About to buy used Z06 from CarMax [Update : I bought it]
 

[UPDATE: Purchase complete! She's mine :) ]

Anything I should look for on a low mileage (6,800) 2016, that has a full set of new tires? Going in to do the trade tonight, just covering my bases since the car is in great condition, body, rims, interior are perfect. There was a check engine light which salesman says was due to low battery (he had to boost it). Their garage cleared the code and no new ones appeared. Note: They cannot sell a car with a check engine light. I have 7 days to return the car no questions asked, but still need to be sure.

Why a new set of tires with only 6,800 miles? If it was tracked, then how would I know / should I care? Or am I about to enter a world where its normal to spend $1500-$2000 on tires every 7K miles?

2016 Shark Grey w/1LZ

• Z07
• Nav/PDR
• 7K miles
• New Michelin SS A/S tires on nickel Z06 rims
• Clean CarFax
• 1 month left for 1 free oil change
• 13 months left of B2B
• 37 months of power train

Anyone think I should NOT pay $59K for this car?
Thanks for any advice.

There should be a Sticky on these types of threads. Like 10 in the last week.

Z07 package? Means it has CCB brakes. Very expensive to replace. If it was tracked, they could be worn. Rotors have to be weighed to find out if they are still within spec. Might want to have a dealer familiar with CCB maintenance and have them check them out.

What's the haggle price?

7000 miles on original MPSC2s are about right...maybe on the low side.

Take a good look at the rims for installer damage, sadly pretty typical.

Doubt you’ll find someone to weigh the CCB rotors for life left, but take a close look at the edges for chipping...again something that can happen with a careless tire installer.

Thanks.

$59K is the no-haggle price

Ok, you are referring to the CarMax tire installer may have chipped one of those huge carbon rotors when he bolted on the wheel? Good point, I will check all 4.

I almost went that route but found a better deal with Corvettes of Houston. CarMax does not typically buy cars that are in bad shape, they are more thorough inspecting second-hand cars. I can't say the same for texas direct auto though as they do a quick look over and your car is bought. Get the VIN and find out what state it was sold, perhaps even call a service advisor at a stealership and have them see the service history of the car.

my 2 cents

I wouldn't worry too much about it being tracked. The Cup2s reach end of tread right around 6800 street/highway miles. They only have 5/32 to begin with. If you want to see if it was tracked just look in the front and rear wheel wells for black gobs of rubber or streaks of rubber. The felt like wheel well material catches that stuff and it is almost impossible to get rid of it without replacing the wheel well liner. If you can get a view under the car the rubber will also catch on all of the floor support beams and any other place where there is some sort of a ledge or sharp edge sticking out.

You didn't mention which seats it has. $59K is a smoking deal even if the car is a 1LZ as the 2LZ and 3LZ only add a couple K on the used market.

The rotors and more than likely the pads on a Z07 car will last the lifetime of the car when driven on the street. Tracking can make the rotors get rough with a pock marked surface that grinds down the pads. If you only see the drilled hoes and no pock marks between them the rotors are in good shape and the pads are more than likely in good shape as well. Make sure the dealer gives you the foam rotor protectors or puts them in the car. Those protectors are installed on the rotors before the wheels are removed and left there until the wheels are reinstalled and torqued down. They prevent the edges of the rotors from being chipped (a chip ruins the rotor).

Here is a picture of a pock marked rotor:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...8d27d5f98a.jpg
By the way the above rotor although pretty much shot still weighed 50 or so grams over the minimum weight so rotor weight alone doesn't tell you whether the rotor is good.

This is what a rotor looks like after 3 track days. Still has sort of a sheen on it and in very good shape.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...bce2b337cb.jpg

This is what the brake pads should look like if the previous owner did the proper brake burnishing described in the Owner's Manual.
See the grayish color on the edge of the pads near the rotor.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...493fd7838f.jpg


Oh, make sure you get the Owner's Manual. Unlike every other car on the market you will need the OM. It helps to memorize the driving section and how to select all of the driving modes. There are 9 different driving modes with a couple of on/off options for stability and traction control. There are a bunch of Instrument Panel display options and a bunch of selections you need to make using the center dash display. A lot of stuff you see people constantly asking on the forum and pretty much all documented in the OM.

