Cor430vette

What would you do....

Love this car, nice low miles.

Here is the problem...take a look at the carfax on this car from the ad.
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/de...9640/overview/

Note where it was and the dates before it came to Houston.
Registered in 06/2012 in Oscar Louisiana.
Ended up in Houston 10/29/2012.

Problem was that Hurricane Issac rolled through Louisiana in 08/2012 and just so happened to cause flooding in the perish that the city Oscar is located.
It then ends up in Houston two months later and sits on their lot for two years with no service records and was not sold. Then this group picks it up. The sales rep and manager swear it was not flooded and that they do their multiple point inspection for mechanical and flood/wreckage etc.

Am I paranoid or is this too much of a coincidence with the hurricane and then sold in Houston? Why did it sit for 2 years? Was it being dried out and restored? What dealer cant sell a car that looks like this for two years?

I don't trust any used car dealership nor carfax. People are getting their cars fixed out of pocket and then selling them with clean car fax reports. How do I know this? I bought a car with a clean car fax had it shipped in from up north to Texas and I found out...it had been in a wreck. It was fixed real good but a body shop specialist showed me where it had been damaged and fixed.....thank god it was a cheap 10k Chevy cobalt SS turbo.

What do you guys think? Would you pursue it and have it professionally inspected? Or just blow it off and keep looking?

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

Patsgarage

It could be nothing.............but, I have learned to trust my instincts o things like this. If you get that "funny" feeling from the car walk away. There are plenty of others out there.

Gary '09 C6

no reason to risk it if you're not certain...

23/C8Z

i've heard of guys paying shops cash money to avoid making a flood claim we got crushed out with hurricane sandy.. many cars with no car fax hits and once the majority of things damaged are replaced almost impossible to tell. sucks.. if you feel funny about it that's the sign to look elsewhere..

ck9887

Are you local? Wouldn't hurt to take the car for the day and have the car inspected by a Corvette shop and/or body shop. Here in Houston there are tons of reputable shops.

I haven't looked at pricing on C6 GS's lately, but it seems for that kind of money, you've probably got quite a few choices...

out2run

Here are some ideas, you may want to run an "autocheck" car history or other. I had questions when buying and the autocheck report showed additional information that helped. My GS spent months between auctions and sitting on lots before being sold.

Contact a local vette club and find a respected enthusiast to help you check out the car.

Talk to the seller about the history and your concerns.

Carfax is just one available tool to help make a purchase, I would not put to much into the hurricane scenerio just yet.

C6 Snowboarder

I have heard from many different guys over the past year that Texas is a good place to "wash" a title.. which means any of the bad things that could have happened to that Vette is off the Carfax now. I think Texas is the only state that does not require input to the system for wrecks or theft , air bag deploy, salvage and all that -- be cautious young man - trust your gut.

Entaille

+1

car isn't rare enough to warrant the risk. if you have any suspicions just find a different one.

Don-Vette

Unless you see it in person to check if it's a flood car. Stay away. IMO

DaveA

Just my 2c, but I wouldn't trust that dealer as far as I can spit.
Before I bought my GS, last year, I looked at a 2011 GS they had there with 200 miles on the clock.
They were asking top dollar, and would not budge.
I looked at it's history, and it had spent two years being moved from dealership to dealership in Georgia, before turning up in Houston.
It appears that it had been damaged somehow during delivery when it was new, and so they couldn't sell it as new, or somesuch, then hawked it around from dealer to dealer trying to sell it used.
When questioned about it's history, they got very shirty, and basically wanted me to leave.
I wouldn't buy anything from those guys, there are plenty GS's at reputable dealers

Red08

I would want to contact the previous owner and aske them about it. You can also try to find out who the original selling dealer was when new and see if they will provide you the name. If its a 2012, it shold still have factory warranty. Get a printout of all service work that is on record. I would definately do some legwork to get as much information on the car as possible if you are truly interested. You don't want regrets later.

R3L4X

Two words ~ Buyer Beware.

Cor430vette

I think the majority of you guys are in agreement with me....too much risk for the price and the dealership appears to be in question also. I will keep looking. Thanks everyone..!

Hard to find a > 2008, GS or even a base mode coupe w/ manual that is black and is local with under 20k miles. I would buy a Z06, seems to be allot available. However, I am spooked on the valve train scenario and I used to own a C6 LS3(pic in my sig) that I modified to 700hp and never had incident. So I am going to keep looking for the LS3....

jrose7004

If it doesn't feel right then you should trust your instincts and move on. Normally first impressions are right.

trebor8008

I would walk away from this one. Too many unanswered questions.

Mr.Nubain

That's a lot of cash to spend on a car you are unsure of. GS's are a dime a dozen, give it a few days and you'll find one that wont give you that feeling. Buy the car you feel comfortable buying, if you feel like this already. It's a warning sign. GS's are everywhere, you'll find an exact same model with features probably for less. Good luck.

J3TVETTE

If you bought it, you will always have the though of it being a flood car on the back of your mind. Pass.

09C6inWA

If there's a doubt, don't do it.

rmarks

Damage is damage, damage can be fixed. If done right it can be better than new. But sitting for two years is a big suspicion that must be explained. You don't want a car that was so water damaged that it took two years to fix. On the other hand, maybe it is such a cool car that the sales manager was driving it? Water damage always shows under carpets.

I got mine used, no problems, all good. CarFax - clean. The guy who sold it bought it new but he was the manager of a body shop. I crawled all over it and under it looking for some flaw indicating damage, none - happy.

Cor430vette

Hey everyone, take a look at the Carfax maybe I was just paranoid.
Nowhere does it say it was sold to the dealership in 2012 only serviced. ( I think I assumed it was sold )
I then found out that Louisiana only requires registration every two years.
Those were my concerns, immediate sale after Issac in Houston - However it was never was sold
Then why no registration in 2 years? Louisiana doesn't require yearly...

Here is the Carfax: Tell me what you guys think...still came from Louisiana but if I have it inspected for flood damage should be okay ...??

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory...YT2DW9C5106323