odometer fraud common?
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8th Gear
Joined: Jan 2011
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odometer fraud common?
I am in the market looking at used C5s. I see many with very low mileage from 20-50k but I am suspicious of such low amounts on these older vehicles.
One of the things I like to use as a guage is how the seat is worn and most of these cars shows major seat wear. I have looked at literally dozens of cars and very few look to match the mileage.
My Sonata has 54k miles and the seat looks a fraction as worn as the common leather vette with 25k. I conditioned it once or twice in 4 years and its a 2006 lol.
So am I nuts are do vettes have a lot of odemeter fraud going on?
One of the things I like to use as a guage is how the seat is worn and most of these cars shows major seat wear. I have looked at literally dozens of cars and very few look to match the mileage.
My Sonata has 54k miles and the seat looks a fraction as worn as the common leather vette with 25k. I conditioned it once or twice in 4 years and its a 2006 lol.
So am I nuts are do vettes have a lot of odemeter fraud going on?
Safety Car
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From: pueblo co
just got mine with 27,000 miles on it and the seat has some wear to it..but that is to be expected. came with a clean car fax history...and its pretty common to see a lot of vettes with lower mileage.
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I don't think there is a lot of odometer fraud happening with the C5s. It really is not unusual to see a 10 year old C5 with very low mileage. Mine is an '03 and it has 13K miles on it and I know it is accurate.
The seats in the C5 are not covered in the best leather and they do tend to wear fast.
The seats in the C5 are not covered in the best leather and they do tend to wear fast.
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jan 2011
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Cool. Thanks for the info.
Now the perfect priced one popped today on Craigs for me. This one has 70k miles so I can afford it. Owner is asking 13,900. From the pics it looks immaculate but person to person puchase which I have never done. I may go look at it tomorrow.
Now the perfect priced one popped today on Craigs for me. This one has 70k miles so I can afford it. Owner is asking 13,900. From the pics it looks immaculate but person to person puchase which I have never done. I may go look at it tomorrow.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Yorktown Virginia
I would say no there isnt, my dad is on his second low mileage vette. His first one was a 97 and it hat 39 on it when he sold it and it had some wear on the seat but the guy who had it before was a bigger guy and the leather on the older ones is not very thick, sport seats will also give you better leather. His current one is a 2000 with 9k on it and it has sport seats with no wear but they were really nasty and had some marks on the side bolster. Now mine has 101 on it and it doesn't really have any wear on the side bolster but has a tear where the frame of the seat has come through the cousin from being sat in so much and some of the seams are stretched a little.
One reason the vette may show wear a little more is because most people slide down into the seat instead of just sitting down it in like a regular car, second if its a larger person its going to wear more. A few of the guys in a local club have c6's with low mileage and you can see wear on they're seats but they are a little larger too.
One reason the vette may show wear a little more is because most people slide down into the seat instead of just sitting down it in like a regular car, second if its a larger person its going to wear more. A few of the guys in a local club have c6's with low mileage and you can see wear on they're seats but they are a little larger too.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Lake Elsinore, CA
It's difficult to change the odometer reading in a C5 - although, not impossible. Nevertheless, lots of c5's are low-mileage cars due to the fact that they may be weekend/pleasure 2nd or 3rd vehicles like ours are. Both are 2002's, one with ~27K miles, the other with 7700.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
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From: Edmonton Alberta, Canada
I am replacing the leather seat skins of my Vette with 24,000 miles on it. If it is a vert (ragtop) the seat leather dries out and ages with the sun when parked, also because you tend to drag yourself in and out over the seats they wear quickly. Jeans are like a #200 grit sand paper and it doesnt take long to show wear. (So wear your PJ's when driving your car to prevent this!! lol.) Rob
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Wounded Warrior Escort '11
The only way for odometer fraud to happen really is for someone to buy a new IP Cluster at the start of a lease for example. Drive it all they want, then at some point before turning the car back in, is to swap in the new cluster and drive it some more. The problem here is if any service is done to the car during this time, then they'll get busted. A lot of Corvette owners just leave them in the garage and smile each time they look in there to see it!
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Houston,Texas USA
I bought my 2004 Coupe new. It now has 21,500 miles on it. A friend on mine has a 2003 Anniversary convertible with less than 3,000 miles on it. Most Corvette's are weekend toys. I sold my last one, five years old, with 19,000 miles on it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Huntington tx
Seat leather on C5's are the cheesiest in the industry. Look at one long enough and you can watch it deteriorate before your eyes. My Dodge truck has better leather(or imitation leather) than my Corvettes. Whoever was in charge of seat material for this model in GM probably doesn't work there anymore, or has changed his name and is on Fed Witness Protection in Nebraska somewhere holding a hay rake.
