Carolina Bandit

1999 WS6 TA
just over 20,000 miles on the odometer
automatic
two tone black/tan interior (is this rare?)

This is a multi owner vehicle - it's been passed around in the same family so I was told it'll show as multiple owners on a VIN report. The current owner took ownership after his father passed away and its been sitting in his garage. He doesn't seem like much of a car guy so all he does is drive it and wash it once in a while.

I would rate the paint on the car a 8/10. It has some long scratches that I would want to address if I were to purchase it. The paint itself is in good condition, and after owning a black car I realize how easy it is to scratch.

Interior looks great, just needs to be cleaned up a bit.

I know ownership history and condition is important when considering a vehicle with such low mileage. Just curious to get some thoughts on this.

Firebrian

It's still multiple owners even if in the same family. If this particular family tends to be clueless about cars, then passing it around is even worse than if multiple different families got their hands on it. Owners is owners. And knowing it was one family, isn't any better to me. I'd figure $500-$1,500 to resolve the paint scratches as a wide range depending on location and # body panels affected. Was this keyed?

This is the same year and approx mileage as my car (2 owners)...which I value at $12,000-$12,500. Mine is an M6 with $2000 in orig SLP content which about balances out against SS vs. WS6 (normally about $1500 difference). From the $12K-$12.5K you have to deduct something for the paint. Though if not for the scratches $12K-$13K would be a fair guess. Black WS6's with low miles are not hard to sell if priced reasonably.

Only you can assess current maintenance, fluids, tires, garaged or not, AC function, etc....which could add another $1,000 or more to your repair/maintenance costs.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Many folks tend to over estimate the condition of a vehicle, so it's hard to know what an "8 of 10" means to you. Are you experienced with high grade show vehicles? Judging on a 100 or 1000 point concourse level scale? If so, I image that your 8/10 assessment indicates pretty nice paint overall. But if you are more of a layman in this regard (which would be typical for the average hobbyist) then an 8/10 ranking could be closer to a 6 or 7 to someone more picky, which isn't very impressive for a 20k mile car of this vintage. As an example, my own 17k mile '98 has consistently scored 20/20 points (100 point scale) in the paint category at local-level judged shows, but it's far from actually being perfect. I could point out a bunch of different marginal blemishes, ones which would also be noticeable to more discriminating judges at national level events.

I bring this up because there is a WIDE range of how discriminating an individual can be when it comes to evaluating condition, and there are no pictures presented to give us any objective visual aids.

Having said that, based on your description of the paint and the interior needing to be cleaned up, my guess is that the car currently presents more like a 50-60k mile example. If it really just needs deep cleaning/detailing/compounding, then it surely could be brought back to a proper state for a 20k mile example - but such restorative work takes time/effort, thus putting a ding in its value.

I know there is a regional aspect to consider, but you might be undervaluing your car at this point. Here's a recent thread regarding a 14k mile '98 Z28 in a rare color (but not a particularly desirable one), with an auto trans and a generally undesirable Sport Appearance Package. This car is extremely original and appears to be very nice; sold for $11,250 back in May:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/chevrolet...allic-z28.html

That price is pretty consistent with a couple comparable examples that I've seen/heard of changing hands locally in the last 6-12 months, and in the same range of which I'd value my own (also with comparable specs.) I'd say you're undervaluing yours by about $1k or so. But again, regional differences may play a role here.

NC01TA

I really like that super low mileage but the condition also concerns me. Family means nothing. I have two sisters I wouldn't buy a car from under any circumstances. They never change the oil and the cars are left outside, never seeing the inside of a garage except at the mechanic's shop. Did I mention dogs inside the car constantly too??? Man, so many factors need to be known before assessing a value. As RPM WS6 stated, there are many people that feel cars are excellent when they are actually average in reality. Photos would certainly help us help you if possible.

Jason E

I like that its black on Camel...unique color combo!

Without the scratches, I would have said $15k is very realistic. With them, depending on how bad they are, $14k still seems reasonable to me.