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Douglas Barton·
Auctions
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Wholesale Corvette Market Report: A Special CorvSport C6 Edition With A C4 For Fun!

[1/31/2025 Edition] Will this collection of C6 Corvettes with a mint C4 thrown in for fun keep our high Texas sales ratio intact?

The C4 Corvette in today's wholesale market report is mint! Photo Credit: Manheim

In today’s exclusive wholesale market report–these are actual dealer-to-dealer auction transactions–we’re going to give the older generations a little love. Hopefully, they return the love with a decent sales ratio. As you may recall, we moved from the Florida market (which averaged 30% sales) to the Texas market, and so far, the Texas market is outperforming Florida (with just over 54% in successful sales). You can see when we made the switch and the individual sales ratios for each report in our archives below. [Author’s Note: This article is FREE and not behind a paywall. If/when any popups occur, please click to make them disappear and continue enjoying the article.]

Also, in case you missed it, I’m including two of our most impressive Texas wholesale auctions below. After a special Z06 edition that reached a respectable 50% in sales, Texas upped its game just weeks later in our special antique edition, which yielded 100% in sales. You heard that correctly–every classic Corvette we featured sold!

A Quick Review Of 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 common for dealers to dump problem (or slow-selling) units at an auction.

For Fun (and Insights):

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.

[1/31/2025 Edition]

Top 7: Wholesale Dealer-Only Auction Activity Report

#7

2012 C6 Corvette Convertible 3LT

60,100 Miles

Condition Report: 4.6/5.0

Announcements: Clean Carfax, 3LT, leather, navigation

Autocheck History Report: 4 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: Not Available (due to limited transaction data)

(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: Not Available (due to limited transaction data)

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This C6 looked pretty good on paper and in the pictures until you get to that wonky wheel offset, especially how much the rears stick out. This may seem trivial, but non-OEM wheels that don’t look right could translate to a difficult retail sale.)

#6

2009 C6 Corvette Coupe 1LT

33,731 Miles

Condition Report: 4.5/5.0

Announcements: Exempt

Autocheck History Report: 3 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $23,800

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

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $22,300 (41,871 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $22,700 (38,194 mi)
  • Last Year: $28,200 (10,056 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $27,100

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $22,500

(Insights: This C6 was well bought at $1300 under MMR. With the low miles, it looks like a solid unit.)

#5

2009 C6 Z06 Coupe 3LZ

81,661 Miles

Condition Report: 4.2/5.0

Announcements: AS-IS, No arbitration

Autocheck History Report: 2 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: Not Available (limited data)

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

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $25,300 (81,661 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $31,600 (43,818 mi)
  • Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: Not Available (limited data)

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $25,250

(Insights: This sale was a little surprising due to the “AS-IS” announcement. Sometimes, selling dealers do a blanket as-is announcement for older vehicles, and sometimes they know about an issue and are covering themselves for possible recourse from the buying dealership.)

#4

2008 C6 Corvette Coupe Base

31,153 Miles

Condition Report: 4.0/5.0

Announcements:

Autocheck History Report: 3 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $22,700

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

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $19,850 (49,140 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $22,000 (45,282 mi)
  • Last Year: $23,000 (54,172 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $29,200

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $23,000

(Insights: What a beautiful C6–I would have grabbed this one for $23,000, especially with the lower miles!)

#3

2006 C6 Corvette Convertible Base

43,010 Miles

Condition Report: 4.0/5.0

Announcements: Fresh trade-in

Autocheck History Report: 4 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $18,750

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

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $14,950 (83,306 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $16,650 (71,828 mi)
  • Last Year: $18,000 (38,748 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $20,900

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $16,500

(Insights: I swear this looks like it has a wrap, but Manheim usually makes an announcement for wrapped vehicles and none was given for this C6. Nevertheless, at $16,500, this was well bought.)

#2

2006 C6 Corvette Convertible Base

55,988 Miles

Condition Report: 4.3/5.0

Announcements: Clean Carfax, GMTV–USA’s #1 wholesale distributor

Autocheck History Report: 6 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $17,700

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

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $14,950 (83,306 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $16,650 (71,828 mi)
  • Last Year: $18,000 (38,748 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $19,900

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: This was a sharp-looking C6, and this seller usually hammers their Corvettes, so this no-sale is unusual.)

#1

1986 C4 Corvette Convertible Base

16,083 Miles

Condition Report: 5.0/5.0

Announcements:

Autocheck History Report: 5 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $10,050

(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: $12,850

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: I was really hoping this C4 was going to sell, but it’s likely the seller was looking for collector-grade money, and those Corvette buyers were not at the wholesale auction on this day.)

Summary: Well, will you look at that?!? The C6s with one C4 thrown in kept on pace with our Texas sales ratio and yielded a 57% successful sales ratio. Are you surprised that four of the six C6s sold? I sure am. Thanks for joining CorvSport today, and we’ll see you in two weeks!

Sales Ratio Tracker (click date for report archives):

As always, a big thank you to our faithful CorvSport readers 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. This is Douglas B. signing off–click here if you would like to see more of my features.

*All images and information credited to Manheim Auction

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