Bill

Maybe if you're worried about 2K in tires this isn't a car you can really afford and you should reconsider. Cup 2 tires will be lucky to last 7K...

Good luck, that sounds like a bargain for 59k.

1. Cup tires have 10K-15K max street life.

2. OEM alignments are all over the place so Cups with a poor alignment could eat them up in very short order.

i would ask permission for the car to be taken to a chevy store, an double check it has the stock tune still. Let them drive it there if they like.

If it does not have the stock tune, you have no power train warranty. Person before you could have had something done to the car and returned it to stock. However, later if you have a warranty claim, you are out of luck if they see in the computer that once upon a time it had an aftermarket tune.

Thanks all. Great advice. I ended up buying after inspecting the car closely. This car was not tracked from what I see.
Now she's mine. What an awesome care the stingray was. I just needed more :)

I wouldn't let them wash her, just pressure cleaning only. Actual price was $59,988, but I got 36,500 for my stingray plus $2100 tax savings. I paid $37K for it 3 months ago.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...1f465f3d39.png
Schweet!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...731fbfe0d8.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...6ee5f6fa71.png
Bye bye Stingray. You were awesome.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...7458fd5450.png
Hello Z06

i assume you did not have time to check on the warranty.

I would still take it to a chevy store and find out. If it has been tuned by chance, then you may as well go ahead and have that tune double checked and done right. If it has not been tuned, then you just leave it alone.

Congrats, that's a good deal :) Have fun buddy.

Must have upgrade = DSC Alignment Rear Caster

Search forum, youll learn. Its a must have, otherwise, you might wreck and it is not your fault, the alignments are screwy on these cars from the factory.

Ernie Bello Motorsports in west palm has the tools to do this alignment. Chevy dealers do not.

Just curious if you can get an extended warranty through Carmax and what the cost would be? And since you still have warranty left, possibly get a comparison for a GM warranty.

There are a lot of cars with the Carmax warranties that have had near their purchase price paid in warranty coverage work by Carmax. They've learned their lesson and won't offer coverage for certain high end cars with expensive repair histories like Range Rovers, etc.

There are a LOT of vehicles with very dubious histories for sale right now because of the flood damages that have occurred in the last couple years. Unless you know the previous owners personally, you have to be suspect of any vehicle that is on a used car lot these days. Unfortunately, there are ways to wash titles so the damage never shows up on Carfax, etc. Just be careful and if in doubt, you can always pop for the extended warranty so you are covered.

Just had my Lexus appraised by Carmax..
Very, and I mean VERY thorough!
However, not being GM, you need to run the VIN (GM VIS) at the GM dealer to see if there is a warranty block on it, and any previous service.
Carfax will show any insurance claims and titling etc.

The one BIG thing is and I doubt you can do this until AFTER purchase, but since you have 7 days, go the GM dealer and have them plug in to get the GDSII report.. This will show all CVN's of operating systems, and this is what GM uses if there is a question about a tune or PCM access...

Even if there's no current warranty block, if something ever did happen & they pulled the GDSII, if the CVN's were off, you're done.

Lastly, get the rear diff fluid checked as most C7's come in 20 oz low.. Better to just have it drained and re-filled than topped off..
Good luck!

glad to see upgraded!

Awesome! So... those key boxes... those work with the indexing windows and don't hurt the roof gaskets? They bring back memories of my 2nd job as a teenager as a lot porter at a Ford dealership.

Congrats!! I best most folks in your neighborhood will not even be aware that you changed cars. ;)

I haven't had problems with the seal on my car. Didn't have any issues with my Audi either. I bought the Vette pretty much as soon as it came up on their website though, so it didn't sit there very long.

Did the sticker say it is a Z07 package??? The reason I ask is that it has the carbon brakes but not the stage 3 aero.