gnt

I had been looking online at 2001 to 2004 cars in the local area for about 9 months. One very nice looking one caught my eye but the price was way out of line. 2001 vert, 3500 miles, one owner at a Buick dealer about an hour away. Over the 9 months of watching this car they had a couple of price drops. They had come down a total of 9k so my wife and I drove out to look at it and test drive it. I found a few issues with the car that I could use as bargaining chips so I thought we would be able work a fair deal to both parties.
We started talking price and they were not budging at all. The used car sales manager was such a stereotypical used car salesman I thought we were in the twilight zone.

Here are some of the things that happened:
He didn't know how to put the top down despite "being a corvette guy"
Claimed they had had the car about 3 months and were taking to auction in the next couple of weeks saying it had been on the lot too long. Total lie, I had watched it for 9 months and it is even on the lot in the google street view pic from more than a year before and the carfax showed that they had the car more than a year.
With them not budging we decided to walk out and see if that would work. Nothing...

My wife and I talked about it in the parking lot and decided to go ahead anyway. We don't have any regrets other than having to deal with that moron sales manager.
It's a great super clean car and we love it.

Fire Alarm Guy

My brother in law (wifes brother) had the car. We found out about it after my mother in law had passed away this last summer. He drove it from Arkansas to attend the funeral service and had asked to keep the car in our 3 car garage for the time he and his wife were in town due to the other brothers house they were staying at being on a gravel road.

We said ofcourse but jokingly said only if they left us the keys. A quick response of 'No problem, enjoy it's! Over the course of the week that they were in town the car sat. In good conscious I couldn't drive it and have something happen to it, my fault or not, and then have nothing but an 'I'm sorry' for them when they picked up the car.

They used the car the day of the service and when we all went to the grave site we were all talking and ofcourse the car came up. They asked if we enjoyed driving it around which we tolled them we hadn't touched it and why. This led to us trading vehicles for the drive back home. It was a beautiful day, low 80s and sunny. I think the wife thought it was wonderful with the top down as we had never had a convertible before!

Back home and ofcourse the first question was 'How did you like it'? Both of us were qushing about it and thanking them forgiving us a bright spot in a tough day! My BIL mentioned they might be selling the car in a few months and we said to give us the right of first refusal if they do.

Two months pass and sure enough the wife gets a text, the car had just been put on Craigslist. Asking price was right at the top end of fair market value, but he told us it would be a grand less to us. We worked on the money but just couldn't make it work comfortably for us without either getting into the retirement fund or a loan, so we kind of passed on it. A month passed and his best offer was even less than what he had told us he would sell it for. He told us that if we still wanted it he would sell it to us for that 'grand' less than his best offer. Now the money made sense for us and in two weeks we drove from Iowa to Arkansas to pick it up.

So out of something very sad to something that will bring us many miles of joy, that is how we got a Corvette we were not actively looking for or had never planned on owning! Sometimes things just 'fall into your lap'!

The day we bought the car and drove it for the first time. Found this small private car museum, took the tour and couldn't resist taking the picture out front by the sign.

mstromquist

I put dealer but it wasn't really a dealer. The company was called "The Internet Dealer" I believe but they aren't really a dealer with the overhead or a car lot. More like a consignment place really. I found it on ebay also so that might also qualify it for auction also.

jpm995

I found mine on ebay. Private purchase, original owner but couldn't find window sticker. Car was perfect i couldnt be happier. '02 z06 w/11000 miles. Edit to add when i drove to see the car i knew i was buying it seeing it from a few houses away, lost all my bargaining power. I lucked out car was perfect.

lewislgZ06

You know you can get a duplicate window sticker from NCM, right? They also have build sheets.

jpm995

Yes thanks, i got the sticker [laminated] and build sheet from them. Outstanding service but havent been to a show since. Can't wait for spring. This forum is a great source for info.

lewislgZ06

Awesome, I got both as well.

