Flipping 2023 C8 Corvette Z06s Might Not Be Such a Great Idea Anymore
Call it karma, or call it healing.
The C8 Chevrolet Corvette has shaken up the enthusiast's perspective on the supercar market quite a bit since its inception. I mean, what other mid-engine domestic two-seater exists like it? And if that wasn't enough, Chevrolet—in typical Corvette fashion—decided that it was necessary to give it more. Enter the Z06.
For just $105,300, you can buy your own 670-horsepower monster with a 2.6-second 0-to-60-MPH time. Or, you would be able to buy one, if you could find one for that price. With the Z06 being in substantial demand, it's unlikely that you'll be able to just walk to your local dealership and order one for pickup. Instead, you're probably going to have better luck at an enthusiast auction site, which is where Corvette Blogger noticed that two C8 Corvette Z06s failed to sell last week.
The first place you'd probably look for a collectible car is Bring a Trailer. That's exactly what one dealership was hoping for when they listed their 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 3LZ 70th Anniversary Edition Stingray for auction. The window sticker for the C8 Z06 was a whopping $146,340 after all of its options and delivery charges and the auction quickly surpassed that number. In fact, one potential buyer bid $222,000—35% over MSRP. However, the car simply didn't sell because the auction reserve was not met.
Another C8 Z06, this time a coupe, was listed on Cars & Bids. This particular variant wasn't a 70th Anniversary Edition, but it still was expected to sell for major bucks. However, much like the example on Bring a Trailer, this Z06 failed to meet its reserve price also, but with a much lower bid of $178,569. The sticker price on this car was $131,255, meaning that someone was willing to pay a $47,314 markup, plus the buyer's premium. The seller later added a comment indicating that they "did not lower the reserve at all" and "sold it retail."
The lower price could have been because the car wasn't a special edition (outside of being a Z06, that is), or because it was a flip. According to Corvette Blogger, this car was put up for consignment sale by its original buyer, which means that GM could drop the warranty for the car—a protection that the automaker put in place to prevent cars from being easily flipped for massive profits.
Look—I get it, something is worth what people are willing to pay for it. And in defense of the sellers, on the rare chance that you actually find a Z06 on a dealer lot, it's probably going to be heavily marked up (like this one in Idaho which is marked up just over $100,000 over MSRP).
What sucks is that logic has made a lot of people's once-attainable dream cars unobtainable from the factory in some weird markup hellscape that isn't exactly helped by enthusiast auction sites and greedy dealers. But that's the way it goes: pay the price, or risk the chance of finding something second-hand later on. For now, we'll just observe from afar and see what the market actually lands at for these American supercars.
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