A 72 year old guy has a corvette in a barn with dirt on it 48K original miless, Hasnt been on road since 01.. Is started every year..... From looks of things will need total restore. Paint marginal, interior shot..
He wants 6000.... Im not sure on this one.. Anybody got an idea..

The entire car is sitting on top of boards so it has been about a foot off the ground...

Im trying to figure a fair offer for this guy

 

$6k would be for one you could drive away and not HAVE to do anything to immediatly in order to drive it other than fluids. If you have to do interior, fluids, hoses, belts, brake juice flush and bleed and all that I would Not go more that $5000. What shape are the tires in?
With all that your going to have $7k to $8k in it in order to be driving, not a real bad deal, but not the best. Talk him off the $6k as much as you can, but bear in mind that the NADA is probably about that on that car.

 

Unless you want that particular vette I would pass. I have seen very nice vettes for sale on the forum for MUCH less than you will wind up investing in a barn find. The items you have mentioned plus what you will find once you tear into it will probably exceed the cost of the car.

 

'81 Vettes in "Fair" condition are valued at $6,150 right now. A "fair" car is:

"Presentable condition. Runs and drives and will pass a safety inspection. May be driven on a daily basis. Generally in need of a cosmetic restoration, but not a basket case. There are many cars on the road that fall below the "Fair" category." (Source: CPI Collectable Vehicle Value Guide).

With this in mind, I would subtract the amount needed to get that car into "Fair" condition from the $6K price. Keep in mind, too, that once you get it all fixed up and looking nice, that car will only be worth about $11K. Sounds like you should be offering around 3 for it... Better yet... find a really nice '81 and pay 11 for it.

Lars
Certified Appraiser for Hagerty Insurance

 

Your a man of many talents and abilities.

 

From personal experience, you are MUCH better off paying upfront for a nice car, than trying to restore one that "needs a little work".

 

Restoring a car is an expensive proposition. A new interior alone, including new seat covers, carpet, door panels, and misc. other will be pushing $2K from a quality vendor such as AL Knoch. And this is with you installing the parts. As indicated above, it's generally cheaper to buy a Vette in good or better condition.

 

I just sold my 81 for $73.000 and bought a friends 81 for $62,000.
So to me they all look cheap.

 

For the later years you're definitely better off buying one that "needs nothing", because even those advertised as needs nothing will usually still need something, or you'll want to do something, but it's always going to be less than any vette you think you're getting a deal on.

My first vette was an 81 that I bought for $4,000. It needed a paint job, interior, and "minor mechanical work". Later I learned that "minor mechanical" means engine rebuild, water pump, radiator, alternator, power steering, brakes all around + master cyl, exhaust, carburetor, fan, fuel pump, air compressor, etc. as one by one these components started failing. Including the price of the car I had about $17,000 in it by the time I was done. Not counting tow trucks for the couple of times I couldn't drive it to the mechanic. It would have been more if I had to pay retail for the paint job, but luckily a friend owed me a favor and I got the paint done at only the cost of the paint plus a few bucks in tips for the guys in his shop. Today, about nine years later, I could probably get $12k-$15k for it.

Ultimately I could have paid $10k (in those days prices) for one in excellent condition that actually needed nothing. I didn't actually have $10k to spend then, but I could have put my $4k down and financed the rest - a $120 monthly car payment would have been a lot less than I spent each month over the next year/year and a half.