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Been a rough year so far. Lost my older sister in January and both parents in June and July respectively. I am the executor of the estate and am working through that from out of state. Sold my house in June and living in an apartment until we retire and move back to OH in February. House will start being built in January. The attached garage will be 34' x 26'. That's the bad and the good. I sold some stuff to make the move lighter. One was my C5. It will be replaced by something newer I thought. I drove a three C6s. One base and two 2010 Grand Sports with less than 5000 miles. The only one that impressed me was a red 6 speed. I don't want to be the old guy with a red sports car but that was a great ride. Not sure I want to spend $48,000 though. Haven't totally dismissed another C5 but it would have to be a Z06. I was planning on waiting until the house was done before I bought another one because I didn't want to store it and move it. I ran across this one today and am now tempted. Love the color and the price. Don't particularly care about miles. Any thoughts? Wait? Buy it and store it?
My condolences on your losses. If you buy it, make sure to get a pre-purchase inspection. It seems to be a fair price. My best advice would be to go drive it. If you like it, and everything checks out, it might be worth buying it. Of course, only you can really decide that. This is a luxury item. You can always wait for a better time. It's not like there aren't plenty of these cars out there. Good luck!
Last edited by MWWarlord; Oct 20, 2021 at 10:23 AM.
Crazy that two years ago I sold a C5Z at the dealership with less than half those miles for that price and I had to fight tooth and nail to get the deal done.
The market is insane. Frankly, I'd wait to buy any of these cars at this point, but that's just me.
If that's a private seller, haggle because winter is coming. The price is still high for the miles imo. I don't foresee prices coming down as a whole any time soon, though, hitting 20 year collector status is holding them up for now.
Crazy that two years ago I sold a C5Z at the dealership with less than half those miles for that price and I had to fight tooth and nail to get the deal done.
The market is insane. Frankly, I'd wait to buy any of these cars at this point, but that's just me.
I somewhat disagree, personally I predicted a couple years back the C5 ZO6 market was poised to gather steam. If you look at the recent Corvette magazine and it's C5 market update you will see that '02-'04 ZO6's have the highest appreciable increase. While not as crazy as the Porsche 993 market it is never the less 'hot'. Regardless and IMO the C5 ZO6 represents the best performance bang-for-the-buck not only in the Corvette world but in the performance world period.
The Z06 car you tagged seems to be in good shape but yes, at that level of mileage you definitely want some background history on services.
It would be prudent to wait and actively search for something else but it all depends on what you want. Buy the Z06 and take some time to re & re parts to your specifications or... spend some more time looking only possibly to be in the same boat at a later point.
The deciding factors are your personal choice and is storage practical
Good Luck with your choices either way
I somewhat disagree, personally I predicted a couple years back the C5 ZO6 market was poised to gather steam. If you look at the recent Corvette magazine and it's C5 market update you will see that '02-'04 ZO6's have the highest appreciable increase. While not as crazy as the Porsche 993 market it is never the less 'hot'. Regardless and IMO the C5 ZO6 represents the best performance bang-for-the-buck not only in the Corvette world but in the performance world period.
I can respect it, but I definitely don't agree. To me they aren't rare or special enough to garner that kind of interest forever, but who knows. Maybe I'm wrong.
I wouldn't pay that kind of money for that particular car. If I'm priced out of the market now that's okay - I already got my C5. lol
Thanks for the input everyone. Did a quick look at the VIN. The car has been registered in several states, which may mean nothing. But this did show up (below), which could also mean nothing. I tend to be somewhat impetuous when it comes to cars. My wife will give testimony to that. Since I have an open ended budget (within reason) I believe I'll wait and see what happens in a few months and find something with a little better pedigree.
Reg in different states is worth a "hmmm", as it's something that can make the title lose brands sometimes like flood or salvage. Dealer/wholesaler shuffling inventory is a common tactic. I don't think those particular states were specifically flood states but a little cross reference with years, locations, and notable storms is always worth a quick google.
Am I misunderstanding? Did the Kis dealer of Waldorf MD; Buy and register the vehicle in AZ and then Sell to Lewis Motor of MD company again in AZ which then reports a potential odometer fake reading which then went to auction?
Am I misunderstanding? Did the Kis dealer of Waldorf MD; Buy and register the vehicle in AZ and then Sell to Lewis Motor of MD company again in AZ which then reports a potential odometer fake reading which then went to auction?
Actual owner data is never available via CARFAX. Owner number 4, whoever they are, bought the car 4/19/19 and then traded or sold it to Kia dealer in Waldorf, MD. They then sold the car to someone who got it serviced by Lewis Motor Co. 6 months later. Owner #5 then traded the car somewhere between that service and when a dealer listed it for sale via an auction (which is totally normal).
Seeing only 200 miles put on the car (allegedly) between April 2020 and October 2021 is a red flag to me, though.
I somewhat disagree, personally I predicted a couple years back the C5 ZO6 market was poised to gather steam. If you look at the recent Corvette magazine and it's C5 market update you will see that '02-'04 ZO6's have the highest appreciable increase. While not as crazy as the Porsche 993 market it is never the less 'hot'. Regardless and IMO the C5 ZO6 represents the best performance bang-for-the-buck not only in the Corvette world but in the performance world period.
The prices of C5Zs have risen along with ALL cars during COVID...it's the entire market, not the individual car. That's what Stingroo is saying and I agree. Everyone thinks their car is special right now Good to be a seller (but don't get too greedy), not so good to be a buyer.
Just be aware of the fact that area of Chantilly is "that area" that has all the body shops. I'd go over the car with a fine tooth comb looking for repaired damage.
Also, you have a lot of Military all over the DC metropolitan area. When I was in the USAF in the DC area, I still registered my vehicles back in my home state of Indiana to avoid inspections and BS.
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I think that price is a bit high, and I'm not convinced that the C5 is entering into a collector car status, although some day it may get there. Unless that car is everything you want and the miles are OK with you, I think waiting until the market settles down would not be a bad idea. Or make an offer based on it coming upon winter time (not sure how that area in VA is in terms of winter weather).
Thanks for all of the input and condolences. I am going to pass on this car. Also I'm in the process, as Executor, of trying to settle my parents estate. Since I live in VA I have had to post bond with the court in OH to get the court's approval to administer the estate plus obtain building permits for our house. Searching for Corvettes nationwide has be come my distraction for all the chaos. Realistically it makes sense for me to wait until I get settled in Ohio. Driving a Corvette from VA to OH in February just seems like a bad idea. If you think Corvettes are high, try buiding a house in this financial climate. Our original construction cost jumped $20,000 in 2 months. I asked the contractor what I could do to freeze the price and he said $1000 would hold the price for 60 days. Knowing this house wasn't going to be started within that time frame, I asked if there was a plan B. I had to provide proof of funds (no mortgage, which I wasn't getting anyway) that I had cash to pay for the house. The cost of the house has gone up another ~$36,000 but did not affect me. Just increases my Corvette budget. I love the C5 lines but looking at 2008-2013 Z06 and GS. We're going to do some driving.
Still a Dilemma
Good to be a seller (but don't get too greedy), not so good to be a buyer.
