So I recently picked up a 2024 1LZ Z06 from a local Chevy dealership with the following options for $102k:

Silver Flare Metallic (GSJ) paint
Spider Design Black Forged Aluminum Wheels
Bright Red painted brake calipers
Adrenaline Red Mulan leather seating surfaces and stitching
Torch Red seat belt color
Carbon Flash Metallic-painted outside mirrors and spoiler
Visible carbon fiber ground effects
Engine intake in Red
Performance Brembo carbon ceramic antilock brakes

I am considered the first owner, as it was never previously registered and all of the original paperwork, including the invitation for Ron Fellows Corvette owner's school was still in the original bag. Vehicle condition appears to be excellent with no rock chips or scratches or paint swirls. CarFax shows no accident repairs.



The window sticker doesn't have the price or options and it says "this vehicle is not for sale". Also, the vin ends in 00002. Does that mean is was the 2nd Z06 off the assembly line for 2024?



This tag says 11/20/23 suggesting that was the production date? The tires are DOT stamped with week 46 of 2023 (11/13/23-11/17/23)

Then I find this paperwork in the glove compartment:





So it looks like it was used up to 7,900 miles from ~11/20/23 until 11/20/24, then weighed, suspension height was measured, alignment was performed and then it was stored until being sent to a dealer for sale in April 2026? It had only been on the market for 6 days when I found it, with 8,100 miles on it.

Why was the vehicle MIA for over a year before it was up for sale? The gas tank stop sale and recall wouldn't explain an entire year of down time.

My best guess is that it was a press vehicle, but would that explain the paperwork from Milford Proving Grounds?

But I figure that someone on the forum with Chevy work experience would know exactly what this is about.

The factory warranties are still intact. And I'm ok with test drivers or journalists hooning the vehicle, because that is how I would be driving it anyways. The tires are still at 6/32" and the production date is uncannily close to the vehicle manufacture date, so I'm guessing these are the orignal tires, which would mean that it wasn't being driven at "ten tenths" for the majority of those miles.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

I have 2024 VIN #20 and spoke to a GM engineer about how the cars are used, its likely a CVO car, company vehicle operations, likely driven by a manager or someone on the team and they do some testing or record data. They are required to log miles, use is monitored, and maintenance is required. I picked up mine also as the first owner, most interesting thing on my car, the tires were made in 2020 and 21 and its a 2024 model year. There will likely be no maintenance records on the car but was told they are very diligent on service....Interesting paperwork on the car.... I received a copy of the original MSO with mine and the check in paperwork with notes when they prepped it for auction.

 

I don't know but it does look like it was at the GM Milford Proving Ground....whatever that implies.

But I have a question regarding the warranty. Have you checked the the MyChevy account to see what it says about the warranty?

 

That dealer delivery address is Milford proving grounds mine was the small block team .... so it was likely tested in some manner

 

Intersting. A manager driving it would make more sense. The remaining tire tread vs odometer reading and the paint condition - even interior condition, fits more with personal use rather than journalists.

And yeah, no maintenance recods on CarFax or in the glove compartment. But oil life was showing 93% when I got it.

 

Yes, all the warranties show in the My Chevy App. But.... since you brought this up and went and read them carefully and there is something wrong... The 3 year bumper to bumper and the 5 year power train warranties expire 6 months before the vehicle was built. Vehicle paperwork suggests it built 3 week of Nov. 2023. Quick Google search says that the 2024 Z06 production run did not start until Oct. 2, 2023. The clock on my warranties started May 17, 2023. Guess I need to be calling GM customer service.

 

You said it was SN 2 right? I know very little about how they start up production of a new model, but maybe they send one or two down the line before they start full production? Wasn't factory closed for tours for period of time before Z06 "production" started?

 

It appears to be a VIN sequence for GM corporate or test fleet cars. The "regular production" 2024 Z06's would have a last eight of the VIN of R560xxxx and the GM cars have the same R530xxxx like your car does. Also, the warranty history shows that it was all completed at GM's Global Logistics Services in Warren Michigan, not at a GM dealer.

That also explains why the warranty started early, as these cars are usually built much earlier than the regular production 2024 models. And, since there was technically no "original delivery date" they usually start the warranties when it was first put in service at GM. Your car shows a build date of 5/3/2023 and a warranty start date of 5/18/2023, which is when GM reported the car in service. The PDI date was 5/17/2023.

