Since we live in the age of carfax/autocheck we don’t have to worry as much about odometer fraud. Even though I got mine earlier this year, I’ve grown to enjoy the thrill of the search and look at the classifieds regularly. My local craigslist has a 02 Z06 with under 1500 miles. Would you guys worry about the condition of a car that essentially averages less than 100 miles a year? Obviously the tires if original are bad, but what about everything else?

 

You are buying a brand new 02 Z.
Jump on it.
Of course have it checked by some one that lives close by that has been a C/5 Z forum member for awhile.
As old as the car is, it is still one of the best bang for the bucks car out there.

 

My car's first owner only put 2,800 miles on it in 8 years. It had 15k miles on it when I bought it from the second owner this March. The problem, at least in Oklahoma, is that an owner doesn't have to list the miles on a new title after a vehicle is 10 years old. My 2003 doesn't show the miles on the Carfax for the past five years.

 

Don't buy it if you are going to continue to preserve it like a museum piece. The low miles may discourage your use to maintain some perceived value. If you think you'll slip into that mindset, buy another one.

Personally, I'd only buy it if it were driven regularly. If it sat for sure, then the price comes down absolutely. There is a price to be paid for essentially a new car, but a car that sits develops demons almost always unless the conditions in which it was stored were VERY good.

 

I bought a 4,000 mile '02 last year with full documentation and records. I replaced the original tires and changed all the fluids for about $1600. I doubled the mileage in the past year and have had no problems.

When the discussion of ultra low mileage cars starts, there are those who will tell you how they all have problems and a well maintained driven car is much better. Total BS! As a dealer and lifetime enthusiast, I have purchased dozens of very low mileage cars both for personal use and for resale. I have had far fewer problems with the low mileage cars than other used vehicles and they are obviously far more satisfying vehicles because of their like new qualities.

The car you describe would be a hard one to pass up. Reading this forum for the past year, there have been several low mileage cars reported purchased and I can remember no instances of problems other than the normal tire and fluid changes. Replacing the valve springs should also b considered for extra insurance.

 

There are two reasons why I didn't want an ultra low mileage car:
1: I knew I wanted to drive it, and having a museum piece mileage car would have discouraged that. I've put 12000 miles a year on the car on average, including a year where I didn't drive to work a single time and just rode my bike instead. Putting miles on a 50000 mile car is easier for me than putting miles on a 1000 mile car.
2: a lot of the issues that arise on these cars are not mileage specific. Many low mileage vehicles often suffer from the same problems as high mileage cars here on this forum. Age and lack of maintainence cause more issues than well maintained miles.

Do you really think that someone who has driven the car 100 miles a year has continued to flush the coolant, change the oil, change belts, change valve springs, bleed the brakes, bleed the clutch, change the transmission fluid, and change the diff fluid?

Probably not, I would guess most of those things are original.

 

I bought my 02Z back in Jan 2016 with 8k miles on it. It now has 18k miles and I've had no problems with it. I did replace the valve springs, tires and belts just to be safe.

Steve

 

When I bought mine, it ony had 250 miles on her...of course, this was 15 years ago.

 

Sweet! I wish I could've done that 15 years ago although I'd probably have over 200k by now.

Steve

 

If it's the color you want, grab it. Be ready for rubber purchases; tires, belts, hoses... and fluids. Treat it like it was stored for 15 years, because it was. I'd love if my 04Z started that low, as mine is a DD, so I'd have many years of miles left. I started with a bit more 4 years ago, just passed 50K miles this summer/fall, plenty of miles left.
Edit; hit post too soon. The other / biggest concern would be bushings. As it sat for so long, I'd be a bit concerned.

 

The important thing about ultra-low mileage cars is how they were stored. If it was humidity controlled, then excess moisture can't invade the cylinders. A motor sitting for long periods has some valves open and some closed, paths for moisture to condense on cylinder walls. Did the owner protect the car by occasional starting and strict humidity control, or was it in a barn? Excess moisture also invades the hydraulics, and can rust brake cylinders, etc. Same for electronics. I bought a 13.7k mile car in a garage with hot air heat and doted over, and it was a $54k car almost new, still smelled new, leather and rubber supple and new, and near perfect. Hope to find all future purchases the same way.

