In the last month I have driven hundreds upon hundreds of miles and looked at 4 C3 Corvettes for sale. I think Covid must be effecting the sellers vision and honesty. I took a 500 mile roundtrip last weekend to see what was described as an excellent, rustfree driver. Upon arrival the seller told me he just remembered he forgot to mention a couple of things. Things like the electric windows don't work, huge crack in the dash, headlights go up but not down, the surface rust on the frame which actually was so bad you could put your fingers in the holes, etc. etc. Each car I've looked at has been a similar situation. One that looked good in the photos and described as nice driver quality paint was so bad it must have been painted with spray cans. I see many people on here advocate buying only from private individuals but I'm starting to lose my faith in some of these sellers. I've always had good luck in the past so it must be the Covid.

 

Symptoms per CDC: Dry cough, Pressure in upper chest, New lost of taste or smell, Forgetfulness of how poor of a condition your Corvette is in, Nausea

 

Some sellers are aware that a few buyers will not know what is good or bad and buy just about anything quick on emotion. Take your time, keep getting educated about what to look for and you will eventually find it. Try to get more pictures of specific areas and hopefully that will weed out the duds. I do not have any major regrets but if I had taken this advice I would have gotten a much better car for what I spent.

 

It's not the Covid.

 

Dear Blue67. No, I blame the Covid on the idiots who forgot how to drive when they were in lockdown!

Nah...it's been the same forever. I'm (at the time) looking for an 82 CE....one of the 27 I looked at. {helluva tedious}. Spoke to the guy THREE TIMES...for about 45 each time asking pointed specific questions.
He sent 3 photos (each angled to make the car look the best.) During the conversations my 'hinkey-alarm' kept going off. So the guy is two hours away...4 hours drive time total. We make an appointment on a Saturday. I call him on the Friday evening to 'remind him'.
He says; Oh! there's a few things I forgot to tell you.....and rattles off a list of the top 20 things you don't want wrong with your C-3!

Pass....move on! PATIENCE!!!!!!!!! The 'prize' is worth the effort! It's a lot easier to flap your lips than replace a frame!

Unkahal

 

Hey guys, why not go to the off-topic crap forum, and leave this thread about cars.
No one ever wins talking politics.

 

I think if I was going to buy another c-3 long distance one of the first questions I would ask is "how long have you owned this vettte"? and how old are you?It seems to me an older owner that's owned it for 10 or so years would be a safer bet.

 

At issue is father time and a bit of seller subterfuge. These cars are in some case 50+ years old and if not well protected, most will have advanced rust and corrosion. They got a blast of zinc oxide primer on the birdcage from factory, but the zinc has long worn off or given up as many electrons to the corrosive process as possible. And of course, depending on the day of the week and assembly workers initiative, the primer coating may not have been fully done. There were many C3's that rolled off the assembly lines, but I would bet the majority are no longer
either in a safe state to drive or in the wreckers yard. So a buyer has to find the few that were well looked after and garaged, They are out there, so take your time and you will find them - good luck!

 

Who mentioned anything political?

Jebby

 

Mods removed those

 

Thank god! And thanks for letting me know......

Jebby

 

To the OP......one has to be a pretty good Vette detective to look at pics and see if it is worth the trip......it has always been like this.
I looked at 100 Corvette's online before I settled on the one I have bought without me actually looking at it in person......it was a solid purchase but the seller never said a thing about the out of balance 400 small block in it......I was going to build my own engine anyway so not a big issue but just pointing out that no amount of questions and photos could have let me known this. It was all about the seller not being above board on it.
I did ask for so many pictures and asked so many questions that the seller almost kicked me to the curb....for which I replied..." I am a serious buyer, do you want to sell the car or not?". If he would have booted me, I would take it as a sign that the car wasn't what he was describing. Look for ads that have a lot of tranparency....describing things that are as much wrong as they are right.
I ended up with a never hit 72' that was super clean everywhere including underneath...perfect trim, birdcage, panel gaps, a 4 speed and nice interior for under 20k.
They are out there.....

