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I have some interest in a 69 that is about an 9 hour drive from my house, it's owned by an older gentleman and unfortunately he's having a hard time with photos, so I
was looking to the forum for opinions on the frame photos that he has taken thus far. Thanks!
There's not many photos of the frame and if you're evaluating it for purchase you'll need to actually get under there and check it out in person. The flash from a camera tends to make the rust look worse than it is. I know in my case when I took photos of the frame it looked like it was really corroded but was actually solid with just surface rust.
He said it’s solid with just surface rust, it’s supposedly a 55K mile car. He’s not a Corvette guy and he’s having a hard time with pics, I just don’t want to waste my time or his, I didn’t see anything too scary myself
if one expects to sell it nationally and get top dollar vs selling in in his neighborhood, he should get with the times and sell it with a good presentation.
it does not take that much effort to take a hundred plus pics and dump them to flickr or google drive or something like that and share them when asked.
have him ask his son or daughter or neighbor kid to help out.
also 'surface rust' is also 'surface rust' on the inside also.
i see rusted corvettes priced the same as non rusted corvettes all the time.
from what i see, i would want many pics of the typical rust spots before I would go look instead of hoping that it might not be that bad.
Older guy hard time with pics. Not a Vette guy. Sounds somewhat discounted. If so, take the drive, or sleep on a bus. You get him to present the car better, he is presenting it to the world, not just you...
My suggestion is that if you plan on keeping it for a while .. then do the 9 hour drive - it's not a big deal. If not then skip it -- I would not buy it without eyeballing it. But really, the guy should be able to get pictures.
Here's an idea: hire a local C3 Corvette expert to go look at it for you and take whatever pics you want. Well worth the cost. Save yourself the 18 hours of travel.
At some point its going to need a frame off mileage imo is irrelevant at that point. Imagine what the birdcage may look like
Maybe thats Ok to someone in the rust belt, that would turn me off unless priced accordingly.
Is it a special ‘69 worth a 9 hour drive one way with the risk of undisclosed rust?
Roger that, perhaps a member can look at it for you? If hes having problems getting underneath it he ought to get some help if he wants your $.
Is the car drivable? You could fly out to see it, then either buy it and drive it home (or make arrangements to tow it home), or just fly back home if it doesn't work out.
Finding a local Corvette club member, or even just a local car guy with a camera, might save you a lot of effort. Or you could call a local garage, see if they can inspect the car on a lift and take photos (this might be a few $hundred), and the guy just needs to get the garage to the shop.
There is also another side to the presentation of the car. They may be excuses for not showing you the bad areas. Not that many people will show you the bad rusty area in a car they are trying to sell. So the ploy may be that "Im not that good with a cell phone camera". The photos may be of the good areas, and they are not showing the bad. One thing that keeps coming up in this type of discussion is not to buy a car sight unseen. Sure there have been good results from this, but more bad results that I can remember. If you are planning to go look at it then plan on a 2 day trip. Overall it may be least expensive way to buy the car.
That's my take on this thread: the guy is 'posing' as a barely competent old dude who can't take pictures of important areas of the frame and keeps things out of focus. Sorry, but I'm skeptical of anyone who really wants to sell a car but can't seem to get decent quality photos of it....
Boy I give you all credit!!! I most be the laziest person in the world. I would not drive I hour to see a car that was not properly represented in photos. I have been "burned" enough to not want to waste my time, energy and money going to a car that may not be represented to be what it is. Sorry I agree get some photos of the car overall, you don't need to be a photographer to do that. Just snap some pics,its for documentation not art. Unless they do that I would absolutely be out. The car you finally buy will be quite expensive if you had already gone on multiple road trips on failed previous attempts.
Well, what an adventure it's been! 8 hours of my 8 1/2 hour drive were in the rain and about 30 minutes from my destination three cars in front of me, the owners 70 pound dog decided to jump out the window at 80 mph.......not good! I was the third one to run it over with my trailer......then the owner promptly swerved over 3 lanes lanes of traffic, almost causing a huge pile up (understandably). It was truly awful!
I arrived at the destination inspected the car and loaded her up! The car is actually much better in person and I was pleasantly surprised, just a clean solid base model with 55K miles that is pretty much unmolested, she was parked for 25 years at some point.
But wait there's more!!! I had a blow out on the the interstate doing 80mph, waited 3 1/2 hours in 96 degree heat waiting for the Calvary to come! I finally made it home at 3:30 AM safely. Thanks for all the input!
inally made it home at 3:30 AM safely. Thanks for all the input!
Opinions please......
