Buying a used C7
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 173
Likes: 23
Buying a used C7
Other than a Carfax report and running a VIN number, what other info should one ask for to check on status of the car? How can you make sure it's not a lemon or has other problems?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 5,353
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From: And then it was said... "let there be blue Corvettes and yellow Camaros" Ft Worth Texas
Cruise-In IV Veteran
St. Jude Donor '09
You could check for a nearby Corvette club, if there is one close to you chances are there are a few members of it who could give you lots of advice.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 15,055
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From: Holly Springs NC
St. Jude Donor '16-'17,'22,'24
Over on the C5 forum, a fellow who was out of state asked if any forum members would look over a C5 for him in our area. I went with a friend of mine and fellow forum member. While we did not put it up on a rack, we looked for visual concerns, verified tire age and tread depth, condition of the interior and exterior, items not working and so on. Don't know if that happens on the C7, but it's worth a shot if you're looking out of state.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 786
Likes: 123
From: Northern VA
This is one of the best things that you can do. Get the VIN and have a Chevy dealer give you a service report of what has been done to the car. If you see a pattern of it being in there for the same reason/problem, you would want to look closely at that.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2015
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From: Southwest Florida
You may likely regret you don't listen!
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 8,243
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From: Southwest Florida
In my opinion it's the 2nd best think to do. The best thing he can do is to pay to have the car checked by a certified mechanic.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 57,408
Likes: 164
From: queensbury ny
If it's certified the dealer should have the service history or access to it anyway.AUTOCHECK and CARFAX now provide detailed service info too and most of all,if you need to question the dealership you're buying it from,find another dealer..if it's a private sale,ask where the car was serviced and ask for the car's history...or post the vin on here and there's a guy who can find all that out for you. A mechanic is all fine and dandy but if he doesn't know CORVETTES,you're wasting your time and money.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,554
Likes: 158
You have been given some good advice on how to go about checking out a used C7 but I have a couple additional thoughts for you to consider. I would rather buy a C7 that is "Certified" by a Chevy dealer than a non certified car. You may pay some more for that but on C7 it is worth it. Certification makes a positive statement as to condition and provides extra warranty so you are more likely to get what you pay for. I appreciate you can save $ on a used car but consider that currently dealers are motivated to sell remaining 2015 inventory to clear room for 2016's. In many locations you can get a huge discount on a sweet 2015. Check that out then subtract the cost of the used C7 from a discounted 2015 and you might find the difference is not that great for a new car with full warranty with none of the issues you are trying to avoid buying an unknown used car.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 22,582
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From: Denison, TX
2022 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
CI 3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'16
Unless the mileage is high, the cars will still be under full factory warranty, so that should take a lot of the worry off. 
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18,096
Likes: 1,592
Great advice.
From pickups to little daily drivers, seems like everyone is throwing a mail order tune on everything now days. If I ever buy a used vehicle again and I'm concerned about keeping the warranty, I will have it documented that it hasn't been tuned.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 41,732
Likes: 1,718
From: Springfield MO
Ask a Chevrolet dealer to check the warranty status on the car.
A local guy purchased a new C7 Z06. Transmission(M7) went south. GM said he abused the car, but they replaced the transmission.
Owner sold the car.
The second owner brings the car to the local Chevrolet dealer because of transmission problems. Dealer tells the second owner the car's warranty is blocked because of abuse.
Second owner said he purchased the car believing an almost new 2015 Z06 would have a GM warranty.
Second owner is caught in the middle.
A local guy purchased a new C7 Z06. Transmission(M7) went south. GM said he abused the car, but they replaced the transmission.
Owner sold the car.
The second owner brings the car to the local Chevrolet dealer because of transmission problems. Dealer tells the second owner the car's warranty is blocked because of abuse.
Second owner said he purchased the car believing an almost new 2015 Z06 would have a GM warranty.
Second owner is caught in the middle.
Racer
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 364
Likes: 15
From: Monmouth Maine
There are so many 2014 C7's for sale w/2,000 to 2,500 miles! What's up with that? It's noticeable enough to wonder!
Are owners getting rid of them before some expensive maintenance needs to be done? Are there problems with the 1st year C7's that are not being put out to potential buyers?
I'm about 1 to 1 1/2 years from owning one and am starting for pay attention to things like that.
Chuck M
Are owners getting rid of them before some expensive maintenance needs to be done? Are there problems with the 1st year C7's that are not being put out to potential buyers?
I'm about 1 to 1 1/2 years from owning one and am starting for pay attention to things like that.
Chuck M
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18,096
Likes: 1,592
There are so many 2014 C7's for sale w/2,000 to 2,500 miles! What's up with that? It's noticeable enough to wonder!
Are owners getting rid of them before some expensive maintenance needs to be done? Are there problems with the 1st year C7's that are not being put out to potential buyers?
I'm about 1 to 1 1/2 years from owning one and am starting for pay attention to things like that.
Chuck M
Are owners getting rid of them before some expensive maintenance needs to be done? Are there problems with the 1st year C7's that are not being put out to potential buyers?
I'm about 1 to 1 1/2 years from owning one and am starting for pay attention to things like that.
Chuck M
A local dealer had three 14's recently. The highest miles were like 950 and the lowest was around 250. Who titles/taxes a car and gets rid of it with 250 miles?
Other forum members were noticing the same thing around the country.
Last edited by R&L's C6; Sep 30, 2015 at 11:39 AM.
