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I am looking at buying my first vette. I have one in mind, it's a 1999 hardtop FRC, black, 12 disk CD player, HUD, climate control, B&M short throw shifter, Vortex cold air intake. Canadian car, 128,000 kms, or 80,000 miles. Absolutely mint. I know the previous owner and she bought it for looks, not to drive like they are meant to be. Asking price is $20,000 FIRM, about $16,500 american. Is this a good deal or am I getting ripped off.
First thing yo do is go to www.nadaguides.com and see the car's current value. Then you can make a good judgment as to what you might offer. Secondly, consider investing in a CARFAX in case anything "serious" was ever reported to them. Thirdly, ask the owner for permission to have the car checked out by a Chevrolet dealer familiar with Corvettes -- it's called a "Pre-purchase inspection." They will tell what needs the car has, and you can list them for the seller during negotiations. Finally, to get the best feedback from this forum, fill in your profile. Best of luck.
I am going to try to negotiate but I am buying it from a family member. This makes it a little harder to beat them down. Knowing for sure the car has been well taken care of and not abused or a lemon must surely be worth something? Also there aren't alot of cars in Nova Scotia or the surrounding area to pick from.
Translating the figure to US dollars, IMHO, $16,5K sounds a bit high due to the 80,000 miles. Back in January I paid $17K for a mint '99 black coupe with 28K miles (included Borla cat back exhaust and four almost new Eagle run-flats. That was also a dealer price from a local high performance consignment shop so the owner obvious took less. From the ease at which my offer was accepted, probably could have gone lower. They were asking $19.5K. If you know the car and its history, the extra may be worth the piece of mind, though. Good luck.