CorsoZ06

Hi all, been a member for a while....done some lurking, but not much posting. Great forum.

I have always wanted a C4 ZR-1 and have begun seeing what's out there.

My question is on pricing; these things are all over the place! Is there any guide for ZR-1s that represents what these cars should be valued at? Obviously miles, year, # of owners, etc., play a large role in desireability, but even so, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to how sellers have these things priced.

I understand that there will always be those examples that are a true 10 out of 10, original owner, garage queen, etc. that is going to command a premium, but what about a car with a 2-3 owners, low-to-moderate miles, straight, no paint/accidents, nice but not perfect....say 8 out of 10? That seems to be the majority of what's out there and realistically, the ones that I would be looking at simply because, a) cost, and b) I do plan on driving it.

Also, if anyone would like to chime in on the reliability of the LS5, I would be more than happy to pick up some knowledge in that area as well.

Thanks everyone.

WydGlydJim

Buy the best car you can afford that has been driven sparingly, but regularly. Condition & how it has been taken car of is almost as important as mileage. I agree they are all over the place, so that's why I would rather set a budget, then go get the best car within that budget. You will love it. Read some of the posts from guys who have just purchased they say it all!


4DRLS6........CTSV? I've got an '05

CorsoZ06

Thanks for the tips. I had a CTS-V back when I joined this forum. I no longer own it. Had a TrailBlazer SS with the LS2...she is also gone. Hence my quest for another performance car.

Z51JEFF

The main factor,how much money do you want to spend,max?

mike100

I'm also seriously looking myself. What I've found is that certain cars are more than I'm willing to part with, or other more affordable examples sell right away, or languish until the owner decides to keep it. I've been put off twice and inquired about a 3rd car with a request for pics with no response.

I think that the ZR-1 owners really do not want to sell their cars in this market.

zr1fred

One of the reasons that prices are all over the board is that a lot of the owners bought the cars years ago when prices were high, and think they still are. Generally speaking, when the owners are motivated, the prices drop quite a bit. A lot of people bought them for investments, and are loath to lose money on them. They have pretty much transisted from drivers to collector cars (nice way of saying toys), and there is quite a bit of competition in that market, and that tends to peak at 30 years old. Every once in a while some magazine or car show will feature them and there will be a spike in values which causes some distortion.

CorsoZ06

I don't think that's the main factor at all. I'm sure I could find someone willing to sell me a ZR-1 for $36K. That doesn't mean that's the best car (read: most fair deal) out there.

Honestly, I just want to get the most car for my dollar. Whether that be a higher mileage, 4-owner car or a low-mileage, one-owner, garage queen. At the end of the day I just want a fair deal, for both myself and the seller. If I was capped I wouldn't be looking.

For example, I just sold a beautiful twin engine Formula go-fast boat. It was on the high end of the scale of desireability compared to others like it. I was selling in September and priced it accordingly. Could I have gotten more in May? Absolutely, but I got what I wanted out of it, and the new owner got a very fair deal. Basically how I would conduct the purchase of a ZR-1 should I find the right deal.


Keep the insight coming, guys!

xlr8nflorida

The prices are indeed all over the map. That is because of 2 reasons.
The cars conditions and mileage are all over the map. The current economy which is making some owners "give them away" to pay their bills etc. (distress sale)

I've owned my ZR-1 for 10 years and watch the market pretty carefully both for ZR-1 pricing and ZR-1 parts pricing.

If you are extremely picky and want a car like new, you will be in the $20k-40k range. Possibly the very high teens. Anything lower then $17,000 and the cars are going be 6,7,8's in most cases but you are allowed to get lucky or find a distress sale.

Personally, the best bang for the buck if you are going drive the car is going to be a 90. If you want a primo later model you will be in the low 30's and higher if its like new.

The people who have the really nice cars are not going sell unless they need to in this economy.

10 years ago the nice low mileage 90's were in the high 20's - low 30's. Later models were very expensive.

Now the nice 90's have dipped but not too bad, the later model years are the ones getting hammered now - the ones with some mileage on them. The ones that have low mileage don't come up for sale and if they do, its a telephone number price

You might want to look at a nice 94,95 with some mileage on it - 20-50 miles range.

Please don't tell me about all the "deals" on ebay for low teens. We all know what that is about, lousy paint, seats, super high mileage etc. You get what you pay for......

Good Luck - take your time! It took me over a year to find my ZR-1.

CorsoZ06

xlr8nflorida, great post. Thx.