MikeMikeWmike

I'm going to look at a 2012 GS with 90k on it this weekend. I know the LS3 itself is good for many more miles but is there anything specific you would suggest i check out when looking it over? Looking at a dealership 5 hours from me so i want to go in prepared as possible.

J3TVETTE

Check the balancer for wobble. Check the oil for water. Check the clutch fluid to see how black it is.

cmonkey713

There are so many very nice C-6 GS out there for sale, keep looking for a much lower mileage car. Check the C-6 for Sale sub-forum here for the very nice cars available.

MikeMikeWmike

The lower miles comes with a higher price! I'm going to look at this one because it's priced right!

GrandSportRob

That car better be super cheap with that mileage. You can probably find some great GS cars with 40k & under. Mine just hit 10k miles..

cmonkey713

Cheap now but you will pay later, we speak from experience.

VetteofSD

90k is not bad at all. We have two C6s in our household, an 06 (mine) and an 07 conv. I'm the 2nd owner of mine and the other we bought new. We're both over 150,000 now. My dads (07), the only major issue it had was the fuel pump stopped reading correctly and threw a code. Needed to be replaced. This was at ~125,000. We both developed cracks in radiators side plastic tanks at the hot inlet ~100,000. Even then, a <$200 part and an afternoon. Beyond these and regular maintenance (brakes, oil etc.) no other real trouble.

Mileage isn't the end all and be all that some people treat it like. People overreact to this for no reason. It all depends on the cars life. Look at maintenance records. If it clearly has been maintained regularly, recalls taken care of, and runs well, you'll be fine. Realize that little things could go wrong or need normal, expected replacing sometime soon (old bushings, tie-rods, gaskets etc.) But again, it all depends on its life. Aftermarket parts, for example headers, suggest a harder life than a bone stock. Even then, my car is fairly modified and has seen some track use, but I take thorough care of it and nothing has gone wrong that widely differed from my dads bone stock 07. I want to say Callaway has a 250,000+ supercharged car that has worked with little issue as well. These are built and expected to be run hard! That's the whole point of them!

To sum it up. Look closely over maintenance records, consider what aftermarket parts it has, and see how it feels to you. Expect there might be some maintenance needed in the future, but if the price is right, go for it and enjoy. Good luck!

Jstan2014

I’m still learning mine, 2012 Grand Sport, but I love it so far. We got it earlier this year with 18K miles on it. I had the coolant flushed and filled as it’s recommended at 5 years or 150K miles. I just did a recent oil change and replaced the original tires. Good luck this weekend!
Joe

JerriVette

114k miles on my 2008 c6 z51 manual and I agree..don't sweat the miles....I ve owned this car since new...and it's been utterly reliable...

Just brakes every 50k miles...I did the shocks with bilsteins at 60k miles and the car didn't even need them...

I did a water pump I think in the past 20k miles...and about 40k miles ago I also had a crack on the plastic radiator up top...I believe it occurred leaving a trader joe parking lot where the angle was too steep and the jolt cracked the plastic radiator..

It wasn't a big deal...

I usually buy new tires every 20k miles and I change out the clutch fluid every other oil change as recommended by my GM world class tech...(it's under 100 dollars)

Other than that it's just oil changes as the computer says...and add gas and go..

Best car I ever owned and it's so good, looks so good and runs so good...I can't bring myself to give it away for the prices they are selling for especially once they roll up in mileage..

My advice based off my experiences...and it's just my opinion...best deals out there are high mileage corvettes...

Grand sports are sexy good looking and if the roofs came off...I'd buy a 2006 c6 z06 with high mileage in a heartbeat...

That nonsense internet furor on the LS7 is based off about 14 LS7 casting errors that didn't occur until 2007 model year...

The 2006 is literally getting a bad rap for nothing ...

I've seen z06s with higher mileage going for 27 grand...

That's a steal...

My suggestion is to download the free app BRZO

Do a national search on the corvette you want. Mileage, price, color year...it updates itself all the time...