Jebby

 

thank you sir

 

To me, this is all on the seller. How in good conscience can you have someone travel such a distance without these kinds of disclosures. Its one thing if you are that inept of an owner that you really didnt know, but its another thing if you are just looking to sucker somebody.

Years ago, I had a 92 GMC Sierra for sale on craigslist. It was a piece of ****. I had someone call me from about 200 miles away and I insisted that they not come to look at my truck.

About 2 years ago, I sold the last of my motorcycles. It was a super clean 2009 FXDC that I owned since new with 3500 miles on it. Flawless bike that needed a new battery, and the rear tire had some marks on it that were mild gouges from driving onto a bike dolly, that had bolts passing into the path of the tire. I had a buyer coming from about 1.5 to 2 hours away, and I made sure he knew about these things. I also pre-negotiated with him so he knew my bottom line before coming... I would not normally do that with a local buyer, but I was confident in my product, and knew its shortcomings, and did not want to waste anyone's time... including my own, to avoid being lowballed.

I won't even get into the nonsense of trying to sell my 2001 Windstar last year and the crap I put up with from buyers.

Long story short, people are a$$holes.

 

"Buyers are liars and sellers are nefarious"

 

Not Covid - just how things are.
I looked at a "73 Big Block" convertible a few years back that was "original". Guy had all the dealer paper work.
Popped the hood, seen a SBC in there. I said "where's the Big Block", he says, that is a big block it has been bored and stroked to a 383.
I didn't even bother to look at the paper work to see what he had and left.
Yep, most buyers don't know squat.... Those that do, run like heck.
Most sellers think they have Gold, and price accordingly.

 

If it sounds too good to be true........
Sadly, I do believe these cars will dive in value as this thing drags on.
People are hurting, and toys go first.

 

I'll share a good buy/sell experience right from this forum.

We had owned a no-hit '72 vert 4 spd for 2-3 years. It had been painted a different color many years ago, no rust at all, interior decent, original drive train, mechanically very sound (I had gone thru suspension, brakes, etc.). I wanted a bb, and found one for sale on the C3 forum. It was 1000 miles away. The owner (I won't mention his name, but he's a great guy) and I went back and forth for several months - sharing info, pics, and info about ourselves - all while trying to figure out a fair trade + cash.

The '68 427/435 vert was low miles, in good condition overall, no hit, was painted a different color some 18-20 years ago, had a few gauges not working, some minor blemishes (that he shared) but looked great, had the tank sticker showing the 435, original drive train, no rust at all, and needed a general updating. The owner (had it for 11 years) was very forthright in explaining the issues and showing them in pictures. I did the same for our '72. After about 6 months of discussing, we decided on a trade - our '72 plus quite a bit of cash - and that I'd deliver the '72 and pick up the '68.

I hooked up an enclosed trailer and our son and I set out for CA with the '72 in tow. My wife asked "what if it's not what you think it is?" My answer: "With the conversations we've had, I trust him, and he trusts me. On the small probability that it's not a good car, we'll drive back with the '72 and I'll have had the pleasure of a couple of days with our son".

Got there, and the car was virtually exactly as described - and I hope the seller felt/feels the same way about our '72. I liked them well enough that I also gave them $1500-2000 in parts I had for the '72. He and his wife are super people and we still email each other once in a while. So far, I've spent another $6-7k and a LOT of hours on the '68. I'm going thru cooling, suspension, brakes, and vacuum (the headlights and wiper door are sloooooooooow) - just so I know exactly what's there (and I'm having fun doing the work). It's a solid lifter, 4 spd, F41 car, and engine, heads, carbs, trans, rear all are original to the car.

When we got it home my wife asked me if I thought it was a good deal. I told her "we gave more than I wanted, and he took a bit less than he wanted, so it was a very fair deal".

The other thing that happened when we got it home: I backed it out of the trailer and into the garage. My wife came out and said, with a smile on her face, "you're rattling the pictures crooked on the other side of the garage wall". She gets it and I'm happy.