Hello all, my name is Michael and I'm a new member.
I was wondering, if there is anyone out there who can recommend someone that I may contact to inspect a Vette (C5) that I plan on Purchasing. The dealer is Buyavette in Atlanta Ga. I was told that it's always a good policy to have a vehicle inspected no matter how low the mileage is.
Also is there anyone who knows of this Buyavette Dealership. All advice will be greatly appreciated. I can be reached at doowop5@verizon.net and my cell at 631-678-8243. Thank you so much for any input regarding this matter......... Michael

 

Put up a post like this one looking for members in atlanta Ga to look at vette. You will get help....

 

BuyAVette.net is a very good and reputable dealer. I do know that much...

They stand behind what they sell. A friend recently bought an 04 convertible from them back in October and is very happy with the car. He brought the car home from Georgia to Pennsylvania and had state inspection done at our local Chevrolet dealer. It needed a few things to pass state inspection and BuyAVette.net paid for it all. That included new tires.

 

Glennm27,
Thanks for the Response. There are so many untrustworthy dealers out there. I was advised to join CF and speak with members here. Any other input would greatly be appreciated. Thanks again.........,
Michael

 

I bought my 98 from them in May of 06. It was everything they said it was. When I bought mine they only offered 3 month or 3,000 mile warranties.They were very easy to deal with. Only problem I encountered was they didn't keep their titles onsite & took about 3 weeks to get me a title. They did guarantee me a good title. I would buy again if they had something I wanted. Also if coming to look at more than 1 car, they will have those cars out and available for test drives.

 

Hot Merc,
Thanks for the response. It's greatly appreciated. I was wondering why the titles were not kept on site. But it's something I'll have to question when I speak with them. I would feel a little uncomfortable, buying a car and not viewing the title. I would at least want to see that the mileage and vin# of the vehicle matched. Anyway As I said, I'm a bit new to this, and I want to get any input and suggestions from the professional out there. Thanks again....... Michael

 

all of the above information aside, it is still always a good idea to have a personal inspection of any vehicle you are buying long distance. posting in the various places as recommended should get you someone in the area that would be willing to take a look personally for you and provide you with as many photos as you may want. if someone does volunteer, i would suggest that you at least offer to cover their gas for their troubles. but that's just my 2 cents worth. BTW it wouldn't hurt for you to request a carfax on the vehicle (keep in mind that it isn't the final word on reliability, etc, but it will be a good indicator of the general quality and upkeep of the car).

 

Also, consider that another persons concept of a "great deal" might not agree with yours. They may be very DIY mechanically minded and you may not be.

When I started looking for a C5 in '06, it looked like I was going to have to travel out of AZ. Most of the cars I found seemed to be on the east coast, especially FL. That meant extra expense had to be figured into the total cost of the car.

I lucked out and found something even better than I thought I would find...and it was only 100 miles away. It cost a little more, but w/o the cost and trouble of air travel/lodging/food/fuel to bring home or transport, it was a wash.

 

I bought my 2000 coupe from them in 2008. While the car has had no issues and the condition and milage were as advertised, I would recommend that you view the car first and get the Carfax. My only issue came after I brought the car home and then got the Carfax (they were not offering the Carfax when I bought the car). Their advertisement implied (and I mean stongly implied) that the car was a one owner. Upon getting the Carfax I learned that I was actually the third owner and not the second. When I received the title that fact was verified as well. However, again the car was in the condition as described and has had no major issues to date 10k miles after picking it up. Good luck.
PS I did inform them of my concern with their advertisement. They were apologetic but offerred no explanation.

 

Do a web search for "vehicle inspections by ASE certified technicians". There are several companies out there that provide this service. It's worth the money!

I live on Guam and purchased my '99 C5 in 2004 from a seller in Spokane, WA. The car was listed on Autotrader for 8-months, so I decided to check into it. After talking with the seller and getting his permission to have someone check the car out for me, I sent him $50 to hold the car for a couple of weeks while I made the arrangements.

I contacted three service companies and after talking to a couple of their references, hired all three. In addition to the standard service they offered, I insisted on a total of 6 photos of the underside of the car. I had to pay an additional rack rental fee. One of those service providers included an oil analysis as part of their package.

After receiving the reports, each summarizing that the car was in excellent condition, I decided to move forward with the purchase. I figured 3-votes out of 3 was a safe bet.

I spent about $1K to get all the testing done, but after shipping the car (another $2K) 6,800 miles, I was very happy with the purchase. The gent that sold the car had it cleaned and waxed before dropping it off at the freight terminal.

I looked at the cost of the inspections this way. I was ready to lay down $18K for a car I could not see for myself. The additional 1K is chump change compared to being unhappy 6,800 miles later!

Bottom line, in the end, it's always "buyer beware". You are responsible if you are not happy with the purchase. Due diligence is your responsibility. It's pointless to get angry at the seller and play the blame game, unless the seller held a gun to your head and made you pay!

Good luck, and sorry for the long post.

 

Fat Finger, Long posts are fine. Any input from anyone is fine. I'll check into your suggestions. Many thanks...... Michael

 

Hotwheels57, Thanks for the help......Michael

 

Nice talking with you Michael. Let me know if you need anything else.

David

 

Glad to help. Good luck on your purchase!


r/ Phil

 

David, Nice talking with you as well, and thanks........

Michael

 

BuyAVette.net

There is alot of good advice in all the replies above. One thing though about Carfax. I would not put much faith in Carfax AT ALL. It only shows what has been reported to Insurance Companies.

I owned a Z24 Cavalier back in the 90's and actually totalled it TWICE. Myself and friends rebuilt the car both times. I was offered a free Carfax one day a couple years later and ran that car just for the hell of it to see what it would show...

Since I repaired that car myself no one ever knew anything about it other than myself and the few guys that helped restore the car so subsequesntly Carfax didn't show either repair.....

That car although totalled TWICE, had a clean as could be Carfax report.....

 

Glennm27,

That's a good point.......

 

I made a special trip from Ky to Buyavette a few yrs ago to look for a vette. Salesman met me on the lot and said someone would be with me shortly but no one ever showed up. I spent 45 minutes walking the lot looking at cars and even went inside to find someone but people walked by without speaking. I got tired of waiting and left. I do strongly urge personal inspection of the vette you buy. I finally found my vette less than 2 miles from my front door on a local Hyundai lot of all places. You never know where one might turn up.

 

To all CF Members this is how we help the noobie give urselfs a pat on the back way to step up and help the new Guy.


Now here is my take on it lol Never buy something that you cant see or feel. I went with a friend to look at a 99 C5 100 Miles from where we lived and to me the car was a POS it had 180K on the clock and the oil gage was pegged at 80 psi the drivers seat when you put on the brakes it slid forward the car pulled to the right tires were bad no car fax. The seller wanted 8k for the car I test drove it and didnt like it at all I told him to drive it so he did and he fell in love with it and bought it. The differance between our thoughts were that for another 7-8k he could buy a cleaner vette is what I thought. For him it was a project that he could do the rebiuld himself. We found out the car had been repo'd from the last owner and sold at auction the owner also told us that it had a brand new motor and trans and diff in it with only 4k miles on it. So the moral of the story is know what you are buying. Find a dealer in the area that can check it out for you find a vette club that could send some C5 Guys over to look at it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.


Pops

 

Thanks Pops......

Michael