Hi everybody. I generally hang out in C3 but am trying to buy a C5 for my wife. I'm trying to properly gauge the value of a '98 Pace Car versus just a regular '98 Convertible.

What have you guys seen these things going for and how much value does Pace Car status add to the car's value? My wife specifically wants a Pace Car or I'd just be looking at other C5's with low mileage and most likely not convertibles.

I've got a dealer that has one with less than 23K miles and I'm having a hard time paying his asking price. He's playing hard ball and isn't budging much (< $500) off his asking price. I think it's a mental block that won't allow me to buy it because he won't come down in price. I've been programmed to expect dealers to have a huge markup and willingness to come down but this guy won't budge.

Anyway, I think at his price I'm going to leave it with him but was wondering if $27,500 sounds fair for the car?

What do you C5 guys and gals think?

 

Pace Cars are worth more, but that seems high to me. If it were me, I would get a later year C5.

BTW, I have a 98 Coupe, but I hate the colors on a 98 Pace Car ! Seriously, I hope your wife dresses with better colors ! They do stand out though.

 

27,500 is WAAAYYY high for that car. a dealer in my neck of the woods had one w/ 45K one owner miles for $21K. It was a very nice car, but I couldnt get past the color combo... Keep looking, aparently your dealer thinks he really has something special, maybe he should keep it!!

 

23,500 is pretty low mileage but still seems a bit high. See if the dealer changes his mind in a week or a few.....

 

Having kept my eye on 98 pace car prices for the last couple of years I don't think it is out of line at all if it as nice a car with that kind of miles has on it. Are the seats perfect, the yellow leather really shows wear and dirt. Are all the decals intact and in great shape. Expensive to replace. The wheels, they are unique waht kind of shape are they in, flawless. You get what you pay for.

 

If the car is in great shape, that price doesn't sound too far off. The Pace Cars have kept their value over the years.

 

The passenger seat is perfect, the driver seat is fair. I'm not sure if the leather on the side bolster can be saved. Somebody was fond of "sliding" in and out of the car and not using leather conditioner.

3 out of 4 wheels look perfect but one has VERY light curb rash. The decals are all intact and look great. The mileage is actually right under 22,400. As with most 9 year old cars there are a couple of minor scratches and nicks but you have to look for them to find them.

I have NOT seen the car in person but have a lot of high resolution, close up pictures in hand. I am mostly comfortable with the idea of buying the car long distance so that's not really part of the equation; price is my hang up.

The dealer claims that when they took the Vette on trade, they knew they wouldn't be able to sell it this late in the year (they are way up north) and therefore they are prepared to store it until spring when they are convinced they can sell it for more money. The guy is a really nice guy but they just won't come down on price and are willing to let the deal go without a sale. Even with me telling them their price was too high and I was going to walk, they never turned into the "evil" dealership like most dealers I've dealt with do. They were sorry we couldn't make a deal but understood what I was saying; they just didn't agree. They wished me luck in my search.

Since I posted earlier, I took a browse through auto trader online and looked for low mileage, convertible '98 corvettes and it does look like the price may be in line with the market. There were definitely cheaper C5s out there but all of them with this kind of mileage seemed to be equal or greater in price; with or without pace car status. I found several other pace cars but only 1 was cheaper and it had 35K miles.

I guess I will browse some more websites to see what the going prices are elsewhere. Maybe the price is right.

 

go to him in december, while it's snowing. He will gladly go down, in price.
.

 

Check VIN to ascertain that it is not a knock off. Another post around here talked about a fake pace car at a dealership.

 

Very good point! I did confirm the VIN is a legitimate pace car. I even found the orignal owner's name posted on the C5 registry (they seem to have a temporary pace car registry). I also have the Car Fax that says it's been through 4 owners but everything checks out with the car.


I really think they are going to stick to their guns; even in December. They apparently start selling heavy duty trucks and tractor equipment this time of year and have a true storage facility to put the Vettes in during the winter. I don't think it will even be sitting at the dealership in December.

 

Since you have only seen pictures have an open mind when you go to look at it. My wife and I were hot on one a couple of years ago, thats kind of why I have followed their values. When we saw it in person the pictures did not do it justice, it was a total piece of crap. I was so excited I seemed to over look things. Thanks to my wife she brought out the flaws. The carfax seemed to good to be true, description to good to be true along with the photos and sure glad I passed on it.

 

For that price, you can get a 2001 convertible with under 20,000 miles on it.



I just looked out on cars.com and found a 98 pace car vert for $23,900 with 35K on it. It's a m6 too.

With 10,000 fewer miles the one you found is $3500 more. That sounds a little steep, but not overly terrible. If it is in perfect condition, it might be worth it.

 

Pace cars are weird.

If I got one, I'd have to put it in a garage and store it for about 30 years. I wouldn't take a chance with driving it. For the money, you can get a much newer car for driving enjoyment. If you spend those kind of bucks on a 98, you need to be doing it for investment purposes.

 

I'm looking on outotrader right now.
Found a 2003 M6 convertible with 28,000 miles on it for $28950.

That is 5 years newer and only $1500 more.

 

The 98 pace car is one of those cars that people either love or hate.

