jhill

i am looking at buying a 2015 convertible black with only 2500 miles on it. The car is 450 miles from me. One owner car-owner of a car dealership drove it-tells me the car is in perfect condition. I am considering buying without seeing and having the car shipped to me. Am I crazy?

owc6

Drive there and inspect, or have a trusted proxy do it for you.

No way I would buy one given the info you have posted.

CasanovaEight

Please do not do this. I did the exact same thing 2 weeks ago. 2015 2LT with exactly 5k miles on it. I had a 2015 with 10k purchased new so I thought, what can the difference be. After putting a few miles on it I noticed a strange shudder in low rpms. I also noticed the gear shifter was harder to put into park.

In short I had to take it to the dealer and get my torque converter replaced. Huge job. 1 day back and it's driving great but I would have rather not gone through the trouble. And I heard the problems come back....

Go and test drive. Check the vehicle out while driving low rpms. 30 to 50 mph.

VH Vette

I would go look at it also. Additionally, I would want to see the GM service records (this is not the same as carfax).
I would not be afraid of buying it, I would just do my due diligence and check it out.
VH

SMT1004

Last few months I put a deposit on two cars about 400 miles away. First paid for an inspection at local Chevy dealer, seller took it there for me at my cost. Had over 100 pictures sent to me. Went to pick it up, test drove it and knew in two minutes this was not what it was being billed as. Did the same thing two weeks later, found it odd that the only picture not sent was the middle of the bumper, nice angle shots. Dealer said perfect in every way, didn't mention the crease in the front bumper, had to drive 100 miles to find that out. Of course no problem, they would replace the bumper for me. Third time same thing. Finally bought a new one. Go take a road trip with no expectations, if it turns out to be a great car perfect, just don't expect that. I was lucky and got my two deposits back after some repeated calling, never again for me.

L8ter

If it was my dads car, sure I'd buy it sight unseen, but it's not.
Don't be a fool!

Mordeth

I have purchased all three of my Z06s from out of state sellers, sight unseen. Never a problem. The car is under warranty, so any problems will be fixed (unlikely there will be any). The main thing you would want to concern yourself with is the condition of the paint. I once purchased a used black Acura MDX from a dealership in New York City (big mistake). All of the pictures showed the vehicle in excellent condition and I negotiated a very good deal. Paid for it, flew down there to pick it up. Everything looked good on the show room floor, and I usually have a very good eye for these things as I work on all my cars myself. Drove it back and took it through a car wash before getting home. Noticed a bunch of scratches and swirl marks (very bad) that magically appeared. The stealership had applied a black wax to the car, which hid these defects. The wax came off when going through the car wash. I ended up having to correct the paint myself, so not the end of the world. But extremely annoying and a lesson learned.

So ensure that the paint is in very good condition. This is difficult to do using only pictures. You need pictures from many angles and in different lighting conditions. You should also ask specifically if there are any defects, swirls, scratches or other marring of the paint, or any chips, damage, cracks etc to any panels. Many dealerships do not know how to properly wash/care for the paint on a car, or maybe they are just lazy. You get lot monkeys using dirty rags rubbing more grease on the car than dirt they are removing (and marring the paint).

Patman

A used car dealer's idea of "perfect condition" is probably quite a bit different than most of us on here. I would definitely get someone else to look it over for you first. Even with such low miles anything could happen. For example, perhaps someone backed into the car on the lot and the dealer fixed it up and didn't report it (so the carfax would still look clean)

Greg00Coupe

There are sooooooooo many C7s in the used market there is no reason to even take this risk. Patience will be rewarded.

jcsperson

Why not fly there and drive the car back? You get the peace of mind of actually seeing the car. If you don't like it, fly back. If you have it shipped to you and you don't like it, you're stuck with it. I paid $240 to fly up to Atlantic City to pick up my GS. The drive back gave me time to get acclimated to the car and its features. I must've pushed every button and clicked through every screen on the way home.













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RCorvettePassion

If it were new that's one thing, You need to jump on a plane go look at it test drive it, only then would I buy it if it looks good to you.

JoesC5

450 miles is a one day easy drive.

No need to take off work.

Leave very early Saturday morning, so you can inspect the car outside in the daylight. Return home on Sunday.

Even if you are single, surely you have a friend that could go with you to drive your car home if you buy the C7.

rkhegler

So, where are you located? Where is the vehicle located? Warranty on the vehicle? Maybe you could contact a forum member who posts on the forum and lives near to the dealership to take a look at it. Or, if you have a reliable relative/friend who can take a look at it. Call the dealership and ask to speak with the Corvette Tech. See if the car has been worked on for anything. Don't have to tell the shop why. Ask for the VIN number and do a check on the net to see if it has been in an accident. Maybe the dealership will give you the name of the previous owner and you can call him/her?

I would probably not purchase the vehicle unless someone drove it and gave you the OK. Give the dealership a down payment contingent on someone checking out the vehicle.
Take a road trip with a friend to see the car. Make a fun trip out of it. What is the worse thing that could happen if you do that? If the car does not meet your standards, have a few brews, go to a nice local restaurant. Nothing lost but a little time and gas money.

AORoads

Warranty or no warranty, you're going to put up $40K or a lot more of your money and never even see it until you've bought it? A used car. Re-read the above post, and others.

While I do agree it's good to keep it "more local," looking farther out sometimes gives you exactly what you want. But prudence on $40K+ may be a wise thing to do----not on a $4 Amazon purchase, but $40K+? Yeh, I'd do it.

There are car-buying services that will at least test out the car by a checklist of items, but gee, 450 miles away isn't that far.

vettman96

Makes no difference if it's a vette or a vega, don't buy blind. Take the time to do it right.

Ernest_T

This is a bad idea--spend the $$ and go look at it and drive it.

'16C7

Snowwolfe

NEVER!. Been there and done that on a $50K jet boat. No photo ever taken can reveal what your eyes will tell you. Everyone has a different opinion of "flawless" "like new" or "zero defects"

JerryU

Yep! From a dealer I question first why they have it! Sold my C6 in perfect condition with 21,000 miles to an engineer from TX in one day. Told him all about the car and to fly to SC and bring a cashiers check when my bank was open! He did even better sent me a copy of the check from his credit union. Called the credit union CFO who validated it was good and still went to the my bank with the check! Not foolproof but all was fine as were the checks for my '88, and '93 brought to my bank when I sold those.

Recall he had no questions but his girlfriend did! When we went into the garage and she saw my Street Rod, engine lift, tools etc-all questions stopped! They drove it only in our housing complex as we had a short time to get to motor vehicle to get temp plates. All was fine as I knew it would be. They drove it to TX. Would have lost $5000+ in a trade.

Will do the same in a few months with my 2014. We'll see how long the sale takes for the C7 with a similar ad in Autotrader. Headline: "Not the Cheapest, Just the Best! One 'Old' Owner!"

bjones7131

Never, I don't trust anyone anymore. I just bought a new GS off the showroom floor and before I signed I made them remove it from the showroom and I drove it. Lot of money to shell out not to be able to see and and drive and then it is still a risk especially on a 2015. I know they have warranties but who wants to spend time in a dealership waiting area while they work on your car.