[Brad74]

I came across a 89 RS 305 vert today. 56,000 original miles, new top, paint, and exhaust. I know the car, becuase it is owned by a local doctor. He kept it either in his garage at home or at his office. There were several (more than 40) RPO codes, so I did not write them all. The car has PW,PL, cruise, air ,cassette, 15 inch wheels, auotmatic, and cloth (red) interior. He is asking $5650. Paint is new (factory black). Maybe 6 months old, Interior is in excellent shape for a 15 year old car. No rips/tears in seats or carpet. 1 minor carpet flaw in the rear floorboard. It is black with a grey two tone and red srtipe between the two tones. Black 15 inch wheels. Definately an RS. Everything works cruise, a/c, stereo, all speakers, tranny shifts weel, motor and tranny don't smell burned. I don't know that much about 3rd gens so I have a few questions. How much is it worth? and Does anybody have refereence with how many RS verts were biult on 89 with 305/auto?

[William]

Brad we've owned an '89 RS convert 305/auto for 11 years; the car now has 107,000 miles and is a rock. Still gets good mileage and passes emissions. The asking price of $5650 probably covers the new top & paint; that seems to be about what they are bid to on ebay. A little more will buy you a '94 or newer and they are better cars.

Production on the '89 convert was something like 6000-7000; they will never be collector cars.

One bit of advice-"regular" gas in '89 was 91 octane; today that's premium. Don't even bother putting 87 octane regular in it with the auto overdrive trans; at 65 mph the engine is at 1800 rpm. The last thing you want is detonation with the weak 305 cast pistons.

[Brad74]

Thanks for the advice about gas. A post on another board said that there are more 89 RS Verts than IROC, making the RS more valuable. I am going to look at it again tomorrow. I'll take mre of a look at the RPO codes then. I really would like to get it for about 5000 then out it on EBAY. I need the extra cash for my 68!!

[DjD]

Brad - in '89 there were 3,245 RS ragtops and 3,940 IROC-Z ragtops. 695 fewer RS cars isn't going to over shawdow the IROC-Z based on the Z following... Even the '90 RS ragtop with only 729 being produced will have a tough time being more valuable than the 1,294 IROC-Z's made that year...

I do think though that $5600 for a low mileage RS rag as you describe would not be a mistake, offer the doc $4900 or so to start the haggling and come up from there. It would be an ideal 2nd or weekend car or a great low dollar daily driver. I wouldn't look at it as an investment car but don't think you'll have a car that's only worth a grand in a year or so...

You may find early 4th gens for just a bit more but unless you know the cars history as you do the '89 the odds are it's been beat. If a 4th gen is in mint condition the owner bought it for an investment and will want too much for it under todays market...

[William]

Yo Brad, $5000-$6000 is all they are worth. The likelyhood of your reselling an '89 for a big profit is about 0.

[Brad74]

Well guys she's mine. I got her for $5150. Drives and rides great. I'm very excited. This will be a great weekend car. Maybe a criuse to the ice cream place every now and then. I'm planning on dressing up the interoir a bit. White face gauges, Grant steering wheel, CD player, etc. The Motor (305) is ANEMIC, but with only 57,000 miles I'll probably leave it alone for now. Anyway just an update. Thanks for the advice.

[al8apexer]

WARNING:

any "dressup" you do only LOWERS the value of this car

no one else in the worll has your exact taste

leave the car stock and enjoy it for what it is or forget about any future value

it is not a Z28, so you can't expect much performance out of it

even the 305 Z with the auto trans was a slug

either enjoy it as-is (you said you needed the extra money for your 68 anyway) or sell it to some one that would appreciate it for what it is and buy a POS to customize

[DjD]

Originally posted by al8apexer:
WARNING:

any "dressup" you do only LOWERS the value of this car

no one else in the worll has your exact taste

leave the car stock and enjoy it for what it is or forget about any future value

it is not a Z28, so you can't expect much performance out of it

even the 305 Z with the auto trans was a slug

either enjoy it as-is (you said you needed the extra money for your 68 anyway) or sell it to some one that would appreciate it for what it is and buy a POS to customize

The car isn't destined to go up in value so why would it matter if he mods it some. Typically one leaves a car stock with the anticipation it will be worth more that way in the future. Your first statment about changes lowering the cars value isn't very valid. If the car is worth $5000 - $6000 stock and he drops a crate engine in it the value isn't going down , his investment will exceed the return if he sold it after doing so but the car didn't become worth $4000 for doing the mod. Isn't that what hotrodding is all about? Most hobbies and toys cost more than the monetary return, but the loss is written off as enjoyment expense.

[Brad74]

I thought of the lowering the value thing, but I would rather have a little fun with the car. I don't think the car will be worth $8000 in 2-3 years, so I might as well have some fun (I will save all the original stuff, just in case). Like Dennis said, mods won't matter to a non collector car. You wouldn't customize a COPO 69, but you would most surely modify a 68 with a 6 and 3 on the tree.

Just my .02