Yeah, and Vette drivers are middle aged, balding and wear gold chains..

Just what mods would you consider would put it in that "beat hard" category? Exhaust, cam, heads, N2O, big bore?
I have done some mods to my Vette does that mean I beat on it? Yes I have some days that I do a little spirited driving and a few trips to the drag strip a year (didn't make it at all this year) but other then that I drive it back and forth to work.
Now my other car is a 1972 Chevelle. I did a frame off restoration and put in a highly built 540ci big block putting out 612 hp and with a redline of 7500rpm's. Does that mean I beat the crap out of it? It goes to the strip 2 days a year (super Chevy show) and gets about 3000 miles a year put on it if I'm lucky ( 6 miles to the gallon driving it easy, I don't drive it much). Would you look at it and think that it's beat hard because it's not stock? It's been apprised at $65,000.00 and I get told every year at the Chevy show that it should not be on the strip but in the car show. What's wrong with having show car looks and drag car performance? I happen to think that there is not a better sound in the world that a well built motor. But if a guy builds his car it does not mean that he will beat on it.
Last summer I went to a dealership with a friend to look at a TA with him. We were in my Vette, the sales guy seen the N2O bottle in my car and then would not even let us take the TA for a test drive. He said " anyone who would put nitrous in a Vette is not taking this for a drive" That's ....... Heck I beat the crap out of my trucks (they are all stock) not my cars. Even small mods on a Vette cost big money, so why spend the big money, beat the crap out of it just to have to fix it. It's just nice to have that power there when I do want it. That's all I have to say about that.. Just my $1.50..... Thanks for listening to my rambling.

 

You answered my comment for me.
I believe you that you take care of your stuff, and probably treat it better then most. But will a first time buyer see this? And the seller's word isn't worth too much, after all, they're the ones trying to sell it.

To go along with your comments, I plan on modding my vette pretty extensively. I also will not (purposely) beat it. But I do think that once the modding starts, the value decreases. IMHO

 

Alright, here's a thought experiment for you:

1. What consititutes 'beating'? In a honda, I'd say cold startups, and redline every day, all day long, for years at a time. I'd say having a motor make 38% more than the original car was designed for. I'd say a poor NOS setup without a window switch and a button on the steeringwheel.

2. Would it be beating a corvette to drag race it? Once? four times? 24 times? The Corvette, reguardless of how it's owned and operated was designed from the get go to handle a LOT more abuse than the Honda.

I'll submit that a properly maintained Corvette, that's been road raced occasionally and had the hubs replaced due to the added wear will be every bit as good (if not better) than a trailer queened corvette with the same mileage. You may actually find it performs better.

Driveing a Corvette hard is NOT unexpected, and was accounted for in the initial design of the car. Notice there were no major driveline changes between a 225 hp Crossfire motored and a 406 hp ZR-1?

I suspect the only stock part in my C4's drivetrain is the distributor shaft. EVERYTHING else has been hardened, upgraded, replaced, or addressed in some way. I have no illusions about its resale value, but it's a helluva lot better car than the same year, stock.

 

Speaking for myself......my car is highly modded and if you consider drag racing, beating on it......then it's been beat on regularly for several years. However, everything in the car is in top shape and parts that are prone to break or wear out are replaced on regular intervals. I even have a complete D44 (end to end) as a backup because i haven't completely figured out how to make that live indefinitely yet. On the other hand, I feel my daily driver is beat on a lot harder in my opinion. I don't drive it hard, but it sits outside rain, snow, sun, etc. It's commuted everyday in stop and go traffic, over pot holes, etc. I also use it as a pickup, dump truck, garbage truck, tow truck, etc. I do maintain all my cars, but IMO, my daily driver gets a LOT more abuse than the drag raced vette.

 

Here I go, been there, done that.IMHO, I had the cleanest, and a very modified 64 vette. Yet, by all appearances out side the hood-stock. I had 5 buyers lined up for it when I sold it-they all said the same thing "wish it were stock". It didn't matter I had all documentation,invoices, service records etc. It definetly would have sold for more had it been stock. Unless a buyer is highly educated in mods, and is allowed to spend a great deal of time with the owner-you'll never get what a stocker will bring. One last thing-when I sold my 62 and 64 I had no inclination what they would be worth today-stock. I didn't buy my 87 for an investment, but, I keep it stock-don't mean to offend-but I wouldn't buy a modified vette-just my opinion.

 

58 yr-old, looking for a year, 1st timer also but I want an '89!

 

I have to chime in one more time before Christmas dinner with my family. There have been times I wondered what have I done, spending so much time & money on an old vette, when I could have gone out and bought one that some other guy spent all his energy & money creating. For my part, if I had it to do all over, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a highly modified vette from someone like the folks on this forum, having learned just how much effort, patience, experience, time & money it takes to put together a good solid performance car. Think about it, you can get a very low mileage drivetrain, built way beyond stock spec's. I'd love to buy my 86vette for $15 or 20g's, knowing that the built motor has all that trick stuff and has 2k. mi. on it. The built tranny has 1k. mi. on it, a tranny that will take over 600 HorsePower .. Over $30,000.00 in mods. Virtually a brand new built 86/C4. When I bought mine 10 years ago it was basically stock, the guy I bought from was local vette club pres.. It was super clean .. But he also knew when to get rid of it.. You should have seen his face, when he realized how his old C4 would blow the doors off his new one! Happy Holidays my friends !!!

