This is my first post here, and I'm looking at buying my first Corvette.

I'm looking for an all/nearly stock 03' or 04' Z06 in Electron Blue or Torch Red.

Today I went and looked at this EB Z06 with 23XXX miles:

***too new to post the link***

First, how do you come to a value for a Corvette? I've been watching ebay and craiglist and the forums and I'm thinking I could pay around $24k for this car. Sound fair? I don't think a dealership will give ebay results much credit and I want to be confident with my price point. Sort of, "this is my offer and if they counter-offer too high I'll just walk away and find a better deal elsewhere."

Next, what can I expect a shop to look for during a pre-purchase inspection? How much should I expect to pay? Does anyone in NW Washington have a recommended shop?

What problems should I look out for?

The car has a clear bra but it's peeling up on the mirrors. What can I expect to pay to have the mirror sections replaced?

What parts of the exhaust are titanium? Just the cat-back half? Any specific way to tell if the exhaust is stock? If the headers have been replaced with something better, that's cool. But I want the stock titanium sections.

Does the average MPG number reset with the trip ODO or is it over the life of the car? This car says 12.4 mpg average and I'm wondering if it's just what you would expect of a car from around busy Seattle or a sign of some over-zealous hot-rodding? My dad has an 04' Z06 and even with AutoX and some reasonably lead footed street driving his average MPG states ~23 mpg. He didn't know if it resets though and he's recently done a bit more highway driving.

Sorry for the long post! I've just bought cars in the past and wished I'd done more home work beforehand!!!

According to Corvette mag # 60 oct 2010, 2003 ZO6 is 26,500 in good condition 2004 32,000 in good condition, have shop check codes,clutch,the 12 MPG that guy was hot riding, I would look for hard driving,rubber in wheel wells stone chips by rear tires that means burnouts,I would look for one super clean low miles,and I would buy privately so the guy can hand you a folder of every shop visit, every upgrade, Welcome to the site and good luck with search.

According to Corvette mag # 60 oct 2010, 2003 ZO6 is 26,500 in good condition 2004 32,000 in good condition, have shop check codes,clutch,the 12 MPG that guy was hot riding, I would look for hard driving,rubber in wheel wells stone chips by rear tires that means burnouts,I would look for one super clean low miles,and I would buy privately so the guy can hand you a folder of every shop visit, every upgrade, Welcome to the site and good luck with search.

:iagree:

Also try Autotrader.com. That website has great search tools. You should be able to determine a good value based on the results from Autotrade, based on the cars available in your area. Also try Kelly Blue Book on the internet for approximate values.

If it helps you, I sold my '02 Torch Red Z06 with 51,000 miles on it in October 2008 for $23,000.

RIGE-RNR, absolutely, a low miles, all records car is ideal!

bigblock427, KBB values are SO much higher than ebay and forum sales that I'm feeling just as clueless! I think I ought to be able to pay the low ebay/forum price but I can't see how I'm going to convince a seller that ~$8k under KBB retail is fair... But the market is obviously a buyers market when this car is listed for Private Party - Good Condition, and has been on the lot since June or earlier.

RIGE-RNR, absolutely, a low miles, all records car is ideal!

bigblock427, KBB values are SO much higher than ebay and forum sales that I'm feeling just as clueless! I think I ought to be able to pay the low ebay/forum price but I can't see how I'm going to convince a seller that ~$8k under KBB retail is fair... But the market is obviously a buyers market when this car is listed for Private Party - Good Condition, and has been on the lot since June or earlier.

In these "tough" times people will sell if there is a motivated buyer.:cheers:

In these "tough" times people will sell if there is a motivated buyer.:cheers:

:iagree:

what's the deal with the number as your name?

Corvette mag # 60 oct 2010 is an excellent reference as said above. All of these cars have had drops in value in the past 9 months.

You pay for lower mileage and garaged care.

Welcome to the C5 section!