C4 value vs other 80's cars
 

This get's brought up all the time, but what is the deal with the C4 corvette and the $$$ it brings. I see camaros, monte carlos, buicks from the 80's bring way more money than any C4 from the 80's. The technology in the C4 is way better than the monte carlos, but I just saw an 87 aerocoupe with 36k and they were asking 20k for it. Another 87 Iroc with the same mileage asking 18K. It really seems like these 80's C4's are really undervalued. Good for a buyer, bad for a seller.

I've seen Chevettes bring more $$ than a C4.

C4 value is the absolute worst............buy now!

They are absolutely undervalued right now. Part of the reason is they sold a ton of them - things in the US economy were good during those years so they sold a lot. The design is robust and so tons are still on the road.

the car mags are all raving about how cheap C5 are, but totally miss that an LT1 C4 is an amazing value compared to a C5.

Watching Mecum I was surprised to see C5s selling in the low teens right next to C4s selling in the low teens. To compound the price issue rubber bumper C3s are also in the low teens. So what we have are three generations all settling to the bottom of the dollar pot. There are major differences in performance so it will come down to what you like.

supply and demand. a 87 monte areo coupe they only made 6500 of them that was about one months production of 87 Vettes

Maybe 2 months of production. They made less than that in the 6yr production run of ZR1's and they are still cheap compared to their original sticker.

Part of the problem is how many have survived today not how many were manufactured back in the 70s or 80s, even the 90s. When new, many C4s were pampered pets. A few saw some DD use, but even those were well maintained. Almost all Buicks, Cameros and Monte Carlos were driven to work on day one of their owned life. Care to guess which cars saw snow tires first, Corvette or Buick? You know the answer.
So here we are 30 years later. Many of those pampered Corvettes are still pampered pets and those that aren't certainly haven't seen 30 years of hard labor. Many of those old Buicks are now showing up as washing machines or new Chevy Cruze having been recycled long ago. Many others are field cars. The few nice examples that remain of those vehicles are prized because they are so few. Not true for the Corvettes where there are just a ton of them still in good condition. Then you add that the C4 is a very well designed/ engineered vehicle that holds up very well. Add to that, there's only so many folks who have enough money to have a 2 seat toy to drive. It's not that these Corvettes aren't desired. It's just so easy to find one for the buyers that do exist.

Also keep in mind C4 are not cheap to own unless you are doing the repairs yourself. Heater core replacement.rear suspension replacement can run thousands unless you can do the work yourself. To rebuild my whole rear suspension was close to 4 grand. Most C4 probably have well over 100K. Stuff can only last so long. Seat replacement if done by a shop in leather is also close to a grand . Not counting carpets door panels, etc.

Yeah, weird how Camaros and Monte Carlos bring more money. It's hype in my opinion. My uncle has an 87 Iroc, cousin has an 86 SS. Don't see how they are worth more.

Supply vs demand. I can find at least a dozen C4s for sale within 100mi, but maybe only 2-3 IROCs or Monte SSs.

its what people remember. NASCAR was in its glory days in the 80's and what car stands out, the monte SS. Chevys last true muscle car carbed V8, and RWD the body sadly was constructed just like its 60's counter part. prone to rust. IROC was sort of the same for pony cars. if you where a racing fan and liked Chevys thats what your driver raced. believe it or not that sold cars and made people want them. I remember going to the races in the mid 90's and thats what you saw in the parking lots. not over seas made cars. the Montes sold for around 18K and the vettes about 10K more

One of the worst things I ever did was trade a friend of mine a beautiful 86 Monte SS for an 81 C3 straight across.... I guess I just had Corvette fever.... I had 3 at the time.... The C3 wound up having a rusted out bird cage. I sold it for $3000. The guy I traded the Monte to sold it for $7000. This was years back....:smash:

Try Edmunds True Market Value.[google it]

I keep seeing people say 80's F-body's are selling for more money but in my area there are still LOTS of decent looking IROC's and Trans Am's selling in the 3-5k range and that's in Canadian dollars (even less in US $).

There was Black V-8 1989 Firebird Formula on craigslist about a month ago owners said it ran and had no rust and he only wanted $800 obo. IF only I had more room...

Seems like most 80's cars are very inexpensive here, unless they are super low miles, one owner type of car.

Personally I really like 80's cars. I thought of getting an 80's F-body as a DD a few years ago but was told I needed a 4-door family car... so I got CTS-V instead.

I bought my 91 in 1999. At the time I knew I wanted a Corvette (C4s fit in my price range), but I also looked at a 89 Pontiac TTA. Believe it or not, both were the same price....... and the TTA even had less miles. I bought the Vette and today it's worth considerably less than I paid for it in 99 (and I've put countless dollars into it). The TTA would probably be worth 2.5 times what I would have paid for it. :crazy:

Oh well, if we knew then what we know now, we would have all been stuffing Hemi Mopars in our garages. :yesnod:

The Aerocoupe was Chevy's answer to Ford's Thunderbird, since Ford was spanking Chevy in Nascar.

It just amazes me.



https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...0-00005b189bd5



Used 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 442 Coupe
$14,990

I have encountered a phenomenon surrounding the C4 in particular. I dunno what to call it but "The REAL Hot Rodder" syndrome. I never noticed it till I got a Vette myself.

There is apparently a very widely held perception that the C4 is a sports car, not a muscle car. It isn't considered to be one, and perhaps this is because people grew up with magazines like "Hot Rod" featuring Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, etc.. and very few Corvettes.

I think it is a fantastic performance car platform. But I have spoken to enough purists to become convinced that they don't see it that way. In their minds a muscle car has a straight rear axle and it generally runs a carburetor. (If not, they'll put one on it.)

No lockup torque converters. No tricky FI systems. No no fancy-dancy climate control systems. Weird fiberglass leaf springs and complicated rear suspensions. Etc.

And they are prejudiced against the C4 as a result.

It is kind of odd because a good running LT1 would run rings around a lot of their "muscle cars" from the era. But I have now heard it from enough people to believe it is true.

IMVHO.

A corvette by definition was never a muscle car. It’s a sports car and always will be one A muscle car is a mid size car with a bigger engine then it’s base counter part. Example a 67 327 Malibu is not a muscle car but the 67 SS396 Chevelle is. A Camaro or Mustang is a pony car.