Mirroredshades

I've got some mad money laying around and I'm thinking about picking up a Z. Do you think ZR1s have hit rock bottom? I saw the thread where a 92 with 45k went for $16k. Holy Chit. I would have bought it on the spot if I had seen that listing before it was over.

Anyway, what do you guys think is the current price range? Can a decent one really be had for less than $20k?

xlr8nflorida

Decent, yes

Like new, no

No, they haven't hit the bottom yet.

Cars are not investments.

Mirroredshades

8 years ago I bought a 69 Camaro with a not matching 427 in it for $5k. Guy offered me $25k for it at the gas station yesterday. You are right, 400% increase in 8 years is a horrible investment.

ZRWON

It's not a good investment but it offers you a 100% guarantee that you'll get more "SMILES PER GALLON" with a ZR1 than you'll get from anything else you might consider doing with that "mad money laying around" that you mentioned!!!

WVZR-1

Offering and "reaching in the pocket" for the "loot" are two entirely different "conversations"!

You've not seen any of your "theoretical" investment potential yet and if that's the 25K your spending, IF you do "your run" is likely "over"!

As mentioned though: There are smiles per mile!

Mirroredshades

Perzactly.

I guess I could have been more clear, I want a fun car (ZR-1) that will be worth more than I paid for it 5 years from now. I'm not looking to retire on the proceeds. Just have 2-4k miles of fun per year and mysterious lump under a car cover in the back of the garage the rest of the time.

xlr8nflorida

I think you need to buy one of the original c3 ZR-1s if you are hoping for an increase in 5 years.

zr1fred

I don't know how much appreciation, but you should be able to get your money back. Interesting how the Camaros and Mustangs with the most increase have been the special hi-performance ones.

djpatrick35

In terms of C4s, I would think that Callaways would be the better investment. But I would think that Z's couldn't be that bad of an investment, especially when compared to other C4s.

Paul Workman

...considering that massive increase in "smiles per mile" that I'm getting from my "new" Z!

I considered modding my '95 LT1 Vette to get it to parity with a Z as opposed to buying the Z. I concluded that the Z may or may not appreciate much, but for damn sure money spent on mods was going to be a total write-off at sale time. So I bought the Z.

Buddy, I gotta tell ya, the Z is a BEAST!! You just have to drive one to appreciate the difference. My LT1 was no slouch, LT1 Vettes are great cars too, but this Z would bury my '95; not just hp, but handling is better (stiffer) as well. (Wanna thrill? Pull it down a gear or two under a bridge or in a tunnel and stand on it ...Nothing sounds like an LT5 at 7000. It will make the hair on the back of my neck stand up!! )

Good luck. Hope you buy the Z!

P.

LPE385

Yes if your looking for a car that will not go down in value much or might climb some it would be a nice car under 30,000 miles give or take. You would really need to buy a 93-95 405hp car for the car to hold stronger in value. There are a lot of 90,91 cars out there for cheap money, but they are not perfect and will require $$$ much sooner than later. To find something for under $20,000 and not have to put any money into it, will be hard to do. I've heard of a few unicorns lately but haven't seen one yet. These cars are a lot of fun and you shouldn't get hurt too bad is the state of mind you really need to have.

DDSLT5

Can you buy a 93-95 ZR-1 in new condition for less than 20K.


YES YOU CAN!!! You just have to look real hard - there are great deals out there right now. Will the price go downa little more? Maybe - but then - how much will it realistically go down? A few grand? For a few grand, it would be wiser to find a really clean version sooner than waiting for that little bit of money later in a car that isn't in as good of shape.

ZRWON

Don't know if you've discovered the ZR1 net which IMHO is the best single source of ZR1 info, including sales, that you'll find. Here's the link: http://www.zr1netregistry.com/

BBBAD94ZR1

I think you are off here. I sold my two cars a few months back.
94 white and 95 aqua.
I owned the cars for less than two years.
I made 25k when I sold them.
Its all about the right time and place.
Selling them on ecrap is a dead end, the registry is ok, but bottom line is people want stuff for nothing. I sold mine by showing them at car shows.
Gina with the two cars for sale on this site will also make some good money. She sold her yellow car and made 6500.00 in less than 5 months. Jake got a nice car that he if wanted to sell could probally get 70k plus being it has white leather and the history of who owned it.
Just my 2 cents.
Ray

81c3

I am the new owner of the car you speak of. This is what I can tell you about it. First, I love it! For the money I spent, I got a lot of car. It runs very nicely & looks better than average.

I could probably drive the car everyday & put another 45k miles on it without incident. I will tell you though, I am a little on the picky side & like my cars as good as they can be with every single bulb working, no strange noises from the engine or anywhere else & it needs to look sharp....thats just me though.

That being said, there are many things I have already fixed on the car, for instance: underhood lights, glovebox light,3rd brake light,missing gromets from around hatch trim,missing pop rivet on the lower fender support,realign the lower fender so it didnt scrape when closing or opening the door........just little stuff, but crap that bugs me.

The more involved problems will be new rotors & pads (x4) & probably a pilot bushing, which will mean a full clutch job.

Now, luckily I can do my own work with my own tools or I would be in pretty deep. With the money I would need to shell out to do just the brakes & clutch, I could've spent on a 93 or 94 and still had some of the same smaller problems I mentioned.

With what I paid, and what I'll need to spend doing MY OWN work, I think I still have a good deal when its all said & done.

I guess the bottom line is, can you do your own work or will you need to have it done for you? And to answer your question about being able to get a decent one for 20 large....I say yes.....will it still need a few things....YES! Will what you need to do to it cost you more than what you think youre going to make on it when you sell???........IMHO you might break even, unless you hold onto it for 20 more years.

Just buy one, drive it & enjoy it for what its worth, if you do that, then when its time to sell & you get close to being even....then you made a good decision.
Good Luck

Blown67427

The same folks that will tell you these cars aren't an investent, or that you could find one for cheap, are also the same folks that when selling their own want top dollar. Bottom line, there are lots of story cars out there. Those are the ones you hear about that went for cheap. It's rare that someone would let go of a perfect car for anything less than market, (we're talking perfect car market here) story cars and perfect cars have two different markets. These markets are generated by two very different ways of thinking. There are those that want to experience a perfect car, and don't want to deal with issues, and will pay top dollar for a *non story car* while there are those that are just looking for that *special price* those *special price folks* are usually willing to deal with issues, and are the ones that are usually found on a forum talking about those issues. Can a good deal be had ? absolutely, but generally you get what you pay for.

glass slipper

I bought my '93 ZR1 in Dec '92 brand new for $62700 as an investment and it has paid huge dividends.
Fifteen years of permagrin...priceless!

Since I'll never sell the car, I won't lose any money and don't worry about what it's "worth"...I'll leave that to my daughter if she decides to sell it after she inherits it. In the meantime, I'm having too much fun with it.

Times Change

The ZR1 is such a joy to drive, you can't go wrong. That being said, there are great deals to be had on the car. You might want to look in the 90 & 91 model years for some really great deals.

cv67

Original owner

djpatrick35

Buy the Z to enjoy it. I fully intend to keep my car until I die. Hell, I might as well be buried in my Z! And that probably won't be for a long time (I'm 26) but buy the car that you want to drive, not to sell.