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As a C5 Z06 owner, I want the prices to go up. I am not contemplating selling, but I still want values to go up. If a guy is asking what he thinks he can get, and somebody buys it for that, that is the price. It doesn't matter if you don't think it is worth it or not. The seller and buyer came to an agreement and so be it. If as a Corvette owner you want to sell your car for $100.00 what right do anybody have to say that is too low, or if an owner has priced his '98 C5 base coupe at $20,000 and somebody buys it, what business is it of yours what was paid? There are cars out there at all price points, but if we want to see these cars value go up, we need to support the higher prices. These cars are getting older and so more and more are leaving the road, either through mechanical, or accident. Although I don't think these cars will ever get the astronomical prices that the C1,C2, and early C3s are going for, we don't help ourselves when we tell somebody that they're out of their mind asking a higher price than average for their car.
Of course you want the values to go up, you already own one. If you want to support the high prices, be my guest, but I don't know many people looking to buy (if any) who wants to pay these inflated prices...
BTW- that article is dead-on - I'm proof. I think it's time to take my 8k mile Nassau Blue coupe down off the lift and drive it! Yawn.... maybe after my nap....z-z-z-z-z
Just buy what you like, don't give a @#$ about what anybody thinks. These cars are great and reliable, but like everyone knows - they will never be really collectible since they made sooooo many of them. I'm okay with that...
I'd go out and buy a 02-04 6spd non-z car with under 40k miles and expect to spend around 12-15k and be done with it.
Have fun, that's what it's all about!
Dave C
2000 C5 Coupe
2007 Shelby GT500
1971 Duster 340
It’s very hard for me to sell my C5 because of all my hard work I did to get that car.I always had put my family first in every thing I ever did in life.When I see the selling price of a Used C5 and what I paid for that 2003 Vette brand new, I just want to keep it forever. The real value of that car is all the real pleasure of owning and taking care of the true All American Icon.
Hello everyone! Newbie here lol just joined today. I’m looking to buy a C5 sometime this year and doing lots of research before I pull the trigger but they all seem to be way over what kbb values them at? I’m guessing cause it’s close to spring? Does the time of year affect pricing that much? Just curious and thought it might be a good first post 🤷🏻♂️
I just bought an '02 convertible, 6 speed, with 40,000 miles on it last week. Paid 17 for it. Seemed a little steep, but it's exactly what i wanted, and similar cars in similar shape in my area were right in line with that price. I found plenty of cheaper cars that "seemed" to be in the same shape as mine on Ebay, but i was willing to pay a little more for something i could touch,see,and drive before buying.. Good Luck, one things for sure, you wont regret the purchase
I’m in southern Indiana but I’ve been looking across the whole country
If you've been searching on the big three used vehicle sites (Autotrader, Cars.com, Cargurus) across the country, then you know the asking prices better than KBB or NADA do, and I mean that. When I bought my C5 back in 2012, the books were incredibly inaccurate when it came to small volume cars like the Corvette and I doubt that they improved over the years. My best recommendation is, figure out from the research you've done what a particular model/year should sell for and go after the car you like that's within your budget. Forget about the "books" because they're almost worthless. If you find a car that is particularly clean and the DIC indicates that it has few, if any, codes thrown, then go after it. IMHO, there's more to learn on this forum about the changes from year to year that are more important than just the price. Good luck, hope it works out for you.
Every time this conversation gets started on here, some erudite individual will opine that they built too many C5s for them to ever be collectible. Could some much brighter individual please define just what is a "collectable"? If they are not collectible, why do extremely low mileage Z06s get sold at auction every year for $30,000 plus...for a nearly 20 year old car? This is far more than old Cadillacs and similarly pricey cars of the era bring.
In the late sixties-early seventies I had several cars that I was told were not ever going to be collectible. My 63 split window, 59 XK150S Jag, Sunbeam Tiger, GTO, Lotus Elan, etc were all thought to be just fun old cars never to be worth anything. They all sold for far less a percentage of their new value back then than the C5 does today.
I am sure the naysayers are right and far more knowledgable about the used market than I am. But, I keep waiting for the nice ones to go down...and they don't!
BTW- that article is dead-on - I'm proof. I think it's time to take my 8k mile Nassau Blue coupe down off the lift and drive it! Yawn.... maybe after my nap....z-z-z-z-z
Just buy what you like, don't give a @#$ about what anybody thinks. These cars are great and reliable, but like everyone knows - they will never be really collectible since they made sooooo many of them. I'm okay with that...
I'd go out and buy a 02-04 6spd non-z car with under 40k miles and expect to spend around 12-15k and be done with it.
Have fun, that's what it's all about!
Dave C
2000 C5 Coupe
2007 Shelby GT500
1971 Duster 340
well if ya find an 04 under 40k for 12k-15k let me know cause they don’t seem to exist at the moment lol
I can relate to what is written in the R&T article "The Corvettes That Don't Get Driven, Sold, or Bought". I recently bought a fully-optioned 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4. I also have a 2002 Z06 that I've owned for 15 years and I really love the car too. I am retired so most of my driving is just for pleasure, maybe about 4,000 miles per year on the Z06.
The GT4 is an incredible car and I decided on getting it rather than buying a C8. I don't know what I am going to do with the Z06, but I know I am not going to dump it on the market for $15,000 or less just to get rid of it. So, I will be the guy who has a Z06 who rarely drives it and doesn't sell it. I used to be very protective of it and would always take our Suburban on shopping trips, out to eat, to the movies, etc. Now I guess the Z06 will be used for more of those trips just to keep the battery charged. My wife likes the Z06 but doesn't like that it is lowered on coilovers, which affects the way she has to drive the car to clear cross gutters, driveways, etc. Maybe my best option is to just keep it until I can give it to one of my grandsons when they get old enough and mature enough to drive it.
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
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To answer your question, yes, cars like the Corvette generally see higher prices in the spring and lower prices as winter approaches.
As far as pricing, people are free to ask whatever price they want, but whether or not they sell for that price is another story. I have seen many C5s posted for sale here on the forum that I thought were extremely overpriced, but who knows, the member may have sold it for that price or close to it.
Do your research for your area and see what price a car like you are looking for has sold for - if you can determine that from the posts.
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