Best buying and shopping tool out there...

I'd do it before you visit the dealer on this high mileage grand sport...

Good luck

c6miller

You get what you pay for.

Naldinator

Don't listen to the people here that try to justify that somehow their otherwise not special car is special just because they have never used it.

Face it boys the vast majority of this forum drive a 1 out of 215,000 mass produced piece of plastic and steel. Only about 4,500 zr1s and 2500 427 verts are anything remotely special.



Buy a car that works for you and you are happy with. Check the common problem areas, buy smart and enjoy your car. If enjoyment is driving it great. If it is looking at it sit in the garage also great. TO each his own! I just drove mine 400 miles yesterday :-)

If a low mile car is important to you buy low miles. If not buy high. The cars certainly last. As for major issues it seems luck of the draw. There are guys here saying "Thank god for extended warranty because I just ran into "this" problem" that plenty of others with way more usage have never seen.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...82k-miles.html

J3TVETTE

I would have no issue buying a 100k mile C6.

MikeMikeWmike

Thanks for all the replies. I am fully aware of the risk of buying something higher mileage, but I have also owned a C5 that had 40,000 on it wen I bought it and it had constant issues. This 2012 is priced well at $26K and appears to be taken care of. 2 owners, the most recent being a manager at this dealership who traded it in on a new truck. There is regular maintenance showing on the carfax and I have requested the dealership to provide me what records their system has. It got new tires last year and a new clutch at 80,000.

It looks to me like the majority of the miles were put on it by the first owner at a rate of about 20,000 per year which to me indicates this was a daily driver that probably saw a lot of highway time.

Anyhow, back to my original question before we got so sidetracked on the garage queen debate....sounds like I should be taking a look at the radiator and check for the infamous wobble on the balancer. I had found another one previously that I liked but the wobble was strong with that one, so I passed.

I'm hopeful this one is in good shape as I've been without a corvette for nearly 3 months now for the first time in many many years!!

Thanks again for all the input.

pdac

How much? That's what it comes down to.

MikeMikeWmike

Listed at $27,000....I plan to negotiate that down a little more

3LT with the chrome GS whees. Other than window tint, it is completely stock.

jrose7004

I bought a really nice 2010 GS with 26K. I knew the first 2 owners of the car and knew that it had an easy life. The engine blew up at 34K and GM didn't care so you never really know about a used car.

windyC6

As usual with any pre-owned vehicle, while the high mileage may be a factor, it's more about how was that mileage put on and how was it maintained. People can talk all they want about having records on service and such, but that doesn't show if the car was driven like it was stolen for most of the miles on the OD. It's always a crap shoot when buying used. Lower miles is always better, but if you pinched for cash then just do the best you can and roll the dice. Good Luck.

EvanZR1

Another thing to check is for seat "rocking". It's more common on the C5, but the C6 still has an issue with one of the supports breaking, which causes the seat to rock forward/back slightly under acceleration/braking. Mine has done this both under warranty and out of warranty (and no, I'm not that heavy, about 200lbs). Out of warranty it's close to $1,000 to repair as the entire seat track assembly has to be replaced (cheaper if you feel like doing the work yourself). Otherwise the cars are pretty reliable, and 2012-13 are IMO the years to get for the additional updates they had.

Function Racer

I just bought my Grand Sport back in August. 50K on the ODO. Had Kooks 1 7/8 headers, catted x-pipe, and Borla exhaust. 2lt with no NAV. Jetstream blue. They were asking 28.9K, I paid 27.5 (Little over 31K out the door).

I would say a 3lt with 90k should be around the same price.

ClipperFan

I bought a C5 with 125,000 miles so high mileage doesn't scare me. BUT there is some nice much lower mileage C6's right now for the same price or less. No doubt it has lots of freeway miles. There is no way around it. It's a GS and I get it! Good luck !

btw, my C5, nothing but regular maintenance.