Determine value?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 167
Likes: 42
From: Virginia
Determine value?
Good morning!
I am new to this forum, so if this is going in the wrong place please let me know.
I am looking at buying an older corvette, 1975 Stingray Corvette 350 4 speed and I don't know how to determine if I am getting a good price. I asked for the VIN and am waiting for that. The description is,
"Chevy corvette with 350 engine 4 speed manual,car been sitting around 20 years. Tires have no miles on them,engine has around 8,000 miles , new rear bumper,carpet,battery cable. Has body damage around front headlights. Runs fine , needs brake work and leaking coolant around radiator. Make offer!"
So I randomly said $4000. He said that it would need to have smaller tires or to be lifted. Not sure if he put new, larger tires on but I am waiting for him to respond.
What questions should I make sure I ask and where can I go to attempt to price it/what do you all think this is worth?
Last edited by Punkchachi; Mar 5, 2020 at 11:48 AM. Reason: Added photos
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 53,923
Likes: 6,179
From: About 1100 miles from where I call home.
Good morning!
I am new to this forum, so if this is going in the wrong place please let me know.
I am looking at buying an older corvette, 1975 Stingray Corvette 350 4 speed and I don't know how to determine if I am getting a good price. I asked for the VIN and am waiting for that. The description is,
"Chevy corvette with 350 engine 4 speed manual,car been sitting around 20 years. Tires have no miles on them,engine has around 8,000 miles , new rear bumper,carpet,battery cable. Has body damage around front headlights. Runs fine , needs brake work and leaking coolant around radiator. Make offer!"
So I randomly said $4000. He said that it would need to have smaller tires or to be lifted. Not sure if he put new, larger tires on but I am waiting for him to respond.
What questions should I make sure I ask and where can I go to attempt to price it/what do you all think this is worth?
I am new to this forum, so if this is going in the wrong place please let me know.
I am looking at buying an older corvette, 1975 Stingray Corvette 350 4 speed and I don't know how to determine if I am getting a good price. I asked for the VIN and am waiting for that. The description is,
"Chevy corvette with 350 engine 4 speed manual,car been sitting around 20 years. Tires have no miles on them,engine has around 8,000 miles , new rear bumper,carpet,battery cable. Has body damage around front headlights. Runs fine , needs brake work and leaking coolant around radiator. Make offer!"
So I randomly said $4000. He said that it would need to have smaller tires or to be lifted. Not sure if he put new, larger tires on but I am waiting for him to respond.
What questions should I make sure I ask and where can I go to attempt to price it/what do you all think this is worth?
Obviously the car doesn’t have the original motor either. The final value of the car is going to be light. I’d say $3k, although I wouldn’t pay that either.
However, if your goal is to buy a Corvette as cheap as possible, drive and work on it as you go as a hobby and understand that you will be in the red no matter how you look at it, then try to get that number as low as possible and have at it. But don’t waste time thinking about tires or a brake job. Look very closely at the frame and birdcage for rust and look very closely at the body damage and determine if that collision affects other parts of the car and body panels. Those are the things that will sink your budget.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,062
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
1500 is a stretch that cars going to need everything gone through it wont be easy or cheap
Cheap vettes can be the most expensive ones...for under 10k you can find a real nice driver.
Cheap vettes can be the most expensive ones...for under 10k you can find a real nice driver.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,235
Likes: 1,232
From: PHX AZ
Upside down before you buy it!
As you asked....Run, do not walk away. You are Upside-Down on the car and you haven't bought it yet!
Bodywork=$10,000
Suspension $2500
Interior= $3000
Engine drive train = who knows.
All this for a car that would be worth PERHAPS $7500 when it's done. Yes, It's a Corvette...so we feel you brother and we're happy . However 75's are the bottom feeders of the food chain....
I recently found a 76 for my neighbor.... Bright Yellow,.L-82 loaded auto, NEW interior, recent repaint, $2500 worth of tubular suspension, nice wheels and tires, etc ,etc, $7500 including tax.
See what I mean.....let this one go....it's a rolling parts car!
There is absolutely NOTHING on this car that is compelling.....
