Its so tough being patient when you are hunting for the right C4 for you.

Ive messaged and messaged and so many "sellers", and they either dont respond, or the cars keep sitting for sale. Weeks and months on end with no flexibility in price.

Im 2.5 months into the search and many, MANY C4s are still for sale with no budge on price.

Im looking for a 1995/1996 - manual - under 100k mi. Not white. Not red intrerior. (Am ok with tan but prefer black interior)
$10-14k budget.

To search for cars im using this forum, Facebook, carsandbids, BaT, and autotempest. (Classic and Gateway has insane price C4s that have been sitting for months)

Is this a Corvette person thing? Do we all think we have rare corvettes or find a way to "make" it rare, and talk ourself into it?

On the Facebook groups when a person posts a car high the group let's him know... still no budget.

​​​There is a 96 silver kver manual with 90k mi for $16.5k... no maintenance records, and in driver condition. No budge....

Ok so the question is.... is it me? Am I being too cheap? Or shall I continue to be patient?

 

It's still early in the season for Corvettes and other toys (in the north, at least) In a couple of months, there will be more serious sellers and you should be able to find some selection in your price range.

 

Some buyers are the same way.... I saw someone posted that they wanted a car in the colors I have, didn't post a budget.... I sent a message to them with the exact car they were looking for with the exact miles, tons of records, all maintenance done and turn key.... then,,,,, crickets!!!

Were a fickle group... I know Ive been on the fence many times when selling... I put allot of time and money into all my cars... its kind of a shock when someone actually ponies up and is a serious buyer... then the questions start, "am I asking enough?" "Should I really sell my pride and joy?" .... That said, I do my best to reply and communicate to buyers/sellers...

I'd sell my 92 MN6 for the right price, but I know buyers wont appreciate all the money and time and quality parts I have into it to pay what it deserves. I don't care what a similar car sold for in some other state... I know my cars are tight and worth what I ask, when some weener throws a stupid number at me, I will just walk away...

 

It's not you. I feel your budget is realistic. And it not C4 or Corvette sellers. It's all sellers.

Bought a 1956 Thunderbird in January and experienced the same things you are experiencing.

The more patient you are, the better deal you'll get.

 

There are a lot of fake listings these days. And a lot of fake buyers. Not getting a response doesn't surprise me.

That said, I also agree that's a realistic budget for a driver quality car.

 

I agree too your budget is realistic. It's the sellers who make the process hard. Sometimes too you'll run into the "my wife made me list it" price which is obviously going to be crazy high so that nobody buys it.

When I bought my C4 I sure ran into some characters. just keep trying and eventually you'll get a competent seller!

 

Honestly, this really helps inspire more patience. Glad to hear from others that by budget isn't bonkers.

The hunt continues....

 

Your desired year, transmission, and colors were a 10,400 unit deep pool in 1995-96. There are certainly substantially fewer in the pool 30+ years later. The 95 is the most desirable year of C4. 96 Manuals are of course the very sought-after LT4. You are in competition with other purchasers looking for the same desirable 10,400 units. Sellers know this. Most sellers on the sites you listed are predominantly flippers, dealers and brokers. They aren't in a hurry to sell. They know they have a desirable piece compared to the other 350,000+ C4 built. They'll sit on it until a serious buyer with the funds comes along and buys it. There's an *** for every seat.

I don't think your budget or desires are unreasonable. Sellers can be dics just like buyers can be. You want to deal with a seller that isn't a dic. Dics don't return calls, don't respond, and the car that is on their site may have sold 2 years ago but they don't care enough to updated their listings.

Be patient. Keep reaching out to listings of desired cars. You'll find one that isn't being presented by a dic.

 

When I was looking for my C4 my criteria was 91-95 for body change and even with those wide years I spent months before finding my 91. Over that time I came across many for sale that price for condition didn't match. I owned it for 3 years and very happy with it, but a 95 one owner popped up for sale in great condition at a good price so sold the 91 for it.

Take your time. It is hard being patient, but being a bit picky will serve you well.

 

Yes, sellers can be dics for the reasons you pointed out. But a lot of the time, they become dics as a result of the actions of buyers. I have often advertised items for sale with a note "firm price" attached. English written words - not all that difficult to understand. Yet, as sure as my *** faces the ground, some CS is going to respond with "Would you take....."? No! Can't you read? (Marketplace is the worst with the "Is this still available?" robotic query and no further contact) Then there is the buyer that has limited experience, brains or both. They will throw out a price that is 30%, 40% - (I have even had some ******* offer me 1/2 of what I am asking.) lower than advertised price. At that point, the price goes up by the same margins. Not everyone that has an item for sale needs to fire sale it to buy diapers. There are tons of people like myself that don't care if it sells or not. I play the waiting game and eventually, success is accomplished. If you have a budget, then shop for items that are advertised in that price range. Don't get star struck by something that is shiny and priced well above your budget and then get all disappointed and butt-hurt because your expectation that you could screw them down to fit your parameters didn't pan out.

 

Patience is important... But don't be TOO patient. If you find a car that you like, the history and condition check out, but the price is a little more than you wanted to spend, don't pass on a good car. As much as we say "there's so many of these out there", there's really not. A lot have already been taken off the road in 20+ years.

