So I am looking to get rid of my trans am within the next year or two for a c6z06. ..Any idea what value our cars are nowadays? Seems all over the place since I bought mine years ago!

I have full h/c/i setup, only runs amsoil, 105k on clock, 4.10s, the works.

 

They are definitely at the lowest they've ever been... And will stay low for a while

 

Lowest? You can't find a m6 trans am around our area for under like 9k lol. I was going to say the prices are redic. considering I paid $7k for mine in 2007 with 70k miles.

 

you can start be seeing what they sell for near where you live and go from there.

 

I would agree with that for the warmer states, thry get driven year round so that puts a lot more miles on them.

 

I couldn't agree more that the pricing is out of control. I looked at two this weekend with WELL over 100,000 miles and both parties wouldn't go under 9000. I've had 5 f-bodies and sold them all for peanuts compared to these cars. I'm sorry but these aren't collectables.

 

That's the problem with pricing. Asking prices are NOT selling prices. Many sellers also hope for the best and it never happens, or a sucker comes along and pays an inflated price. Personally I would never pay over $8,000 for a 6 figure mileage F-body. I've been posting that tidbit for years in this forum and nothing has changed my thoughts on this. That 100,000k+ miles car will need things much sooner than later and then you have too much $$$ into it. You end up with a car that isn't that great and can't get anything close to your money back. Sure it's nothing compared to the depreciation of a new car but who wants to see that instant depreciation on a 13+ year old used car. Keeping a car for many years eliminates that loss but I sure don't see many owners keeping high mileage F-bodies for 5+ years. There are some but very few.
F-body pricing in general is typical of all muscle/sports cars. The garage kept one or two owner adult driven low mileage rides will bring top dollar almost every time. That's the car I want to pay good money for as well. Anything else is a risk and could lead to a poor ownership experience. No one wants to pay for that. For younger guys the money is always the issue and they have to take the risks with the modified multiple owner cars. That's the marketplace in a nutshell.
When the time comes to sell your car, best of luck! Just don't expect much.

 

lol well from what I have been seeing so far every year trans ams especially are going up in price. I seriously cannot find one under 7-8k if it's a 6speed ANYWHERE with like.. less than 120k miles. I'm curious as to what everyone in the nation is actually SELLING their cars for, since list prices are redic.

No way in shape or any form "lowest they have ever been" lol. I'm 100% sure I could def. sell my car for what I paid for it... 10 years ago almost with 40k miles less than it has now. I wouldn't by any means call that a bad depreciation

 

To answer the original question, your mileage isn't high. You never get your money back for mods, but they should be worth something. If it's in good shape, I'd start by getting an idea of what others are asking for similar cars and start on the high side, you can always go lower.




I'm gonna rant for anyone that gives a crap what I think lol.

It doesn't seem like prices have changed much since I bought my WS6 in '08.

Camaros have always been a little cheaper than TAs, autos have always been cheaper than t56 cars.

I just did a search and I'm still seeing auto TAs in the $8000-$1000 range and 6 speed TAs in the $10,000-$13,000 range. Seems they've been about the same over the last 7 or 8 years.

These cars are kind of on the old side but GM left a big gap between the 4th gens and the 5th Camaro. On top of that, a lot of people like me don't want a 5th gen. They are huge, heavy, and don't have the same character or appeal to me. Plus us Firebird guys don't have a new model.

When the LS1 came out, LT1 cars were replaced by a completely different and better engine. This didn't happen to the 98-02 cars. Gen 3/4 engines are still basically the same and haven't yet been replaced in the hot rodding scene with newer tech.

These factors are why I don't see LS1 4th gens getting significantly cheaper. They will never be comparable to 3rd gens where you could pick up a decent car for $3000 because not many people wanted them and the 4th gen was an all around better car.

They aren't quite classics, but I think their value won't drop much more before that day comes. And then any low mileage survivor will be worth more.

These cars are 13-17 years old. A lot have already been wrecked, parted out, scrapped, etc. Engines/trans pull outs are in such demand that wrecked ones don't usually get fixed. More are destroyed every year but they are still in high demand. So buyers can't be quite as picky trying to find a perfect low mileage car at a low price.

I wish people would get over worrying about mileage. 100,000 miles is not a lot for a 14 year old car, and it's not a lot for a modern car that has been taken care of.

Mileage is a bargaining point, but average mileage is worth average price. If you want low miles you're gonna pay a premium.

Considering how much we like to upgrade these cars anyway, I'll take a cheap high mileage car any day and use the money saved to upgrade all the parts that mileage affects.

I tried selling my 6 spd WS6 for $6000 in 2011. But with 160k miles people thought were afraid of the miles, even though a car with 1/2 the mileage would've been twice the price. I'm glad I didn't sell it. 4 years later with more miles, I still wouldn't go any lower than $6000 but have no need or desire to sell it now.

 

Yea I feel the same. 100k miles for a 1998 car that literally.. is almost 20 years old coming up soon is nothing. Esp. for these engines.

 

Yeah 100k miles was a lot back in the 60s and 70s. EFI engines made from better materials and better tolerances last way longer if maintained.

My 00 Silverado has 210k. I've taken good car of it and other than some scratches and dings, it's not much different than it was new. You never know when an engine will break down, but I expect it to last a long time.

If parts are in spec, they are in spec, doesn't matter how many miles are on them. I've seen plenty of low mileage stuff break down.

