gets. I had new injectors, new shocks and the original tires and full history and maintenance records, rode and drove like a dream.

It sold for just under 21k and was a bargain at that price (IMO). It sold in under 2 weeks to the first person that came out to see it. Obviously after what I originally paid for it and the updates and repairs I lost a few bucks. To me it was a small price to pay for such a great car that I owned for 7+ years.

As others have said there are many bargains out there, you just need to sort thru the duds to find a good one.

On another note, I can honestly say I am sorry I sold it (even though the wife was happy to see it gone). Without a doubt I really enjoyed it, a head turner in every respect and it always drew a crowd at a car show. There's nothing like the LT5 at full song and I doubt I will ever have anything like it again... Sad