I'm currently looking at a 1995 coupe with 84,000 miles at a dealer. From all I can find out it has been maintained very well both interior and exterior and is actually a one owner car (two if you count the dealer.). It was listed at just under 12k and I floated an offer of 10k. Dealer said the best they can do is $10,895. Carfax report is clean and fits with information provided by dealer.

What thoughts of value do you all have?

 

That is about the right price from a dealership. Individuals selling should be a little lower. I looked at a 96 coupe with only 52,000 miles at a dealership recently. A4 car that the dealership wanted 12,995 for but they were willing to let it go for 10,300. In this area that car would be less than 10,000. Too many late C4s with much lower milage selling for less here.
Prices are all over the place from both dealers and private owners. Too many people just looking to sell if they get their high price but no incentive to sell at a lower price.
As always the right price is whatever a person is willing to pay for a specific car In a specific geographic region. If it is EXACTLY what you want, go for it.

 

Bear in mind, used car pricing right now is much higher than a year ago. I was looking at scat pack chargers that have 20k miles and they're selling for more than they were when new.

So bear that in mind, most responses will be based on normal time pricing.

 

condition , condition , condition....... like real estate (location , location , location) at 25 years old for the newest of C4's , the prices for what you will pay for one will be based on that first and everything else second ( miles , number of owners , color etc...)

Nice examples will bring good money.....ones that have been beat to death are a dime a dozen - but as in the earlier post , used car prices have been on the rise across the board.

To answer the OP's question - if that car is in absolute excellent condition and is in a good color combination Id say its worth 10k every day of the week. 95's are among the most desirable years

 

I guarantee the dealer paid $4-6k on trade for that car. Dont believe a word they say on anything regarding money...
Is it a 6 speed or Auto?
If they dont take $8-9k, Id walk on an automatic
Maybe $10k, all in (meaning all fees and taxes in that 10 grand price.)

My advice, forget the dealers, buy from an enthusiast privately. Youll get allot more car for the money.
Just my .02

 

Most dealers buy their cars at auctions. They clean them up to look well kept. That does not mean they are bad cars, but you need to have an NCRS person or some other person who knows Corvettes look the car over. $11,000 is a lot of money out of your pocket, you want a good car. I would want to make sure everything else about the car was good. A car fax is no guarantee the car was well kept. I once bought a Buick from a dealer with 11,000 miles on the clock with a clean carfax. The car burned oil from day one. Working for the local Polic dept I was able to do a vin check and found the car was originally owned by a company and put 9,000 miles on the car is six months. And they must have chased the paints off of it. At 60K the car developed a miss and had a bad cylinder. Buying from a dealer does not mean the car was well maintained, and most certainty it was not a trade in.

 

Used C4 prices are all over the place....some NCRS types perfectly maintained , all original, GM parts when needed...etc ZF6 or Auto. Personally my 95 Dark Metallic Purple 6 Speed with perfect leather and NOS GM weatherstrip and new GS-C's with 40 k is not for sale and wouldn't take 20k if you offered it to me in cash.

 

You are badly mistaken. New car dealers don't buy used cars at auctions. They are in the business of selling/repairing new cars. They resale the best cars from trade-ins.
If you meant USED car dealers, that would be correct.

 

After 30 years in the business, both are correct. Nice trade in's go through "get ready" at the dealer (that;s a whole other post) and the rest go to auctions or wholesalers. New car dealers often buy used cars at auction, most are held separately than the main auction such as "off lease" day/line, rental car turnback lines, etc. No dealer is going to buy a C4,C5, or some C6's at auction unless they are a used car dealer or wholesaler.

 

The owner gave car in trade to a Mercedes dealership who sent to auction where dealer i found it at bought it. The paint and interior look great in addition to the underneath. Being in the same hands since new really made me interested. Lately I've been even seeing for sale by owner prices starting to tick up. I'd never buy a C4 thinking I'll flip it for a profit, I want a driver.

 

BTW I was not knocking you buying it or the price.... C4's in really good condition are getting hard to find, it isn't worth haggling over a few thousand dollars when you find a good , well cared for, one owner car. You can easily through 5k at the same car with same or less mileage that wasn't owned by an enthusiast . C4's will always take money and maintenance, eventually paint and body refresh, wheels re-conditioned, weatherstrip wears.. buy hey, thats ok. Own it because you love it, let other people drive Corolla's or a Prius! If ( and I have) buy a C4's from another Registry or Forum member, I immediately expect to pay more but expect a better, tighter car.... can compare prices on Craigslist.

