4rensic22

I am in the market for a used C7 (for my son actually). I will be at Carlisle from Thursday through Saturday. Has anyone bought a car at the show and if so can you give me any tips? Ideally I would like to take possession of the car during the show to avoid having to make a second trip. Also, my son is in the military so I will be buying it for him using a Power of Attorney.

We live in upstate NY.

Thanks
4rensic22

Baltimoron

I've never been to an auto auction, so I can't help there. I wouldn't buy any corvette without a GMVIS to get a history of the vehicle. I've read several stories on the forum about people buying, or nearly buying cars that were former driving school cars. Obviously, this means they were run very hard, but it also means they'll have warranty blocks. I have no idea what your level of technical knowledge is, but there's no chance I'd buy one of these cars without being able to do a pretty good inspection of it, or having someone with me to look it over. Good luck with your search and thanks for your sons service!

pwj155

I think that there is a forum dealer in Rochester, why not give them a call first?

zipity

I have friends who have bought many cars at the show but mostly older cars not the newer vintage cars. I do know they have a lender/credit union on site as well as a notary to assist with whatever you might need. Most cars in the for sale section are private owners, so you should be able to negotiate a deal as well as a test drive outside of the fairgrounds. If you have a friend or perhaps contact your local GM dealership and have them on stand by to run the VIN for you to see what has been done to the car under warranty.
Best of luck to you.

~Stingray

This is getting harder and harder. Dealers don't want to help you buy a car that is not on their lot. I get a lot of, "if the car is not in our lot, we can't look it up" or "we don't have a license to look up cars". Both of which are absurd lies as carfax is a paid subscription for a year and the car warranty thing, well that has been hit or miss.

I can confirm there is a credit union and an ATM for with drawls and loans. These percentage rates will be high so you should refinance as soon as possible.

racelance

There should be plenty of C7's for sale during the upcoming Corvettes at Carlisle event. I'd suggest purchasing a carfax and of course look over the car yourself. There will be plenty of experts at the event, I wouldn't hesitate asking around and I'm sure there will be people happy to help!

Thanks for coming to the event, we're getting excited!

Lance

4rensic22

Always happy to try to do business with a forum member first. Thanks for the info,

4rensic22

Here is the backstory Lance: My sons and I were at the show in 2013. The older of the two had just visited the Coast Guard Academy. He sat in a 2014 that was on display there and fell in love with it. I told him that if he was accepted to and graduated from the Academy I would buy him a 2014 when he received his commission. I figured it would be worth it with the money I saved not sending him to a civilian engineering school. Well, here we are as he is entering his senior year there. I have to keep my promise, even though I will have to wait a few (many) more years to retire. I am hoping my youngest will come with me to the show this year. Looking forward to it too.

Bill Dearborn

There should be a fair number of them for sale. However, bring your walking shoes and be ready to hike up and down the hill quite a bit while looking through the aisles of cars. Biggest problem may be trying to make up your mind on which car to buy as there will be a plethora of selections. Are you limited to a 2014 as you may find a newer one is what you want?

Used to be people went to the show with a brief case full of money and said things like here is $xxK dollars you can have it and the briefcase if you sell the car for that amount.

A buddy of mine got $14K cash for a nice 64 he sold at Carlisle about 25 years ago. Now you have to be worried if you get stopped for speeding while on your way to or home from the show and have a lot of cash the state will confiscate it as drug money. They are more efficient than criminals at stealing your money.

Bill

4rensic22

Thanks for the insight bill. My son will take a 2014 or newer car.

I actually wanted to bring cash but the wife shot that down. Never thought about getting stopped....