There's an 03 c5 z06 for sale near me. Black on black with 66k miles on it. Car looks very clean, however it doesn't run (sent a rod through the block). Guy is asking 15k which imo is really high for a non running car. I know the used car market is insane, but is what he's asking a fair price? What would you pay?

 

I just saw a 2003 Z06 with 59k miles for $23k. If a shop has to put a new engine in a corvette is probably going to cost $15k. I’d say the car is worth $5-8k as is.

 

Completely trashed block, car has average-ish miles for a Corvette of that age, and nothing particularly special (no rare color, etc.) about this example within the realm of C5 Z06s. No way to properly test the operation of any other powertrain, steering or braking components as the vehicle will not run without an engine swap (i.e. no telling what else is wrong with it, and the most obvious current problem suggests that the car has been driven hard).

All said, I'd say the seller is a dreamer and probably not worth contacting until the car has been for sale for some time

 

Engine no good? That means every component of that car has probably seen it's best days. No thanks, not even for $5k. This car smells, 'MONEY PIT'..Too many sweet examples are out there that won't cause headaches and a miserable ownership experience.

 

Definitely big risks with potential for major headaches with that car for the reasons mentioned above.

​​~$5,000 given the risk involved...

 

Even if it was a cherry car, everything has seen it's best days with 66k miles and close to 20 years it's been on the road..

I would bet it would take the difference in money between this cars current ask and the price of a running car of the same year if the block is trashed. To me it's worth $8-10k and that's if everything else is in working order. Problem is, how do you test the rest of the drive train?

Only way I could see someone buying it would be for a lesser price and being able to do all the work themselves. Perhaps someone who has an LS engine hanging around with nothing to put it in.

​​​​​​Personally, I'd rather a nice C5 that needs nothing, even if it's not a Z, and those can be found for not much more than this cars price.