Buster1

Hey guys,

I am selling my C6 over in the For Sale area. Seen a lot of folks saying I'm way overpriced. Someone sent me an Edmunds link and running the car's value on there is WAY different than KBB.

How do I determine the right asking price for the car/value?

Twisted1

I usually look at autotrader.com . Look at all the cars a year older to a year newer with comp options, mileage, condition, even color.
Then either try to buy on the low end of that or sell mid to upper.
Personally I think it shows what is going on in your own area for that current time frame.
Some may not agree, but that is my process.
Best of luck.

yeller z06

Look on eBay and see what cars are selling for (not asking - but completed & sold items). That's close to wholesale, generally. Then do as suggested above and look on Autotrader to see what folks are asking - that's high retail, generally. Then pick a number in the middle. Adjust for your market.

IMHO you should not add much if anything for mods, and factory options really don't count for much either. They may help move the car quicker, but they don't really affect the price. Mods can actually hurt you when selling, so consider taking them off or not mentioning them. I couldn't see your ad because you didn't bother with a link, so I had to go looking for it. Here are my thoughts:

- 2005 is the first year of the C6, right? That's a negative. True or false, people think they have issues.
- New 2012 cars can be had very cheaply with all of the discounts going on. That hurts used car resale.
- You have very low mileage. That's a positive, highlight it more.
- One owner? Any accident damage? Service records?
- Tasteful mods? That's your opinion. Just list them (or leave them off entirely). Oil changes and new roof are not mods. Separate mods from maintenance and repair.
- You took good pics. Now, take more, with interior, hatch, wheels, etc. to show just how pristine the car is.

Take the car to Carmax and see what they'll give you for it. That's typically a fair wholesale price. If you want to get rid of the car, take their check. If you want to get a bit more out of it (and I'm sure you do!) then price it a thousand or two over wholesale. Think about the lowest possible price that you'll take. A price for a really good friend, a price so low that it hurts. Then list it for that. And be prepared to have to discount it a little bit more.

Forget about getting your money back on the mods, that just doesn't happen. You may do better taking them off the car and selling them separately.

HTH.

RJRSW

KBB is owned by Autotrader and both tend to be 10-15% high. On Autotrader all you see is what people are asking and gives you no idea if they ever sold and if they did what they sold for. Ebay is far better for that because you can see similar cars to yours in the completed auctions area and what they sold for and if they didn't sell what the highest bids were. If you have a Carmax near you get a price from them they are a good buyer for low mileage Vettes and I personally know two guys that ended up selling their low mileage converts to them after trying for a couple months on their own.

As far as on line value sites Edmunds is by far the most current and realistic. I use their values for both selling and buying.

Random84

True - you never know what cars sold for, but with Ebay so few cars actually SELL there either: I think the vast majority are going after the auction when people email in offers or the sellers contact the highest offer and go from there (you never know the outcome though).

But given the options, a combination of the three ("BB value" combined with auctions and active listings) can give you a range - to sell, you want to be on the bottom half of that range for sure.

OP: with a 2005, 17K miles and the tasteful mods... I would think $29,xxx is a pretty fair price! Hopefully you get more bites but you may also want to list in other places (Craigslist, etc) to get more views.

GSRANDY

Add nada.com to the mix as well.

Best Regards,

GSRANDY

Gearhead Jim

As one dealer said, "If KBB thinks your car is really worth that much, then they should buy it themselves."

hawkgfr

Many dealers use manheim auto auction now...Find someone who has access and have the look up the going prices for your model...That would be the wholsale value and go from there.

BAblackvette

Ill second all of the responses above. I have been buying and selling alot of sports cars recently, and KBB/edmunds is usually the last way I go. Edmunds gives you 14 and KBB gives you 50, both of which are always way off haha. Taking an average of the two generally is a price that is closest to current selling prices I find.

To the OP - you have a beautiful vette! You will probably have more luck if you can afford to wait a little for spring. I would be all over your car if it was an 06+, I just came out of an 05 silver/black coupe looking to upgrade a little, hopefully to an LS3!

Buster1

Thanks guys. Nice writeup Yeller!

not08crmanymore

In the real world you should see what your car is selling for in your area,say within 100 miles.If you know anybody that goes to the auctions,ask if any Vettes go thru and gauge your retail asking price off of what the wholesale auction prices are. 20 grand auction > 25 grand retail!KBB,NADA and all the rest are just guides.Sometimes close to accurate,sometimes miles away.Also,see what your car is selling for new as in after all discounts and rebates.Then consider what differences and 'upgrades'the new car has,as in LS2 versus LS3,etc etc.When the price gets low enough,somebody will buy it!

BillH2121

I look at NADA, KBB, and Edmunds and then do a rough average of those prices. I then look at the local market via newpaper, Autotrader, Ebay. Fair market price is what a buyer is willing to pay and seller willing to sell - could be higher or lower than what the books say and depends on how sophisticated your buyer is.
However, almost everyone buying a car these days gets on the internet and looks at one book ot the other.

PHXAZ06

I use KBB when I'm selling, and Edmunds when I'm buying.
My guess is average selling price is closer to Edmunds when it's a private party sale.