went and looked at a 2000 C5 Corvette for sale:

craigslist ad:

went and test drove the car, thought it was in extremely great shape, drove nice, looked great etc. Negotiated with the seller to a price of $16,750. told him i was going to have it inspected by a local Chevy dealer and that the price we agreed on was assuming the inspection yielded no major issues.


fast forward a week, just got the inspection done this afternoon and this is the report i recieved from the dealer:



list of parts "needed" with prices:



Total price (dealer pricing) for parts is $942 w/ 11 hours of labor at $103.88/hr (again, dealer prices) = total price for all repairs ~$2000

(i should mention that my step father is a mechanic and car get all parts at cost and does the labor for free (w/ my help), i expect if i had to do all these repairs it would come out to ~$1200)


Called the seller and asked if he had a copy of the report, he did. I told him that it looks like there is $2k worth of work that needs to be done and in fairness and to complete the sale i would split the costs with him and that for $15,750 i would buy the car with guaranteed funds on Saturday. He countered that he already came down in price but I recountered that we had already agreed upon the original price assuming it didn't need anything and that i'm not asking for all the repairs to come off the bill just half, which i feel is fair.


we went back and forth a bit, it was very friendly but i ended up at $16,000 flat and said that that was what i could do for the car.

he said he'd think about it.


how did i do? think i'll get it? nice car?

 

If you get it for 16 G, you got one heck of a deal
By the way, the dim display is an easy 45 minute fix.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...-very-dim.html

 

I have bought and sold many cars over the years and on this deal i most likely would go very low on price , like about 14,500 or 15,000 tops.On many cars the buyer has the upperhand when negotiating .Do not feel bad to just give him your low offer and walk away , be prepared when he calls back crying or trying to make counter offer . Stay strong and look on e-bay and autotrader, lots of scammers out there especially on craigs, you made it this long without a corvette a few more weeks won't hurt.

 

To me the price is a little high. I would have to agree with the $15,000, the repairs it requires are normal. But it also tells me the owner didn't maintain the car as such a normal corvette advicate would.

Be slow in your search...do get excited!

CASH IS KING......BUYER'S MARKET. That sums it up

 

keep in mind this is NY and prices are always a bit higher. i haven't found any other local c5's with under 85k miles for under 17k

 

3 hours of work to repair the dim climate display from the dealer? If you can't do it yourself, send it to me and I'll solder it for free and send it back to you.

Also, pretty much every corvette is going to have a scuffed up/scraped up lower radiator support and scuffed paint under there. Unless it's rusted/cracked/broken, there is no need to replace that.

Adjusting the removable top is pretty easy. Do a search on here. You just remove the trim, loosen up where the pegs slide in for the top and center them up.

 

If you like the car and feel that you can do a lot of the repairs yourself, then the $16K is not bad. Some of those parts prices are high (especially the rotors) so you could save a bit - and with your step father getting a discount, all the better. And unless he really whacked the front radiator support, I would question why that part had to be replaced.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

 

I hear you. But don't get in a hurry to purchase a corvette. I've owned six over the years. Just bought an 02 Z06 paid 23,800 with 34,000 miles. I searched all over the US looking for the right car. It took me 7 months and a trip from NC to KY to get it....440 miles away.

Took cash and was prepared to walk away once I got there.

This car was a museum delivery car and had been well taken care of, but it has never been taken care of like I will. Simply because I treasure them to the fullest.

Dad has a 63 roadster, Brother has an 02 MY Z06, and I have 02 TR Z06.

Between the three of us we have around 30 cars in our collection. The oldman taught us both. Pay what you are willing to pay if it's what you want.

But don't allow anxious emotions play in to the decision making.

Best of luck

 

I would say that I feel 16K is a fair price, The car looks clean, Low Miles and like you said you can fix the issues it has, It really depends on how bad you want the car, You olny live once and you can't take the money with you. You may find one cheaper, But I think it would have more miles on it.
Just my 2 cents.
Mr.Bill

 

I tend to agree.

 

It looks pretty nice. If its the one you want get it.

 

I'm with Mr. Bill

 

...just hope he's not a Forum member and see's that your step dad is a mechanic

 

I too agree with Mr. Bill!! I just paid $16,900.00 for a VERY clean '99 coupe with low mileage and am VERY happy with my purchase!! Went 600 miles to get it and had an amazingly fun drive home with it.

Have had it for over two weeks now and it performs flawlessly!!

DSTURBD

 

yeah, i'm gunna buy this car i think, unless the Orig.Owner doesn't budge at all. :o

 

I would buy that car at that price in a heartbeat. No car is going pass a inspection with a 100 percent grade even if it had 5k miles on it. There is no major issues with that car and the fact that you can repair the minor things at cost makes it a no brainer to me.

Reggie

 

Its an ok deal. Not the best. I paid 15k for my 99 at 58k miles. You can find better deals than 16k especially when its from Craigslist. Matter of fact, that is too high for a craigslist car. Dealers are asking less then that now!

 

agreed!

find me a car that is comparable withing 100 miles of 10918 (wear and tear/year/mileage/6spd tranny/price) and i'll paypal you $20 right now.

 

to me, not worth it. you can get an 01+ for similar money. i freely admit that i discount the 97-00 cars more than most. i just look at 16k and think i've seen many 01's with that mileage in great condition sell for 16-17k

if you don't mind the quirks of the pre 2001 cars it's not a bad buy though

all depends on how long you want to wait

 

find me a 2001+ for similar mileage within 150 miles of 10918 and i'll go for it.

not trying to be a douche, but i just don't see those kind of prices here. i saw a '99 w/ 60k miles at a stealership recently asking $21k. that is the norm here.