I lol when people ask if their car with 70,000 miles is too high mileage to mod.

 

I agree with the majority of your post except the fact that 5th Gen will not drive the price of 4th Gen down. The reality of the situation I think is a majority of guys are looking to get the best LS Platform for the buck.

With the early model 5th Gen Camaros falling under $20,000 as well as LS2 (05-06)GTOs, C5 Vettes, CTSV and G8 Platforms falling to near and even under $15,000 I personally feel that is going to heavily impact the market value of 4th Gen FBodies. I would be forward enough to say it already has. More importantly though I would be willing to state that if you see these later model LS based cars drop closer to the lower 10,000 range that at that point the LS based Fbodies will turn into similar price ranges of the LT1 which for a base model Z28 or Firebird is $3-$5.

Its all driven by the market of which is heavily influenced by a younger generation of buyers who are not necessarily dedicated to a brand (i.e. "Camaro" or "Trans Am") but are looking at what is the best performance car available that they can get for their dollar.

When I was 18 fresh out of highschool this was a 96SS with 61K miles for $4500, but I know for most younger adults it seems to be in that $10-$12 range that the current LS1 models are in (which would explain the current market in my opinion). I can honestly tell you that a majority of the people I know would and/or have moved to the newer LS Platforms as they become more affordable.

 

I know what people want for 98-02 f-bodies in Houston is crazy. I scan craigslist about once a week to see what is out there. Plenty of 100k mile cars in the low to mid teens. There are a few ultra low mile cars (< 20k) listed in the mid to high $20k's and some even into the low $30k range. The hawks even get crazier.

I found a cammed/ stalled A4 02 TA in really damn good condition with 43K last year. Buyer wanted $14,900. IT had been for sale for 90 days. I paid $11,500 which I still thought was on the edge of too high but I had a hard on for a TA that day. I just sold it for $14,300 because I got bored with the auto. Some peeps will pay that money for a low mileage TA.

 

In cruising Ebay or want ads you will only see about 10% of advertised 4th gen F bodies at a price that is reasonable enough to buy. The other 90% sit...and continue to sit year after year. I've seen many of the same cars on autotrader for the past 2-3 years...with the same asking prices! Some are even new car dealers. Do these people really want to sell their cars or are they just posting museum photos? I'd say the prices of these cars with <100K miles hit bottom back in mid 2011 to early 2012. They haven't really gone up that much (if any) but have maintained their values if the mileage hasn't been piled on. There was some panic selling in the 2009-2011 period as the economy tanked so there were some incredible bargains that popped up from time to time. So if you did buy those cars you could have made out really well. For the most part though, people still want pricing from 2006-2009 for their cars today....they make up the 90%. The guy I bought my car from just put it up on Ebay with a very reasonable starting bid of $10,000 and let it fly. It was located 50 miles from so I got a chance to test drive it before bidding.

I bought my 1 owner, red '99 SS M6 with 12K miles back in Jan 2012 for $12K. Had to eventually replace AC compressor/lines, change fluids, and replace tires. Other than a lid and short throw Hurst shifter, it's 100% stock....even down to the skip shift. I still have the orig lid/shifter in perfect condition. They were taken off in 1999. The owner kept all the paperwork from day 1 including DMV, emissions, loan company documents, titles, etc. I got to spend several hours with the guy. I have about $13.5K into the car. It has 16K miles now and I figure it's still worth about the same $13K to $13.5K tops (northeast US). It's nice that it hasn't depreciated all that much. Figure $1K less if it were a Z28 ($12K) and maybe $2K more if it were a WS6 ($15K).

 

When I was buying my car in 2012 the competition was a black 2000, 1 owner WS6 M6 with 14K miles from a Ford dealer at around $16.5K. That car still would have needed tires and a few other things. It was an estate car so there was zero paperwork or history on the car, not even maintenance. I'd have bought it for $15.5K, maybe even $16K, but the dealer was unyielding since they claimed to have a "confirmed" buyer from Alabama at $17,500 (1,000 miles away). That guy never showed up and the car lingered in their lot over the winter of 2011-2012. They called me from time to time.

Another car was a local 1 owner trade-in, 2002 silver TA A4 with 48K miles that was mint...but no owner/maintenance history. It looked like 20K miles. Price was $11.5K and that dealership was unyielding in price. I offered $10.5K and they refused to budge. $11K might have got it done. The '99 SS popped up just after that so that was what I went after...esp. at about the same price as the TA A4 and $4.5K less than the WS6. The dealership with the TA called me every month from December to April, even after I bought my car in January, to see if I was still interested. I very much doubt they ever got the $11.5K they were looking for.

It was sort of a miracle that I bought my SS in the middle of a New England winter (best time for low prices). That last window between storms was enough to clear the roads of most sand, get it test driven, purchased, and registered. The night after I drove it home the state got a foot of snow and the car couldn't come out again until March. I had really wanted a quality A4 for easy driving (wife can drive it too). But, somehow ended up with an M6. For whatever the reason, the best values I ran into locally at that time were with 6 speeds. I think part of that was they were a bit out of favor in my area (pita to drive for most people). And the best value seen was the very first car I ran into but never got to see.... a 2000 Firehawk M6 Formula hardtop with 28K miles at $12K. I passed on that car right off because I wanted the A4 and TTops. A week later it was gone. But that's my little buying history.