MWWarlord

I have loved Corvettes since I was a kid, and have wanted one since I turned 16 and got my license. The C5 in particular was a dream car of mine ever since it came out. Over the years I had looked at Vettes a few times, but I was never able to make the money work. In the Fall of 2013 I was faced with a choice. My '95 Mustang convertible was in need of some work. I knew that I was going to have to spend over a grand on new tires. Plus there were some other issues that needed to be addressed. I knew that it was going to be several grand to get the Mustang back up to snuff, so I decided that it might be time to make my Corvette dream come true. I called my cousin who was a buyer for a local used car lot. He started looking for me. I knew I wanted a convertible from '03 or '04. I wanted the HUD, and I preferred Red. He found a few cars that were not what I wanted. I said no to those and continued to wait. After 2 months, he still had not found the right car. I was getting worried as the state inspection was coming up on the Mustang, and I didn't think it would pass with the tires that I had. I started searching for cars myself, and ended up finding exactly what I was looking for at a local used car dealer (Hymen Bros in Richmond, VA). The dealer (who specialized in higher end used vehicles) had a strict no haggle pricing policy, and had the car priced at $21K. I convinced my wife to stop by and take a look at it on the way to get groceries that night. The sales rep was fantastic. As soon as he brought the car around, I knew that I wanted it. He asked to take a short drive with me at the wheel to make sure I could "handle it", and then offered to let my wife and I test drive the car for however long we wanted. We drove the car for around 45 minutes. I told them that if they gave me $1500.00 in trade on my Mustang that we had a deal. While we did the paperwork, they washed the car and filled the gas tank. We never did make it to the grocery store that night, but my wife and I didn't care. I've loved the car car ever since. These are pictures that I took the day after I bought it.

Tyteflows

Did you at least call him on all of his lies?

Ravenfire

I bought mine Jan 9 2021 from a dealer 5min away from my house, they only had it for a week. 2004 32k miles, torch red, light oak int, glass top, auto, preferred equipment trim.



My week old new ride

VetteFTW

I got my 2003 back in 2007 from Carmax for $7k under KBB because it had some minor scratches. My good friend worked at a body shop and fixed all of that shortly after for less than $2k and it was perfect. Pictured next to it was the car I sold to buy it, a 2003 Nissan Altima.

Sweet04

Sweet04 - Borlas being installed @ Carlisle.

I bought her new from Hendricks Chevrolet (Atlanta) on 5/4/04. When my (now ex) came home from his 2-week camping trip with his friends, she was sitting in the garage. He told me to take "it" back. The divorce was final 6 months later.

lewislgZ06

Now that’s a Corvette story!

VetteFTW

I really love those lights, they look amazing!

MAC5

Thanks,

Shout out to George owner of forum vendor Radioflyer, now https://sharplightinnovations.com/
for all the help and great products on lighting upgrades over the years

MSG C5

Bought my 04 new off the dealer lot in late 2004 after the C6 started showing up. It had a sticker price of $54K and I got it for $45K out the door with 0% financing and 5 free oil service changes as the dealership was motivated to move out the remaining C5s.

17 years later and the car drives and performs better now than it did driving off the lot. She’s a keeper.

gnt

No, there was nothing to gain from it. That type of salesman/sales manager is not going to change because of me calling him a liar.

ThomasR

I put a want to buy ad on the forum and was contacted by another member about a week later. I drove to Connecticut to inspect and test drive the car. The car was perfect. I stopped at the bank on my way home and sent a bank check FedEx overnight. When he was sure payment cleared he sent the title and I arranged shipment. I stood in line outside the DMV for hours during Covid to get the paperwork and license plates. That was 3 months ago and I've put 6k miles on the car since.

orca13

Bought mine at Jabaay Motors in Merriville, Indiana. He has Vettes coming in all the time. He deals in cars with low miles.

C5R USA

Purchased my 2000, Mar 16th, 2004, from some very small used car dealership in the St. Peters, MO area...Apparently, the car was owned by the father of the son who drove it, modified it, and got too many tickets in it. So, the father had his buddy who owned the lot, put it up for sale.
Their loss, my magnificent gain...31K on the odometer, some really nice mods and wheels to boot, near fully loaded and the all important 6-spd. Traded my C4 ZR-1 for it, 10K in cash down, and financed the rest....They had it listed at 31.5K, I worked them down to 29K. Without a doubt, best overall car purchase I ever made...It's been a real sweetheart.
Then:


Present: