Buying used Corvettes.

When you are in the market for a used vette, what criteria do you use for selecting the *one* you are looking for? Are mods a benefit or a liability? Or are just some mods OK and others NOT OK?

The reason I am asking this is because I see an awful lot of ads here and there of people "demodding" their vette to bring it back to stock and selling off the mods separately. What is the reason behind doing this? Is the un-modded vette easier to sell or are they thinking they can make more money selling the mods separately? Or both?

And if interested in buying that vette, would you WANT to know about those mods that used to be on it?

I think the rule of thumb is you get about half of what you paid for the mods you installed. Performance mods can scare some potential buyers off as they tend to think the car has been driven harder than a stock car. Sometimes this is true, sometimes not. Sometimes if you have a stock low milage car a buyer can get the opportunity of buying an unmolested car that feels new. Case in point, I had a 70 440 six pack Cuda that I use to bracket race. I took out the wiper motor, heater core, radio, road lamps, anything I could take out to save weight. I took off the shaker hood and installed a fiberglass hood with an aluminum air box. I raced the car for a year or so, then put everything back to stock and sold it to a guy from Australia who shipped the car there. When I was done he got a stock 440 six-pack Cuda which is what he wanted. If your buying a car for a long term investment stock is the way to go, but you gotta wait 40 years, look at what stock mint mid-years are bringing. I personally wouldn't want a highly modded car unless it was done correctly by the right person. ***holes and opinions, everybodys got one. This is mine. :crazy03:

i think a lot of people do put the car back to stock because it seems to give them a bigger market. they also can sell the mods and get a little back from them. with some mods, you never know who did the work and if you can trust it. that tends to scare off a few people. to me part of the fun of modding a car is the research and then going on the hunt for it. i also enjoy the before and after results. some people dont mind a car with mods others do. more often the stock appearing car will sell faster. it would be nice to know of past mods on a car though, because who knows if the stock parts were reinstalled properly and if the car had any damage from the previous mods. this is just a guess and my opinion though. no real reasearch has been done on this on my part.

I have to agree with these guys. Bigger market, 1/2 the money return, and not driven as hard (so they think).

All of the above is very true. Most times, a modded car will bring the same or less than a stocker.

Personally, i will only buy #'s matching cars with paperwork. Especially these days, with all the clones out there.

Better do your homework, if buying 60's or early 70's, Vettes or muscle cars. Very easy to be taken if not well schooled on purchase.

Jack

gsjack said:

Better do your homework, if buying 60's or early 70's, Vettes or muscle cars. Very easy to be taken if not well schooled on purchase.
Jack

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I agree! I would never buy earlier than a C4 without taking a "vette head" with me to check it out. So far, I've been able to buy new so previous mods are not a problem.
Robert(the husband) has bought his vettes used, either from dealers or private and so far has been lucky. No issues with any of the vettes. But again, we're buying C4's and C5's.

Well, let's up the ante.... Would you say it is ETHICAL for a seller to de-mod a car and not volunteer that info to a prospective buyer?

If you were buying a used car and say, for instance, it had a supercharger on it for 3,000 miles, that has since been removed, would YOU like to know about this in making a purchasing decision?

It would not be ethical in my opinion, but then again the car business isn't an ethical business. It is built on lies and deceit. I have worked at new car dealers all my adult life and believe me lies and unethical practices are the norm. Sure, once and a while you run into an honest person whose main objective isn't to pick your pocket clean, but they are far and few. Just in case your wondering I was one of those people, yes there were times I did lie, but usually only to cover someone elses screwups, but I never took unfair advantage of someone, a few liberties with some female customers in my younger days but thats for another thread. A supercharger isn't a mod like a set of chrome wheels. The only purpose for a supercharger is for more horsepower which could translate into abuse.

There is far too much money at stake to be honest and trustworthy. When buying a used car, any used car "buyer beware" should be first and foremost on your mind.

Nytro said:

It would not be ethical in my opinion, but then again the car business isn't an ethical business. It is built on lies and deceit. I have worked at new car dealers all my adult life and believe me lies and unethical practices are the norm. Sure, once and a while you run into an honest person whose main objective isn't to pick your pocket clean, but they are far and few. Just in case your wondering I was one of those people, yes there were times I did lie, but usually only to cover someone elses screwups, but I never took unfair advantage of someone, a few liberties with some female customers in my younger days but thats for another thread. A supercharger isn't a mod like a set of chrome wheels. The only purpose for a supercharger is for more horsepower which could translate into abuse.

There is far too much money at stake to be honest and trustworthy. When buying a used car, any used car "buyer beware" should be first and foremost on your mind.

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This is interesting.

I've seen some "modded" Vettes go across B-J with all the stock parts mothballed and going with the sale of the car. It does not seem to have hurt the selling prices of that car.

I agree with you on the "question of ethics", but not with "because the car business isn't an ethical business" that we should lower ourselves to the unethical business practices of way too many sellers. If I sell something, I'm straight about it. Just my two cents.

Formula Outlaw said:

This is interesting.

I've seen some "modded" Vettes go across B-J with all the stock parts mothballed and going with the sale of the car. It does not seem to have hurt the selling prices of that car.

I agree with you on the "question of ethics", but not with "because the car business isn't an ethical business" that we should lower ourselves to the unethical business practices of way too many sellers. If I sell something, I'm straight about it. Just my two cents.

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I think the people that is out to burn you will get theirs in the end What comes around goes around.And maybe you will get burned once or twice but we also learn from our dumb a$$ mistakes:yesnod: