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My car was very clean with the exception of having two issues. One, the relays for the door locks are bad. Passenger side locks but won't unlock and the driver side is just the opposite. The other issue was the leaky battery on the frame. There is your rust. Not that bad. For now I just cleaned it and covered it with grease. When the car gets put away for the winter I'll pull the fender well out, sand it and repaint it. Nothing that a few hours of work won't cure. the rest of the car is in very good shape. The undercarriage still looks like new. Still has inspection tags and all the aluminum is still bright and shiny. Don't think the car was ever driven in the rain.
Visually the "notch back" is a different car. I bought my car in 2009 for 25k with 9k miles, and other than the mods am still pretty whole. You cant say that for almost any other car.
A 5K mile 2004 CE somebody missed the experience!! From a 2004 CE with 60,000 miles.
this is actually one of my favorite parts about corvette. i like fun cars in general. supra, nsx, evo's, GTR's
corvette is kind of it's own thing with mileage. all those other cars tend to get driven. corvette on the other hand. it's easy to find 5-10k mile cars that are 10+ years old.
if you're buying and want a mint used car. this is the brand you want. the only other cars people do this with are the maintence intensive exotics
OK - on the other end of the scale - I just bought a 2003 Z for a track car - 168,000 miles - always a Florida car - in really nice shape - for $ 11k . A wonderful car, and since I will be going thru it for the track, mileage is not an issue...
I can tell you that here in Canada, Calgary more importantly I've seen the prices increase, and people are still getting close to asking. A friend of mine just sold his 2002 Z for $32k 2 weeks ago. It had 24,000km (15,000 miles).
And now if you look on our local craigslist, which is kijiji they are still between $26k to 34k, so I'd have to say they have gone up slightly in value, at least here anyway.
I bought my black 2003 C5Z in April 2015 for $19,500 with 39,000miles. I could realistically sell it for around $28k right now. Granted I low balled the guy and got a ridiculously good deal because I know he needed to sell it. I did however sink in $3k at western corvette to get it up to snuff. And it did have some ugly chinese replica wheels with bald tires etc when I bought it.
Condition, mileage, & mods are significant factors affecting the price... as well as finding the right buyer. I bought my '04 C5Z about 4 months ago. It was an immaculate one-owner car with documented service history, and only 8600 miles on the odometer. It had new Michelins installed, as well as a new battery. Both window regulators had been replaced. Mods included drilled/slotted rotors (he also gave me the stockers), column lockout bypass, and skip-shift eliminator... so basically a stock car. Also came with a cover, jacking pucks, and a spare 3 piece OEM air dam. All that is worth something to me.
A few weeks before, I lost out on an '04 Z16... also immaculate... new tires, & 23k miles on it. I tried to low-ball him. 24 hours later, he sold it... and probably got asking price (or very close to it). I paid a premium for mine because of the mileage and condition, tho still feel that I got a good deal (less than the Z16). Mine's not a Z16, but I'm ok with that... & I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
I bought my '02 Z06 last Fall. It had 19K miles on it, in mint condition in and out and had Magnuson supercharger on it. I paid 24K. Thought I did alright.
I bought my '02 Z06 last Fall. It had 19K miles on it, in mint condition in and out and had Magnuson supercharger on it. I paid 24K. Thought I did alright.
Paid $24.5k for my bone stock 10k mile 2002 last July. Had new tires with less than 15 miles on them. Only complaint I have is I wish it was electron blue. First world problems!
Here's my dealings in the past 15 months. I sold my MY 2001 C5Z for $18,500 in Feb 2016 with 45k miles. I bought a MY 2003 C5Z in Mar 2017 for $20,000 with 16k miles. The 2001 was in excellent condition, had new tires, and a few small mods. The 2003 was bone stock, needed all four tires, and I had to get the EBCM repaired. I'm in it for about another $1,500 right now on top of the $20,000 to get it up about to where the 2001 was. If you can find a seller needing to sell more than you need to buy, you can get a deal. I would never buy a car like this from a dealer as you are going to pay 10-20% more.
05-09-2017, 09:06 AM
The other issue was the leaky battery on the frame. There is your rust. Not that bad. For now I just cleaned it and covered it with grease. When the car gets put away for the winter I'll pull the fender well out, sand it and repaint it. Nothing that a few hours of work won't cure. the rest of the car is in very good shape. The undercarriage still looks like new. Still has inspection tags and all the aluminum is still bright and shiny. Don't think the car was ever driven in the rain.
