My uncle's Z06- advice needed
 

Hey all,

My uncle is a huge vette fan. He's always had the latest and greatest on lease, and has always been first on the list to upgrade when new models came out.

For the last several years he has been getting older, and unfortunately, won't be driving again. His current corvette- a 2016 Z06 supercharged, sits in the garage with about 3500 miles. It's pretty much new.

With this car, he did something new. Instead of leasing, he bought it.

Although I'm more of a p-car guy, we have had a lot of good conversations over the years about cars, and he wanted me to have his Z06. I was pretty humbled- and last week, he called to tell me to come pick it up... one problem though...

He has the title, but financed half of it using a home equity loan, which he still owes on.

He spent about $120 on it, but with the new C8's coming out, it has devalued to the point it is worth (trade in) only what he still owes on it- basically about 55K (perhaps trade in would be more, but not tremendously), so he's wanting me to come up with 55k to pay off his loan to get him out from under it, which is understandable.

My original plan (before it devalued) was to drive it for a while, have fun with it, eventually sell it at a slight profit and put any money into a new station wagon when the family car finally goes, but even if I can get more than $55k- which I think I can, especially selling privately- I don't know if the trip down there (it's out of state), registering it in my name/taxes/ etc... if I will even break even. I wouldn't be able to drive it far either, before the high $$ tires need replacing. When the new mid engined car comes out, I would expect this to dive even further, so I'd probably need to sell it sooner than later.

I don't know if it would be worth the hassle of trying to sell it privately, even if I did get a slight profit. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to sell privately either.

Anyway- I think I have my answer, I'm just shooting this out here to see if there are any ideas, before I call him and tell him he should just sell it where he lives. I think we both would be kind of bummed it didn't work out. He's now bedridden/paralyzed and I think giving it to me would have really made him happy. My plan was to take a bunch of pics with the family in it, and if I did eventually sell it- never tell him.

It is one hell of a car. Faster in the corners than my SC is on the straights.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1557077287.jpg

Imho I dont see it devaluing tremendously and think it should be solid as a entry level sports car if you could consider that entry for 55k.

I think the mid engine price is going to shorten that market. And if I could get into a car like that for 55 I'd jump.

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You say your uncle wants you to "have" it
But then it turns out, he wants you to take it off his hands and pay his loan.

If you flip it for profit you'll get into discussions why you didn't keep the car he wanted you to "have", even though you actually just bought it. I've seen stranger things happen in similar situations.

Unless you alway wanted a car like that and are happy to pay the sum to keep the car.
and unless the debt that needs to be payed for you to have it is a mega good deal..
I don't see the point in getting hands on with the car.

You could offer him to help him sell it himself instead... Much safer.

I would try and sell it where it lives..doesn't seem vettes hold value to much. Paid 120k and hoping to get 55k on a 3 year old car..

How can one "give" a car that's financed somehow and expect the receiving party pay out in an type of manner, so really not giving it to you but you paying for a car you really don't want..strange to me i guess...

I do understand you wanting to help family but if in the end if you only break even was it worth the hassle? Only you can decide that..
For me the answer would be no...

Good luck...hope you and your uncle can figure something out..

If it is not something you want to keep, be honest.

if you are going to flip it because you think you can make some money, be honest.

As for future value, it is all speculation.

The Z06 has taken a hit from the ZR1, I'm not sure how the C8 is going to compare in terms of power/weight, but it may not be above the supercharged C7 Z06 or C7 ZR1.

For those who want the power, the Z06 will still be valuable.

Seems to me this is the perfect car to give Bring a Trailer a try with. Do a write up on it, send in some pictures and see what kind of reserve they'd let you put on it.

A quick scan of ebay shows that these cars are extremely plentiful on the used market, as in, "how many do you want today?"

If you had the $$ and were crazy enough, you could buy 100 of them by tomorrow. All 2016 or 2017 Z-06s w super low miles. It's a buyer's market. His car is probably worth exactly what you would spend for it after tax/registration and getting it home. If you drive it at all, every 1000 miles depreciates it. God forbid it gets a stone chip or a scratch, now it's junk. I can buy 50 of them in showroom condition today.

This is a loser of a deal for you unless you really want to own that car. To tie up that much $$ and expect a profit is going to be a loser. Sorry. Tell him thanks but you are going to pass. Maybe offer to help him sell but only if he's ready to take what it's worth. There are some extremely delusional Z-06 sellers on ebay who think that their car is special. They are mass-produced and very common.

Is it an amazing car from a performance perspective? Hell yes. But you compare it to a new GT3, not an old SC. A new Toyota Corolla will walk all over a 1980 Corvette.

I thought of BaT, too, but a quick look at past results don't bode well for a C7 Z06. The low miles and the color might bring a few bids, though. This is a tough one, and I certainly wish you all the best luck.

