I'm just shaking my head here. NADA, KBB, whoever, won't tell you what a car is worth, dealers don't use them or even consider them, they have their own sources, but what a car is worth is either A) what you can sell it for, or B) what you would want to keep it for, that's it, period. I agree with what
Styluss said, for the price that car is a steal, but it won't work well as a fix-n-flip. The problem is that Berettas aren't worth anything on the market, and haven't been for a few years. Honestly, I don't understand why.
Look, styling is purely subjective -do you like the look of the car or not? But facts are facts: Berettas handle quite well, even in inclimate weather -I used my turbo '97 Z-24 and my 3800 SC GTU as my snow-cars last winter, and I ALWAYS made it where I was going with them -we've had 40 inches of snow fall in 26 hours at my house, so I'm actually saying something there. in 1988, the Z51 GTU pulled -what was it? .92 lateral Gs on the skid-pad, almost unheard of for a FWD car then, and with 1988 rubber, I might add. We've seen these cars modded with all kinds of engines, some even with non-GM powerplants, and even one or two from Japan -almost anything fits in these. The bodies are light-weight, the sheet-metal was (at least initially, I don't know if they kept doing this all through production) double-sided galvanized (zinc-coated) for rust inhibiting, and most of them came with features like delay wipers, rear window defog and cruise-control -initially these were all standard equipment (I think even A/C was standard, with a credit option for deletion).
But, they just aren't worth anything anymore. $700 for a car that runs and drives, one that isn't rusted-out, and even has sporty wheels and ground effects? Bargain! I bought my '95 Z-26 for a few hundred bucks because of a blown engine, I
drove my GTU home for under $400 -I don't know why, but Berettas just don't sell.
Money Pit is right about the mileage, 140k is when things start really wearing out on these cars, but I say fine, buy the car for $700, put $300 into making it look pretty again, and stand back with another $1k, ready to fix whatever might start going wrong, struts, bushings, water-pump, whatever. $2000, and you've got a nice-looking, good-running car completely up-to-date on maintenance. Now go to a dealership, and ask them how far $2000 will get you, and you'll either get laughed at or asked sincerely what happened to the other zero...
Personally, so long as no one else realizes what these cars are, the prices on them will stay low, that works for me. I'm not done buying them yet.
