Just bought my first vette!!!!! Questions...

When I began shopping for a Corvette back in May, I searched Ebay
extensively. I was only willing to consider cars that were within 200 miles
of my home specifically because I wanted to:
1) be able to drive out to inspect it before bidding
2) avoid paying a 3rd party to deliver it

I am VERY glad I chose to adhere to this rule. I found two cars (I was
searching for C3's) that were within my price and distance range. I drove
to see them both. I was hugely disappointed with one and very surprised by
the other.

The seller of the first car left a lot of information out of the ad. For
instance, the car's ad showed very nice looking photos and listed a couple
of the car's problems (minor ones). Upon inspection, I discovered the
following:
- headlights didn't pop up
- windshield wiper motor was not working
- the doors could not be opened from the outside... he actually parked the
car (outside) with the windows open about 3 inches so he could reach in and
remove a T-top and then open the door from the inside. Oh, and this meant
there was water damage and mildew in the car.
- the dash was basically falling apart
- the rear bumper was damaged (there were no photos of this in the ad) and
the rear emblem ($50) was missing
- there were significant paint blemishes that were not visible in the ad

The seller of the 2nd car was just the opposite. The ad actually didn't do
the car justice. The car was immaculate, ran very well, and all the
accessories worked. However, the ad was very basic.

I did not end up buying either car (I found one locally for a lower price)
but I was amused as I watched the bidding and saw the car in poor condition
sell for more $$ than the good car. Had I been bidding without a physical
inspection, I may have won the bid on the poor quality car and been hugely
disappointed (even angry) when I went to pick it up.

The lesson I learned was to always check the car out in person before
bidding. Bidding without the inspection could win you a great car or a huge
dissappointment, and doing so is a total crapshoot!

Ryan

79 L-48

LOL, geez louise, why do I feel like my mother put this post in?
The only difference in Dave and my mother is that my mom isnt as
worried about me as dave is! How sweet.
Dave, you made your point the first post, and I thanked you, rubbing
it in more isnt going to further your cause...
j

wrote in message >...
> 'it is simply the best place to be able to find the car you want. If I
> limited myself to my local paper or autotrader, I'd be looking for
> months at vettes that are sub par for what I want.
> but I see what dave is talking about, can be risky, and I have my
> fingers crossed.
> jb'
>
> ME: Ebay is a good place to pick out virtually anything youre looking
> for ; but considering the way morality and ethics have clearly taken a
> back seat in our nation ... to risk tens of thousands of dollars based
> ultimately on hearsay and a few web photos...is really very risky. You
> have absolutely no recourse except to put a black mark on his ebay
> record , from what i understand about this sort of Ebay transaction.
> How come you didnt elect to fly out to at least test drive the vette
> since you were buying it apart from an Ebay auction ?? Or at least hire
> a local Car Checkers sort of service business to go to the vette and
> check out the major things.? Do u think that the decision y ou made was
> based on rationality and being prudent ... regardless of others buying
> thru Ebay auctions ??? When do u take delivery of your vette --- id
> like to know how you like it . Im not trying to belittle you JB...im
> just trying to save others extreme disappointment by such high stakes
> risk taking. I think if you were to look in your local papers, Chevy and
> Corvette Trader online, contact all local Corvette Clubs , and
> visit/contact Classic Car museums...you could find the vette of your
> choice within a couple months for sure. I think this is a far better
> approach than to chance throwing your money away to a Shark who just
> wants to get rid of his car.

LOL, geez louise, why do I feel like my mother put this post in?
The only difference in Dave and my mother is that my mom isnt as
worried about me as dave is! How sweet.
Dave, you made your point the first post, and I thanked you, rubbing
it in more isnt going to further your cause...
j

wrote in message >...
> 'it is simply the best place to be able to find the car you want. If I
> limited myself to my local paper or autotrader, I'd be looking for
> months at vettes that are sub par for what I want.
> but I see what dave is talking about, can be risky, and I have my
> fingers crossed.
> jb'
>
> ME: Ebay is a good place to pick out virtually anything youre looking
> for ; but considering the way morality and ethics have clearly taken a
> back seat in our nation ... to risk tens of thousands of dollars based
> ultimately on hearsay and a few web photos...is really very risky. You
> have absolutely no recourse except to put a black mark on his ebay
> record , from what i understand about this sort of Ebay transaction.
> How come you didnt elect to fly out to at least test drive the vette
> since you were buying it apart from an Ebay auction ?? Or at least hire
> a local Car Checkers sort of service business to go to the vette and
> check out the major things.? Do u think that the decision y ou made was
> based on rationality and being prudent ... regardless of others buying
> thru Ebay auctions ??? When do u take delivery of your vette --- id
> like to know how you like it . Im not trying to belittle you JB...im
> just trying to save others extreme disappointment by such high stakes
> risk taking. I think if you were to look in your local papers, Chevy and
> Corvette Trader online, contact all local Corvette Clubs , and
> visit/contact Classic Car museums...you could find the vette of your
> choice within a couple months for sure. I think this is a far better
> approach than to chance throwing your money away to a Shark who just
> wants to get rid of his car.