 

I was just at the point of putting a few thousand into my 91 for suspension work and just started thinking about instead upgrading to a newer C4.

 

Make a an upgrade to a ZR-1... then youll have really made an upgrade you can appreciate.

 

What makes you think that a 92 to 96 has better suspension if it is the original? An 06 or 16, sure. 95 is only a few years newer. Best case scenario, you are changing it in a couple years. That is kinda hard a pill to swallow for the time and money spent on the newer one. If that is the reason I upgrade, you can bet I will be going to something that is much newer than 5 years. Even a 96 C4 is 25 years old. At that age, you are arguing a difference between a 25 or 30 year old suspension.

 

Sounds like a decent deal to me, especially in light of the single ownership history. I'm sure others would disagree, but if you're planning to keep the car for awhile, what's another $1,000 one way or the other at the end of the game?

 

I fully understand regardless of the small age difference between the two cars I'm going to be spending money on it because of the age. At no time did I say the 95 has a different or better suspension than my 91, I just said if I was going to spend a few grand on the 91 why not use that money for a newer vehicle which also has more HP, better paint and crisper interior than my 91. Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my previous post and hopefully you better understand it now.

 

They changed the geometry a bit, not sure if it was for 92 or the face-lift though. It is better. Not like double better. But improved.

 

Working at a local Jeep Hyundai dealer for two years, I can tell you some cars are bought at auctions. This is especially true with dealers that have a large inventory. The trade ins your speaking of are usually lease cars that are of the same brand as the dealer. Other brands are often left for the bank to collect. Anyone with common sense knows you do not trade in your car at a dealer because you will be given below market value for your vehicle. We even had wholesalers who came and bought our cars that were traded in. New car dealers do not want cars with high mileage or that are past four years old. The resale value just isnt there. I only remember one car that our dealership held onto. It was a trade in for a Jeep and it was a Mustang GT. As strange as it was they put this Mustang, a used car, on the showroom floor with the new cars. Naturally they made a killing on it, probably gave its previous owner well below market value. I found the car business to be a dirty one. I trained to be a car salesman some years back and after several days I quit. It was just to dishonest for me. I suppose there are some honest dealerships out there, but where they are is the question. Even Saturn which started out as a good idea, became a disappointment. On my second Saturn I ask to have the upgraded mag wheels. When I got my truck it had the better wheels then I had ordered. I was thrilled until I found out the wheels on my new Saturn were off a Saturn several years old with used tires. The switch they pulled did not work.

 

We had several managers who went to buy wholesale cars every month... they were all licensed wholesalers. The idea is to buy cars at what theyd call "back of book" which means below book value. So as an example, they buy a car for 10k, the book value is 13.5 Now they have to figure in transport costs, and anything the car might need to be put on the lot for sale... thats where dealers tell you they are charging a D&H charge... Dealer and Handling... So now, they paid 10k, put 300 bux into it, and now put it on the lot for 15.9 ... So now they have a $5600. figure to work with... Thats why when you walk in and say you want an additional 1000 dollars for your trade, they will act like theyre caving and give it to you... Nooooo... its just that now they make only $4600 instead of $5600. See how that works? Same as if you haggle the price down without a trade... theyll act like they gave you such a great deal... perhaps... but they ALWAYS, ALWAYS make money on a car deal... If they dont, they wont sell it... no matter what line of bullshit they give you.... Now, back in the day when I worked at a dealer, they would pay the salesmen 25-30% of gross profit... so, supposing I made the deal at full price of 15.9, I make 30% of 5600. I just made $1680. The dealer makes $3920. Now, when you go towards the end of the fiscal month, the dealer will be more likely to take a skinnier deal. Heres the reason... because the sales manager is promised a bonus on a certain amount of cars sold... So is the salesman... We used to make $50. per car more at 12 cars per month. The sales manager would need say 75-100 cars to get his bonus. Car sales is very lucrative... Back in 1998 & 1999 I made around $60k/yr selling used cars for Acura... Dont seem like much today, but I was living nicely back then in comparison to all my buddies...

 

It's a business. I buy lower, sell higher.