My guess is that it was a test car at Milford and they used it to determine the service limits of the ride / trim heights after 7k miles of "track testing."

I've had track cars that GM had us fill out those trim height measurement sheets for in assisting with ride height and suspension related problems after track use.

 

Thank you! I knew there would be someone at the forum here with inside info that would be able to explain this. 😆

At least now I understand why the warranty expiration is earlier than I was expecting.

Since this is a GM test fleet car, could it be possible that it has a midwest 93 octane tune? Before buying this, I rented a 2026 91 octane California Z06 for a weekend and ran it hard up in the mountains. After driving both cars, this 2024 fleet car feels like the midrange is noticably stronger, like it has more timing advance in the midrange.

And how did you know the info about the vin starting with R560 vs R530? When you mentioned the build date and warranty start date, is that something that I can see by looking online, or is that info only GM available service people? Thanks for the info. It is much appreciated.

 

I am not sure on GM having different tunes in the cars based on region. I have not heard of that, but your car does show to have FE9 (50-state emissions) so I don't think they'd offer a different tune.

In regard to the VIN sequences, it's just something I've learned in 25 years at a GM dealer. Many of the models are sequenced different (base/Z51, Z06, E Ray, ZR1 and ZR1x) all have different check sums in the VIN. Special edition cars, like the 70th anniversary also have their own VINs.

I pulled your warranty information based on the VIN, but any dealer can do that. Next time you're at your local dealer for service, ask them to run a VIS report and it'll show all the details.

 

Yours was probably built in may, my car has june dates written on the interior panels and 6/1523 on the paperwork the Certificate of origin is date is 9/27/23

Check your options list, mine has OAR-Evaluation Vehicle in the Option Codes

 

Thanks again for your info. It really is appreciated.

I wasn't really thinking of a "regional tune", but that with a fleet vehicle delivered the Millford proving ground, they may want to tune it for 93 octane since that fuel is available at most gas stations in the midwest and would give them better performance for their testing numbers, while not having to deal with the constraints of a 50 state production vehicle tune for 91 octane. The flip side is that since we don't have 93 octane in the western US, would there be any risk of running the vehicle hard on 91 octane, if it was using a 93 octane tune? That was just worried speculation on my part, since I have no idea how the inner workings of fleet vehicles and vehicle testing works.

I'll trust your judgement and past experience and just put that worry to rest and enjoy the vehicle, while I run it to the redline at full throttle, multiple times per day. 🤣

 

 

Not in the market for a new Corvette, but was triggered by the thread title and was fascinated reading through this thread. Is it common that early "test vehicles" like this one are sold off later to the public? Or is it not even considered a "test vehicle" in the first place, but rather an early production regular vehicle that has been put through it's paces to check on everything for later production models?

 

I don't know what they may or may not do for test vehicles, so I'm not saying that they couldn't mess with the turning, but normally the ignition timing adapts using knock sensors. I believe it is normally "tuned", to use 93 octane, but adapts to lower octane fuel (minimum of 91).

The 2026 owners manual, says (for all models) for street use that a minimum of 91 octane is required, but in the track use and competitive driving section it says "Unleaded gasoline, rated at 93 octane or higher, is required. " Based on the description in the 2020 service manual (for SR) that I have, it has knock sensors that will detect knock and pull the timing to accommodate lower octane fuel. It has its limits which is why the minimum is 91 octane.

"The knock sensor system enables the engine control module (ECM) to control the ignition timing for the best possible performance while protecting the engine from potentially damaging levels of detonation, also known as spark knock. .......If the control module has determined that knock is present, it will retard the ignition timing to attempt to eliminate the knock. The control module
will always try to work back to a zero compensation level, or no spark retard."

It is my belief, based on the fact that 93 is required for track use in the owner's manual, that the "zero compensation level" is "tuned" for at least 93 octane.

 

CTF's..... Captured Test Fleet vehicle all have a unique VIN as noted above. Most are sold eventually to GM dealers at their auction. Some are lightly 'reconditioned' if required. They typically find their way into regular customer hands quite a bit faster than the car noted here. Some even end up at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green where they are given away in their periodic drawings. (My cousin won an early C7 there. It was a media car with almost no miles as it was shipped around the country and displayed at various sporting events).

 

@Phimosis Have you tried plugging in the full VIN in to the GM window sticker site to see if a window sticker gets displayed?

 

There are no "regional" calibrations. Production cars are calibrated for 93-oct. If you run 91-oct, ESC uses knock retard to keep the engine out of detonation. You can see that with a consumer-grade scan tester that allows display of the data stream from the DLC.