But it did open up a new aftermarket industry for replacement seat covers and feeds lots of immigrants or 3rd world economies. Heck this horrible seat fiasco could have actually been a US Government operation targeted at expanding overseas imports?
Either way, you just get better seat covers and drive on..... nothing to see here folks, just move right along!
Edited to add this personal comment,
I think the C5 is an incredible achievement for GM, But for some reason the seats are it's worst feature. There is NO fraud with odometers and the appearance of worn seats. Mine was purchased with 70,000 miles on the Odo, and the interior looked showroom excpet the seats looked like something from a Chevette.
But it did open up a new aftermarket industry for replacement seat covers and feeds lots of immigrants or 3rd world economies. Heck this horrible seat fiasco could have actually been a US Government operation targeted at expanding overseas imports?
Either way, you just get better seat covers and drive on..... nothing to see here folks, just move right along!
Edited to add this personal comment,
I think the C5 is an incredible achievement for GM, But for some reason the seats are it's worst feature. There is NO fraud with odometers and the appearance of worn seats. Mine was purchased with 70,000 miles on the Odo, and the interior looked showroom excpet the seats looked like something from a Chevette.
Last edited by sfc rick; Feb 6, 2011 at 07:56 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,841
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From: CLT, North Carolina
The only way for odometer fraud to happen really is for someone to buy a new IP Cluster at the start of a lease for example. Drive it all they want, then at some point before turning the car back in, is to swap in the new cluster and drive it some more. The problem here is if any service is done to the car during this time, then they'll get busted. A lot of Corvette owners just leave them in the garage and smile each time they look in there to see it!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,841
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From: CLT, North Carolina
Seat leather on C5's are the cheesiest in the industry. Look at one long enough and you can watch it deteriorate before your eyes....
I think the C5 is an incredible achievement for GM, But for some reason the seats are it's worst feature. There is NO fraud with odometers and the appearance of worn seats. Mine was purchased with 70,000 miles on the Odo, and the interior looked showroom excpet the seats looked like something from a Chevette.
I think the C5 is an incredible achievement for GM, But for some reason the seats are it's worst feature. There is NO fraud with odometers and the appearance of worn seats. Mine was purchased with 70,000 miles on the Odo, and the interior looked showroom excpet the seats looked like something from a Chevette.
They sell BMW's, Porsches and Mercedes to address these complaints. They call it going upmarket provided you have the means to pay.
I read the engineering report for the 1984 Corvette a while back and it stated the bean counters back then placed a cost limit of something like $145 on the Sport Seats. This means the GM engineers had to design a Corvette seat that cost GM no more that the allowable $145 in order to bring ther car in at the target MSRP.
Everybody wants better seats but we also don't want $100,000 Corvettes ala Porsche.
The seats complaint is just one issue, the entire car was engineered that way. Look at it this way... your Corvette can do things a Porsche cannot for half the price. You still win with a Corvette, just use leather conditioner, keep them clean and protected and enjoy!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Huntington tx
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,841
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From: CLT, North Carolina
There's an old saying... it's easy to be a Rolls Royce engineer, you simply go get the best there is and put it on. Not so easy to be a good Ford or Chevrolet engineer... now you have to accomplish a certain task for a low price.
Fails? You could always start your own sports car company like DeLorian did and put whatever quality you want in it. Of course you would have to profitable in order to stay in business and part of your cost would have to include health care and the pension program the labor union demands ($1500 per car for GM). You would also have to be competitively priced in order to sell against your competition or prospective buyers might buy something else and leave you with unsold inventory no one wants. I wonder how that would turn out?
Fails? You could always start your own sports car company like DeLorian did and put whatever quality you want in it. Of course you would have to profitable in order to stay in business and part of your cost would have to include health care and the pension program the labor union demands ($1500 per car for GM). You would also have to be competitively priced in order to sell against your competition or prospective buyers might buy something else and leave you with unsold inventory no one wants. I wonder how that would turn out?
Last edited by Greg Gore; Feb 6, 2011 at 11:19 AM.
Drifting
Joined: May 2003
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From: Sandy Utah
I have a 2001 coupe with 20k on the odo. My leather seats are perfect!! I use Lexol leather conditioner and apply it when the inside of the car is hot. It absorbs into the seat leather and keeps it supple and smelling like new leather.
Le Mans Master
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From: Huntington tx
I built 6 special use vehicles for about 5 million over the project life. Sometimes just because you can build it, doesn't mean it should. But upper management has the call on what is or isn't built.