Are “cool car” prices finally coming down?

I'm not going to define "cool car".  I think most on here get it.  But cruising BAT like I do about once a month I get the feeling they are.  Top shelf stuff still carries top shelf prices but the rest - the boats that rose with the tide - seem to not be as strong as in times past.  I don't have any specific examples.  I've tried that before and for one reason or another they always had out laying factors.  Perhaps I was just looking too early in the auction cycle and all these examples I saw will pop in the last moments.  I don't know.  Is anybody else noticing?  Or maybe noticing the opposite? 

I have noticed the same.  Shopping for C5 and C6 Corvettes has become part of my break time routine, and prices have definitely dropped.  I'm now seeing multiple clean title C6s hovering around the 20k mark, whereas six months ago you only saw that with totally ragged out offerings.  Granted, its historically the worst time of year for that market, so prices should be dropping, but it's still encouraging. 

On BaT, I've seen a few more reserves not met happening, so I think you're on the right track overall.  Expect for whatever car I own that I want to sell next.  The market for those are stronger than ever, with no signs of stopping.  

996 911's seem to be dropping in price, which is just about the only car I've been looking at these days.

I've been casually shopping nb2 Miatas and they seem to be coming down to prepandemic prices. Clean NAs are still at a premium though 

RaabTheSaab said:

I've been casually shopping nb2 Miatas and they seem to be coming down to prepandemic prices. Clean NAs are still at a premium though 

Interesting! Hagerty (although it may not be representative) says NB values are rising still.

Bumming around Enablers Unanimous and FBM shows that $1500 decent projects are a thing again, down from $2500-$4000 a year ago.

BaT is not the real world.

Puddy46 said:

I have noticed the same.  Shopping for C5 and C6 Corvettes has become part of my break time routine, and prices have definitely dropped.  I'm now seeing multiple clean title C6s hovering around the 20k mark, whereas six months ago you only saw that with totally ragged out offerings.  Granted, its historically the worst time of year for that market, so prices should be dropping, but it's still encouraging. 

On BaT, I've seen a few more reserves not met happening, so I think you're on the right track overall.  Expect for whatever car I own that I want to sell next.  The market for those are stronger than ever, with no signs of stopping.  

i have considered selling my c6, what does fair market value sound like for a narrow body stick shift LS3 car?  towards the end of the summer I was seeing prices in the mid 20's (25ish) has it fallen much from that?  
52k miles, a few mods, 3lt car.  

Yeah, I've seen prices coming down as well. It started last year with the $500 E36 M3box segment and appears to be working it's way up. 

The fed has been fighting inflation for a while now and the CPI is down a great deal from the peak. I guess some deflation of non-necessary items fits the pattern.

In reply to Puddy46 :

I think what you are seeing is just the seasonal cycle of prices.  I started looking last February and prices are almost back to where they were back then.  The thing to realize with (at least) the C6 is unless you want a black, victory red or yellow, automatic transmission model the numbers are pretty small.  My preference would be crystal red or night race blue, black interior, 6 speed, coupe, dual roof, Z51... if you see one there are only about 199 like it!

I have noticed much better prices on project vehicles lately. Around here, that might coincide with it being November, but for example, I found two running/driving C4's yesterday in decent shape for $1500 or less. Nature is healing... maybe? 

Im looking at 5th gen ZL1s and 1LEs. They may be down slightly from their peak but seem to be pretty stable around here

Everything used is dropping here, cars, bikes, houses. I think it's a function of interest rate increases.

I follow a Canadian auto dealer website and every week they post a report on pricing in the used market, and every week since I've been following it, prices have been  down. I look at a lot of cars for sale and, anecdotally, every day now I see something that makes me think, wow that's not a bad deal, or, conversely, he didn't get the memo., and bikes even more so.

In reply to ClearWaterMS :

To clarify, the C6s I've been seeing in that price range are earlier LS2 models.  The LS3 flavor are still in the mid to high-mid 20s, from what I've been seeing in my parts.  

I'm sure that there are market variations, but my impression is that they are going down somewhat also. As far as timing goes, IMO this is the ideal buying season, as people may sell cheaper to help pay for the holidays, and assuming that most used cars need some amount of attention paid to them, we've got 1 1/2 seasons to get them sorted before prime driving weather.

Prices are definitely coming down.  I couldn't find a single E9x M3 under $20k unless it was salvage or 200k+ miles or just beat to smithereens last summer (2022).  Now I'm seeing nice, low mileage and documented maintenance'd examples fairly regularly on the boards for one.   One can only hope it continues when I'm ready to buy next summer. 

In reply to Puddy46 :

Around here even the LS2 cars are mid 20s and up unless they have a boatload of miles on them.  LS3 cars are going upper 20s to mid 30s for base models.  If you want a Grand Sport or ZR1 bring about 40, again, unless they have a ton of miles (90K and up).

triumph7 said:

In reply to Puddy46 :

Around here even the LS2 cars are mid 20s and up unless they have a boatload of miles on them.  LS3 cars are going upper 20s to mid 30s for base models.  If you want a Grand Sport or ZR1 bring about 40, again, unless they have a ton of miles (90K and up).

Where are you? Zr1s are 90 or over 100k around here

In reply to ClearWaterMS :

No idea on price, but a manual C6 3LT is a nice package.

RyanGreener (Forum Supporter) said:

RaabTheSaab said:

I've been casually shopping nb2 Miatas and they seem to be coming down to prepandemic prices. Clean NAs are still at a premium though 

Interesting! Hagerty (although it may not be representative) says NB values are rising still.

Good to know. This must be just a small anecdotal blip in an admittedly small sample size. Consider my comment retracted. 

Prestige auction sites and collector insurance data notwithstanding, it does feel like everything is broadly starting to come back down, if not to pre-pandemic levels.

I think we are seeing a combination of typical seasonal price declines, macroeconomic factors, and lots of people who impulse-bought COVID toys deciding to move on.

I've seen a few AC 911 targas go up for prices I would almost consider reasonable recently so it definitely seems like something is changing for the better.

Opti said:

triumph7 said:

In reply to Puddy46 :

Around here even the LS2 cars are mid 20s and up unless they have a boatload of miles on them.  LS3 cars are going upper 20s to mid 30s for base models.  If you want a Grand Sport or ZR1 bring about 40, again, unless they have a ton of miles (90K and up).

Where are you? Zr1s are 90 or over 100k around here

Cincinnati, I let the internet search within 200-250 miles.

I haven't paid attention since I'm not in the market for anything. 

I'm one of the weirdo's that doesn't enjoy shopping if I'm not going to buy something. 

z31maniac said:

I haven't paid attention since I'm not in the market for anything. 

I'm one of the weirdo's that doesn't enjoy shopping if I'm not going to buy something. 

This is also part of the reality of what is happening. Those with  unlimited $$$ are done buying and those that live on a more realistic financial foundation have stopped looking. So you might well expect a boomerang effect where people like me have moved on to other interest and suddenly there just are no buyers. 

I have met several people over the last two years who have bought  expensive classic cars because they could. However, they have learned that they are not the nicest cars  in their stable for daily driving, so they don't get used much, they do  however require a lot of maintenance that they pay for. The novelty does wear off.

pointofdeparture said:

Prestige auction sites and collector insurance data notwithstanding, it does feel like everything is broadly starting to come back down, if not to pre-pandemic levels.

I think we are seeing a combination of typical seasonal price declines, macroeconomic factors, and lots of people who impulse-bought COVID toys deciding to move on.

I've seen a few AC 911 targas go up for prices I would almost consider reasonable recently so it definitely seems like something is changing for the better.

what are some examples of the AC 911 targas?