xlaziox

I'm looking for my first vette, and I found one with low miles that is a C7 Z51 7 speed only a few years old. It had 3 owners on the carfax. The first owner was normal enough, bought it, drove it 7,000 miles in a couple years and then traded it in at an Infiniti dealer presumably for a nice luxury Infiniti. The next owner bought and sold it within 3 months, and the third owner also bought and then sold it within 3 months. I'm troubled by the last two owners in a row dumping this car so quick. The car is being sold with a manufacturer certified used warranty that extends the bumper to bumper for a year and the power train warranty for 3 years. Is this thing somehow a ticking time bomb of despair, or do you think it's safe to buy? I did see consumer complaints about some electronic control module that tends to poop out on these. Is that not covered by the warranty and tends to go out every 3 months on lemon cars??? Otherwise, I drove the car, and it seemed nice. Shifted smooth, and seemed to handle well. No funny noises. The front bumper was a bit funny where it meets the hood by the headlights, it was popping up a bit, and I pushed the plastic down. It was parked in the sun, maybe why. The dealer has had it for like 130 days, which also makes me wonder. No wrecks on the carfax, and clean title. Does anyone have an informed opinion about this?

DanZR1

I wouldn't be concerned about the three owners, could have been midlife crisis-mobile syndrome. The other issues mentioned, I may worry about. There are tons of low mileage Vettes out there, I'd probably shop around unless it's a really smoking deal...

Bajaholic

I would not worry about 3 owners. There is many reasons people purchase Corvettes and many more why they sell them.

I bought mine with 575 miles on it, was a trust fund kid that 10 days after he bought the car found out his GF was having a kid. He freaked and so did the parents, they made him take the car back to the Dealership. Good for me!

I got a smoken deal on it and because of that may..... Consider selling it again? But time will tell,

I have also picked up a number of Corvettes over the years where the mid life crisis caused the sale, the in ability to feel comfortable driving car made them sell it. I picked up a 08 Z06 in 08 that had 65 miles on it, was purchased by a doctor, he let it rip on the way home from the dealership and almost lost control (of course he turned off the button) And was too upset to even drive the car the rest of the way home, I was told his friend had to go get the car. there is again, LOTS of reasons.

I personally would look at the car and the service records, rather than the number of owners, that is the real story. If it is clean, no big deal.

sunsalem

If you can avoid it, don't buy a used car...it isn't worth the risk.
This is the kind of thing that can happen to those that do:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...just-blew.html

Ramler

Don't know your location but I've been watching several dealers and Corvettes seem to sit on the lot for a while. The 13 GS I traded in is still there after 60 days and it was pristine. I can easily imagine middle aged men buying a Z51 and not liking the ride, not liking the M7, not ready for the excitement! If it is under warranty and you like it, have at it. Have you considered a competent mechanic check it out? Competent Corvette mechanics are hard to find.

DanZR1

I don't have a problem with used, you do need to throughly check the car over first though. In the post above, it was modded, and I would have walked away as soon as I saw the headers. I purchased my 16 in July with 7700 miles on it. Went over it with a fine tooth comb, and contacted the previous owner (it was a trade in at the Caddi Dealer). He was an older guy that said he, "Floored it once, and it scared him". For those 7700 miles he added, I saved $25,000 off of the MSRP...

DrDyno

The CPO (Certified Pre-Owned warranty) is better than a new car warranty. Assuming you've checked out the dealership and they have a good reputation, I would buy that car with complete confidence.

KGrant

I would technically be a third owner! When someone traded in the C7 with 1500 miles, then 2nd person bought it and put 500 miles on in and then realize that a two-seat sports car was not working for him and his family.

So the 2nd owner took it back to dealer and traded it for a used 4-door Maserati from dealer. So I bought it a a great price with 2100 miles on it and didn't hesitate once I asked about the history of the two owners and it made sense and knew the car was perfect and exactly what I was looking for.

Kraz8s

People need to stop posting this...is was a modded car....

​​​​​​​To the OP, if the service records check out and it is a killer deal take it and run! I got my 2014 last year with about 7k on the clock. It was some retirees Sunday driver.

KGrant

I would technically be a third owner! When someone traded in the C7 with 1500 miles, then 2nd person bought it and put 500 miles on in and then realize that a two-seat sports car was not working for him and his family.

So the 2nd owner took it back to dealer and traded it for a used 4-door Maserati from dealer. So I bought it a a great price with 2100 miles on it and didn't hesitate once I asked about the history of the two owners and it made sense and knew the car was perfect and exactly what I was looking for.

