96polovette

My 96 had 5 prior owners according to carfax, but I'm not sure I believe them because 2 seemed to have the car for less than a year. The others had it from 2 to 4 years each. I can't see why anyone would go to the expense of buying a C4, registering it, paying sales tax, and any depreciation due to mileage only to sell it less than a year later. Do guys at the dealerships register them and drive them as personal vehicles for a few months before turning the car over and are they able to avoid the costs we consumers have to pay to get a car registered?

Randy T

I would tend to believe the CarFax info. I bought my vette from a guy who owned it only about a year. And he did the same. A lot of people think they want a vette, then either don't like the ride, lack of storage or trunk space, restoration expense, etc. and end up owning their vette for only a short time.

It sounds crazy to you because you like your vette. And you'd be crazy not to.

FLACHUSNRET

Many people who buy Vettes are high rollers and don't care that much about the associated costs of buying one. Some people get new ones every year or two. Then there are many who buy one when they really can't afford one and then have to unload it at a loss a few months later.
I am the third owner of my '02 and I bought it July 2004 with 4007 miles on it. The original owner, a retired GM engineer, traded it in on a BMW when it was a little over a year old and had 1900 miles on it. It then went thru auction and was bought by a Corvette dealer in the Philly, Pa. area and sold to a guy would had bought many older Vettes over the years for quick resale. I was looking for a C-5 and posted on the "C-5 wanted section" the exact description of the '02 and when the 2nd owner saw my post he e-mailed me telling me he had the exact car I had described and he would consider selling it. We flew up to Philly from the Gulf Coast and drove our "new" Vette home.

montivette

My first vette I was going to keep forever. About two years later I sold it.

My next Vette when I bought it I was already half making plans to sell it and reuse the wheels I purchased on the next one.

I knew one person who for 10 years straight would buy a brand new vette, then trade it for a new one the following year.

Some people buy them then either get fired, get divorced, can't afford the payments, decide they want a different color, decide they hate manual transmissions, decide they hate automatic transmissions, or have to get rid of it to buy a cooler one.

Life happens, people sell their Corvettes all the time for assorted reasons.

Personally I have even bought the same Corvette twice and then sold it twice. Bought a brand new one and sold it and purchased an older one.

Some see the Corvette purchase as a marriage which is going to last forever. Others treat them like fun little affairs. Once they become bored they toss them aside and start a new affair with a different vette.

zapitbullseye

Same situation when I bought mine. The guy was going through a divorce, and needed money for a snake (lawyer). Good deal for me. Helped him too. He only had it for four months, but in that time, he had it painted, put a decent stereo system in it, new tires, etc.. In my opinion, I wouldn't recommend anyone who cannot do most of the work themselves ever get one of these cars, that is of course if their pockets are kind of shallow like mine is. I couldn't afford to pay someone to fix every little thing on my car. Am I alone here?

Rocket22

Continuing on my vette cleanup (see seats to be repaired), it is steamcleaning 101 in the interior. The vette I pickup up needed some TLC, but mechanically is in great shape. The previous owners werent the cleanest. THis is the photo of the fllor once the seat came out. I knew a window had been broken, since half is still in the car!

The car will look showroom new when done, or as close as I can get it.


http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...otos/floor.jpg

96polovette

I talked to the guy that owned mine before I bought it. He was an older gentleman, he sold it to buy a new C6. He felt it was hard to drive because he had trouble judging the length of the front. I guess there's a lot of reasons they get bought and sold.

zapitbullseye

It's funny that you mention you found broken glass in the car, but all the glass is there. I also found glass under both seats and in the rear cubby hole! Anyone else found glass?

SJW

I'm still finding glass in my '94, but I was in it when the glass went flying, so there's no mystery associated with it...

Be well,

SJW

zapitbullseye

Crap man, what happened?

zmanz1

i got mine in dec 2006 wih 14000 on he clock, i am the fourth owner and already put 3000 on her

Zabman

Some guys buy a Vette to get a hot chick. When they do, they get married, have 3 kids, sell the vette, have a heart attack and die.

Rocket22

I figure they didnt clean well after the car was broken into. THe drivers window is different than the passengers. No biggie, I would be concerned if I paid big money for a garage queen, but I bought it as a toy for the weekends and to tinker.

corvette49rdave

My '92 has had only 1 previous owner...my father. He bought it July 26, 1992 brand spankin' new, and I got it 3 years ago on Sunday. What better way to spend that day then at a Vette-only car show? There just happens to be one that I am going to that day with my fellow members in the Palm Springs Corvette Club!

AORoads

Oh, that's gonna be such tough duty to take....Palm Springs

corvette49rdave

But.....

It's hotter than s*** right now out here *whew* (over 100)!



BTW...My brother used to live in Norfolk, and got married there (USMC Warrant Officer, in Iraq right now...)

Djpunteney

I bought my 84 a few months ago. This is my first Vette. I love it and can't imagine selling it. Well, not untill I decide I want another one.


Found glass under driver seat.

96polovette

If this was yahoo answers I would give you best answer.

nuck

Are you talking about the listed number of owners at the top of the document? That has always confused me a bit.

"First Owner
When the first owner(s) obtains a title from a Department of Motor Vehicles as proof of ownership.

New Owner Reported
When a vehicle is sold to a new owner, the Title must be transferred to the new owner(s) at a Department of Motor Vehicles.

Ownership History
CARFAX defines an owner as an individual or business that possesses and uses a vehicle. Not all title transactions represent changes in ownership. To provide estimated number of owners, CARFAX proprietary technology analyzes all the events in a vehicle history. Estimated ownership is available for vehicles manufactured after 1994 and titled solely in the US including Puerto Rico. Dealers sometimes opt to take ownership of a vehicle and are required to in the following states: Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. Please consider this as you review a vehicle's estimated ownership history."

Maine is on the list of states where dealers must become registered owner. Imagine a vehicle goes to auction. Is then bought by a wholesaler and then resold to a private dealer. The title will have run through three owners in three months. I would expect this type of thing to happen more often early in a car's life as a lot of people lease sportscars and then turn them in where the leasing dealer prefers to run them through an auction rather than have multiple late model used Vettes on their lots. Any time it was traded in at the above states the dealer also takes the title or maybe it gets automatically retitled if it is simply a lease return.
Your two short term owners were probably dealers where the car simply sat for a few months until sold.

96polovette

Thanks for the info Nuck, this helps. Yes, it says 5 estimated owners at the top of the carfax report. Down below it has the following information:

1st owner 12/01/1995 Delaware
2nd owner 08/28/1999 Maryland
3rd owner 12/28/2001 Delaware
4th owner 05/01/2002 Florida
5th owner 09/06/2005 Rhode Island

I am the 6th owner. I think they are all different owners because one of the cars I own has been registered by me in 2 states and carfax is able to tell its me in both places.