 

I own a 98 pace car and that price is not far off. I've seen them sell in the low 30's on Ebay with low miles (10,000-18,000 miles). I turned down $26,800.00 last year for mine. Remember they are only going to get higher in price with only 1163 made they are getting harder to get in good shape.

 

Just my opinion, but I do not see the 1998 pace car as a true collectable. There were over 1 thousand made and I bet at least 100 of them have less than 1,000 miles on them right now/today. There were plenty of guys with deep pockets when it came out and I bet "tons" of them are sitting in garages in storage to be pulled out in 30 years.

For investment purposes, you do not need to be driving a car on a regular basis.

1. In your case, I think the reason the dealer will not budge in price is b/c you are far away. It is a lot harder for him to turn down money when it is in person.

2. There is very little chance that 4 different owners took excellent care of the car.

3. Cars always look much better in pictures. Do not fall for it! I was thinking of putting my Honda on fleabay and I took pictures and it looked incredible! However, it had no less than 3 dents in it which can't be seen in high resolution digital pics, even when I try to make them obvious.

Just my thoughts.

 

contact Josh, forum member 'PaceThis'

he has excellcent knowledge on the pace cars

 

Someone rang

Simply put, his price seems fair on the pace car if your condition estimate is inline...

Mileage can be very unforgiving on these cars, especially if the owner is careless. The seats start showing wear very prematurely, and are expensive to replace with OEM parts (they're no longer avialable through GM). I sold 2 seat bottoms last year on eBay (OEM, NEW) - one for $399, one for $499...similar price on the seat back...generally speaking, you're talking $1000 for a decent set used, $2000 if you can find a new set.

Many decals are also discontinued, and expensive to replace. They're available for about $1200-1500/set.

I've owned 3 98 pace's...and I love the cars. I sold my last one earlier this year (March?) with 17-18k? miles on it for nearly 30k. It was not perfect, but was nice.

If you really want a pace, I'd suggest going to look at it in person. If it's everything you dreamed of, buy it and don't worry about the price.

Sure, you could get a newer car for less $$...but that's only part of the equation. Driving something unique is often worth a little more, but the real value lies in minimal depreciation. On average, since I've owned my first pace car (2002), the cars have a yearly depreciation of less than $1000/year for minimal mileage increases. Obviously if you put 100k on it in 5 years, it's going to lose more, but likely still not much worse than a comparably priced C5.

I disagree that 100+ cars have been kept in pristine, no mileage condition. Cars like the 90 ZR1 are available like this all day long, but no mileage pace cars are still a rare find. I've seen only a handful (2-3) available for sell with less than 1k miles in the last several years...

 

My turn to chime in. My passion is this car and I am your authority on everything about this car!

The price seems right on. You can definitely save some money though if you can find a low mileage car that is not a pace car...but you pay a premium if you do want the pace car. No way around it unless its high mileage. That's not a bad thing if that is what you want. Best to get a low mileage one like this...you will be happier. However if you patient you can find them in the 10,000-15,000 mileage range on the auction site a few times a year or elsewhere on the net.

Josh is right though. These cars don't depreciate nearly as fast unless abused and/or have very high mileage. I bought mine from Josh in 2004 for $30,000. I bet I could still get close to that with 19,500 miles on it. In fact I wouldn't take less. It had about 14,000 miles when I bought it.

Decals....Are still available. No worries there. I can give you several sites that have them should you want or need a set after buying. Most sell the only individually now. I bought mine for a deal ($800) for investment sake and to make the car more valuable should I sell it. (no plans to!!!!!!!) Same with the seat covers. These types of items only increase the value of the car.

Seat Covers - Like Josh said they don't wear very well and GM doesn't make them any longer. I actually bought the very last complete set for $900. I have on complete set plus one extra Driver's side(paid $500) for the future. Mine are currently covered with neoprene as to hopefully keep them from deteriorating further as the driver's side as some wear marks. Just because they aren't available anymore doesn't mean you can't get reproductions done. Any good corvette interior place can make them for you(color may not be exact but close)....however you may have to provide pictures and instructions as they may not know the exact black/yellow configuration that only the 98 pace car had. Mid America sells a set but its not exact..I had them custom modify the set they sell to be exact however the color is just slightly off (I sold those to purchase the Original set I located). That's because the exact yellow leather is tough to get. BUT that can be overcome too. Sandy at Vette Essentials said she can have the yellow custom matched however VE's seats are very expensive. But you pay for what you get as there seats are top notch! I am sure Josh can vouch for VE as well as many of you.

Wheels you can still get...though Corvette America wants $500+ each for them. Not sure if available through GM or not...haven't checked. I have one new front that I would sell if anyone is interested. Also depending on how bad you want them you can always have a set of wagon wheels custom painted and no one would know the difference. Paint code for the yellow is available from paintscratch.com.

Leather stitched steering wheel and shift boot/**** /parking brake boot still available. However if there ever become not available these can to be custom done.

Mats - Are no longer available. Come up on the auction site every once in awhile. Thought expect to pay $300-$400. Keep in mind thought there is two sets...the originals with the heel pad and the ones you could buy after the fact that do not have the heel pad. I have two sets with the heel pad. Sold the ones without for $350.

I think that's cover the pace car only items....everything else you can get to maintain the car!

As stated before...people either love the 98 pace car or hate it. Don't let the negative's influence whether you like it or not!

Good luck in your hunt!

Chris