KEEP LOOKING!
Unkahal
Bodywork=$10,000
Suspension $2500
Interior= $3000
Engine drive train = who knows.
All this for a car that would be worth PERHAPS $7500 when it's done. Yes, It's a Corvette...so we feel you brother and we're happy . However 75's are the bottom feeders of the food chain....
I recently found a 76 for my neighbor.... Bright Yellow,.L-82 loaded auto, NEW interior, recent repaint, $2500 worth of tubular suspension, nice wheels and tires, etc ,etc, $7500 including tax.
See what I mean.....let this one go....it's a rolling parts car!
There is absolutely NOTHING on this car that is compelling.....
KEEP LOOKING!
Unkahal
Last edited by L-46man; Mar 5, 2020 at 01:52 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,572
Likes: 51
From: Wichita Kansas
All depends on what your looking for and to do with it. If you want a builder that your going to go through and make it what you want I think that car may be fight. If you want a driver that you can easily maintain and keep clean for little $; this is not the car. You will
be in the $10 to $15 k for a reasonable driver. If yo want more then that and you want a nice to perfect car with little to no restoration it will go up from their.
be in the $10 to $15 k for a reasonable driver. If yo want more then that and you want a nice to perfect car with little to no restoration it will go up from their.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 11,804
Likes: 4,422
From: Virginia
Honestly, $4K for that car is about $4K too much. Even doing the work yourself, you could easily spend $5K just getting the brakes, suspension, and interior squared away. What does the engine look like?
You will never come out ahead, even if you do the bodywork and paint yourself (needs a new front clip or a serious repair). And who knows what the rust situation is. If it has been sitting outside with the cracked T-tops I see, it is possible that the entire window frame is held together with chrome trim, and the front of the birdcage is rusted out.
That said, it is a white 4-speed, the best kind of C3 to have. The wheels look good (tires need to be replaced immediately, of course). There are folks on this Forum who have adopted and rescued worse cars, but this one needs a LOT of work, and that is assuming the birdcage is intact.
Read post 107 here:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...orvette-6.html
You will never come out ahead, even if you do the bodywork and paint yourself (needs a new front clip or a serious repair). And who knows what the rust situation is. If it has been sitting outside with the cracked T-tops I see, it is possible that the entire window frame is held together with chrome trim, and the front of the birdcage is rusted out.
That said, it is a white 4-speed, the best kind of C3 to have. The wheels look good (tires need to be replaced immediately, of course). There are folks on this Forum who have adopted and rescued worse cars, but this one needs a LOT of work, and that is assuming the birdcage is intact.
Read post 107 here:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...orvette-6.html
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,235
Likes: 1,232
From: PHX AZ
Sorry Ken
Sorry Ken I recuse myself!....1. I meant 84's LOL 2. I would be VERY happy to be driving a 75...knowing WHAT IT IS. 3. It is still an actual STINGRAY. 4. I probably should have said something like, "the bottom of the Value/performance curve".....jeez....let me stop digging already!
No insult intended. Truly.
Unkahal.
No insult intended. Truly.
Unkahal.
Last edited by L-46man; Mar 5, 2020 at 02:25 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 167
Likes: 42
From: Virginia
Thanks y’all
I have asked him more questions since reading yours responses. He was vague and stopped responding. Thanks for the help! Any suggestions on where I can find a corvette? I enjoy working on cars and I am not looking to sell it for a profit, I would like to put work into it so I can make it mine. I have always wanted to own one since I was a kid.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 11,804
Likes: 4,422
From: Virginia
I have asked him more questions since reading yours responses. He was vague and stopped responding. Thanks for the help! Any suggestions on where I can find a corvette? I enjoy working on cars and I am not looking to sell it for a profit, I would like to put work into it so I can make it mine. I have always wanted to own one since I was a kid.
Are you in Virginia? I found both of my Vettes from private sellers on Craigslist. Search nearby cities in neighboring states, too. There are sites that can help you search Craigslist by region. Other websites exist, but are more likely to find a car at a dealer, who will mark up any car by $5K just for sitting on their lot.
Good luck!
