Hey all -

I found a C6 that I have been searching for nearly all aspects but... big but... it's on a dealer lot with an Edelbrock E-Force SC on it. Is that a deal killer?

I've talked to the dealership salesperson briefly on the phone, the details are thin on the ground but I have videos of it running, etc.

If I was dumb enough to step forward on this, what next steps should I take?

Thanks in advance!

*PS* - its fairly wild, but I think they actually have it priced at or below what it would cost without the SC. I mean, I wish it didn't have it either *but* a part of me thinks its pretty damn awesome. It's like a $10k kit plus installation?!?

 

There is a lot of info about the kit on the site. It can make good power and seems to be reliable. Can be susceptible to heat soaking if you are tracking the car. If you are interested in ever supercharging the C6 you buy, you'll be ahead in time and money if you buy one that's already done. It would not be a deal breaker for me but would be for some, especially if there isn't information about who installed it, who tuned it, and what else may have been done when it was installed.

 

The Edelbrock hardware itself is high quality & well designed. The issues here are who did the installation, how qualified was the installer, what was the quality of the install, were all the manufacturer's instructions followed precisely, was the proper tune applied, etc, etc. Don't rely on anything the dealer is telling you. Unless their own shop did the install, they have no real knowledge. It may be a push, but ask if the dealer will contact the owner who had the install done & ask for contact info for the shop. Then follow up with the shop that did the install. Good luck.

 

The last owner had owned it for 9 years, so it seems probable that this owner was the one who had the work done, and you'd hope as a long time owner they'd hope they have it done somewhere reputable and not just dump the car out of spite when it wasn't how they wanted it. That's a lot of trust, I suppose.

The other factor is that this dealership bought it at an auction. As near as I can tell it's sat for about a year between a dealership, and auction and then a new dealership. I can probably ask them to contact the previous owner but that seems like a pretty long shot - I sincerely appreciate the suggestion and will try it.

I don't suppose I could get the serial number from the SC somehow and contact Edelbrock to see what shop submitted the tuning request? It looks like part of the install process is to send some files to Edelbrock and they respond with the tune.

 

If the mods/install was done right, it sounds like a good deal. If it’s an LS2/LS3 then you shouldn’t have a problem with the “thin” walls. If the kit is running the included kit & pulley, then it’s rather safe/conservative.

My question are:

What pulley is the kit running? (What boost)

Does it have any other supporting mods like a cam/heads/headers/fuel pump/injectors done?

How many miles does the kit/engine have on it?

It can be installed on a stock engine just fine but just wondering how deep the previous owner went in on the car. Sounds like it might be a near stock car with the e-force setup & lightly modified tune, which should be plenty safe upfront.

 

I do appreciate all of the input quite a lot.

Pursuing the previous owner information with the dealership has proved fruitless so far.

Is there a reasonable way a to figure out the pulley size? I’ve got a sales dude helping and the information I can get seems to be limited to pictures at this point, he has been game and sent me an extra 30 pictures or so at this point and some videos, but they haven’t all been too helpful.

In terms of feeling out how deep the kids go, two observations. First, an you help me identify if this is a stock ls3 NPP two stage exhaust?




Second, it is rolling on Pirelli Pzero all weather tires in stock staggered sizes front and back.

If the previous owner kept the stock exhaust and if that owner chose these tires and if that owner had the kit installed, it’s seems really likely that the blower was more of a vanity one off than a setup for quarter mile runs or road racing shenanigans. Thoughts?

 

That is the NPP OEM exhaust & sounds like it still has the OEM wheels. So may be stock aside from the basic kit, install and tune. They run north of 10k after it’s all said and done (install a new kit).

If the car is running fine, should be worth the purchase, doesn’t sound like the guy was a hardcore racer, probably a cruiser & he wanted the kit to impress the guys at the local car shows. LS3s can take some good boost but TBH the car probably is running the basic 3.875” pulley 550hp stage one kit or maybe the stage 2 600hp kit.

You can measure the pulley size to help figure out some more details, pics always help

 

OK, I am dumb enough to consider moving forward with this despite not knowing the full history. Figuring out logistics in traveling ~7 hours one way, having my wife along to see it/approve it and having a couple youngish kids makes it all more work than it would be otherwise, but if someone buys it while I am figuring it out I guess that is a sign it wasn't for me.

Is there a "how to buy a used corvette at a dealership" guide that I haven't seen/found? I might be blind. Many things come to mind - like, is the oil clean (ie, just oil and not other fluids or bonus materials) - some dealerships used to have some leeway and in fact maybe 15 years ago I returned a used Mustang that was just... wrong... to a dealership a couple days after purchasing it. It was a PITA, but it all worked out. This dealership has very much assured me that it, and any fun bonus problems I discover, are mine to keep. I just wonder if I can really trust it if I have their service department do an oil change (which I would be fine paying for) on my behalf, for example. I also find it hard to believe they would let anyone else really touch the car before I bought it. There is only so much we can see from the outside.

All that said, this is one of the reasons I have been looking at Corvettes seriously - it would be really expensive but I could get the motor replaced at the local dealership. And "really expensive" at the Chevrolet dealership cannot begin to rival "really expensive" at say, a Porsche dealership. At least that's my impression of things.

I am aware that it's a used car, and any car could lose a crank bearing or something at any time but there has to be a way to not just be super naïve? Maybe?

