That's quite an insult to the owner, way to go.


Shakey

 

That's actually a really good price for the car at $10,500 - the owner may be doing themselves a dis-service.

Remember that unless you get an FRC a manual transmission accounts for less than 25% of targa and convertible production. Both the exterior and interior colors are wrong for me but it being a manual trans car will immediately add some value in an automatic trans -riddled selling field. The EBCM issues are blown waaaaayyyyyyyyy out of proportion. I've been having issues for well around three years now and get in my car every chance I can and drive it just like it's fine. Plus they've got pretty good tires (price tires on C5s) although I'd check how new they actually are, and have potentially kept proper maintenance for a 100,000 mile car.

I think $8k-$9k was a bit insulting. The owner shouldn't get less than $10K for that car. This is why I also plan to pretty much never sell my C5; if someone threw me an insulting offer I'd tell them two words and the first wouldn't be pretty.

 

A car is worth the most someone is willing to pay for it. bottom line. And although we love our C5s, they aren’t super rare or unusual or a hard to find collectors item. They made a few hundred thousand of them during their 8 year span. A few are more rare than others depending on color or model type.. (FRC, bowling green metallic etc) but they aren’t old enough to be a collectors car, or rare enough to bring top dollar. They are a used car. That’s it. Luckily they are a used car that holds value pretty well. The guy was asking $10,500, which I think is a fair price, but it does have a possible expensive issue to fix, and it has 100k plus miles on it. idk about you, but I NEVER offer asking price for a car. Minimum 10% less than the asking price. Private sale or dealer. Sorry but if you go in and pay the list price, well your kind of a fool. That’s the art of negotiating.
I went thru the same thing trying to find my car. I held out for 3+ months. Til I found the right car at the right price. Sorry, what may be an insulting offer to some, probably is right in line with what the blue book or resale value is. a 15-20 year old used car, that originally cost 40 grand, is NOT worth $20k. idc if you only have 40k miles on it. or even 20 k for that matter. You can ask for it all day long. But don’t be surprised if no one is willing to pay it. Same thing with people that dump $10k into a car, for appearance or performance mods, and then think it is worth $10k over a normal one. sorry but your lucky to get .25 on the dollar of what you put in it. VERY lucky. Also consider most people don’t have 10-15-20 grand to buy a car in cash. They need to get a loan. And those with not the best credit score.. well good luck in getting a loan on a car that someone is asking 3, 5, 6 grand over blue book value. It wont happen. Getting a loan for a 15-20 year old car isn’t that easy to begin with, unless you have stellar credit.

Just my .02 cents from someone that has bought and sold more cars than I can remember, and knows the wholesale, retail, and auction value of cars relatively well.

 

Well the car has been listed for a month and obviously nobody is beating his door down to buy it. I'm REALLY sorry ya'll feel like I insulted the seller. I promise I will ALWAYS pay list price from now on.

Rick

 

I won't hold you to that promise!

 

It's was the way you worded your post. "Guess he gets to keep it" there's a lot of contempt there. If you treated him like that in person, no wonder he wouldn't come down in price for you. You will find in life that you will always catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Good luck.

 

If I was in the market for a cheap C5 I'd consider that one @ $10k a great price. 6speed, clean, and miles are decent for the price.

More and more pre01s are going to have the EBCM issue. Not scared of it.

 

No, that most certainly is not. That's trying to buy something for less than a seller's asking price simply because that's how you've heard "real" negotiators do it.

The true art of negotiation requires that you work diligently and genuinely to discover the other party's level of aspiration in the hopes that there's a crossover point between his aspirational range and your own. Ask questions for the purpose of discovering and uncovering information, not for the purpose of responding, which all too common. Move the topic away from the subject at hand and lead the conversation in such a way that it might just unearth more little tidbits that help him in his effort to sell and you in your effort to purchase. Obviously there's more going on than this single point, but if you do nothing more than to effectively apply this principle you'll end up a more successful, gracious and and satisfied buyer, and receive the same from the sellers you encounter.

You'll never know what motivates a seller (or a buyer, for that matter) until and unless you take the time to engage. Then again, you could always just select an arbitrary percentage and throw it against the seller's wall to see if it sticks because, you know, that's how negotiations are conducted.

Good luck in your search (really!).

nk

_

 

Just bought this today, 2001 auto w77k miles. Needs A/C fixed and those wheels are hideous, and peeling like a sunburned tourist. Needs some cosmetic work and probably pads but she runs like new and feels really tight.

I paid $8K cash for this car so for those accusing me of insulting sellers I have two words, and the first one's not pretty.

Rick

 

Sounds like you passed on a 10k car that needed very little, and went with an 8k car that needs a couple k. Well done, you showed us. And that last seller, you definitely showed him.

 

One of the cardinal rules of purchasing a special interest car is that you should buy condition over miles, almost without exception. It seems you may have passed on a well (and perhaps even meticulously) maintained car with a six speed in favor of one whose previous owners haven't given it the same level of care over the years. If both you you and the seller are happy, that's great, but coming back here to flaunt your "success" doesn't serve any good purpose.

Congratulations on your new car - hope the two of you get along well.

_

 

You also need to remove those chrome doo dads from the front fender and those fugly tail light louvers.


Somebody really "ghettoed" the **** out of that one...........


Shakey

 

Agreed.


A/C - This could be 100.00 or 1000.00 (or more)


wheels - 1000.00 - 4000.00 (depending on how deep your pockets are)


Plus whatever other "cosmetic" issues he is referring to. That 10K car is looking better all the time.......




Shakey

 

Yeah shakey, I hate to be a jerk on here, especially after the "warm" welcome I received from a "special member". But it seems like a lot of people come on here for advice, and then either do the opposite of recommendations, or ignore them completely. I can see why some longer term members get irritated easily.

...now, what exhaust do you guys think is best for a c5?

 

Depends on whether or not Brad Penn is now making Corvette exhaust components.

_

 

agree!

 

Should have bought the other one, it look like a much cleaner car IMHO of course. Good luck either way!

 

Ugh cheap Chinese wheels and bald tires to boot.......lol yep you showed him!
Have to say the red one was a better car/buy.

 

That front bumper doesn't look right. Looks like the radiator core support may have taken a shot on the left side (it's higher than the right side). You will want to get under there and sort that out. I actually don't think the wheels are that bad.

 

The 6-speed car would have been a little more fun to drive.