Weck86

Also putting on my flame suit. But as the title suggests looking for input from the Corvette hive about buyback cars. Yes it's about my car. Side note, I once had a Chevy service dept tell me my car could not exist because GM crushes all buybacks.

Anyway the car. 2003 Anniversary Edition (RPO ISC) convertible, auto, 90,170 miles.

The buyback was at 1,969 miles for bad battery, yes bad battery. I have the paperwork. Make your own assumptions but mine is a heavy hitter bought this car (or someone in their family) and had buyer's remorse. The heavy hitter had enough juice to get GM to buyback and they did.

We know C5's are prone to electrical gremlins, but I have had none except those typical. Had ABSFixer work the module and had the climate control illumination fixed. Otherwise the car has been totally reliable for me. The wife and I checked one off the bucket list last fall in the car. A Route 66 trip.

The Carfax will have flashing lights (lemon law) one the buyback, but shows only normal maintenance otherwise. I do have the maintenance records and maint is up to date.

Not trying to make a listing here, just want your input. I bought the car at a good/fair price and expect to sell the same: below what normal market would be for this car.

I suspect that comments will range from "no way in h**l" to "maybe if you'll take $2k") Anyway for those in between throw some numbers out. Thanks for any and all input, including ridicule.

Oh yeah I can try to post a couple pics if there is interest. The car presents very well, but is not show ready. Paint is a solid 9 (I think) and interior is close to 10, ie no wear shows on driver's bolster. Engine bay is clean, but not highly detailed, ie no dirt oil, etc but not polished.

JR-01

I doubt if any dealership would let a 1900 mile Corvette get crushed because of a battery. An employee probably got a good deal on it.
Not sure what it is worth with that red flag on it's Carfax, but it is still worth money.

bravo29

My 06 GTO buyback is still out there. They bought it back due to the struts leaking and no replacements at all at the time. They had a 8 month back order on the struts and they wouldn't use aftermarket. Dealer got tired of me demanding use aftermarket so they got GM to buy it back.

It only had 97 miles when dealer bought it back. I ran the vin 3 years later and it was owned by somebody down state.

grantv

It'd be a tough sell for sure, and it'll take longer I'm thinking.
No idea what a similar car but non buy-back sells for, guessing yours is worth $8000??? ($3000 - $4000 less than equal non buy-back?)

wdcraig

I bought my 2001 convertible last month, a 6M with Z51. It had 97,XXX miles on it. I paid $14,500 out the door at a dealership. Your car being newer, lower miles- it would have come down to price and how the cars presented and drove. My car, in spite of the miles, presented very well- it has good tires and drove like a new car. That's what sold me. Some would not touch a car with our cars' mileage- there might be some that would walk away from the buy back issue too. But if your car looks good and drives "right"...it will be the car and not the Carfax that will sell your car. I'd be more concerned over an accident/air bag deployment on a Carfax than the buy back.

In sum, had I seen your dealer buy back on that same lot, I would have reasoned that in all the miles and years since the buy back...if there were any major issues with your car, they would have been sorted out long ago. If your car is as nice as mine, I would have likely bought your car over mine if your car priced close to mine. But, then I was not buying for resale...I was buying to keep. I think there are a lot of potential buyers out there just like me; buyers looking for a good car to drive.

wdcraig

PS- I checked some listing for around the Austin, TX area and see that there is a 2003 50th Anniversary in Marble Falls, asking $11,988, 4 owner car and it has 125,432 miles on it. There is a 2004 convertible, 3 owner car with 93,035 miles on it for $14,900. Both are automatics. These are dealer prices- they tend to be higher. I think your car should fall somewhere in this range.

ArmchairArchitect

I would expect your car's value being slightly above a comparable one with a rebuilt title.

The car could be perfect, but there's always the stigma associated with negative items on a vehicle history report that affect resale value.

As a buyer, if the buyback was many years and many miles ago, I'd have some piece of mind that the original issue(s) that caused the buyback were resolved.

sirdano

Hello fellow Austin Tx person

JR-01

I would rather get a buyback than a rebuilt title car. The buyback car would eventually had to be made right by GM. Don't really know the skill level of the people that rebuilt the rebuilt title car.

Ron C!

I really don't think it is much of an issue at all. Consider the age of the car, time and miles since the buyback, good history since the buyback. If you are buying a C7 now with a buyback, the value is hurt because of the unknown future, but the OPs car has a proven history since.

Weck86

Let me thank everyone for your considered replys.


JR-01: My thoughts too. Both that it is worth some money and that a buyback at low mileage is way better than a rebuilt.

grantv: Interesting your estimate of $8000, that is what a local car broker appraised the car at. He wasn't interested in buying as it is the wrong time of year for convertible Corvettes. Don't think I would sell at the 8k figure. A national car broker offered $4k, I said a definite NO to that one.

wdcraig: Very thoughtful and mirrors my opinion when I bought the car. The car drove as new, looked as close to new as a used car can and the buyback was years and miles in the past with no follow on issues. But it takes a buyer willing to take the supposed risk. Appreciate the estimate on value.

ArmchairArchitet: Yeah that's the rub, many folks don't think a buyback is worth much more than a rebuild. I'm one that thinks they are worth measurably more since with time and miles the issues are likely resolved. But understand that many ( a lot?) of folks don't see it that way.

Again thanks everyone. I'm really torn on what to do with this car as I like it (and C5s) very much. Just a classic design with styling cues from other years: dash gauge layout similar to C2 StingRay, passenger grab handle C1, the side cove/scallop. But at our age the wife, while tollerant of my car addiction, says it might be time to downsize as we currently have six cars, lol. Once more thanks for the input.

Vetteman Jack

If your car is running great and maintenance has been performed, it could be a good deal for someone. I sure wouldn’t give it away. I would think that $12-14K would be a fair asking price.

Greg00Coupe

There are GM dealers who specialize in reselling buybacks with full disclosure. One locally is Lavery Chevy in alliance Oh. I know several folks who have bought and sold cars that are buy backs and it did not seem to be an issue. Yes there is a diminished value on both ends but it all works out.

Very curious are the reasons the cars do get bought back. Friend bought a Camaro that had a leaky vert top. GM replaced the top and it never leaked. Several near bad battery stories too.

Good luck

Weck86

I appreciate the thoughts and I'm also thinking the same price range.

Weck86

Thanks for the heads up Lavery Chevy. Might just check in with them this spring and see what happens. Interesting you have heard of other dead battery buy back cars as that was my car's story too.

JR-01

The dead battery issue would probably happen to every C5 that was put away for the winter or long periods without disconnecting the battery or using a battery tender. From my GM service report my car was bought new in August and GM replaced the battery in March. More than likely the car was stored over the winter and normal battery draw drained it.