Joe93

So in my search for a cheaper DD Vette, I ran across a '95 AB / blk top / gray interior 6-spd car with 41k miles. Original owner, guy sounds really cool. He still has all of the original paperwork, car is spotless inside and out, always garaged. The driver's seat has the slightest color wear on the side bolster; other than that I can't see any damage to the interior at all. Tires are from 2016 and have 1500 miles on them. Only issue is that the radiator fans don't come on due to coolant temps, but they do work with the A/C.

I was originally looking for a coupe 6-speed approaching or over 100k miles, wanting to spend $6k or less, and this car is obviously not that. But AB is my fav color, and I don't think AB 6-spd cars grow on trees.

Have never owned a convertible, but I'm guessing they're more valuable. This is not a car I would DD, as a matter of fact I'll probably scrap the idea of DD'ing a C4 and make this a weekend cruiser. I can keep my current DD and be alright.

Does $12k sound like a reasonable price for this car? I know, no pics so you'll have to take my word for it unless and until I own it. The car doesn't have FX3 and it has base power leather seats. I know the C4 market is soft, and I've spent hours trying to figure out price ranges. It's proving near impossible to sort out a value for this color combo with a convertible, 6-speed, and the mileage. Educated guesses welcome, just want to be sure it's in the ballpark.

PS - For anyone who might be wanting to sneak in and snipe it before I can, sorry guys, it's a friend of an acquaintance's and isn't being advertised for sale to the public, anywhere. So no need to waste your time trying to find it.

FirstC4

I'd put it around $10k

73n95

I agree to the $10k figure. It has some nice parts but unless some of the sensors, shocks, water pump and such is new its still a 20+ year old car. Not that 12 is outrageous, its just a bit high. Any other special equipment, handling, power seats? Check the trans. My 95 M6 whines like a 1929 beer truck and reverse pops out. These are all normal but undesirable traits of that year.

vette196

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...lue-coupe.html

check out this one

Joe93

Right, so there we have an automatic coupe, same mileage, same condition, one year older, priced at $13k with aftermarket stuff on it. Nice looking car, no doubt. And a positive comment on price.

So this is confusing to me as I'd seen that car, and figured this one would be more desirable yet. Considering the '95's had the bigger brakes and the vented opti for a couple of points in their favor. Then add to that the convertible and manual trans -- I figured this one would be worth a little chunk more than the one linked. Is that not so?

I know pricing isn't an exact science. What I'm unsure about is whether the $10k figure being thrown out is what people would "like" to buy a car like this for, or whether it's what they'd "expect" to pay for this car.

Is it just high for a winter price, or is it high, period?

ETA: Hope nobody takes offense; I've done a lot of reading here and elsewhere but I'm still trying to understand what makes prices on C4's tick and what doesn't.

Joe93

I'm going to get a look at the maintenance records and see the car tomorrow morning. It has both power seats, but they're base, not sport seats. No FX3. Tires basically new. "Option package 4," whatever that was. All original sales literature, VCR tape (?), window sticker, etc. The J55 brakes, but they were standard in '95.

Are you saying the later ZF's are less desirable than the older ones? I didn't know that.

Here's a shot of the car in question. I'll see if I can't find an interior and engine compartment shot and edit them into this post as well.

yd328

That looks like a great color combo. It's nice to have a vert with a light colored interior in the summer. The zf6 is a desirable trans imho.

Gary

MyOtherCar

To the OP...... my personal take on trying to find out what the Forum thinks would be a correct "sell" price for a C4, I'd suggest you read through what they all have to say, form a "window" price in which you would enter the consensus lowest and highest prices, then go shopping for that car. They all are worth only what someone is willing to pay for it.

Yes, I'd suppose there are seasonal adjustments, but those are certainly within a 10% realm.

You are located in Virginia??, but you didn't mention where the vehicle is located. Southern; winter or seasonal prices, not so much. Northern; vehicle is probably stored for the winter so you aren't even going to get it out on the highway.


In response to the quoted: If your trans is whining and popping out of gear I'd suggest the transmission synchronizers are in need of replacement.

Joe93

It's in Northern VA. The seller said it didn't see road salt and only rain by accident. The underhood pics agree with that. The seller is the original owner; the car is a very late '95 due to problems with the original '95 he'd ordered.

To add, I just spoke with the seller. The opti has been replaced twice, once under warranty and once about 11 years and 10k miles ago. The second replacement happened when the water pump went out. Coolant last flushed a few years ago. Besides the opti, the only other non-routine maintenance (I know there's a joke there) has been replacement of the outer tie rod ends.

The seller is set on his price, so $12k will be it. I've known this for some time. It's more than I'd like to spend, but this is also more car than I expected to find.