Thanks all,

I think the responses sum it up pretty well, and it really does help to bounce this off the braintrust, even if it confirms the inevitable.

When my uncle originally planned on "giving" it to me (not that I ever expected a free car), it was a part of the will before his circumstances changed. He's getting to the age where he's not really coherent about his financial order, so when he says he wants to give it to me, he really does, he just doesn't get that he's not in a position to give it away without the outstanding loan. There was a point where his assets would have easily paid off the balance. Not so much now (he got remarried- but that's a different story).

I also wouldn't feel good about getting the car, with the immediate intent of selling it, but I don't see how I could really enjoy it either. Speeder is right, every mile would just be killing the remaining value, increasing the risk of door dings, rock chips, etc. I don't really have space to store it properly. They are plentiful, and I don't know the vette community well enough to know what kind of a premium the supercharger puts on it. If I drove it, would be commuting in it, and it would rack up mileage/wear VERY quick. I had a brief vision of taking it to the local pca autocross, with the "my other car is a porsche" sticker to take a couple of laps around, but even then, I'd be thinking treadwear, etc...

These cars are a dime/dozen where I live as well.

I was really hoping there would be more leeway in the value. As much as I don't want to get the car just to sell it (and possibly even lose money on it), I also don't want to really explain this to my uncle, and risk him taking my "turning down" the "offer" as a personal insult/slam. He's getting to the cognitive point where that's a risk.


Me go pontificate some more...

With dementia and everything else, there's no way to avoid occasional misunderstandings.
But in the long run, you won't have to blame yourself if you know you were honest and your intentions were good.

If you feel it's better to turn it down, then turn it down and be honest about it.

"Uncle, you have to get that loan out of the way, and I just can't affor that kind of money for a car I don't really need. I think it's best that you sell the car, it's in good condition so that will get your loan payed off"

If he get's upset from that, and he's not able to process things sensible.. talk to the person who manages his financials, who has power of attourney and lay it out there.. you don't want the car and can't pay for it.. and it should be sold to pay off the loan.

From a strictly financial perspective, what you described makes no sense, especially if there is a title transfer.

I tried to think of a win/win for you and your Uncle. Svandamme came closest.

Good luck. Nice car.

What did ya do to PO yer uncle ;)?

Run, Run, Rudolpf...

This is an easy one. Just tell him that you don’t have $55k laying around to pay his loan and buy the car. Not much room for offense there.

Guys on the Corvette forum are asking mid 60s for similar cars. Maybe put some miles on it and decide if it is a car you want to own.

I had a friend who was dying, who wanted to sell me his 77 911. It needed everything. The engine internals were special, but it had rust in odd places, had problems with the fuel injection, and was in many ways neglected. I had offered him 10, which some said was too low, so finally I told him I could not afford it, and offered to sell it for him. A person from this board bought it for more than I offered, and he got the money before he died, to make things easier for his wife. Under different circumstances, it would have been a good car for me, but I did what I thought was more honorable than buying the car for less than he could have gotten. And I would have felt bad if I had later on sold it for a profit and not kept it as was his wish.

You could say you can't swing the 50K and offer to help him sell it to offset the home equity loan. I expect it would not be hard for you to make a few inquiries and locate a buyer for more than the mentioned 50 K, even if it was a dealer or a flipper. I think that your uncle might need a little help getting his affairs in order, and I think he maybe sees you as someone to turn to.

In truth, if you got him out from under this, I doubt he would begrudge you if you bought it and sold it later and made a modest profit. I got extra money for my friends soon to be widow, so that nobody could ever accuse me of taking advantage. I think he would have been happy if I had fixed it up and enjoyed it, but never let it be said I took advantage of a dying man.

I agree with everyone else, unless you just want a Z06 with special family ties, it doesn't pencil out for you. If it were me I'd tell them I didn't have the $55k to spare, and suggest that whomever is managing his personal assets/estate to sell it through Carmax or similar to pay off the debt. Obviously if they are so inclined they could list it online as a private party sale and probably get more for it.

If you've got 55k and are a 911 guy/gal...let's chat ;)

Seriously...

Carmax seems to offer a good, legitimate wholesale/trade-in value for a car, but you have to take it to them to appraise. Carvana and Vroom, sometimes Shift will pay a lot more, come to your house, and hand you a check. Sometimes one of them will pay as much as you'd get at a private sale.

Thanks Steve (and everyone),

I checked with carmax and they need to have the car in hand to appraise it, so I'd have to take the plunge and go get it, not knowing the margin.

Based on a telephone message I got from my uncle today, and from the advice here, I think it best to tell I'm honored to be offered it, but I don't have 55k available. I'd certainly be willing to help give advice on how to sell. He does have Corvette friends down there who could help.

I'll update when I get more info.

Thanks all,
Ron