Hello, I have a question I hope someone can help out with. Back in Sept. I bought a 1981 Corvette and the seller told me the car only had 36,000 miles on it. I rook his word about it as I don't know much about
working ob cars. He told me the car had been sitting for a very longtime.
I have had the car at 2 different places that work on Vettes as some of the things in the car did not work. It has some wiring problems such as the fuse box. The paint is shot. The inside is not to bad, has a tear in the right seat. The problem is both shops told me the engine shows a lot more wear on it than 36,000 miles. The valve covers were leaking
and they put new gaskets on it as there were not any on it.
The tach does not work as 3 of the 5 guages does not work. The frame is in nice shape but the Exhaust is rusted with holes in it and it is not orginal. In short is it legal to sell the car and say the mileage is onething when it is not? He had to go to the bmv and get a dup. title
as he said the back was messed up.
This is a small town and the guy at the DMV knew this guy. When he told him what the mileage was and the seller told him, he was asked "are you sure about that"? He said yes. So I have a title that says 36,000 actual miles on it but 2 shop experts that says it isn't.
What can I do to prove this? I was told it is illegal to lie about the miliage. The seller bought this car back in 1983 and the orginal owner is dead. The title was not even on the computer, it was on an index card.
I am sorry this was so long but I don't know what to do as I say I don't know much about cars. I am in Ohio. I paid $4,200 for the car. He said the reason those things wasen't working was because it had been sitting so long. I have tried calling the seller but he won't return my calls. This guy restores cars for a living. I know the speedo and tach lense had been taken off before because the lense cover is cracked and broken where one of the screws goes. Thanks for any help you can give me. To sum it up, I have a title that says the mileage is 36,000 but 2 experts that says it has a lot more miles on it than that. Jerry

 

Try Carfax. When I bought my 81 I checked it out and found records back to 1990. My Vette came from CA and each year the car was smog tested it showed up with mileage. Prior to 1990 I have no idea, but in 90 it had 20,000 miles so it is fesible to assume that it was 20,000 not 120,000 miles. the previous owner only drove it about 2,000 miles a year average from 1990-2007 according to the records.

 

Thank you, I will try that. I know I am the 3rd owner of the car. The seller bought this car from the orginal owner in 1983. I may have made a mistake and bought with my heart and not my head. I have been wanting this car since the start of my senior year in high school. At 46 I felt like time was running out.
For some reason the left rear quarter is higher than the right. It has new rocker arms and shocks on it. The rubber bushing are all dry rotted. Gotta figure out how to get the rear end back down where it belongs. Thanks again for your help.

 

Yes it's misrepresentaion, but you have nothing on paper.

You should have done your homework BEFORE you handed over the cash.

Price of car $4200

Lesson learned / Priceless !!!

 

PM ME...............i'll help you with

C
A
R

F
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Not to be nasty but $4200 what did you expect? Most Corvettes in that price range don't even run well enough to be roadworthy.

 

What I thought I was buying was a car that had an engine with only 36,000 miles on it. I knew I had to fix someother things but I really thought this was a low mileage car. So in short I was buying the engine and a really good frame.
Yes, I should have done my home work before I bought it. I didn't think about being lied to about the mileage. I know I could never do that to anyone. Lesson learned.
There are a lot of C3 Vettes for under $5,000. Thanks again for your help.

 

sixpack PM sent. Thanks again.

 

None of the problems you've mentioned sound like anything other than typical stuff for a 38 year old car that's been neglected and/or poorly maintained, not things that could not have happened on a car that really did have 38K miles.

 

I have no PM's

send me the vin # via PM............

ZIXXPACKER

 

I don't think theirs much you can do. DMV doesn't really car about mileage once a car hits 10 years old.

BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

Seems like a decent car for the price

Good Luck
Dennis

 

When I registered my 98 with 17k miles, DMV said it was too old to care about mileage.. As for the 79 I just bought, it really only has just under 80k, but all I cared about was that it ran good, had a 4 speed and the body was in great shape. $4k for yours was a good deal no matter what the mileage. Yes, the seller may have lied, but its now yours. Move on. If you want out of it, might I suggest you post some pictures, inside and out. I assure you there are a lot of guys, myself included that would pay you that for the car, regardless of the miles..
Enjoy your Vette and stop wasting time on the past.. Vettes that old require work, be it 20 miles or 200,000 miles. Thats why we love them!

(Fill out your profile info.. It helps with getting older members to respond)

 

just enjoy your car!!!

 

Thanks again all. I have tried to post photos under the photo album and in my profile
it says the upload was ok but the photos are there when I go to look. Not sure what I am doing wrong. The photos are in my pictures. If someone wants to email me I will send you a photo. Here os my email. Bfrjds1981@aol.com Jerry

 

what is the vin # ???

 

I just sent you another pm, let me know if you got it. Thanks

 

The vin is 1G1AY876OBS402817 Car came off the line Sept. 18, 1980

 

what is your goal here? do you want him to admit he lied to you about the car? then what? do you want him to take the car back? after you already have titled it and spent money on it? if you can prove you were financially damaged ( overpaid for a 4200$ car?) perhaps you can retain a lawyer for $1000 retainer to try to determine exactly what the financial damage was, and sue him? you lawyer will then absolutely find a way to bill you that entire 1000$ retainer and then more before the fight is over.

if he refuses to change his story, how are you going to prove that the wear was not from sitting but from an extra 100000 miles.. you can't prove it.

the guy may have a brain tumor and honestly believe the mileage is correct. there is nothing you can do about it. a good lawyer can get you some of your money back, but it will cost you lots more than that to pursue this.

if there is no major rust issues, then you probably got a good deal on the car regardless of the mileage.

cars are sold AS IS.

mileage does not mean much on a 30 year old car anyway.

 

I just wanted to know if it legal to sell a car this way. It is good to know I can throw a paint job on it and sell it with the mileage it shows. There is nothing wrong with the sellers health, he does this for a living. It is 100% my fault for not checking it out better.
It just seems like those Vettes with lower miles sells better.
I have had most of the wiring redone. Just gonna get back what I have in it. Still needs some work but it is an everyday driver. At least I know what to put on the title now.
Thanks again for your help.

 

Sorry I posted the vin wrong. It should have a 0 (zero) after the 6. I put an "o" by mistake. The car is going on Craigslist Monday morning if anyone is looking for one. I have put $400 in it so the asking price is a firm $4,600. Motor runs great and the frame is in great shape. Black paint with Cinnabar inside. Click on my name and you can see a couple photos of it.