will a color change really hurt the value???

[Greg L.]

First off I'm not changing the color of my car.

This is more of a general question to see what your thoughts are on this matter. Generally speaking I think that a color change will decrease a cars value...BUT...

Lets say for example that it was a less desirable color like green on green(no offence intended because I personaly kind of like that combo) and it was repainted to a very desirable color like...I don't know, black or red(we have all heard the term "re-sale red"). Now we all know that ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL that the more desirable colors will bring more money because more people are attracted to it.

So the question is, will the black or red car that used to be green be worth as much or possibly more than a correctly coded but green car?

OR

In the end would both cars still be worth the same but it would just take a lot longer to find a buyer for the green one?

Just a question....curious to see what you all think.

Greg Linton
#45455

[Don S.]

Re: will a color change really hurt the value???

Not all buyers are NCRS number matching guys. Some people just want a car and a red one would do just nicely. However you are removing a lot of vette heads from the list-- or diminishing the value to them by about 20k

[Dennis C.]

On the other hand, if you're talking C1... *NM*

[Warren F.]

Re: will a color change really hurt the value???

Greg,

My opinion would be that a color change even on a less desireable color to a more desireable color (within the Corvette color pallate) would indeed diminsh the value, much more so on a rarer equipped model than on a base equiped car.

As an example, I had two '72 ZQ3 Corvette coupes, one was a factory Mille Miglia red that had been changed to Black. The other a factory Elkhart green that had been changed to Brown. I paid more for the Black coupe because it was originally a color that was in demand and was currently painted a color that is in demand. I paid less for the Brown coupe because it was painted a color that was not desireable and was a color that is not as popular as it was once originally.

[John M.]

Re: will a color change really hurt the value???

Greg,

It really depends on the car. If the car was not a really correct car anyway, it does not have as much effect as if the car was pretty much correct except for the color. The non-matching car is not likely to ever be judged anyway, so it is not as important to prospective buyers. If however, the car was all correct except for the color, you could expect that most buyers would deduct the total cost of a paint job from the price that was offered.

There are lots of guys who just want driver cars and don't really care if the color matches the trim tag. I have seen guys agonize over a color change on cars that are so incorrect otherwise that they would never be judged, and I can't understand the logic! One of the advantages of having a car like this is the ability to make it just the way you want without affecting the value of the car. This applies to paint, interior, sidepipes, bigblock hoods, and a host of othet modifications.

Regards, John McGraw

[Myron Sleeva]

Re: will a color change really hurt the value???

Think back to the day you bought your car. Did you check out the vin tag to establish the car was originally Cortez Silver? There will always be the crowd that prioritizes documentation and then the rest of us who go by emotion. Which group is the largest and has the deepest pockets? Can you say Barrett-Jackson? When you develop a business plan, you pick a target market and tailor your offering. Play to that segment, if resale is your goal.

Thinking back to the day I bought my car, I took it for a test drive and literally scared the you know what out of myself and immmediately started on a quest to own that beast. Probably would have made a deal with the devil to own that car. I didn't know a vin tag from nothing! How many rational grown men go to Barrett Jackson with a business plan of spending a bazillion dollars for a .........! Emotion trumps rationale.

Every successful sales professional will tell you that you sell the sizzle and not the steak. If you are playing to the mid life crisis crowd, "resale red" philosophy takes precedence. You asked for a personal observation: I would not give a second thought to a numbers matching whatever if I felt the color was hideous. (Hideous is a subjective term)