Trueace

What do you guys think about Sun Damage on a car? I have a neighbor selling a 2008 c6 base soon with only 14k miles but it has been sitting outside for a number of years. He is the 2nd owner I believe so have to clarify how long but can tell the paint is starting to fade some. It's a black vette.

Hmm so while mileage is great how do you guys handle sun damage? I can't tell how much but just in general the paint seems to be fading some. Which could mean other things have taken damage.. interior.. dash etc probably.

Also, he only drives it about once a week. Is this enough so it doesn't hurt the engine while it sits there and "bakes" in the Florida sun? Can the mechanicals / engine be damaged by sitting in sun so much though not direct sunlight on the engine obviously...?

He is saying he should get 29k on trade in as he'll be getting a new Camaro does this sound about right?

Sorry don't have any photos currently.



Thanks all.

Topduarte

Options and pics would help?

Trueace

I believe it is a 1LT as it has no HUD but I am so novice not sure if that would be accurate. No HUD for sure though.

I will try and get pics but he hasn't shared any with me so don't want to just take and start posting without his consent. Best I can describe is it is just starting to fade. Clearly some fade though but maybe with detail it would be much better. Some of the rubber seals seem to be deteriorating some too..

Florida sun!! FYI.

subfloor@centurytrans

You'd be pretty surprised at how much a paint correction can fix, even on a black car.

I stupidly left my 2013 ZR1 sit outside for something like 2 years and I was thoroughly convinced it would need to be repainted, as it was truly that bad. Fortunately though the guy who fixed it did a great job.

If you're serious about the car I'd suggest getting somebody to come out and assess the condition beforehand so you know what you'll be dealing with.

Here are some good before and after pics:

Trueace

Thanks for the info. Yes the paint correction looks great!

No doubt going to have someone look at it. But if dealer is going to give him 29k (maybe has paperwork on this though it does match current KBB) I'm assuming they factored the paint in. Just not sure what their take is on it exactly.

I suppose will need my own independent mechanical inspection / overall inspection anyways which there is a solid guy down the road for that.

WasVette

My .02. 14,000 miles is nice, obviously, but for $29,000 on an older base C6 I’d look for a car possibly with more miles like 35,000, still not bad, with no stories. As was mentioned, besides the paint, if it was baking in the sun that long, there is no doubt the interior has been affected somehow.

Try not to get caught up too much in the fact that it is next-door; if you saw this car on Corvette forum would you go out of your way to pursue and buy??

Good luck either way!

Trueace

Yes, I agree makes sense. Ughh if just no sun damage probably would be an amazing buy.

But maybe a paint correction can somewhat save it though as you mentioned the interior will have taken a beating and possibly some of the mechanicals inside the hood from reading online.

H82GOSLW

I bought a car that spent 20 years in the Florida sun and brought it north. The exterior paint was beat up but definitely salvageable....but I couldn't believe how bad the interior was due to sun damage. Believe it or not there was also a lot of beach sand in the nooks and crannies when I started taking the dashboard and door panels apart. The dash, door panels and steering wheel were just ruined from the sun. The previous owner never had the car covered or stored indoors.

I"m amazed at the ZR1 in this thread.....that car looks fantastic after the work he had done.

Trueace

How did the engine / mechanicals hold up after the baking in the sun? You got it with lower miles but sat outside a lot? That is my biggest concern honestly. Like hoses rotting and of course engine damage if that's even possible. I have just read the heat can even get to the internals etc. He only drives it about once a week as well so it sits a lot.

H82GOSLW

The car had 40,000 miles on it. I bought it and immediately sent it to have the engine rebuilt as it threw a rod (which I knew when I bought). That part of the process was great…got to pick and choose exactly what I wanted for a motor. Ended up at 440 rwhp after rebuild and it ran great.
But a/c stopped working, little things here and there started having problems and I couldn’t tolerate that. Ended up selling after owning it for 3 months. Fortunately I made money because of this crazy market.

subfloor@centurytrans

Surprisingly its not that hard to do as I ended up working on my race car by myself and it was WAY worse than the ZR1.
.
This is a before and after shot (while I was still working on it) as well as the final outcome.

Trueace

I understand. Thanks!

WasVette

Just pass on this one for God's sake

Iceman60467

It’s not only the pant it’s also a rubber and all of seals which might need to be change also!
Pass on this one because is priced as a low mileage car in excellent shape.

jim2527

I'd take a Florida sun baked car over a Northern car any day... It doesn't do anything to the engine of mechanicals. Cars down here hold up much better than up North.

Bronk

One word: ROADS !

Nytehawk

This assertion has no basis in reality. You are talking about a car that is driven year-round in the sun and regular temps over 110*F vs a car that is driven half the year in ideal weather, and stored indoors at all times.

The only advantage the South has is that there are 10x the number of Corvettes around, so you have more options. Most roads are equally good, unless you're going to Michigan, or the Northeast.

WasVette

Why buy either one? Unless it is an insane deal… which this Corvette does not appear to be.