C4in mesa

I went to a Lexus dealership in East Mesa last weekend. I test drove a 2006 Z06 with 22,000 miles. A real beauty in every way. So we sit down to discuss numbers. My black 2004 Z06 with 110k miles is worth $10,000 and not a penny more. He acted like that was a gift and said Man we don't sell cars like that it's outta here off to the auction. I looked for myself and Kelly Blue Book used private sale is $12,000. It was a rude awakening. To make matters worse he told me the C6 was $615/month for 84 months. I thought this never would have happened if they had posted the price online. I thanked them and walked away. My Z06 has 385rwhp. The stock C6 Z06 was more powerful but is it worth almost $20,000 more than my car? Nope. I asked the salesman what the car would be worth by the time I pay it off? He totally avoided that question despite telling me how my car was now worth less than a beat up Pinto. I paid $15,000 two years ago. I owe $12k and will knock down the principal quickly from now till the loan is PIF. In other words I am even on my car. I won't buy a car and be upside down in it half way through paying it off. I take excellent care of my car so if I sell it the new buyer will get a good solid car. I'll keep looking and eventually I'll find a 2006, 2007 C6 Z06 for $25k. Mileage 60k or close to that and good condition. As for my 2004 Z06 where on earth can you find a car with that level of performance for $12,000? I am tempted to keep it and modify the engine to 500-550hp.

02BlownZ06

That's the problem with going to a stealership to buy a car. Unless you are buying outright, you have no chance of making a good deal. It's bad enough squeezing a dealer buying outright but when you are trading they will bend you over both directions. The Z06 is an amazing value right now and I would have to think we are seeing the bottom or close to it.

My rule of thumb on buying a depreciating asset such as a car is to only borrow as much money as you can afford to pay off in 3 years or less. Anything more and you can't afford it, or pay cash. Many say, money's cheap right now, blah, blah,blah but at the end of the day, if you follow this rule, you will never get upside down. Sell you vehicles yourself, private party and then buy outright. Just my .02.

Great looking Z by the way!

ZO6 cracker

This is just my opinion but I think it is better to hold onto you 04 Z06 and modifie it. If you jump up to a C6 or C7 you are looking at a lot of money. It is cheaper to modifie your car you have if you are happy with it. I thought about moving up and after thought I can justify moving up. I don't want payments and it will cost me more to upgrade to a C7. It is cheaper for me to modify it more. So I'm on my next project. My car has 17000 miles on it. My insurance is cheap. And if you are going to sell it I would not go to a dealership to sell it. You need to sell it private.

~Josh

Post yours for sale for $17k and see what happens. Use the money towards another car when you find it.

C4in mesa

I agree with both of you about selling my Z06 myself. High mileage is the killer on my cars value. 110k miles does not concern me as a buyer provided it has had regular maintenance and not driven hard. I don't want to get off subject but getting my LS6 to 500-550 crank horsepower is tempting. A budget of $7,000 parts and labor seems reasonable. Ballpark anyway.
Only buying a car that I can pay off in 3 years sounds very sensible.

MY03C5Z

Trading in a high mile z06 for another newer used z06, at a Lexus dealership no less. Of course they are going to try and screw you over both ways, low balling your trade in and overcharging you on the newer z. Sell your z private party then buy the car you want private party as well. Get a loan for the newer car at a credit union. Otherwise hold onto your z mod it and enjoy it for a few more years.

84 months on an 11 year old z... lol, that's nuts.


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Roddy13

LOL.

You can ask whatever you want for your Z privately. Don't expect much on a trade, regardless of what you drive.

The C5's haven't lost value per se, there is a whole article written about how they have the widest pricing spread of almost any vehicle.

Cheesecake 07

Food for thought...I've had both. 2007 z06 w/ 18k miles and a 2004 z06 with 44k miles.

The C6z looks better and was faster. The interior is a bit better but still absolute garbage, especially considering an $80k sticker. The Navi is worthless. The LS7 is a damn beast but has a habit of throwing rods out of the block if you like to drive like its meant to be driven. In short, its a better car in every way.

The C5z/FRC is still a good looking car, its not as fast... but if you closed your eyes and went for a 0-100mph run in each car, it'd be tough to tell the difference. The interior is pathetic and not much you can do to fix it without spending $5k. LS6 don't have as much grunt but its bulletproof. The c5z aint no c6z, but its not that far behind.

Money no thang I'd go for the c6z...but if double/triple the price is gonna hurt, you're gonna hate checking the mailbox every month eventually and the novelty of the c6z will go away. Write it down.

Mr.E.G.

Link?