KGrant

I bought my 84, 96 and 2014 Corvette used with low miles. I bought my Lexus LS400, GS 300 and SC430 used with low miles. I bought my Porsche Cayenne used with medium miles. I bought my Cadillac STS and Chrysler 300C used with low miles. I bought my Hummer H3 used with low miles. I bought I Jeep Grand Cherokee used with low miles. I am now looking for a Cadillac CT6 used with under 20k miles.

By the way, I have NEVER bought CERTIFIED nor PAID for an EXTENDED WARRANTY all of which I think are rip offs. Cars are made far better than years ago and the odds of a lemon are in my favor and If I don't trust the brand quality then I don't buy.

All the money saved getting used, not paying extra for certified, not paying for extended warranties easily have saved me minimum 100k over all the cars i have purchased not even including tax and interest savings.

The moral of the story is I can't really recall the last new car that I bought as I get excited about someone else paying the New Car Price, taking the Rapid Depreciation of the car and then I swoop in and get a $80k car for 50k with 2000-5000 miles. I love used and keeping more money in my pocket! That's just me as I am more into hard cash then new car smell.

PS: My boss paid $110k for his 2015 3LZ and I showed him a used 2015 3LZ almost identical to his for 65k with about 8k miles. Would I pay 50k more for a rapidly depreciating asset to have 0 miles vs 8k? I would buy the used in a heartbeat!

Foosh

Visit any GM dealer, talk to a service advisor, give him/her the VIN, and request they to run a GMVIS report. That will tell you everything about how the car was/wasn't maintained and what, if any, warranty issues it has had.

If it's had all required services, and has a history clear of any kind of major warranty repairs, it's a good bet. Like KGrant above, I look for year-old certified pre-owned cars, and have purchased more than a dozen. None of them have given me any headaches, but two of the new cars I purchased had major issues and were ultimately lemon-lawed.

Statistically, that doesn't mean much, but a used car that has been well-maintained and no history of warranty claims tells me it's likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. A new car has no history.

Kevin A Jones

Having 3 owners in 3 years would definitly concern me, as it seems to you, considering your starting this thread.
If you do move forward on it, I advise your thoroughly checking it out completely as has been suggested above.

xlaziox

Arg,
I'm getting a lot of mixed input here, but I appreciate everyone's experiences, and how quickly everyone responded. It does give some perspective. I figured people probably buy them and have buyer's remorse over cost or that it's a rear wheel drive car and isn't terribly useful in snow or ice. It doesn't surprise me that they scare people too. My present daily driver is a g37s rear wheel drive manual coupe, which is probably a good trainer for the vette. I already know better than to drive it in the rain. The power of the vette did intimidate me a bit at first, but I got much more comfortable on like the 3rd manual trans test drive. I did drive an hour and a half to see one in a small town a month back, and when I got there the turkey at the dealership wouldn't let me test drive it. He was like "Did you know 80% of Corvette accidents are within 4 miles of the dealer?". (For context, I'm 39 and I drove up in a Lexus) I told him I wasn't buying anything I couldn't test drive and walked out. So I guess those faint of heart and horsepower illiterates are the same reason the doctor wouldn't allow me to witness them giving my wife the epidural. I was like why would you think I couldn't handle that? Apparently a ton of guys literally pass out at the sight of it so they require husbands to sit down during it...<eye roll> I'm still kind of on the fence, but anything else I buy will be more expensive and more than likely OUT of warranty altogether.

PobreWey

I bought mine with 9000 miles on it. I don't like going past 15,000 miles however I have a weird way of looking at cars and that is I think "how hard/crappy" could the previous owner drive it without causing some serious damage and my sweet spot is 10,000 miles max but I'd go up to 15,0000. You'd for sure know if there was an issue before the warranty went out.

xlaziox

This car's miles go to 11...thousand. Pretty stinking low... But driven enough to be broken in. That would be the least number of miles I've ever purchased a car at.

PobreWey

I think you'd see obvious issues taking it for a test drive if it was a lemon. The lemon Vettes are usually sold at those shady used car lots that aren't dealer affiliated.

If you have at least 3 months warranty go for it. Interesting thing to note... The 2014's and 2015's have way better warranty than 2016 and up

AORoads

What brand of dealer is selling the car? As has been posted in another thread, having the car checked at a GM dealer for the VIS report is good, better is CPO, and best is to have the ECM checked specifically for any modifications to the tune. If that has happened (a tune) all future warranty claims for powertrain may be denied.

xlaziox

The dealer is GMC. So they should have the records.

Rebel Yell

There are times when a dealer will take possession of the title, and CarFax will show it as another owner. I don't know if this is the case, but it could be. Look closely at the mileage reported on the report, and you may be able to see if it happened with this one.