 

Well, it was over $38k at the time; not dirt cheap, like now, but still a bargain at the time.

 

This may be true but I will add that my 2003 only had 15k miles when I bought it in March. I have had to replace the driver's side window motor and have the ECBM repaired. You wouldn't think such a low mileage car would need either of those fixed yet.

 

More know better than me but the window motor problems are pretty common as I read here. I had a new 2000 where one failed in the first year. Wouldn’t you consider only those two problems pretty good for a 14 year old car?

 

June 2016 I purchased a 7,000 mile FRC, you can check out my thread for the stuff I've been through.

It may have low miles, but every piece of rubber and plastic on the car will still be 10-15 years old.

tires, hoses, belts, seals, clips, plugs, engine gaskets, diff seals etc

unless the car was professionally maintained (and I don't mean changing the oil once a year), you're going to want to go through it very thoroughly and replace every maintenance item you can find.

Even things like spring loaded belt tensioners, think about a spring being stretched for 15 years. Will it hold the same tension?

all that said, buy the car, do the maintenance, and enjoy being able to drive a z06 with 1500 miles in 2017

 

What did you have to give for the 4K mi one? I'm Trying to watch the market

 

Low miles are good in my book.
I get to break it in.
Rubber and gremlins don't worry me.
Nice paint
​​​​ and a seat my butt gets to form 😎
all good. Plus all the info from years of owners
Use gets me head of the game on what problems to
Look for and what to do to fix.

 

Interesting thread. There's a 03 Z06 with 3200 miles in the for sale section. I'm sure you'd have to go through it and spend some money but still...

 

That's way, way low.

If you're buying it as a museum piece or a "collector piece,' then maybe. It's going to get a high price in that market. What I'm saying is, if you plant to drive it another 1500 miles in the next 15 years, it might work for you.

If you plan to double the mileage on the odometer in a year or less, you're buying the wrong car.

I haven't dealt as much with Corvettes, but my experience is with European cars, a lot of Mercedes Benz, Audi, some Volvo, the occasional Porsche and a few more exotic Euro cars. Also, I work on drivers (at least occasional drivers, if not daily drivers) that are likely to continue at or near that mileage per year. I don't work on museum pieces. With those cars, the threshold seems to be around 6,000 mile/year, unless it is a one owner, garaged in the winter "summer car" like a MB SL Roadster (some Corvettes definitely fit in this category as well), then maybe down to 3,000-4,000 miles/year. I don't think I've seen any car under those thresholds that wasn't already "totaled" by neglect and decay. What I mean is the bill for "catching up" on maintenance, plus repairing/replacing things that have been damaged by the neglect or just decayed beyond useful service, the total bill to get them roadworthy and reliable exceeds the value of the car. I seriously doubt Chevies, even Corvettes, are much different.

The short and easy answer is this. If you plan to drive the car you're buying 6,000 miles a year, look for one that's been driven 6,000 miles a year for most of its life. If you're planning on driving 15,000 miles a year, look for something in that range. If you're looking for a museum piece you'll only drive 100 miles or less a year, look for one that's already in that range. You can buy a little lower mileage or a little higher, and adjust your price point, but you can expect big issues if you radically change the driving pattern of the car.

 

I am sorry but that statement makes absolutely less than no sense. A car is an inanimate piece of machinery that has no way to know how many miles it was driven in the last hour much less the past year. They do not a develop a pattern of usage that when changed would add or detract from their use.

Like any other used car you purchase without an extensive service history, you should do a thorough inspection, change all the fluids, address the known historical problems attached to that particular model, and change the tires if out of date. Then, you should give thanks you can find and afford such a great vehicle and begin to enjoy it. Everything else is something somebody made up!