Hearing about how people are buying C5's for $12-13K is really upsetting. What's next? less than $10K? Perhaps $5K? Maybe $2-3K? Trade up to a used Honda?

Let's get the facts straight. The car will never rust. All the suspension pieces are aluminum. The exhaust is either stainless or titanium (OK a bit of alluminized steal too). The engine is no joke. It's actually a very robust simple piece. Every piece seems to be built extremely well.

I can see why a unibody would depreciate. Rust, door dings, really nothing special. But a Vette? They are built so much better than pretty much any car. They should be able to hold a decent value. Being so many of them obviously plays a big role. Given how cheap they are now must mean they were probably over-valued when new.

OK, I'm done with my rant now.

 

Plenty of them, not enough to make them stand out to allow for asking a high price for them. Yes you brought up good points about their construction but those attributes are not uncommon nowadays.

Thats why garaging and not driving a c5 like it is a 69 427 is stupid in my opinion, you don't own a rare car face it and drive the damn thing.

 

You are not going to get a very nice car for that kind of money, and probably a 97 or 98 coupe with high miles. The nice well maintained cars and verts/z06 are nowhere near that low(and I don't see them ever going to be, at least for a long time), hell nice later C4s can't even be had for that kind of money. I think C5s keep there value very well compared to most cars

 

you get what you pay for ! you will probably have to put some money back into the car if your paying under 16000-17000 dollars. btw,can anyone tell the diff between a pampered 97-98 and a 04 ?

 

Actually, I just paid $13k for a nice 98 with 95k miles (mid miles to me) in good condition - cars are worth what someone is willing to pay for them, and right now the market for 5 to 20 yo Corvettes is down. I see C4's around here for $5k and C5's (97-00) for $15-$17 (and less) all day long - look on autotrader.com. I also agree with the above post about the garage queens, to each thier own, but seems like a waste of money to me -

 

I think my 98 is holding it's value pretty well up here. I paid $33,000 CDN for it in 2004, with 32k on it, and 3 years later I see similar 98s to mine, with the same mileage (82k) in the Auto Trader here for $24k to $26k.

If I had bought a brand new $33k car 3 years ago of most other brands it probably would only be worth $20k right now.

 

Very few if any cars are worth anything as an investment. Make sure that you understand that when you bring any car home, it is like lighting a candle and watching it burn to nothing. Anyone who garages the car and doesn't use it is just slowing the process, but the result is the same. A car's value as a collector is based solely upon market appreciation for the car. If no one wants it, it is worthless. And, who can predict what will be worth big money in 20 years, I can't? So, drive and appreciate that Corvette for what it is, a fun vehicle with a lot of power, and great fuel economy.

As far as it going down in value, great for the used car buyer, tough for the new car buyer. In my opinion I prefer to buy an expensive car 3 years old, because they can be purchased for half the price of new, and in most cases the car due to it's high initial price, has been babied and cared for, and is in nearly new condition when re-purchased used. I don't know how long I'll keep my car, but, whatevewr I get for it, I get.
My '04 pristine 30K mile Corvette now has another 8K miles on it, plenty of rock chips and scrapes under the nose, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it, and so what if it is no longer pristine, the memories and fun I've had with it are PRICELESS!! And I feel better that I paid $27K for the car, instead of the $54K list price. And I'm sure the next owner (if there is one) will be happy paying $XXK for it, instead of my purchase price.
ENJOY THE HELL OUT OF THEM, STUFF IS STUFF!!!!

John

 

Bought it new, keeping it until I can give it to my son in 20 years, market value means nothing to me, it would be like trying to sell your dog it will always mean more to you than someone else.

 

I just did an autotrader 300 mile search of OKC, that would include the Dallas, Ft Worth area. The cheapest Vette I found was a '97 coupe, 6 sp, 122K miles at 15,900.

I think if you find any much cheaper, you're looking at salvage titles.

 

Yeah, options, upgrades.

 

I searched 200 miles around here too and not too many under 20K unless they were high miles. 2004s like mine have not dropped too much from when I purchased 3 yrs ago

 

I Feel Your Pain

 

Where are all of these excellent $12-13k vettes? Not many around these parts. I would like to find one to use as a DD.

 

Well said. I just sold my 1988 coupe with 166K miles. It was my DD. Last September I bought a 2002 convertible as my DD. It had 30K and now has 48K. I plan to get a used 2008 for the same reasons as stated above - almost half price. I simply want one like that dynoed at LG Motor sports - LT headers and a tune - 426RWHP. I think then I'll be happy for a while. And I'll pay 30 or low 40 something for it instead of 50 or 60 something for it. If I can't drive it (a lot) I won't buy it. I'll probebly keep the vert too.

 

Almost all cars depreciate fast and the C5 is no different

 

No one said you could buy an excellent C5 vette for under $15k, howver, as I stated above, I did buy a very nice one with 95k for $13k. One possible reason they may have sold it so cheap is that the check engine light was on and ac was not cold on the drivers side. I reset the oil monitor and put a quick charge on the AC (which took about 10 minutes) and everything works fine, even has good tires. Although prices may vary city to city, down here in Fla prices are very reasonable - granted many of the under $17 C5 vettes are not good deals, but I only needed 1 good one -

 

I guess I got lucky on mine, a Couple months ago I bought an ’04 CE with 28,000 miles for $28K and the dealer included new run flats…. For it I traded a 40th anniversary model C4 with just over 100,000 miles, I think I received about $8,500 for it; the AC didn’t work, the drivers seat bolsters were worn down as well as a couple of other problems.

 

I hate the statement that cars are worth what someone is willing to pay. It's meaningless and has a used car salesman ring to it. If that statement were true then I'm willing to buy a 2007 ZO6 for $20,000. It's called a meeting of the minds. If no seller was willing to sell for that price then the car could not be had for that price. If I had a 2004 ZO6, with 15,000 miles on it, would it be worth more than the same car with 50,000 miles? If most Zo6's were selling for $31,000 would the one with lower miles be worth more? If there was one one available with less than 50,000 miles then the one with 15,000 miles would be worth more. The problem with this forum is that everyone points to the cars they saw sold and use that as a benchmark without pointing out key features that made it sell for a certain price. This forum should be dedicated to helping guys get the most for their cars and stopping guys from lowballing.

 

i agree with what you said about the value of these cars, but everyone knows that cars are one of the most common depreceating asset that people make. Alot of people put tons of money into mods, drive then and want to upgrade, then 3yrs down the road sell them for the same price as a stock one. Talk about a sour taste in your mouth. Sometimes you can't put a price on fun, and feeling like a million bucks.

 

That would probably be the last thing a used car sales man would want to say - however, like it or not, when it comes time to sell a car, the statement still holds somewhat true. Everyone wants to get as much as they can out of a car, but price it too high and you won't even get any offers. I did not just make up the price I bought my 98 for, that's what I paid for it and I gave reasons why I think it sold for that. Very few people that are buying Corvettes today will log on here and think they will steal one, but with patience and some knowledge there are some very good deals out there -