Baltimoron

Being that I'm new to the corvette world, and what the market looks like when the current generation give way to the next, I'm interested in what I can expect from both the new and used c7 market. Although I internet shop like I'm in the market, the reality is that it'll probably be around this time next year I'm actually a genuine buyer. With that in mind, can I expect to find great deals on the remainder of the new 2018 dealer stock? Also, will there be a notable exodus by current owners looking to upgrade to the C8 creating a buyers market for used C7's? I know there are a lot of variables that go into this; numbers chevy produces for a car that already seems to be losing interest, how amazed the world is by the C8, etc....

23/C8Z

There's no C8 coming out anytime soon. There may be a mid-engine car coming out from everything we've heard they will sell side-by-side for several more years before the ca comes out. A better question might be when the new paint process comes online will the cars pre-new paint process be sold at a discount. I have a feeling the new paint process is going to really leave a nice finish on these cars much nicer than today. Values aren't going to tank regardless because there's maybe twenty or thirty percent of people that even understand or notice the difference. But if I was in the market to pick up one in the next year or two I would be highly focused on the cars rolling off the line once the new Booth opens. Good luck

Baltimoron

Oh ok, I think I was under the false impression that the new midengine car was one of the variants of the C8. Thanks for clearing that up, and providing the info about the new paint. Is that going to be online once the factory reopens?

dvilin

The new paint process will have no impact on sales new or used. As for the C8 probably still a couple of years away.

CP

Chebby has a real demographic problem on their hands. There have been several posts about this and why most Vette drivers are "older guys". The "older guys' aren't going to last forever.

The Gen X people have a lower appreciation for cars like the Vette and the Millennials even less so. I know the people on this forum in those age groups will disagree but, face it, you are in the minority for your generations.

sTz

The C8 is probably another 3 years out. If you want a Vette, there are great deals now. Life it too short waiting around for hypotheticals...

Crossed Flags Fan

^^True^^ I would even go so far as to say with the extremely good press the 6th Gen Camaro is getting, lower price and being a 4(?) seater, younger car enthusiasts are probably more interested in it than the Corvette. Time will tell but the Corvette sales levels may never reach their glory days and after the introduction of the C8 and phase out of the C7 the Corvette become a niche car like the Ford GT albeit at a lower price than the GT.

Foosh

I don't think 99.7% of the population will notice any difference between a paint job out of the new and old paint plants.

Patman

I was poking around a Chevy dealer last weekend on a nice sunny day and they had a handful of new Vettes on their lot and I thought the paint looked pretty good on all of them (all the cars were either Torch Red, white or Gray), and I've probably got a better eye than the average non car enthusiast too. So I'm not sure it's going to be a massive difference once they get the new paint plant up and running.

Baltimoron

I'm 35, so I technically and reluctantly fall into the mellenial category I guess... lol. With that said, when I was in my teens and twenties when the love for cars usually has its roots in the average male, there were domestic guys and there were import guys. There were a few things that I think drove people to be "import guys". First and foremost, money. For a teenage kid who couldn't afford a newer mustang or camaro, the option of buying a civic and modding the living hell out of it was a compelling option that produced a surprisingly viable competitor for the domestic guys that were lower on the food chain. The second reason is that the Fast and Furious movies series was launched introducing a super cool Paul Walker driving an obscenely unrealistic Mitsubishi Eclipse which created a serious "cool factor" to the import scene. For me, the terrible sound of those cars was enough to keep me away. As a converted Mustang guy, there's nothing that replaces that v-8 rumble. Unfortunately, both Chevy and Ford have essentially priced out anyone who isn't upper middle class or better from the performance car market. Even 6 banger mustangs and camaros are in the 30+k range. My last toy car was a 2001 Mustang Gt that I bought new for $24k out the door with ever option available. I'm not sure what the answer is, but somehow they need to find a way to get younger people in domestic seats again. Corvettes will never be a "young" persons car again because of cost, but if they win the battle of selling younger people on the pony cars again, I think they can succeed at selling corvettes for generations to come. Ford has an even bigger problem in my opinion as their top and mass produced product is relatively indistinguishable from the lower end models to the untrained eye. They really should create a completely separate car to rival the Corvette instead of this silliness where they try to convince everyone that a Mustang can compete with the top tier chevys.