 

The problem with modifications is that they are never the exact modifications that a buyer would put on the car.
Therefore, they have zero value.
Most of us want to do our own modifications and it's easier to start with a stock automobile...a 'known quantity', if you will.

To the original question: it's worth in the $15K range on the market. You can find someone who will pay more, you'll just wait longer for him...
Larry

 

There are many different modifieds, but only one stock.

 

Actually, there are tens of thousands, available cheap!

 

Sigh...meant the configuration, not the number available.

 

But if the car you have is not PARTICULARLY unique, do-what-ye-like.

 

I totally agree, assuming you don't intend to sell. However, this thread was started by someone who is looking to sell.

 

Do what you want anyway, it's your car. I've played with cars my whole life and anyone with a lick of sense should know that in the vast majority of cases that most money spent on mods will never be recouped at resell time. But that's fine, I knew that going in and couldn't care less. Hopefully someday many years down the road, I'll get home after a spirited ride in her and then fall over dead, a smile on my face. Every dollar I've spent on it has already been recouped in enjoyment for me so every ride is a bonus.

 

Sell it, my understanding this is not the "Want ad' section .. but Performance/modification forum ...

 

J3studio

I was simply asking a question what it was worth, if I wanted to sell it, I would have put it in that section. But here is where most people go, and I was asking a question, just as if I was asking what a particular part was worth, wether it was money value or performance.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Peabody
From a first time buyer's perspective ...... I need to use my first Vette (I'm 50+) for a daily 50 mile/day driver not just a weekend rice/stang killer. Thus All of the mods that are put into your cars are of little value to me because frankly I don't want a car that's been beat.

Quote
I believe they are only what someone will pay for them, modded or not.
Personally, I'm modding mine, but only internal mods that pass the CA sniffer and my pocketbook. Visually, I like mine stock and clean. If I were to resell mine which I've considered lately I would probably be inclined to mention the mods only to someone that understood why; otherwise I'd be concerned about someone assuming the car was abused which couldn't be further from the truth. Personally I wouldn't buy a modded car. That's just me though

I think these are the best 2 statements among many good ones.
I think most people want stock because they think them lass likely to be beat cars.
NOS, wouldn't go near a NO2 car, Drag racing, probably not, don't tell your ETs if you are looking for a mainstream buyer.

Now I would take a car that had a quality exhaust, a recent 383 with receipts from a shop I knew and quality parts he knows he'll never get me to pay for, (and run from one done out of area or no documentation) suspension upgrades (preferably the ones I would do), but prefer stock since I'll do my own anyway.
I'm going to mod it anyway, and I know what will and won't hurt the car.
My MO is to go for a test ride with the owner driving first, and then say, "show me what it can do" and coax him into driving it like he stole it. If I can get him to do that, I don't want the car, because he does it all the time.
If his Idea of cranking it up is controllled accelleration to 80 or 85, checking all his mirrors, signaling like a old guy etc, I'm much more interested.

I was checking out a Carmine red/tan '98 M6 vert the other day in the mall lot and the owner came up, a grand ma, and we chatted about the car for a minute, even though I'm thinking more about a 2000 Mag Red/oak, I'm still kicking myself for not offering her my number and asking her to call me if she wants to sell down the road.

Ultimatley I'm the same as everyone else.
I'd rather have Gma's tamely driven, one owner street car then. buy an unknown off a 28yo latino dude.
Sure I'm going to install a rollbar, konis, mods, a vortech, and take it to the track for hotlaps whenever the racecar isn't running.
But as long as granny has receipts from the dealer for all of her oil changes, (and service history available from the dealer), I WANT THAT CAR!
(I sure hope I see her again)

 

Quote:

JMO, but my 91 red vert with chrome sawblades and a few billet add ons is as pretty as any C5 out there.


Your C4 is prettier than any C5's out there. I like the sleek, smaller look of a well-taken care of C4. I also like the C4's wrap-around you interior vs. the camaro Z28 plastics of the C5 dash and gauges.

 

Sell it: Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound so harsh, I suppose it helps me rationalize the investment I've made. there is a lot of good info on this thread. Some of us, me included have spent a lot on mods, and it's fairly obvious we won't be getting our money back on the investment. So, some good points made, I probably wouldn't buy a car that's been fed a regular diet of NOS. either. But of course thats a moot point, I couldn't imagine selling my C4 for what I could get for it now, but who knows there are some old cars that weren't worth much when I was young and are selling for a lot now like the early StingRays & Mopar muscle cars.

 

What a great thread. One of the few I've read in it's entirety lately. Thanks for the different perpectives.

Art