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[ZR1] 2011 Inferno Orange ZR1 in Phoenix at Carmax, 50k miles, what will it bring??
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thanks for the response. This is exactly why i didn't buy an atomic orange Z06 from carmax. It had some major blemishes that I kept pointing out. One of the saleman told me loudly that if I wanted a perfect car that I should go buy a new one. I replied to him that he could go **** himself and left immediately.
That sounds almost word for word how my conversation ended with them before I walked out haha.
I can go down the list of things I saw and felt while driving:
Gouge in the driver's door exposing raw fiberglass
Cigarette burn in the driver's side carpet to the left of the driver's seat
Traction control button so "sticky" you could barely press it... after it was pressed, it wouldn't return to it's original position. You could tell that soda or some other type of liquid had been on that center console for a long while.
Clutch fluid was probably the dirtiest I've ever seen on any C6
Pretty nasty curb rash on two of the wheels
Several paint chips in the usual areas but they did not do a good job with the spot correction
Weird acceleration lag (I've driven plenty of ZR1s and know how they should feel) that I can't quite pinpoint. Throttle response was weak.
Again, anyone can argue if those things should be expected based on that mileage, but I would be surprised if that car sold at that price given what other ZR1s in better condition are selling for.
Not to mention that Carmax absolutely could not tell me the history of where the car had been SINCE CARMAX AQUIRED IT. It took weeks of talking to everyone (including management) and never got a straight answer.
Some said they "just got the car in" other Carmax employees said "there's no way it was in Arizona" until I showed them proof. All of the employees claimed that it wasn't even for sale in August, until I showed them proof again. Long story of everyone I talked to at multiple Carmax's trying to get what I thought would be basic information. They came across as trying to hide things. They aren't the kind of place that is prepared to deal with "car guys." They specialize in volume.
Unfortunately for them, they will end up losing money on this car. That's why I said it's not worth what they're asking for it.
I didn't mind losing my $600 transfer fee to go buy a decent condition ZR1 from somewhere else that wasn't trying to hide things. Mileage doesn't scare me. But the incompetency of the dealership and condition of the vehicle made it an easy decision to walk away from.
Carmax has very nice cars, average cars, shitty cars and nice cars that became shitty after spending too much time on their lot around their negligent employees, joy riders and transport companies. All of the above categories are priced at the average number their computer spits out regardless of condition, options or rarity, so they end up having great deals, average deals and horrible deals.
The 6 cars I rescued from Carmax (including my current ZR1) have all been very clean, low mileage high option and incredible prices, but I've walked on countless others that were either messed up by Carmax, the transport companies or the people they let joy ride them with no questions asked.
Every time I buy a car from them, I take it to my local dealer for a thorough inspection, I run the history and track down prior owners etc. I've had no issues with the 6 cars I got from Carmax, but I've seen countless other cars I didn't buy messed up by Carmax with shoddy touch up work, careless scratches transport damage etc. If you do due diligence, you can get some great deals, but I have low expectations any time I go see a car on their lot until I see with my own eyes it's not messed up by them yet.
I can go down the list of things I saw and felt while driving:
Gouge in the driver's door exposing raw fiberglass
Cigarette burn in the driver's side carpet to the left of the driver's seat
Traction control button so "sticky" you could barely press it... after it was pressed, it wouldn't return to it's original position. You could tell that soda or some other type of liquid had been on that center console for a long while.
Clutch fluid was probably the dirtiest I've ever seen on any C6
Pretty nasty curb rash on two of the wheels
Several paint chips in the usual areas but they did not do a good job with the spot correction
Weird acceleration lag (I've driven plenty of ZR1s and know how they should feel) that I can't quite pinpoint. Throttle response was weak.
Again, anyone can argue if those things should be expected based on that mileage, but I would be surprised if that car sold at that price given what other ZR1s in better condition are selling for.
Not to mention that Carmax absolutely could not tell me the history of where the car had been SINCE CARMAX AQUIRED IT. It took weeks of talking to everyone (including management) and never got a straight answer.
Some said they "just got the car in" other Carmax employees said "there's no way it was in Arizona" until I showed them proof. All of the employees claimed that it wasn't even for sale in August, until I showed them proof again. Long story of everyone I talked to at multiple Carmax's trying to get what I thought would be basic information. They came across as trying to hide things. They aren't the kind of place that is prepared to deal with "car guys." They specialize in volume.