Vonfido

Most people are not as **** about perfect paint as the people on this forum - people think I'm nuts how my car never goes out on the road not looking just detailed but they wouldn't spend the time and $$$ to use detail spray in between washes and Polymer sealers and real Carnuba wax and Bead Maker and Clay Bars - etc etc etc - you can't expect the general public to know or care about the paint process at the Bowling Green factory - the stuff people post on these forums crack me up - lots of people just drive their cars without much thought about how they were made or painted etc

Baltimoron

I completely agree. To be clear, I'm not intentionally waiting to buy one next year. I'm just currently still paying off my daily driver, which I plan to keep, so it's just not in the cards financially to make that move yet. If I was ready financially, I'd buy one tomorrow.

JerryU

Looking through the OPs comments, he may never get a new mid engine Vette if price is the issue.

Looks to me that the first one will come out as a Cadillac to get production started. That may be in 2019 or late 2018. It will be expensive IMO with some add-ons that marketing will use to try to justify the high price, perhaps ~$125,000! Some will buy it for the bragging rights of the Blaupunkt radio, Italian leather seats, blind spot detection, etc!

The Chevy version will probably come out 2 years later with good old Bose, mostly vinyl seats, etc! It will not be cheap, IMO!

As far as a cheap 2018 that will not happen this winter IMO because they have stopped production for months! Yep those left over in November 2018 perhaps.

The price for Grand Sports has increased from when I bought mine several months ago. Expect as inventories get depleted with the production shut down, that will continue. If the OP wants one in the next few years look for good 2014/2015.

That is my crystal ball!

Baltimoron

Yeah, I'm definitely not seeing a 6 figure car in my immediate future. My leaning is toward a low mileage used one, but am still considering a new one. We'll see!

23/C8Z

right. except we're on an enthusiast's forum. so these things matter.

and at a cars and coffee next year, if a blue Z06 parks next to you and there's 50% less orange peel because it is an 18 built at the new facility? let's just say we all know that feeling..... am i wrong?

UsernameProtected

Good plan. I'd have preferred to buy used, if I could have found one exactly the way I wanted it, in the used market. Unfortunately my tastes are not mainstream enough, and this was going to be a "no-compromise" purchase, so I had to order one.

Hello depreciation. It was the price of admission for driving a manual transmission, and getting an interior that wasn't black.

Patman

If the car is a long term keeper, depreciation means nothing anyways.

I know what you mean about ordering a car if you want a non black interior. I really want the gray interior, so I'm definitely going to have to order mine. I also really want the standard silver wheels and dealers rarely ever order cars that way, most order black.

Foosh

Yes, I bought my CPO '14 convertible as a long-term keeper. Right now, it's a near-daily driver, but at some point I'll definitely be purchasing another high-performance vehicle to replace it in that duty. However, I'll keep the C7 purely for fun duty. I couldn't care less about depreciation.

roadbike56

Baltimoron, The used C7 market is not mimicking the new C7 market. There are a lot of new C7s in inventory, but used C7s are selling. If you look at the base C7 new vs used price, there's about a $3K per year difference between new at a discounted price vs used. The result is 2014 base cars with a clean carfax and under 30K miles are selling for around $40K or more. That's not a lot of difference when you compare it to a new C7 with a full warranty. The reason is, there are lots of buyers who are willing to pay $40K for a used C7.
In my opinion, you might want to give it one more year hoping that the used market gets saturated with used C7s at the $40K price point. I can't guarantee that will happen. I never expected the used prices to stay as high as they have for this long.

23/C8Z

Absolutely. Used C7s are leveling in price. 3 4 yr old great time to sell and make out well.