Does racing a Corvette reduce it's value? How would a buyer of a used Corvette tell if a car has been tracked?

 

I would not purchase it !
Rich

 

Rich, how would I know if it was involved in racing? I usually buy my cars from reputable dealerships (although this last one wasn't so reputable).
I lived in Manalapan and New Monmouth from time to time.

 

One way to tell, and I’m sure there are many more, is to carefully inspect the paint directly behind the front wheels and right in front of the rear wheels. Those are areas that typically get pelted with stones, etc while doing track time. Chances are you will see substantial pitting and small paint chips.

 

"Racing" and doing an occasional track day are different things. I would not hesitate to buy a car that I knew was occasionally tracked at "Drivers Educations" events. These are often intermediate drivers who take great care in making sure their cars are serviced properly. A dedicated track car, or a car that is raced was probably owned by an advanced driver who has pushed the car hard and I'd pass on those.

One place to check for track use is the wheel wells. Look for globs of rubber stuck to the barrels of the wheels, wheel wells, and suspension.

 

I won't purchase a car that has frequently been tracked/raced.
And as stated above an abundance of stone/debris damage to paint and a built-up of melted rubber underneath are excellent indications that a car has been frequently tracked/raced.

 

I've seen plenty of street only cars that have had the living daylight beat out of them and are junk. I've seen plenty of very well maintained cars that are used for track days that are clean enough to eat off of. PPF and "Track Armor" film prevent the nicks, pits, and chips.

My 43k mile 2013 Grand Sport saw track miles. It looked and ran like a car with 10k miles. Here's my "For Sale" thread from a couple years ago LINK The car looked better in person than in the pictures.

Bottom line....inspect the car. Don't assume that because someone did track days, the car is not worth considering.

 

My C6 saw over 25 HPDE track days and there was absolutely no way you could tell by looking at it without a lift. Tire turds were removed when I switched brake pads and any left on the tires didn't last too long. A close inspection on a lift might show some rubber streaks on the bottom and maybe a rubber tire turd stuck someplace.

I personally would look for a low mileage garage queen from a weekend waxer. One that didn't see track use.

 

If I knew that the car had numerous track days, I would pass - just my preference. An occasional track day, I wouldn't immediately rule it out.

 

I'd buy a track car any day of the week over a street driven car.

Track cars, excluding the one rare moron, are taken care off 100000000x better than street cars. Cars are usually serviced extremely often to ensure all components are lubricated. No one wants a failure on a track, or to have their track day ruined. I highly doubt you'll find a ton of track C7s that have been tuned or modded for more power - there's more than enough in stock form. The most common mods you'll see are brakes and aero. The only components that would see accelerated wear would be meaningless consumables that the previous owner probably changed before selling the car anyway. The engine/trans is bullet proof.

What are the odds that a street driven car (non garage queen) has been tuned/modded, doesn't see anywhere near as much maintenance, and gets launched at red lights on a regular basis? I think no one would argue that the odds are likely.

Excluding consumables, I'd argue that a track car (not a race car) sees less stress than an abused street driven car.

 

I wouldn't buy an abused street driven car either.

 

Why buy any car that has seen any track time or has engine mods when there are other available options? Not saying all track cars or mods are bad cars, but just too many other cars that have NOT seen the track or mods for sale. If you want a track car with mods, you can find one. But I would bet many folks who do track their car would not tell you.

Would be a nice survey questions (Have you sold a tracked car and didn't tell the buyer?) Here would be the options.

• I told the buyer I tracked the car frequently
• I told the buyer I only tracked it a few times
• I told the buyer I only tracked it once (I lied)
• I didn't tell the buyer I ran the crap out of my car on the track
• The buyer didn't ask and I didn't tell

Items that would stop me from buying a used car:

• Rental Car
• Any track time
• Engine mods (possible warranty issues too)
• Boom box (seems all the cars I looked at with boom boxes had issues.) Don't know why.
• Any car from the rust belt

An unmolested car is worth more money too. My C3 is completely unmolested and no mods.

BE SAFE......

 

I track my cars and I’m also fastidious with maintenance. I give full disclosure when selling any car and frankly have confidence of selling a good-condition car because of the maintenance. I can’t say most street-only cars have ever had their fluids checked. I’ve only seen 1 guy that was abusive of his car at hpde.

 

As far as value goes, regardless whether tracking/racing is detrimental to your C7 or not, MANY believe it is and anything that reduces your pool of potential buyers at time of sale negatively impacts value.

 

Thank you everyone, much appreciated!
Ralph

 

My opinion is a well maintained track car is more than likely better than a low mile garage queen. Yeah, the garage queen may have better paint but it is subject to the worst type of abuse: sitting around not running. No automaker designs cars to sit around and not be driven. Another issue is just pure and simple lack of weeding out initial failures. After a few years, you end up with what is basically a brand new car that no longer is covered by warranty and has had no chance to weed out the infant mortality issues that can affect any man-made object.

A well maintained track car will have had the fluids changed many times per year (not coolant since it can hold up well for 5 years). Engine oil, transmission fluid, diff fluid, brake fluid will all have been checked changed, and closely watched by the owner. Wheel bearings are checked before and after events, brake rotors, brake pads, suspension links, bolts, and bushings are checked before and after events. Parts that look or feel iffy are replaced and all things that are supposed to be tight will be tight. The reason for all of that is simple: If something breaks due to poor maintenance while you are on track at 150 mph it can kill you. Forget paying for a blown engine repair cost if you are 6 ft under. What street driven car is checked that thoroughly and that often? None.

One thing track usage will do is increase wear and tear on parts that aren't normally replaced. Increased engine and transmission wear will reduce overall lifetime of those items. Instead of lasting 300,000 miles they may only last 200,000 miles. For most Corvettes that means even the third, fourth or fifth owner doesn't have anything to worry about.

Bill

 

If it is not new or a low mileage garage Queen it would not be for me!!!!

 

As someone who tracks their car occasionally (about 6-7 times a year) I agree with the others. All tracking does is increase maintenance, which us track drivers normally do ourselves and tend to be very careful about - going well above and beyond what a normal owner does. These cars were meant to be driven hard, thus I don't consider track driving abusive at all. Street racing is more abusive as multiple cold, hard launches with short blasts to redline randomly aren't good. Track driving is hard on wheel hubs and brakes which are easy to service in comparison to transmissions and clutches. I tracked my previous car for 5 years and it had 75K on it when sold. It drove like the day I bought... actually better as I fixed all the weak points.

There is almost no way you can tell my C7 has been tracked. There might be some very slight underside clues, for example the edges of painted areas around the wheel wells. Sure its not perfect like a garage queen but between PPF, skirts and stone guards the body itself is as clean as any daily driven car.

Now would a I buy a tracked car? Well it wouldn't be my first choice, but this because there are so many low mileage garage queens out there to pick from. But if the car was exactly what I wanted and the price was right I wouldn't rule it out. I would need to talk to the owner to see if he is a 10/10ths guy or more like me at 8/10ths during HPDE days.

 

A few here and there, no big deal.

If it's a "track car" then probably not.

 

I would assume the lack of airbags and the roll cage would be a dead give away that a car had been raced ....


HPDE and racing are completely different things ... In many ways my car is way better taken care of as far as maintenance and inspections goes compared to someone who DDs a car.

Even if we are talking time trial , none of those cars are stock.

Edit --- I should of read the thread before I posted ... yeah what those guys said