Don't be stubborn on the right car over a little bit of money. You can spend $2k or whatever in an afternoon on these cars lol.

 

One of the results of the process of finding "The Car" is that the buyer learns the price/condition relationship in his area of the country and position in the market. You learn what is 'overpriced' and what is 'junk' condition wise. Because of this experience when a 'good' car at the 'right price' pops up, the buyer recognizes it as such. If the specifics of the car also match his desires, it becomes "The Car".

I buy cars that appeal to me and I want to experience. I sometimes ending up paying too much because of conditions that I didn't pick up on at the purchase, but I keep my cars a long time so the 'over' is amortized over a longer period of ownership. When I sell I price them reasonably which means sort of on the low-ish side of what the market is so that the offering appeals to a larger number of potential purchasers. I almost never have to, nor do, lower the price to make a deal. I've sold several cars where the buyer upon seeing it for the first time remarks "this is much nicer than I expected". Usually a sign that my price is too low. The S-10 that I've owned for 29 years and still drive daily for work had been in The Recycler (pre internet) for weeks. I went and looked at it and made an offer. The seller responded: "That's fair. But I'd like to keep it and run the ad another week at my current price. If I still have it next weekend, come get it at your price." That's what we did.

The OP is searching for a 'keeper', not an arbitrage opportunity. He's willing to pay a fair price for a car that meets his requirements that is in a condition that is commiserate with that price. If the price paid ends up a bit high no biggie because over an extended ownership it doesn't make a lot of difference. The cars and opportunities are out there. As discussed, patience is a virtue. In the meantime he's learning the market. Cheers.

 

Some very good points here. Theres an *** for every seat is my favorite line, ha!

Im not sure about how much competition when the same cars sit 3-4 months with no price drops. Many 1995 LT1s with 60k mi and more are listed at 20k... still.

For now ill take the good advice and tips here and stay patient. Super...super... patient.

 

Example in Ohio:
$22,000 for a 1995 C4 with 55k miles and no maintence records, automatic, should expect people to offer 1/2 price.

Im not butthurt, im simply noticing that many C4s are taking a long time to sell if at all, and Im trying to figure out if its the price, or not enough demand. Seems like both.

 

This is so well said. Its like you know me.

 

There would be very little chance I'd pay 22K for a 95 even with just 55k miles The 95 I bought was a one owner and even without having maintenance history the Carfax provided information showing it was looked after during the 80K miles it was driven. It really checked all the boxes I'd want in a C4. I bought it sight unseen just by the pictures presented.

Keep in mind regardless of the how nicely maintained a C4 is my 95 is 31 years so be ready for replacement of normal wear items. My first out of pocket cost was new tires. In the three years I've owned it the biggest repair so far was replacing some of the corroded brake lines. Rest of items included a few sensors including a 02.

Take your time, you'll be happy to have one (most days).

 

There's also people who don't really HAVE to or even want to sell their cars. They lost their cars at a "what it's take for me to sell it" price, and then if it sells, it sells, if not, oh wells.

Your example car there is probably a 16-18k car. You will likely not find service records, For ettes tend to be owned by more capable people than a BMW or Porsche, and they tend to be more reliable too. You are likely not going to find cars with binders of service paperwork, people will have typically done regular maintenance themselves.

 

Honestly, I think your $10K-$14K is OK for the 95 manuals, but not the 96 LT4 engined manuals (as all 96 manuals had the LT4). The LT4 was the same engine as in the Grand Sports which definitely adds to the value of the car as these 6,359 cars represent the highest horsepower for non-ZR-1 small blocks or less than 2% of all C4 production. The 95 manuals account for about 4300 cars and how many of those still exist makes those difficult to find. I wish you luck in your seartch.

 

his example is definitely not a 16-18k car. It’s an automatic with 55k miles with no records. That’s an 8-12k car.

youll find the right deal, the hot tip is to look for ones with the lousiest pictures and then look closely and read it closely and take a chance or two going to see them. Lots of hidden gems with poorly written ads and little to no pics.

but I agree with so many points on both sides. I’ve listed clean low mile cars and gotten assaulted with the dumbest and most unreasonable of questions and requests, and I’ve seen automatics with destroyed seat bolsters listed like they are a zr1.

folks with automatics see what the clean manual examples bring and think they’re cars are worth that: and then folks with manuals see what these inbred automatic owners list their cars at and then the manuals get listed at zr1 prices. And then none of them sell lol.

many many many are 30-50% too high.

10-14k will absolutely get you a manual lt1 car under 80k miles.

heck I have a line on one if you’re on the east coast message me.

 

Not here to beat you around but just adding a data point.

6 months ago I bought a white 95 with 59k miles, manual coupe for 11.5k. Needed new tires and shocks right away and other basic delayed maintenance but was a solid 31 year old car. Hold out for the 6 speed 1995. Its worth it for the upgraded opti spark and the manual is a joy to shift through. I drove an auto 1994 as well, and although it was just as punchy it just didn't have that thrill you get from rowing the gears.