My wife and I dropped my son off at hockey yesterday (yes - they do play ice hockey here in the desert). Instead of sitting around an hour waiting for the game to start, we ran down the street to a Corvette shop in Tempe. The shop has a nice parts store (which was closed) and also sells cars. They had a pretty good variety of C3 chrome bumper cars there, and just for fun (since the parts store was closed) we walked around and priced all of the 68-72 cars they had in stock.

There were stickers on all of the windsheilds. We did not speak with a salesman, or get into exactly what options each car had or how original they were, etc... All had stock paint colors and wheels. It was a good mix of small and big block cars (coupes and verts). I have no clue how many of them had original drivetrains or not. As far as condition goes, none of them were what I would call a "10" or even a "9". Athough I am the first guy to appreciate a car that is driven, many of them had significant road rash. Some had rivet marks popping through the paint in the front (really bad), bad paint and tops, and worn looking interiors. None of this surprised me, but the asking prices on all them sure did.

The cars all ranged from $29,950 to $49,000 . I was quite surprised to see so many stickers north of $30K on these cars, let alone approaching $50K. Is this crazy? I assume there is a good deal of mark-up due to the fact that it's a dealer, but wow. Many of the $40K and up cars were big block verts, but even the small block t-top cars like my '69 were priced at $30K and up. It made me feel pretty good about my $8900 coupe project for sure Are prices this high in other areas?

 

Check out www.vintagevettesllc.com in kansas city.
I think they just sold a 69 427 vert for 80k saterday.

 

Dealers are not fishing for you and me (people who know what they're looking at). They're looking for someone with $$$ burning a hole in their pocket who "has to have it right now".

 

Sounds like you went to Chevs and Vettes on Scottsdale Road.

Or is there another place in Tempe that deals in Corvettes too.

kdf

 

somebody will pay what they're asking

 

No, the prices are not that high here in the southeast, or on ebay.

 

I went to this same dealer last February and was equally as shocked at the prices.....and all of them looked like they had fresh paint....

It wasn't a wasted trip, because the visit reaffirmed a few things for me:

1) That there are still bargains to be found in New Zealand; but not from a New Zealand dealer

2) That my Vette isn't the beater I thought it was because mine is as good as any car they had and I paid 15k less than their lowest priced C3 chrome bumper vert.

3) That car salesmen are useless...there were 3 or 4 sitting around and I asked if the parts counter was open.....They laughed and one of them said "No!".....end of qualifying....nobody said a another word to us even when we were looking at the cars for half an hour

So you're not alone.....I don't think this place is representative of the quality or price of Vettes available in the US

 

I'm still amazed at just how many retires there are these days who sold a property at an inflated price and have cash burning their tailors jump suits. I call it "All of the money and none of the brains" you may quote me........................Flash

 

I was recently in Tarpon Springs, FL. There is a collector dealer showroom there that is pretty nice. What put me off is that they charged $6.00 or so for "admission". Isn't that crazy? My wife and I paid it to get in because we are car nuts and it was raining so not much else to do. They had some nice cars but a little on the pricey side. If they don't sell the cars, they can always make overhead by the admisision charge. Can you imagine walking onto a Chevy lot and having to pay admission, parking, etc....?

 

I went to a place on Mclintock and Curry (just east of Scottsdale rd.) called CNV Corvette Sales.

http://www.cnv-corvettes.com/

 

I play hockey down here in florida . What age do they play in? Im playing in high school right now.

 

My younger son is a freshman and plays varsity for Hamilton HS in Chandler, AZ and also plays for the Phoenix Polar Bears U16'90 travel team (warning - he is a mustang guy - 70 coupe )

My older boy is a Junior CO State, and just plays in an adult league and just passed his level 1 referee clinic. He'll be one of "those" guys now

Good luck this season!

 

CNV has some nice cars. They are a little pricey though but most of these Vette/ muscle car dealers are on the high side. The problem with these types of classic cars is that the price ranges are so subjective. If you look up any of these classic car values on NADA, for any particular car you get a range of $6k for low retail to $97K for high retail. CnV has a 1968 bronze big block convertible that I have been coo-coo about for the past month or so since seeing it on the website.

 

Hello,
CNV used to be known as Chevs and Vettes. And it is on McClintock not Scottsdale, so it is the same place. I used to go there and look at the cars to find out what the minor differences were to tell them apart. The C3s are pretty easy, but the C4s were something new to me. From going here I found out that the 1990 C4 was the last year of the concave ( in style ) bumper with the new interior style dash layout ( no digital type here) In 1991 the came out with a new rear end that was convex ( outward style)

Boy did the salesmen hound me when I was on the lot. But for the price of the cars....they were way overpriced. I decided to pass on buying anything from there.

kdf

 

OK I get it - Chevs-n-Vettes is C-n-V

 

I've been by CNV a few times when I'am out visiting the in-laws. They are very overpriced, and try to point that out to their sales people and you'd think you just insulted their mother. Haven't heard any good gouge on those guys as far as quality. Heard a lot about "bubba fixes" being done to the cars.

 

Sales 101: Show the prospect something incredible, price it out of their reach and let them tell you it's "too much". Then you ask "how much too much is it?", "how much did you think it would be?", or "is it too much for the product/service, or is it too much for your budget?" The prospect tells you what they can afford, what they are willing to pay or what they think it's worth. Then you drop some off of that bogus original price and sell the difference between what the prospect says they can/are willing to pay and what the "real" price is. I've been in sales a while and it's always the same, regardless of the product/service. Those prices aren't the "real" prices.

 

I stopped by that place a few years ago. Started to walk in and was told I had to pay $6 to enter. I just laughed, scratched my head and left. It really kind'a pissed me off.

 

If I buy a new Z06, I want that $6 admission fee applied to the price of the car.

 

Even in the Chicago area...

The Volo Auto Museum and Antique Malls compound is made up of five showrooms with 300 collectible and Hollywood cars; three large antique malls with 350 dealers displaying their unique finds; and the Mercantile Mall housing a broad array of gifts and the largest selection of die-cast automobiles in the Midwest.

The museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is $7.95 for adults, $5.95 for seniors, veterans with Veterans Universal Access ID and active personnel with military ID, $3.95 for children 6-13, and free for any kid under 6 and military personnel in uniform. Special group rates are available.