Unfortunately for them, they will end up losing money on this car. That's why I said it's not worth what they're asking for it.
I didn't mind losing my $600 transfer fee to go buy a decent condition ZR1 from somewhere else that wasn't trying to hide things. Mileage doesn't scare me. But the incompetency of the dealership and condition of the vehicle made it an easy decision to walk away from.
I was curious about the story on that car. Thanks for the sharing first hand info with others.
That poor ZR1 has been passed around more than a shelter dog. Ever time Carmax transfers a car, it takes a few weeks for it to reach it's destination since the transports gather up and shift groups of cars around from and to multiple locations. My hunch is that the only thing wrong with the car when it came in was the mileage and the price. The rest of the stuff likely happened in the 1,121 joy ride miles under Carmax's custody. Spills and burns probably occurred when employees took it out for lunch & smoke breaks. They often reuse the initial intake photos when a car gets resisted, so it wouldn't surprise me if there is damage on that car at this point not shown in the original photos.
Carmax's Orange ZR1
While they don't haggle on price, they typically keep lowering a price until a car sells. If it goes low enough someone will eventually buy and hopefully fixe her up. A ZR1 deserves better treatment than that.
That poor ZR1 has been passed around more than a shelter dog. Ever time Carmax transfers a car, it takes a few weeks for it to reach it's destination since the transports gather up and shift groups of cars around from and to multiple locations. My hunch is that the only thing wrong with the car when it came in was the mileage and the price. The rest of the stuff likely happened in the 1,121 joy ride miles under Carmax's custody. Spills and burns probably occurred when employees took it out for lunch & smoke breaks. They often reuse the initial intake photos when a car gets resisted, so it wouldn't surprise me if there is damage on that car at this point not shown in the original photos.
Carmax's Orange ZR1
While they don't haggle on price, they typically keep lowering a price until a car sells. If it goes low enough someone will eventually buy and hopefully fixe her up. A ZR1 deserves better treatment than that.
Agree with what you said. I'm cool with getting a car with higher mileage and one that's been shipped around the country... but I can't trust a dealer that cannot tell me where their inventory has been and then argues with me that it was NEVER in AZ and they did not have it in their possession in August... kept up that argument after I showed the VIN history websites and then I CALLED the other Carmax places and they confirmed that IT WAS there. It's just too shady to me.
In all honesty, their systems may just hide all of those details from them. But that's almost worse since consumers can find that information easier than the Carmax employees.
One of my major concerns was that someone bought it and returned it since the mileage jumped up so high between the first transfer. Of course they denied that anyone had bought it... but I said, "how do you know, since you don't even know what dealership it was at?" haha.
The entire experience was a joke to say the least. Not to mention the condition of the car was questionable. I've bought other cars from Carmax and had decent experiences. But I will not do business with that company again.
... I can't trust a dealer that cannot tell me where their inventory has been and then argues with me that it was NEVER in AZ and they did not have it in their possession in August... kept up that argument after I showed the VIN history websites and then I CALLED the other Carmax places and they confirmed that IT WAS there. It's just too shady to me.
...
Show them image 9 from the Carmax listing where the car clearly shows it's sitting in AZ and see if they are willing to stick with that story.
Honestly, if there are any marks on that car that you can verify aren't in the photos (door / wheels etc), I'd demand your transfer money back. They are still showing very old photos of the car at this point that aren't representative of it's current mileage & condition.
I was going to look at it but then I remembered the 2 cars I've bought from them both needed transmissions within 2 years only luck was warranty we bought
Last edited by Carlinsatx; 03-27-2017 at 10:16 PM.
damn if only it were closer...only problem that worries me would be the acceleration lag. might be nothing but who knows. tempted to transfer it to mass
damn if only it were closer...only problem that worries me would be the acceleration lag. might be nothing but who knows. tempted to transfer it to mass
It's real tempting for the price if it checked out mechanically. I figured a good body shop could clean up the exterior for about 1k. Depending on the cue rash you could clean them up and powder coat them or love with it. Drop it off at CBI street cars for intake, cam, head work, headers, pulley, meth, etc and have a nice weekend car pushing some major hp for mid 50's.
Of of course you could do the same thing to a lower mileage z06 and come out 10k or so cheaper.
03-22-2017, 06:48 PM
That's what the Corvette Black Book says.
