Who Buys Corvettes in Snow and Ice?
I plead the fifth
Who buys a Corvette in the dead of winter, in sub-freezing temperatures, with ice and snow covering everything? That’s crazy, isn’t it? This is a sports car, something you buy when the weather is nice and you can drive it away and immediately enjoy it. It’s a seasonable item, just like a boat or a travel trailer.
Well, some people intentionally look for Corvettes and buy them off-season, while others just happen to stumble onto great deals this time of year. If you live in a climate where the winters are long and harsh, and you're stuck inside most of the time, you may become very familiar with eBay Motors. Trolling through the listings in this candy store for grown-ups sometimes uncovers deals that are just too good to pass up.
Several years ago, an eBay listing for a ‘93 Polo Green coupe with 60,000 miles on it practically jumped off the screen. It was a new listing open to bids in an eBay auction, but there were three intriguing things:
The Buy It Now price was almost half what the car was worth.
It happened to be located at a Hyundai dealer thirty minutes away.
The dealer took pride in offering their own six month drivetrain warranty on every used car they sold.
Upon arriving at the dealership the next afternoon, all the cars on the lot were covered with snow, and the temperature hovered around ten degrees. The Corvette was encased in ice and it was a struggle to clear enough off to be able to open the driver’s side door and the hood. But the engine oil was clean, the engine was immaculate, the interior was in good shape, the car was completely original, and everything seemed to work.
It was a couple days before the end of December, and the dealership was anxious to close the deal and get the sale on the books for that month. They said that they didn’t want the car sitting on the lot until Spring, when they knew they could get more money for it. After some quick negotiations, they ended the eBay auction early, and sold me the car for a lot less than the Buy It Now price.
So is it a good idea to buy a Corvette in the snow and ice? In this case, it likely was. In general, it’s hard to say. There aren’t as many cars for sale this time of year but, those that are for sale may be priced lower due to lower demand. And if it’s the end of the month, especially in December, and a dealer is a little light on sales, you might have a little leverage to swing a better deal.