DougandBeth

Photos

DougandBeth

I just spoke to the seller and he is the 2nd owner of the vehicle. He said he has done all his own work and did oil changes with Mobil 1. He has no issue having me bring the car to the dealer. He did say the one thing he does not want done to the car is a compression test. According to him, he gets concerned if the person doing it doesn;t know what they are doing can screw something up. He stated (not sure if this is accurate or not) that if there is an issue with the car the dealership computer systems will identify it. Here are the particulars on the car.

2011 Grand Sport, Manual
16,000 miles
2nd owner is the seller

I attached photos and will attach more

DougandBeth

ExxWhy

I've never kept any sort of detailed record on any vehicle I've bought new and have never had a problem with the few warranty repairs they have needed. I can live with the fact .3% of the population would never buy a car from me because of it.

I don't blame the guy for declining the compression test. The car has 16K on it, odds are extremely high it is fine.

BackInBlack05

I do all my routine maintenance. I write it down in the factory logbook. I keep no receipts.

My position is with no records I price it as if I were buying it at auction.

16K miles? I prolly woudn't fret. I have 135K on mine and a buyer might want some data.

On a Porsche, records can be a huge difference in price/saleability.

FAUEE

At 16k miles all its needed is oil changes. What records are you looking for? Heck, at 16k with the 11qt capacity of a dry sump later car, it probably didn't even NEED an oil change, but good to do.

People freak out over this silly stuff. It has a fancy truck engine, it's not a fragile euro import.

You looking for an excuse to tire kick this one too, or is this something that actually concerns you?

extrapilot

Owners can create there own service records by inputting self service events for record keeping.
Go to https://my.chevrolet.com/login, create a account. Handy tool.

extrapilot

That underside looks typical for the year and mileage, would not be concerned at all and most importantly is the dry condition, no oily deposits. No need for compression test if it's running good.

TorchRedFred

Guys are making a big deal about nothing. Look over the car, inspect and/or research for any prior accidents, and then take it for a decent test drive. If all those check out, then buy the car. Since I have owned my car, it's never been to a dealer or mechanic, and I have done 2 oil changes with no records kept.

Oic0

If it had 100,000+ miles or some major engine mods I would want w compression test. Bone stock under 20,000 miles? Barley broken in.

DougandBeth

Thanks everyone! I definitely wasn't backing out of this by any stretch it was just a rookie asking a question. Flight leaves Tuesday night and by noon on Wednesday I will be making the 17 hour drive home. Should be fun and looking forward to it!

ruxvette

Hootyfrickenhoo...enjoy the drive!

SPSandman

That's awesome, never knew that! Thanks!

Jstan2014

Best of luck OP. Enjoy your journey home next week. Safe travels!

phileaglesfan

Dealer will be able to tell if there is a warranty issue or if it was tuned. It sounds like a great car but buyer should always beware. Look for cracks under the car especially on the rocker panels. Also the radiator mounts.

While miles are low I would consider changing the fluids due to age. Even GMs coolant should be changed at 5 years. I think there is a time for the tranny fluid also.

Vettereturned

The car cover itself speaks volumes to me relative to the Owners care.

Tokuzumi

I know this thread is a little bit old, but the car looks clean.

When I was looking for an early 2000s GMT800 last year, I brought along an endoscope camera that plugged into my phone. I would stick it in the oil fill tube to check the condition of the heads. If the vehicle had fairly regular oil changes, the heads were clean. I did see one that had a bunch of sludge in the head. That told me to steer far away from that vehicle, as I knew it wasn't very well cared for.

In short, I wouldn't be concerned about no official maintenance records if the car appears to have been cared for, and an inspection confirms the condition of the vehicle.

C5forGreg

Anytime you buy a used, out of warranty vehicle, you are taking some risk. Mine was a single owner with clean carfax with under 14k miles, but I bought from a GM dealer that at least sends every used vehicle through their shop to address anything and give it a fresh oil change even if it has recently been done. You just have to do whatever due diligence you can and then apply your own common sense without letting yourself get too emotionally committed before deciding everything is good. You should at least be able to tell if any outstanding recalls were addressed through a dealer. If the car is super clean in areas you can see and areas you cannot and they bothered to get recalls addressed in a timely manner, then they likely didn't neglect the car. And how much neglect could there have been in that number of miles other than neglecting to go out and drive a fine automobile. You never know for sure but generally people don't buy these kinds of vehicles for these kinds of prices and not take at least minimal care of them. Now, if you were buying a 2011 Hyundai Elantra with 80,000 miles on it with no service records, my response would be run, don't walk, run. Sign up on the Chevy owner's site using the vehicle VIN and it should show any recalls and possibly any work that may have been done at a dealer.

Tokuzumi

Inspecting any used car is a must, C6, or any other car for that matter. If I was looking for a basic DD, and the 2011 Elantra was clean and an inspection didn't turn up anything other than appropriate wear for an 80k mi vehicle, I would have no issues purchasing it despite a lack of service records.

Now if this 2011 spent its life in the north, and was beaten to death with salt every winter, yes. I'd run far away and not look back.