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Looking to purchase a 2002 vette, has the Z51 package. Looking to make my first vette purchase after driving my dads c4 every so often for the last 15 years. When I went to check out the car I noticed some rust on the undercarriage and I only got 1 good picture. The car spent most of its life in northeast US, last year or so in Florida. Concerned about the winter salt damage from northern states. Compared to the other cars I have looked at in this range there is little to no rust underneath. Is this a huge concern for this car? Carfax is clean, recalls all taken care of, no accidents. Please let me know what you think!
I am going to take it in for a PPI if i decide to move forward and my offer is accepted. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Last edited by Coyote88; Oct 21, 2023 at 03:41 PM.
If your private mechanical/body inspector does not see any structural damage from the rust, then it could mean just a good removal process with available products and a lot of hand/machine work to remove.
That car was used during more than one winter. If the price is real good than ok but I would pass, my 2002 has almost no rust with 94k miles on it.
maybe they got salt on it then parked it on grass clean carfax but not taken care of like a sports car.
Look most cars do not have this, it has seen salt while most don’t.
Two things, one are you going to keep this car long and is there a substantial discount due to this.
If you are going to buy and keep this car long just keep looking and buy a rust free car. They are not rare.
this king of rust is not fatal but if you resell it will cost you value as like you are facing now as most refuse to pay full value on a car that is below average quality.
Not saying it is a bad car but there are just so many others in better shape. Just 5he nature of a Corvette since most only come out on nice days once a week.
I had just surface rust ( virtually nothing ) but I cleaned it last year and sprayed on a 'Rust Converter' and a few days later I painted the same area with Rustoleum Black. It was gloss black and if i had to do-over I'd would have picked satin black, but I'm just kinda anle about my Corvette, ya can't see it unless it's on a lift. . . . so ?
The concern with road salt rust is not only the obvious places, but also hidden places; deep in corners, places out of view like the clutch assembly, or to what extent wiring and other electrical components are affected.
These cars have about a dozen grounding points, and enough potential electrical gremlins so as it is.
My opinion is move along to the next one. You may need to widen your search area which has worked out for myself and a bunch of others. I bought my car two sates away.
The concern with road salt rust is not only the obvious places, but also hidden places; deep in corners, places out of view like the clutch assembly, or to what extent wiring and other electrical components are affected.
These cars have about a dozen grounding points, and enough potential electrical gremlins so as it is.
My opinion is move along to the next one. You may need to widen your search area which has worked out for myself and a bunch of others. I bought my car two sates away.
Good hunting 👍
Originally Posted by Vetteman Jack
Lots of places rust can hide and cause problems later on.
Agreed, the hidden areas are a concern down the road. Been looking pretty much everywhere, this one just happened to be 30 min away, guess I got excited cause it was so close!
Originally Posted by hyperv6
Look most cars do not have this, it has seen salt while most don’t.
Two things, one are you going to keep this car long and is there a substantial discount due to this.
If you are going to buy and keep this car long just keep looking and buy a rust free car. They are not rare.
this king of rust is not fatal but if you resell it will cost you value as like you are facing now as most refuse to pay full value on a car that is below average quality.
Not saying it is a bad car but there are just so many others in better shape. Just 5he nature of a Corvette since most only come out on nice days once a week.
Exactly. They said $18.5k, but I dont think that is significant enough. Im planning on keeping the car long term, so I would rather pay a little more for something in better condition.
Thank you everyone for your replys, the search continues!
Agreed, the hidden areas are a concern down the road. Been looking pretty much everywhere, this one just happened to be 30 min away, guess I got excited cause it was so close!
Exactly. They said $18.5k, but I dont think that is significant enough. Im planning on keeping the car long term, so I would rather pay a little more for something in better condition.
Thank you everyone for your replys, the search continues!
I paid just a bit more for a low mile 02 convertible that looks like new on the under side. You will do yourself a favor for buying the better car if you plan to keep it. These are the kind of cars you flip.
Personally, I would probably pass on this. There are lots of rust free C5s out there. With that said, if the PPI mechanic says it's fine, you could fix it. However, for the price asked, you could do better.
I paid just a bit more for a low mile 02 convertible that looks like new on the under side. You will do yourself a favor for buying the better car if you plan to keep it. These are the kind of cars you flip.
Same here, I paid 19.1K last Jan for a 55K mile car and the underside looked like new. Keep looking, there are many out there. As mentioned, since you can see that rust, it is the places you can't see I would wonder about.
Advice Needed on Rust
Lots of places rust can hide and cause problems later on.