Thanks again. I appreciate the help despite my short tenure here.

 

Update -

Talked with the dealership. They are proposing I put a deposit of $500 down on the car and they'll hold it for two weeks so I can figure it out. They'll also get myself and my wife from the airport, and tickets are pretty darn cheap. Finally, they will let me take the car to a local-to-them mechanic and pay to have whatever done (oil change?) and full inspection done at my own cost before I buy it. If I show up and don't want the car after this, they'll refund the deposit and I can walk away out my time. They also offered to take ~$1k+ off the asking price. I am planning on paying cash (cashier check) so I am not sure if I could try for more leverage. Based on observed pricing, I think its slightly under the (crazy) market as is.

Once/if I put a deposit down I'll post a link to the car and all of the associated pictures and videos I have accumulated. As silly as it sounds, I am afraid of getting sniped on this thing.

Sales guy was good on the phone and this sounds reasonable to me. Input either way continues to be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Sounds good to me. Do it.

 

Yeah, its like a 10K kit, and dealerships typically do not add mark up, they are more likely to mark down since they don't know anything about them.

Last year I was facing the same decision. The dealership gave me the former owners phone number with his permission. Talking to the guy who put the E-Force on made me a lot happier. If there is any way to find the person who did it, you will have some peace of mind.

If its a good install, you will love it. Quiet and mild until your press on it, then hold on. Mine is a stage 2 600 HP kit, on an LS3. And yeah, I can tell you from experience those tires won't grab off the line, you will have to do a rolling start up to about 20 mph before you hit it.

It's a good deal from the sounds of it, and depending on your state you may have a take-back if something turns up in the first 5 days. I am in WI, I see you are in MN.

Good luck, post back if you get the car!

 

Thread closure:

Dealer took a deposit but then said it was not an exclusive right to the car as the flights I booked for my wife and I were 10 days out (wtf) and so I said I wasn’t good with paying for a third party review until that was formed up. Of course sales guy calls back and said they had another party interested fall through because of the supercharger and concerns about it. So they finally (?) put it through a solid inspection in their own shop and low and behold the check engine light came on and some back ordered part was bad (IDK, but I am guessing fuel pump, who knows) and that the parts wouldn’t even be there in time for our flights. So I used that to leverage the deposit back and that saga is over.

I should probably have been more patient but I wanted to land something this fall because (probably/maybe) prices will be higher in the spring and with a couple of kids in school my fall is booked in a way that makes it really hard to fly to pick up a car. Anyway.

On a local lot I had been avoiding the car that met so much of my criteria but had a muddled history and was just outside my self imposed budget. After seeing the parts the dealership had replaced ($3K worth of magnetic shocks and misc including a new battery) and getting an extremely clean bill of health from the local dealership that gets an incredible amount of local Corvette traffic (Friendly Chevrolet in Fridley, MN, when I dropped my car off the service bay had a Malibu and two other C6 grand sports in it, with three other vettes in the main shop. Either they do lots of vettes or vettes live in the shop. I am going with the first one.) I pulled the trigger.

Does it ever feel good buying a car at a dealership? I think not. But my amazing wife was a super good sport and just wanted me to have the car I wanted, so voila.

I (we) now own this 2012 GS 3LT Very M6 with 45k miles on it, adjustable shocks, NPP, extremely stock, etc:




$39K. Excited and a little terrified all at the same time.

 

Nice!

 

I live in Andover. If you're going to have your car checked out or any work done. Take it to [ Twin City Performance ] Carl is the owner. About 5 blocks down from Cossett"s restaurant in St.Paul. His shop

 

Well damn Scotty. You'd think a good shop would at least get one out of four to run....Too many up in the air is worrisome!!!

 

Now that there is funny. They all read too many posts from you and Sammy. Good to hear from you.

 

Congrats....you'll get over the terrifieds about the same time you get over buyers remorse....give it about six weeks and wou'll wonder why you waited so long... Good luck and nice car.

 

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

I am definitely feeling that a bit now. I was working on the car, taking off the right and left GS air dams because they just don't work with my driveway at home or into the parking lot at work and noticed a hairline crack in the fiber glass at the point where the wheel liner attaches the fender. Also that the left dam had some sort of impact that cracked the clip out of the plastic bit it was fastened too. Coming to grips with the fact its a used car that lived a life is what it is. Now I know that any Vette, but especially a GS+ with all the aero bits, needs to be carefully inspected around the nose.

But...

My wife and I got sun burns zipping out and about on roads north and east of the twin cities. Tons of solid, smooth and empty black tops, waves from other verts out for cruises and smiles.

My 11 yo son was super embarrassed by the flaunting of wealth (lol, he is the sweetest kid and I definitely have to expose him to real wealth AND real flaunting, clearly) that this yellow wonder car is but my younger daughter was thrilled and even happier that I dropped her off on her first day of third grade in it.

I've wanted to own a Corvette my entire life. My parents have redone my childhood room, but the one thing that remains is a framed poster of a C5 that I got at the Bowling Green factory when I took a tour in high school. To own one without risking my families means and financial well being has been a life goal that I might have really truly realized next year, but my wife is awesome and saw how impatient I was and supported me in deciding now was the time.

Anyway, I've found this forum to have so much great information, not just in this thread but in so many others that I have read. Thank you all.

 

Have fun in it. You have about 2 months left to enjoy it.

 

Pretty decent price drive it in good health