Sounds like a pretty good deal.

 

Does it have any records of repairs? Has the owner told you about any maint/repairs the he had done to it? If it was driven hard and abused it might be needing a clutch fairly soon if its an m6. Also brakes/rotors might need to be replaced if the orig owner has not done them yet. Tires? How much meat is left? These are just simple things that you can check very quickly by yourself. If in fact you purchase this car for $15k and it needs a tuneup and these wear items replaced alone thats $1k tires + $500 brakes/rotors + $1500 clutch + say 200 for plugs belts and oil change? Just pulling numbers out of my *** here but thats over $3k you will need to spend out of pocket just to make it road worthy! What if other parts fail? Or you dump this money into it then your mechanic informs you how abused it was? The great deal you got 3 weeks ago is now leaving you feel like you were raped. God forbid it has other problems on top of these. If someone is willing to sell a car with bad bakes + bad tires + knows the car was raced and tracked hard so he knows the clutch is on its last legs that could be just the beginning. Thats not the type of owner you want to buy a used sports car from. Unless of course you plan on modding the hell out of the car from the start then it might be a good route to take.
Not trying to scare ya just dont jump on it because its a deal. Do your homework and really check the car out. Tires have to be new or damn near new. Brakes have to be 75% or better. Clutch is always a crap shoot but you can kinda tell how good it is. Ask the owner many times see if his answers change. Check the clutch fluid see if its choco milk or just a little dirty? Clear would be awesome and would be +1 indication that the owner took good care of the car. Theres a lot of vettes out there so don't settle for anything less then where you set your standards and what you expect.

The one I picked up in the end was the first one I looked at! I went over it real good everything checked out awesome. Then I came back for negotiating and another test drive. Checked over the car again. Agreed on a price I was comfortable with. Meanwhile the dealer keeps telling me I better put a deposit on the car so they don't 'sell it on me' Naa I tell them. Theres tons of vettes out there and I would hate to lose my deposit in case I find one I like better, because I still had more I wanted to check out yet. The salesmans jaw just dropped. Then I had my mechanic check the car out. He has owned a few vettes before. Everything checked out 100%. 3 minor but noticeable and expected stone chips on the front. 1 owner and it came with the original window sticker + some maintenance receipts and invoices! The clutch fluid was just a little yellow but not bad at all. Brakes were original and 80+% (means it wasnt driven very hard) Oil was very fresh! Mechanic said the frame and body panels all look great. (I had it carfaxed but you can never just rely on that)
Needless to say I ended up buying her. Was the first vette I looked at and first one I drove. I checked out others but this first one was the best condition, had all the options I wanted, met all of my standards, and the price was right where it should be. They even came down on the price a little more. I'll NEVER forget that night. Driving her home the realization kept setting in over and over. 'wow I got a vette!'
Priceless! Life is good!

Sorry for posting all these novels in your thread but I have read a few horror stories on vettes and used cars in general. I came here and found a lot of advice so I am just trying to give some back.

 

Probably had the f45 real time damping suspension option and the previous owner went with bilstiens for improved handling.anyone with a techII should be able to turn off rtd. i have a 99 with f45 and replaced my shocks with z06 shocks ,had a shop turn of rtd and disconnect its been 2+ years and no problems
john

 

Hi Drew4700000 -

The 99 had an available F45 "Select-Ride" suspension option, not the later magnetic system.

You can buy used F45 shocks if you watch here, that probably being a good option.

The F45 equipped cars have a three postition switch on the console just forward of the console lid.

The shocks themselves each have an electrical connection, and there is a small linkage that connects a control-arm to a postition sensor that is mounted on the car's body in the inner wheelwells.

I would suspect that the Bilsteins were installed as an upgrade, rather than a maintenance need.

In regards to the durability of the car, we have put over 30k miles on our 99 coupe with no real issues at all.

I replaced the brake rotors with aftermarked units for $211 for all 4 corners.

I replaced the passenger door speaker with a used item I bought here on this forum for well under $100.

The only other thing I have had to replace was the battery and tires.

There are parts-a-plenty available for these cars, and although you should be prudent and thorough, I would not be terribly afraid of ongoing mantenance costs, particularly if you are at all mechanically inclined.

Simply put - these cars are easy to work on and parts are very much available and can be affordably purchased.

best regards -

mqqn

 

My .02 cents,

Get the car inspected by a reputed and knowledgeable person, dealership or shop. If the owner knows there is some major problem lurking underneath they will refuse this offer RIGHT AWAY, and you got your answer.

As for the F45 shocks option, I've been through that. I wanted to keep the option in the car for future use but not shell out $600 per shock. So I installed Bilsteins and used the sims noted in the link below, worked great .. the $10 radioshack sims are also the same as the one's I note but you have to put it together, a cheaper option IMO but I can hardly hold a soldering gun!! PM peter_pan for more info.

http://www.corvettegarage.com/produc...-corvette.html