When he finally got to work–several hours late–he said that his mechanic stated that the Chevette’s diff was “made of plastic”. I can only assume that his mechanic meant that it wasn’t very strong.
These cars were probably that much new in that year. That’s probably exaggerated but these guys are right. At first I thought you said Corvette but when I seen it was Chevette, I remember these in the day. Cheap car , cheap price.
Even good subcompacts from that era would be considered slow death traps today. And the Chevette was FAR from “good”.
Any old car that runs goes for just under $1000. The mileage means very little for a very mediocre car that will never be a collector’s item. In 2012 we sold our vey good looking Nissan Sentra for $750 to a guy who wanted a basic car for his son in college.
The AAA as well as the Black book have figures for old car values. Spend an hour in the local library or on the Internet and you will have a good figure.
This car will no longer have any parts available; it was originally an Opel Kadett made in Germany by GM’s Opel division, since sold off. It was also produced in Brazil by GM under another name. The Americanized version was cheapened out to compete with Japanese cars. My sister had one in the late 70s. She never liked it.
A low mileage orphan will not serve you well; I’d stay away form it altogether if if you must have it offer $900 for it
The price I see so high that I would not even make a counter offer. A couple hundred bucks is about right for a 33 year old car, even if it is in cherry condition. If you are willing to spend $5400, find a more modern subcompact car. Even a Chevy Cobalt would be a much better choice.
I knew several people back in the day who owned Chevettes and they weren’t a bad little car for the time.
They were just like many other A to B economy cars of that era; bare bones tin cans.
For the right price it could be worth it as a cheap driver. However, 5400 dollars is beyond absurd and if the owner is that delusional then odds are he won’t take 500 to a 1000 bucks.
I seldom watch the Counting Cars show but saw part of an episode this morning. They found a '56 Ford pickup; original with an in-line 6 in it an surface rust all over it. They guy was wanting 40 grand for it. He must be related to the Chevette owner. The Ford also had a bullet hole through the driver’s door.
1 Like
The only other one so far that i’ve found is a 1977 that the seller wants $4,000 for at Hemmings,
The Chevette was GM’s answer to the small, efficient cars coming over from Japan. It was built at a time when pretty much everything GM was putting out was a dog and was GM’s first attempt at a compact car, designed to be cheap. $5400 was probably more than this thing cost new, and now it’s over 30 years old.
Think about it - you’re buying a car that’s 33 years old for $5400. can you even get parts to fix it? Find something 25 years newer for the same cost. It will be safer, drive better and more reliable.
1 Like
You’re really asking two separate questions:
- Is a used 1986 Chevette worth $5400, even if it’s in pristine condition?
and - Is a 1986 Chevette useful as a transportation vehicle today?
I would argue that the answer to both of these questions is “no way”. I’d say that the Chevette, if in excellent cosmetic condition and running well, is worth somewhere between $1500 and $2000. And for someone looking to buy this, register it as a historic vehicle, and drive it very rarely, it might be useful to own.
However, as a car to be used for transportation, I wouldn’t want a Chevette even if it was free. Not only does this car have abysmal performance compared to anything on the road today, it’s a real death trap.
Back in 1991, my family was involved in an accident in our 1981 Chevette. We were probably driving less than 45 MPH, and we were all injured even though we were wearing our seat belts. My dad was driving, and he suffered broken ribs and other painful injuries, and had to miss an entire year of work to recover. My sister still has a scar on her forehead from that accident. I have a scar on my arm from the accident.
For anyone wondering I didn’t end up buying it. I offered $1500 for it but the seller declined.
Its still for sale.
1 Like
The seller did you a favor .
4 Likes
Heh heh heh, it would be a good price if the seller was paying YOU $5000. Then I might take it and pay the junk yard a couple hundred to come and get it. Anything that old is several hundred or less unless a collecter car. I sold my 86 Riviera that was $22,000 new for $50 and it was in great shape and a fun car.
2 Likes
Yep, one of those people selling a car for waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy more than it’s worth, because they think it’s special, and “know what they’ve got”. Just like all those people selling 15-20 year old Toyota pickups with over 250,000 miles, and they still want $6k-10k for it. Those ads get reposted month after month, so I’m not sure who is actually paying those prices.
I could only find one Chevette on Ebay that had received any bids - it was bid up to $2,900. It was a clean '78 with 57,000 miles. There is a (small) group of folks that’ll buy them. Sounds like the OP’s listing was overpriced by about 100% (assuming it was SUPER clean).
If the car went dead in the middle of an interstate it is unlikely that a shop could be found that would want to look at it. $5400 is hilarious.
3 Likes
The Chevette, in my opinion, was no worse than the Datsun B-210, the Honda Civic, or the Toyota Corolla of the late 1970s. All of these cars had rust issues. Honda had to replace the front fenders on Civics in the rust belt. The Datsun B-210 wasn’t any gem. I test drove a 1977 Chevette. When I got back in the Ford Maverick that I owned at the time, the Maverick seemed like a luxury car.
The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and the Nissan Sentra (the car which replaced the small Datsun) are much larger than the small cars of the late 1970s. Another small car of the late 1970s was the Mazda GLC (I think GLC stood for “Great Little Car”).
I wouldn’t want any of these small cars of the late 1970s. I don’t think any of them are worth $1000. I don’t think any of these cars has value as an antique.
My best opinion of the Chevette was that outclassed the Vega. It’s greatest fault was that Chevrolet sold it and treated it like a red headed step child and neither they nor the after market made much of an effort to stock parts.
My apologies to any red headed step children here. It’s an old expression from who knows where that was particularly fitting here.
You forgot “to me.” I’m not saying they’re valuable, but some folks are nuts for nostalgia, so they will pay for it. What’s the ‘value’ of a Hummel? Of a baseball card?
At least for the Corolla, the engine was much better than the others, known for its longevity.
Chevette offered s really stripped down model called the Scooter. The front passenger seat wasn’t adjustable and a rear seat was optional.
Maybe not with respect to rust, but mechanically/reliability -wise there was absolutely no comparison.