Greetings everyone, first time here...

I am the owner of a 1985 C4.

The car was my fathers , I inherited it when he passed away a few years back. I have loved owning the car , but as I now have a young daughter - and a 2 seater isn’t working well for a family of 3 - it’s time to move on.

i am a little lost trying to figure a reasonable value and was hoping you all may point me in the right direction.

let me state that I am looking to sell the car for a reasonable price , not milk ever dollar out of it.

1985 coupe , 31,638 original miles

red, with grey/ silver interior

doug Nash 4+3 Manual tranny.

no modifications

Runs well, no major issues at all.

interior condition is nearly flawless - no tears or cracks in the leather , no stains , etc. easily a 9.5 out of 10 especially for the age.

exteior has a few scratches - nothing horrible. 8/10

One negative is that the removable glass roof does have have a crack - does not leak though and from what I understand this is a common issue in older c4.

one kinda cool thing is that I have all the original Manuals and sales paperwork including the original window sticker.

car is located in Michigan and has been garage kept for the life of the vehicle.


i really am at a loss for value or what I should ask - again , I am looking to actually sell the car reasonably quickly for a price fair to both parties.

For some reason $7k keeps popping in my head - is that low, high , crazy either way ?

what do you all think , thank you in advance.

 

If you posted pictures here it would definitely help members give you a "ballpark figure". If the car is SUPER clean and doesn't need anything, 7K would not be a bad price to start at. Be prepared to negotiate some though. There was a 1985 low mile two-tone that was darn near perfect for sale here in Indy that the owner couldn't get 7.5K for...and that one had a set of new tires ($600+/-).

 

I disagree, bring a trailer will lowball you, and all the "experts" will nitpick every detail about it.

Condition, options, location, and luck will be the driving factors. Sadly, an 85 isnt particularly valuable from a performance standpoint. I think youre better off keeping it, you can't replace your dad's car. I think you would have a hard time getting over $5k for it. Not worth selling for that, IMO.

 

I still have my dads 1985 Corvette that I inherited 25 years ago. It now has about 19,000 miles. I've put about 7,000 miles on it. I totally understand the need to sell for practical reasons. When I was younger (I inherited the car when I was 22) - I could barely afford to maintain, insure, and store the car. I don't regret keeping it at all, but I did think about selling it many times - especially when money was tight and my son was young. My son is now fifteen and has enjoyed the car immensely for the last few years.

For the possible $7000 asking price you will be hard pressed to find a better car in the future.

 

You can ask whatever you want but if the phone doesn't ring you will know you're asking too much. You will get a few tire kickers more than likely who will regale you with tales of the corvette they used to own/ could have bought/ their buddy owned. You paid nothing for it. If I wanted to sell it fast I would start around $5500 because of the mileage and overall condition and see what response you get.
p.s. I see you live in the north which makes it even harder to sell this time of year.

 

To answer the OP, sadly a fast(er) sale is going to be in the $5k area. IMO, C4 cars are just not any sort of collectable, except perhaps the ZR1. The rest are just old, slightly cool, did I mention old, cars.

So are you any kind of car guy? If so selling your father's low mile, good documentation, one family Corvette is going to make you really sad in ten years. You'll be back here looking for it. Many wish they had their Dad's car from back in the day. You have it, don't let it go.

If on the other hand cars are just transportation to you, sell it and move on. It won't matter to you if the new owner trashed it. It's a life decision (tho relatively minor life decision) but choose wisely, grasshopper.

 

I doubt you will get more than 6K for it in a private sale. I would hold onto it at all costs, if its maintained in original condition, maybe it will go up someday.

 

Had an 85 that was highly modified and sold it in a quick sale to a high performance dealership. I didn’t want folks who were looking for early C4 price range cars coming to my home and didn’t want to meet strangers somewhere, so I took the quick cash. Just me....these cars just don’t bring enough money for me to fool with a certain situation.

So, to your point on asking, I think you have the right numbers to start with but don’t be let down on the final price. It’s a buyer’s market on these things, so take that in mind. I really don’t think the values are going North anytime soon. You do have a nice example if it is what you say however. Manual, low mileage, original red car. Those are all pluses! Good luck!

 

Depending on the age of the tires (and you didn't say they were new) people are going to hit you with $600 + for tires and $400'ish to get the top fixed. So $1000 right there they will hit you with.

Then what RPO codes (ie: the options) are listed. If a Z51 the price can bump up a little. Being garage kept for its life is a BIG plus. If it ever saw Michigan salt in the fall/winter/spring, that is a big minus.

There was a low mileage 85 that sat at a dealership for 2 years a year or so ago up there in Michigan. I never found out if it sold or was sent to auction.

If you (OP) are at all a car person, it really could be the basis of a build seeing as you are into it for nothing.

 

Thank you all for your responses.

Perhaps I should’ve given a little more background-

I’m not a super young guy- I’m 38 and my wife is 37. We have a 5 month daughter - first child. And while we are not millionaires by any means - we have both been very blessed from a career standpoint and live a comfortable lifestyle. Having young daughter has put me in category of less time than money - and as such I have divested some of my toys. I sold my sport bike last week , and my touring bike is up for sale currently.

I am a car guy - growing up in metro Detroit it’s in your blood - and while he had a corvette - my dad actually was an employee of Ford for 30 years. I was always a Mustang kid growing up- my walls were covered in posters of ponies growing up. ironically the old man had one a 96 GT for a few years , and my mom actually had a 67 at one point , and owned a 79 when I was born. My dad’s 96 was was actually the car I learned to drive a manual on.

If I hadn’t Inherited his 85, I would have bought a pony years ago after the wife and I had settled into solid adulthood and our careers. But , having inherited his C4, it never made much sense to do that.

But the predicament I am in is that with a new family of 3 - we only have seats for 2. We were not able to hop in with the top down on a nice Saturday as a family this summer Iike the wife and I used to, not can I run my errands on the weekend with just me and the little one. The plan is to use put what I may get for the 85 , toward a 4 seater with a silver horse on it.


While letting my dad’s car go does make me a little sad , I also know that he would rather me have a car that I would get to enjoy with the granddaughter he didn’t get to meet and daughter in law he barely got to know.

Again . We’re not Bill Gates over here , but
milking every buck out of the car is not a necessity. Frankly going into this my thoughts were that if I got 7 or more I’d be over the moon, and if I got 5-7 I’d be cool with it , and if I was only able to get 4 to under 5 I’d get over it.

I’m glad that you all responded to help point me in the right direction

 

I am into my free '85 about $2k and a shop quoted me another $2800 to do some other work it needs but I will likely do the work myself. Mine has 134k, though. That's why prices aren't very strong

 

Red and only 31k miles? If only it was an auto id easily pay 7k for a a match to my current red 85. Sadly my opinion seems to be in the minority’s as early C4s do not command high demand. Personally 1984-1990 body style is my all time fav vette.

 

I think $7k is more than fair for that car look on autotrader and carguru there are cars with similar mileage asking significantly more