There's a big problem many times with used cars from Florida. Many, many, cars bought used there become very problematic, very quickly. I bought a preowned 9-month, 5K mile from FL 18 years ago. Big mistake! A dealer I know here in the Midwest noticed that strong trend years ago. I avoided buying my preowned Mercedes-Benz creampuff from FL. for that reason. Sorry you're having trouble. 😔

 

My brother lived in FL for a few months (this Summer) in a apartment. The apartment complex wouldn't allow him to have a car cover (2016 LT2) because it would cover up the sticker showing that he lived there.

 

I appreciate all your thoughts on this. The main thing is I'm NOT going to sell it. I love the car despite the flaws. I will figure out to repair the problems as time goes by. I dont have the money to buy new and I dont want to be the one to suffer the depreciation as soon as I drive off the lot. like I mention I got my Vette for almost 1/2 the sticker price after 2 years and it came into my price point. Im retired an dont have alot of money to buy a new Vette. Another thing VA cities tax these cars every year on their value. For a new one that could be into the 1000's. So I will continue to buy used Thanks

 

If you don't want the depreciation, you buy the one year old vehicle. Let the other guy take the hit. And if you aren't planning to sell the vehicle in a year or two the depreciation means nothing.

I bought a three year old Corvette with 7,000 miles for for $42k and the original owner paid $64k after the discount.. He took the hit and I got a car that still had the new car smell. He rarely drove it. In Illinois you just pay $101 for tags, no personal property tax like you have. No emissions or safety inspection in my area either. And when you buy from a private owner, the sales tax maxes out at $1500. All that cuts down on extra costs that allowed me to buy more car for the money. I now have a five year old Corvette with 24,000 miles that doesn't have a scratch or mark on it. Still looks just like it came off the showroom floor.

I can see your situation, but to me, buying a vehicle with high miles isn't worth it. If you are going to buy something you are planning to keep for the long term, pay for the best you can get up front, or pay later.

 

The problem with this is that high miles dont have anything to do with my problems. The car has been maintained perfectly for its 5 years. If my Vette had 50 miles or 100k miles these problems would be occurring since its more about the age of the car than the miles.

 

1. Check with the salvage yards and find a wrecked C7 with a 2LT dash and have it installed. 2. Find a used C7 transparent top on this forum or fleaBay or better yet a painted top and have it paint matched to your car. 3. Get the radio fixed. Solve those problems and rejoin the Happy Vette Club. Good Luck. 👍

 

Actually I was thinking of having a place put wrap on the top if they can and see what the cost for that would be. I am going to go a reputable upholstery shop and see if there is anyway to glue the leather down without tearing the dash apart . Maybe inject some strong glue under the leather and squeegee it down. Ill get to the radio eventually it works most of the time. I have never not ben happy driving the car in fact I have put about 600 miles on it the last weekjust a little frustrated with GM quality

 

So you are sticking with the 2015 vehicle being old story? OK.

 

I'd still rather have a low miles used car, than a high-mileage version. You pay a little more, but it ensures those miles are yours, not someone else's.

 

My point (which you apparently didn't get) was that I DO NOT have to spend time and money "constantly" fix my high mileage vehicles.

The only $ that I spend on them is what anyone would expect to spend on to regularly maintain any vehicle.

 

My experience is nothing like you describe. A high mileage vehicle will need new suspension parts like ball joints and tie rod ends, wheel bearings replaced, starters, water pump, transmission, clutch, brake drums, brake lines, radiators, thermostats, alternators, and a few other things. This is just on the first few cars I owned from age 16 until I got a real job and was established. I don't think but one was over 100,000 miles.

I would put all those items in the category of normal wear and tear. They were all worn out parts that needed to be replaced. The older the vehicle got, the more wear and tear. I never had to replace any of the above items on a low mileage vehicle.

Are you saying you never replaced any of those items on a 200k mile vehicle?

 

I have had a fair number of GM products in the past so went into this eyes open. With the C7 it has been so far so good with only a couple very minor issues like a stuck windshield washer pump. But having said that and after owning some Toyotas I will probably never buy another GM product (besides Vettes because there simply is no substitute) due to the generally poor quality and unreliability. The Silverados are nice and very tempting, but no. Just no.

 

The total cost of all of this work (including parts/labor) was probably around

Other than regular oil changes, the only things that I've had to replace over time (not all at once) n the 10 years of ownership of my F250 have been the: 1) the front brakes, 3) the steering box and ball joints, 4) the starter and 5) the coolant tank.

