C7 Resale Values?
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2010
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That's a good point with merit. I'm extremely dubious about buying a ME. GM using their customers as guinea pigs, is in their heritage. Witness your terrible A8s........
Le Mans Master
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From: Down south in Dixie
Pro
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From: Northern California
St. Jude Donor '16
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2016
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As a percentage of the market, Corvette sales were far larger in that era than today. There were more than 27,000 Corvettes built in 1966 and less than 23,000 built in 2017. The total car and light truck market in the U.S. was around nine million in 1966 and more than seventeen million in 2017.
I owned a split window in the late sixties that was like new and was in it for $2500. That car today would meet or exceed $100,000. It was the general consensus then that the car would never be worth real money because there were just too many of them. That was proven wrong decades ago.
A blanket statement that no C7 will ever be worth money is just not a very bright one. The future collectible market will be interesting because of the change in propulsion systems underway. Today's cars could be worth nothing or could be worth a fortune when all you can buy is electric. Non the less, going by any historical examples, certain C7 Corvettes will be bring a lot of money long before a fifty year window.
Pro
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 632
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From: Northern California
St. Jude Donor '16
I don't trust you simply because you are not looking at the numbers properly. I was there when the C2 was being built and they were produced in great numbers as well. They were also a dime a dozen used in the seventies because they were around in abundance. Today they have become the gold standard for collectible Corvettes.
As a percentage of the market, Corvette sales were far larger in that era than today. There were more than 27,000 Corvettes built in 1966 and less than 23,000 built in 2017. The total car and light truck market in the U.S. was around nine million in 1966 and more than seventeen million in 2017.
I owned a split window in the late sixties that was like new and was in it for $2500. That car today would meet or exceed $100,000. It was the general consensus then that the car would never be worth real money because there were just too many of them. That was proven wrong decades ago.
A blanket statement that no C7 will ever be worth money is just not a very bright one. The future collectible market will be interesting because of the change in propulsion systems underway. Today's cars could be worth nothing or could be worth a fortune when all you can buy is electric. Non the less, going by any historical examples, certain C7 Corvettes will be bring a lot of money long before a fifty year window.
As a percentage of the market, Corvette sales were far larger in that era than today. There were more than 27,000 Corvettes built in 1966 and less than 23,000 built in 2017. The total car and light truck market in the U.S. was around nine million in 1966 and more than seventeen million in 2017.
I owned a split window in the late sixties that was like new and was in it for $2500. That car today would meet or exceed $100,000. It was the general consensus then that the car would never be worth real money because there were just too many of them. That was proven wrong decades ago.
A blanket statement that no C7 will ever be worth money is just not a very bright one. The future collectible market will be interesting because of the change in propulsion systems underway. Today's cars could be worth nothing or could be worth a fortune when all you can buy is electric. Non the less, going by any historical examples, certain C7 Corvettes will be bring a lot of money long before a fifty year window.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 14,492
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From: Dallas, TX
too early to say. There are just too many factors to consider. There is a huge oversupply of unsold C7s on dealers lots. The pricing of the new C8 could factor in. The economy could be a major factor and then you have to consider the millenials. What will they do? They will be the big driver to what happens with the C8. You also need to consider the auto market is in transistion right now. There will be many new EV models coming online soon with all manufacturers introducing many new models over the next 5 years. The ICE could be considered a dinosaur when EVs gain traction. There could be a point in time you might not be able to give away an ICE vehicle.
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Doubt the values for used C7s will rise anytime soon. Probably won't stabilize either. My guess is they will continue to go down for a while. But, if they get ridiculous on the price of the C8, who knows what will happen.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 988
From: Orwigsburg Pa
It’s interesting to see what happens with all these dealers still having brand new 17’s and 18’s and still cannot sell them. They don’t want to budge off the price. Most guys are going to buy a 19. The only way you will see someone buy one if that’s what model they are looking for. You would think the 17’s and 18’s would be discounted heavily but there not.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2016
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Advanced
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 98
Likes: 50
From: Horse Cave, KY
It’s interesting to see what happens with all these dealers still having brand new 17’s and 18’s and still cannot sell them. They don’t want to budge off the price. Most guys are going to buy a 19. The only way you will see someone buy one if that’s what model they are looking for. You would think the 17’s and 18’s would be discounted heavily but there not.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2015
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From: SE WI
I fully agree and happen to be trying to purchase one myself but the prices are ridiculous on the leftover cars. We can't even find a fair price on anything in stock near us, we looked at 3 different 2019's on Saturday and the best price we got was 5% off of MSRP. I keep reading how much these cars are discounted right now but I sure don't see it. I do a search daily on autotrader, cars.com, and cargurus nationwide and there's sure not any bargains on those sites.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,598
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When I bought my c7 in 2015 I did a depreciation curve on used Corvettes (c5-c6 at the time). Here are some rules of thumb:
1. Year 1 20% Purchase Price depreciation
2. Year 2-4 about 10% of BB per year.
3. Level out in the $30K+ range depending more on condition and color than year.
My MY 2016 Z51 is worth about $35-40K now... just about on track.
The reason new C7 are piling up is not the pending C8... it is the availability of plenty of good used C7s... why buy a new C7 for $60K when you can buy a virtually identical used 2017 with 5K miles for $15K less?
The good news... Corvettes (and sportscars in general) are luxury purchases... there is always somebody who wants a Sunday Driver or a beach-house car so there is always a market (millennials or not)
Some more guidelines:
1. Convertibles always hold value better(although the subset of performance oriented buyers prefer coupes)
2. Special performance models always hold value better.
3. Highly optioned cars depreciate much faster as value-driven used buyers won't pay premium for doodads (the guy who bought that $100K sticker Z06 is taking pipe)
My guess is if you buy a clean low mileage used 2017 GS in a nice color with an M7 tranny, you'll minimize your depreciation hit. A nice base-model coupe will be worth $25-30K for several more years.
1. Year 1 20% Purchase Price depreciation
2. Year 2-4 about 10% of BB per year.
3. Level out in the $30K+ range depending more on condition and color than year.
My MY 2016 Z51 is worth about $35-40K now... just about on track.
The reason new C7 are piling up is not the pending C8... it is the availability of plenty of good used C7s... why buy a new C7 for $60K when you can buy a virtually identical used 2017 with 5K miles for $15K less?
The good news... Corvettes (and sportscars in general) are luxury purchases... there is always somebody who wants a Sunday Driver or a beach-house car so there is always a market (millennials or not)
Some more guidelines:
1. Convertibles always hold value better(although the subset of performance oriented buyers prefer coupes)
2. Special performance models always hold value better.
3. Highly optioned cars depreciate much faster as value-driven used buyers won't pay premium for doodads (the guy who bought that $100K sticker Z06 is taking pipe)
My guess is if you buy a clean low mileage used 2017 GS in a nice color with an M7 tranny, you'll minimize your depreciation hit. A nice base-model coupe will be worth $25-30K for several more years.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 174
Likes: 96
I fully agree and happen to be trying to purchase one myself but the prices are ridiculous on the leftover cars. We can't even find a fair price on anything in stock near us, we looked at 3 different 2019's on Saturday and the best price we got was 5% off of MSRP. I keep reading how much these cars are discounted right now but I sure don't see it. I do a search daily on autotrader, cars.com, and cargurus nationwide and there's sure not any bargains on those sites.