Cjunkie

Everyone is in LA-LA land. Dealership isnt trying to screw you. Its a 13yr old car with 110k. The car pulls 11k at the auction.
Sounds like a stand up dealership that doesn't take risk on old high mileage toys.
If it had 10k miles it would be a different discussion.

bikeriderga

The high mileage definitely hurts your car. The average sales price for a similarly equipped car with similar mileage, is between $10K and 13K. Your dealer was giving you black book value for it, so he was not that far off. In a private sale, you might get 12-13K for it.

A 2006 Z06 with 22,000 miles is booked between 28K and 33K. So basically, he was asking 30K for a 20K difference. He was not far off here either. Actually 30K for a 22K 06 Z06 is a pretty darn good price! Most of the C6 Z06s with this low mileage, are selling at the top of the market price, not toward the bottom.

It may not be a good deal for you, but based upon current market values, he certainly was not ripping you off. You could push for an 18K difference and he may/may not accept it. He was probably shooting straight with you too about not keeping an over 100K Corvette on the lot. Not a lot of demand for high mileage Corvettes from dealership lots.

You could certainly get your car to 550 RWHP with a centri Supercharger, meth kit, and new clutch kit for around 10-12 installed and tuned.

Of course adding a SC is a gamble. It may last 100,000 more miles with the SC or it could die with only 5K miles. Adding the meth kit and a spot on tune should be more insurance for you and it SHOULD last you many more miles, but it is still a gamble. However, this will be the lowest cost option to get you at the C6 Z06 performance levels.

Headers, cam, heads, new TB, etc., installed and tuned are going to cost you more in the long run, and you are still going to need a new clutch assembly. You can get to over 500 HP at the crank with these mods, but hitting 500 RWHP with an naturally aspirated LS6 is a very costly endeavor; especially if you want it to have good street manners.

If I were you, if modding is your final decision, I would probably go for the LS3 525 Chevy performance crate engine. You could probably get that baby installed and tuned for around the same cost of the SC and clutch assembly. That would put you at the same or better HP than with a NA LS6, and you have a two year warranty and a new engine to boot. It would also make your Z06 worth more on the market, but only about 3 -7 K more valuable.

Best of luck with whatever you decide. I totally agree with those who advised not to finance any toy past 3 years. Bad idea unless you have the cash in the bank or an investment account to cover it, and you basically get the loan for less interest than you are currently earning. I will do that sometimes, but if push comes to shove, I could always pay it off instantly. Hard to get into too much of a bind by following this rule.

bikeriderga

Totally agree. Sorry I did not see your post before I posted my rather long response. The dealer was not out of line with what he was offering.

MY03C5Z

Does everyone realize what $615/mth for 84 months equals?....$51,660.00! Being that the OP was going to lose $2k on his trade in that means this dealer was asking $45k maybe more for the 06z depending on interest rate. $45k?...for an 06z? Yes sounds like a standup dealership to me, lol. To the OP, why would you even go look at buying a car where the dealership won't even list the price online? I'm guessing he tried to get you into 'a monthly payment you could afford'. The fact that they wouldn't list the price of the car would tell me all I need to know about them, they just want to bring people in they can try and work over.


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Cjunkie

do you not know how basic math works (compound interest)?
Do you know the OPs credit score? Do you realize he wants to finance an 11 yr old car for 7yrs?
Here if you buy a house for 100k by the time you put taxes, insurance, pmi in the loan your house payment is approx 1000 per month. Pay it off in 30 yrs and you pay 360k back. Sheesh I guess the car dealer isn't so bad now is he/she?
Unrealistic expectations here buddy.

MY03C5Z

No, I don't know his credit score, buddy. Assuming though that he gets a 'decent' interest rate in a used car loan of 3%, for 84 months and gets ZERO for his trade in (he owes $12k on it still) really he would lose $2k on his car:








Now if he has some horrendously bad credit score, ok then they could be hitting him with a higher interest rate. I'm using 3% as an example of a decent interest rate on a new or used car purchase these days. My estimate of a $45k price on the 06z isn't that far off now, is it genius?

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Cjunkie

Uh huh there is NO SUCH THING as 3% for 84 months on an 11 yr old car nice try.

MY03C5Z

Ok loan officer, use $40k for the 06z, zero down, 6% rate, for 84 months also gets to $615/month. Better? Still a very lousy price on an 06z, by a 'standup' dealer who won't even tell people the price of the car before they come in.

Cjunkie

Car is listed on their website for 36,726. Seems stand up to me.
I'm willing to bet there is more to this story!

HOZ06

They hit him at full retail for their Z. Same deal different day. They pay a little for yours and you pay a lot for theirs. Some poor fish will eventually take the bait.

Moto One

If I read OPs post right, he said that he owes 12k on his C5Z, dealer was giving 10k, that meant he's 2k down to the dealer. So add +2k to the price of the C6Z.

OP keep your car, don't mod, just enjoy the great car you have.

Mark