To date, I've done no testing with an LT6, however, with the LT5 in my '19 ZR1, by taking data with HPT's "scanner" app, I learned that at sea level on a 68° day, I need 95-96-oct to stay out of KR and the warmer the ambient, the more octane I needed. I did the testing with various mixes of 91-oct pump gas and 100-oct unleaded.

That your car is VIN R5300002 indicates a very early production, saleable unit destined for validation and/or CTF. I think it unlikely it was media fleet car because most of them will be later SNs. Unless it's something special, like a test of a final development (nonsaleable) car by a media outlet with a huge audience, GM doesn't want early validation or early CTF cars in the hands of the press because there may be aspects of them that are not up to normal production standards.

Back in early 2004, I road-tested a C5 Z06 on a media loan. It was SN 00025. Later, I bought 00039 from a dealer in PA and owned it until about two weeks ago. It was built in May '03. GM had kept that car as a CTF, or VIP/media fleet, until April of 2004, then sent it to auction. It had 7100 miles on it when I took delivery.

In my 42 years of covering Corvette for various media, I can only remember two instances where the car I had on a media loan did not meet regular production standards.

 

Gm cars have a Hi octane spark table and a Low octane spark table. My understanding is that if the ecm records a certain number of knock events it will revert to the low octane (reduced timing) table.

If the car was run with 91 octane, this is probably what you were feeling. They don't have seperate "regional tune ups" from the factory--just the adaptives doing their best to limit detonation/knock events.

 

I mentioned this in post 15, with the description that appears in the Service Manual. @Hib Hallverson post confirms that the default timing is the higher 93 Octane. I wondered if it was maybe even higher because the wording in the Owner's Manual, for track use, says use 93 Octane "or higher".

But anyway, @d16dcoe45 , do you know as fact that its just "two tables". The description in the Service Manual makes it sound like it is continuously variable, adjusting the timing just enough to eliminate the knock but always trying to move the timing advance back to the "maximum" design point. And it doesn't really says its specific to gasoline octane. It doesn't mention octane tables at all. The same octane might cause knocking with an altitude change and it will still adapt.

There is a Knock Parameter in the Scan Tool repertoire, units are degrees of spark timing advance removed because of knock, described like this "This parameter indicates the amount of spark advance the control module removes from the ignition control (IC) spark advance in response to the signal from the knock sensors. The scan tool displays a high value for a large amount of spark retard, and a low value for a small amount of spark retard," sounding more like its a continuously variable adjustment.

And then there are other factors (for torque management for example) mentioned that affect timing. The ECM combines them into a final ignition timing parameter, also a scan tool parameter described like this: "This parameter displays the final spark advance in terms of crankshaft angle."

Here is the complete explanation knock sensor timing adjustment from the service manual (I only put part of it in post 15):

"The knock sensor system enables the engine control module (ECM) to control the ignition timing for the best possible performance while protecting the engine from potentially damaging levels of detonation, also known as spark knock. The knock sensor system uses one or two flat response 2-wire sensors. The sensor uses piezo-electric crystal technology that produces an AC voltage signal of varying amplitude and frequency based on the engine vibration or noise level. The amplitude and frequency are dependant upon the level of knock that the knock sensor detects. The ECM receives the knock sensor signal through two isolated signal circuits for each knock sensor. The control module learns a minimum noise level, or background noise, at idle from the knock sensor and uses calibrated values for the rest of the RPM range. The control module uses the minimum noise level to calculate a noise channel. A normal knock sensor signal will ride within the noise channel. As engine speed and load change, the noise channel upper and lower parameters will change to accommodate the normal knock sensor signal, keeping the signal within the channel. In order to determine which cylinders are knocking, the control module only uses knock sensor signal information when each cylinder is near top dead center (TDC) of the firing stroke. If knock is present, the signal will range outside of the noise channel. If the control module has determined that knock is present, it will retard the ignition timing to attempt to eliminate the knock. The control module will always try to work back to a zero compensation level, or no spark retard. An abnormal knock sensor signal will stay outside of the noise channel or will not be present. knock sensor diagnostics are calibrated to detect faults with the knock sensor circuitry inside the control module, the knock sensor wiring, or the knock sensor voltage output. Some diagnostics are also calibrated to detect constant noise from an outside influence such as a loose/damaged component or excessive engine mechanical noise."