This Week's Top Corvette Wholesale Auction Sales And Those That Failed To Sell

Thanks for joining us for another installment of CorvSport’s unique (and exclusive) bi-monthly series, where we analyze the Corvette wholesale market to help our faithful readers gather data while shopping. While not an exhaustive list, each episode will give insights into market trends for the Corvette shopper (and curious enthusiasts who like to follow the market). Our analysis will also include historical wholesale averages, along with the Cox Automotive estimated retail values. We also track the sales ratios for each bi-monthly report, which are included in our summary section below.

The Process:

In preparation for each installment, I start a list of Corvettes from that week’s runlist that catch my eye. As a retired owner/operator of a used car dealership, I’ll use my 17 years of experience (and industry access) to give you insights into the market. My search is focused on the nation’s largest dealer-only wholesale auction, and all the Corvettes featured are from the Florida market. Corvettes end up at a dealer-only wholesale auction for many reasons, but most are trade-ins that the dealer decided not to retail on their lot. Some may also be repossessions or coming off leases. It’s also a common practice for dealers to dump problem (or slow-selling) units at an auction.

For fun (and insights), you can compare the MMR (estimated wholesale value) to the actual hammer price (if sold). It’s also interesting to compare the wholesale purchase price (if it sells) to the Cox Automotive estimated retail value, as this will give you an idea of the margins used-car dealerships are working with.

[7/03/2024 Edition]

Top 10: Corvette Wholesale Auction Activity Report

#10

2014 C7 Stingray Z51 Coupe 3LT

37,535 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: 3rd party seller

Autocheck History Report: 3 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $38,900

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $36,400 (47,356 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $32,500 (55,693 mi)
Last Year: $45,800 (28,997 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $44,200

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This Z51 C7 looked pretty good on paper, so the seller’s reserve was likely too high.)

#9

2014 C7 Stingray Z51 Convertible 2LT

11,770 Miles

Condition Report: 4.3/5.0

Announcements: None

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $42,900

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $41,900 (16,381 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $40,800 (16,482 mi)
Last Year: $39,400 (47,658 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $47,300

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This Z51 C7 also looked good on paper, so I’d speculate the low condition report scared away bidders. This yellow Convertible also appears to have sold for $41,500 at the Lakeland Manheim on 6/12/24, so the margins were too tight for an auction flip.)

#8

2016 C7 Stingray Z51 Coupe 2LT

15,589 Miles

Condition Report: 4.2/5.0

Announcements: AS-IS (quite rare for a unit like this)

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $45,000

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $37,600 (34,735 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $39,700 (38,212 mi)
Last Year: $36,700 (39,827 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $54,000

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $40,800

(Insights: Remarkably, bidders were not scared away despite the AS-IS announcement. But you will notice the unit sold for $4,200 under MMR.)

#7

2022 C8 Stingray Convertible 3LT

1,648 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: 3rd party seller

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $77,100

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $78,300 (9,576 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $80,700 (6,981 mi)
Last Year: $93,300 (5,697 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $85,200

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This is a sharp-looking C8! My guess is that the seller’s reserve was too high, especially as we see more and more brand new C8s being offered under MSRP.)

#6

2023 C8 Stingray Coupe 1LT

12,330 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: 3rd party seller

Autocheck History Report: 2 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $63,000

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $66,200 (7,373 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $66,800 (4,642 mi)
Last Year: $76,500 (1,820 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $66,700

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: The lower condition report and base 1LT trim likely turned bidders off.)

#5

2023 C8 Stingray Coupe 3LT

9,697 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: 3rd party seller

Autocheck History Report: 2 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $73,100

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $78,700 (2,792 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $79,800 (2,963 mi)
Last Year: $91,100 (594 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $76,300

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $75,750

(Insights: With this sale, you can see the difference a 3LT trim makes versus the base from the previous unsold C8.)

#4

2023 C8 Z06 Coupe 1LZ

3,716 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: 3rd party seller

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $117,000

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $121,000 (256 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $118,000 (3,295 mi)
Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: $121,000

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: The higher miles and low condition report likely turned off bidders.)

#3

2023 C8 Z06 Convertible 3LZ

551 Miles

Condition Report: 5.0/5.0

Announcements: None

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $138,000

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: $142,000 (1,796 average miles)
6 Months Ago: $147,000 (3,878 mi)
Last Year: $179,000 (911 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $155,000

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This C8 Z06 looked great on paper, but with most brand new Z06s now at MSRP, it’s no surprise she was a no-sale.)

#2

2024 C8 Stingray Convertible 2LT

3,176 Miles

Condition Report: 4.8/5.0

Announcements: None

Autocheck History Report: 2 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $87,600

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: Not available
6 Months Ago: Not available
Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: $89,300

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: The 2024s continue to perform poorly, which is no surprise given the discounts I’m seeing on the Facebook pages. The higher miles for a 2024 surely did not help.)

#1

2024 C8 Stingray Convertible 2LT

1,049 Miles

Condition Report: 4.8/5.0

Announcements: None

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $87,800

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

Past 30 Days: Not available
6 Months Ago: Not available
Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: $89,500

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This HTC looked great on paper but is another unit to fall to the used 2024 curse.)

Summary: C7 sales slowed this week, with only one of the three selling. Did you notice that some of the C7 historical values are up from one year ago? Despite this week being the first where all the history reports have zero accidents, we have our second-worst performance, with just 20% selling. Thanks for joining CorvSport. We’ll see you in two weeks!

Sales Ratio Tracker (click date for report archives):

[2/29/2024] Report: 30% Sold
[3/13/2024] Report: 30% Sold
[3/27/2024] Report: 10% Sold
[4/12/2024] Report: 40% Sold
[4/26/2024] Report: 10% Sold
[5/10/2024] Report: 50% Sold
[5/23/2024] Report: 50% Sold
[6/07/2024] Report: 60% Sold
[6/21/2024] Report: 40% Sold
[Today]: 20% Sold

Thanks for checking out our exclusive wholesale report. If you want to keep up to date with all the fresh Corvette news and maintain a pulse on the lifestyle and culture of this exciting, iconic brand, CorvSport has the fastest-growing Corvette community on our Facebook page, with over 172,000 followers (53,000 since January 2023!). Come join other hardcore enthusiasts and say hello, Douglas B.

*All images and information credited to Manheim Auction