I've seen repeated here more than once to buy the latest model, best condition C4 you can afford, and to expect to spend $10-12k for a cream puff. So I don't think things are too out of line ... but that $12k represents a lot of blood, sweat and tears and I'd like to spend it wisely. Thus everyone's comments are welcome and appreciated.

Patsgarage

The car might be worth his asking, but he might have to wait a long time to find the right buyer. That is a clean car in great colors, and the 6MN is a plus. If you are looking for a DD that might not be the car for you. As mentioned before, even though the miles are low it is still a 22 year old car, so some parts will "age out", regardless of the miles. I would keep looking for your DD, as it sounds like the price is more than you comfortable spending. If you want a driver quality car for half the price they are out there, you just have to keep looking.

Joe93

Thank you, Patsgarage.

I put a WTB ad up here a week or two ago, looking for a DD. I got zero responses but there are a bunch of C4's on CL and I've been to look at several in my price range. The ones I went to see ended up looking a lot better in pics than in person. Raggedy paint, more foam than seat leather showing, redneck rewiring jobs, etc. The cheap C4's around here are trashed. Or have auto transmissions, which I plain don't want.

I ended up deciding that I'd have to spend more than $6k to find a ZF / LT1 car in my area, and by the time I finished researching C4's as DD's I realized I probably didn't want to DD it after all due to age issues. So I'll hang onto my cheap DD car and drive the Vette on the weekends.

Patsgarage

They are out there, I know of a 92 LT1/6MN blk/blk coupe with ~70k for $6k that I have been thinking of buying. Like you, I would DD it but then I think "what would I do with everything else that I have"? You can DD an older car reliably, last summer I drove my 86 Fiero with over 150k almost every day with no problems except for an alternator.

haxxx

I agree. I was going to pull the trigger on a 91 turquoise metallic convertible with black interior for my wife. 60k miles priced just under 7k. The guy sent me full size pictures and it looked excellent. I've found getting the hi-res pictures on a car is very important, because craigslist downsizes them so much it hides everything.

Unfortunately it was far away and I couldn't go until the weekend. Someone close by snagged it during the week, so it probably was as nice as the pictures.

zr1fred

If you're looking for a steal that you can quickly flip, this car's probably not it. But if you're looking for a quality C4 with good options very low miles, and documentation, $12k is more than fair, assuming its as advertised. Very good investor potential. Even with the current low C4 prices, I'd say this car is several thousand UNDER value. JMO.

FirstC4

Venti opti, J55 are nice bonuses that make it a better C4, but don't add monetary value to the average buyer. The color combo adds nothing either.

I expect $10k for that car, as $12k should get a car with half the mileage. If it was auto, subtract $1k.

If it's the exact car you want, then get it.

Joe93

Well that's what I ended up doing! Balmy weather here and was able to put a few top-down miles on it on the way home.

There are no issues with the car so far except for the fans not coming on automatically. I used the A/C to engage them if I felt like they were needed. It drives smoothly, is super tight, all documentation is there down to the factory VCR tape, and you could just about eat off the undercarriage. I decided that the extra $2k for this one over waiting for another just like it (only cheaper) wasn't worth the effort and time spent looking. The whole bird in the hand thing.

I'm 100% pleased. I want to thank each of you for helping me think about this from different directions.

FirstC4

Congrats!

midlifecrisis1979

If the car was for me and not a flip, and the AB 6 spd was my favorite I would buy it in a heartbeat because I love one owner cars. I'm not a fan of verts cause of noise and heat but I hear the hardtop takes care of that and looks pretty slick.

Joe93

I started out looking for a coupe because I've never really been a vert fan, but this one was otherwise so much what I wanted that I figured I'd go take a look -- I haven't spent any serious time up close to a c4 vert before.

Turns out the top system seems pretty well-designed, is simple to deal with, and the lack of power up/down is appealing to me.

The car has a fair chunk of cowl shake, more than my old '93 which was bad enough, but then again it's a convertible and I can accept that as 'character,' where cowl shake in a coupe is more unnerving to me.

A couple of people have mentioned buying to flip; that's not what this was about for me. I sold my C5 Z16 in August thinking I'd just save money until I could afford to pay cash for a depreciating C7 GS, and go without a Corvette in the meantime. But then I missed having a Vette too much. So the whole C4 DD idea was b/c those are the cheapest to get into, leaving the most in savings toward the C7.

Then one day last week I realized that these trashed C4's I've been looking at are nothing but money pits, and that I can wait for a C7 for an extra 6 months in exchange for getting to drive a nice C4 for the years leading up to that C7 purchase.

I don't know if it makes sense to anybody but me, but there's my thought pattern nonetheless. And I really do love the C4 shade of Admiral Blue. This car was made during my Jr year in High School, and while I still weigh the same, otherwise it appears to have aged a lot better than me...

1984Z51auto

You made a good choice, that looks great!