That's not much work to have to do on a car which that much mileage and I not what I would consider unusual or problematic, especiallly considering it was done over 10 years time.

The tires are worn and due to be replaced shortly but they've been on the truck for over 8 years. So, this is just an ordinary wear/tear item.

 

Low miles also ensures the reliability factor of those parts/components. That's a bargain not to pass up. A 50K mile car, or, a 5K mile car? That's 45K of reliability. Is it guaranteed? No. Is it worth the $? Yes.

 

ok.

Thanks for proving my point. Of course everything that breaks is wear and tear. The entire vehicle is that way. The more miles, the more parts need to be replaced. I'm not buying an old-*** vehicle because I don't want to replace steering boxes and ball joints as I said in an early post when you called it routine maintenance. I'll keep buying newer vehicles, and you can buy and repair the worn out ones.

Glad we got that settled.

 

You're not really saving anything buying new. You will spend a fortune in state sales tax, property taxes, and insurance premiums and even then your not free from non warranty repairs that can cost you an arm & a leg. Can you say C7 wide body wheels? You can take those same dollars and put them in repairs and upkeep on a well taken car of, established reliable used car and walk away with $$$ in your pocket.

 

I said "newer", not brand new. My Corvette was three years old when I bought it, and it had low miles, just 7,000. I would never buy a brand new one.

 

The word newer is a subjective, ill-defined term. Look at most any vehicle maintenance manual and it will provides a maintenance schedule. Many of the items scheduled for maintenance will have a mileage or time recommendation to perform that service. Recommendations will come with the boiler plate "which ever comes first" footnote. Buying a low-mileage vehicle does not preclude the need for temporal required maintenance. Gaskets, hoses, belts, rubber clips, moldings, leather, adhesives, etc. all wear with time. Lubricants and oil also have time based service requirements. You can't avoid maintenance because someone has a low mileage vehicle. A 3 year old Corvette with 7,000 miles is not newer than a 3 year old Corvette with 20,000 miles. They both should have at at least the same amount of maintenance performed. It really is a myth that older vehicles are not worthy of consideration for purchase because they will have higher maintenance costs. You really need to look at the total cost of ownership which would include the previous factors I had mentioned earlier. You are probably spending a lot more $$$ then the guy who holds onto his vehicles and does most of his own maintenance.

 

I consider maintenance as oil changes, tires, brakes, battery, air filters and any scheduled maintenance as outlined in the owners manual. I have had coolant, brake fluid, and rear end lube replaced according to the service intervals. Repairs are when parts break or wear out. As far as repairs are concerned, NONE. The gaskets around the windows are fine and even the original wiper blades are fine. No streaking or anything like that. Interior is perfect, under the hood is perfect, the paint is perfect.

Not sure where you are going with all this. I have spent no real money on my Corvette. I let the dealer do the work in changing fluids. because I grew tired of that stuff long ago. I bought a three year old Corvette that still smelled new inside. It was just as good as a brand new car, except I got it cheaper. The original owner drove it 2,000 miles a year, and I drive mine 4,000 miles a year. Not saving it for no one, but I have five other cars to drive, plus I work from home. It has 24,000 miles on it now, and when something needs to be addressed, it will get get done. But as of today, I have had zero problems with it. If it had 50,000 miles on it when I bought it, I may of had to repair something, but because I bought what I bought, everything is fine.

 

I'm not sure that we've "settled" anything but, if you think so, fine.

FWIW, I bougut my 2020 F250 7.3L diesel 4x4 longbed Lariat Supercab w/+200k miles on it for only $15k back in 2010 when you couldn't give the things away.

I haven spent more than $2k for repairs on it in the 10 years that I've owned it, including all of the repairs that I've mentioned.

I spent $2k on tires and $300 for batteries in that time and am due to spend another $2k on tires when I decide to replace them. Otherwise it's just been annual oil changes at $150/each. My insurance and registration costs are neglible given the age of the vehicle and the fact that I drive it less than 2.5k miles/yr.

This is a far cry from what I'd have to pay for a comparable brand new or late model F250 which would cost me almost more than the combined value of the 6 vehicles that I currently own, including my C7.

So, think what you will. I'm happy w/all of the HIGH mileage vehicles that I own which are all completely RELIABLE and cost me very little to maintain.