RWDoyle spoke thusly:

> When I began shopping for a Corvette back in May, I searched Ebay
<snip>
>

Ryan:

I bought my 68 sight unseen...kind of. It was a reputable dealer and
they faxed me the judging sheets from the last time the car was at
Bloomington Gold. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, the car is beautiful
and has won a couple of trophies since I've had it.

--

Shut up, Dave.

-|>|- Diode -|<|-
'68 L-79 Coupe
'79 Triumph Bonneville

RWDoyle spoke thusly:

> When I began shopping for a Corvette back in May, I searched Ebay
<snip>
>

Ryan:

I bought my 68 sight unseen...kind of. It was a reputable dealer and
they faxed me the judging sheets from the last time the car was at
Bloomington Gold. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, the car is beautiful
and has won a couple of trophies since I've had it.

--

Shut up, Dave.

-|>|- Diode -|<|-
'68 L-79 Coupe
'79 Triumph Bonneville

"jameson" > wrote in message
m...
> LOL, geez louise, why do I feel like my mother put this post in?
> The only difference in Dave and my mother is that my mom isnt as
> worried about me as dave is! How sweet.
> Dave, you made your point the first post, and I thanked you, rubbing
> it in more isnt going to further your cause...
> j

That's typical with Dave the Dolt. He's his number one (and only) fan in
this group.

I bought my Corvette through eBay, sort of. The auction ended with me the
high bidder, but I didn't meet the reserve. I kept in contact with the
owner through e-mails, kept asking questions. He answered all my questions
in an honest, forthright manner, and e-mailed me lots of pictures. I came
to believe he cared about the car, and that was what I wanted to know. I
upped my final auction offer by $500 and he accepted. I flew to his
location, inspected and found the car to be exactly as represented, paid for
it and drove it 300 miles home. Best used-car transaction I ever made. It
is exactly the car I wanted, a 1993 Ruby red 40th anniversary special
edition coupe, with a 6-speed.

Yes, I've put money into it since I've had it, but since I saved thousands
over what I'd have had to pay a dealer for the same car in the same
condition, I have had some work done on it and am still within my original
budget. I have had a ball driving the car on weekends this summer, made
some new acquaintances at cruise-ins and in the local Corvette club, and
couldn't be happier with the car.

As for Dave, he's in my killfile. Most of his advice and posts are hogwash,
and I also killfiled the other people whose sole purpose seems to be to
follow Dave all over the usenet and rag on him. I did the same with the
ridiculous hissy-fit match between a couple other posers called SAPguru (and
his aliases) and some idiot named Pendergast and his sockpuppets.

My best,

AJM
'93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp

"jameson" > wrote in message
m...
> LOL, geez louise, why do I feel like my mother put this post in?
> The only difference in Dave and my mother is that my mom isnt as
> worried about me as dave is! How sweet.
> Dave, you made your point the first post, and I thanked you, rubbing
> it in more isnt going to further your cause...
> j

That's typical with Dave the Dolt. He's his number one (and only) fan in
this group.

I bought my Corvette through eBay, sort of. The auction ended with me the
high bidder, but I didn't meet the reserve. I kept in contact with the
owner through e-mails, kept asking questions. He answered all my questions
in an honest, forthright manner, and e-mailed me lots of pictures. I came
to believe he cared about the car, and that was what I wanted to know. I
upped my final auction offer by $500 and he accepted. I flew to his
location, inspected and found the car to be exactly as represented, paid for
it and drove it 300 miles home. Best used-car transaction I ever made. It
is exactly the car I wanted, a 1993 Ruby red 40th anniversary special
edition coupe, with a 6-speed.

Yes, I've put money into it since I've had it, but since I saved thousands
over what I'd have had to pay a dealer for the same car in the same
condition, I have had some work done on it and am still within my original
budget. I have had a ball driving the car on weekends this summer, made
some new acquaintances at cruise-ins and in the local Corvette club, and
couldn't be happier with the car.

As for Dave, he's in my killfile. Most of his advice and posts are hogwash,
and I also killfiled the other people whose sole purpose seems to be to
follow Dave all over the usenet and rag on him. I did the same with the
ridiculous hissy-fit match between a couple other posers called SAPguru (and
his aliases) and some idiot named Pendergast and his sockpuppets.

My best,

AJM
'93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp

Given a chance dip**** fundy moron dave would love to rule the world and
tell everyone else how to live their lives...
This in spite of the mess he has made of his own

Given a chance dip**** fundy moron dave would love to rule the world and
tell everyone else how to live their lives...
This in spite of the mess he has made of his own

"CardsFan" > wrote in message
...
>
> "jameson" > wrote in message
> m...
>> LOL, geez louise, why do I feel like my mother put this post in?
>> The only difference in Dave and my mother is that my mom isnt as
>> worried about me as dave is! How sweet.
>> Dave, you made your point the first post, and I thanked you, rubbing
>> it in more isnt going to further your cause...
>> j
>
> That's typical with Dave the Dolt. He's his number one (and only) fan in
> this group.
>
> I bought my Corvette through eBay, sort of. The auction ended with me the
> high bidder, but I didn't meet the reserve. I kept in contact with the
> owner through e-mails, kept asking questions. He answered all my
> questions
> in an honest, forthright manner, and e-mailed me lots of pictures. I came
> to believe he cared about the car, and that was what I wanted to know. I
> upped my final auction offer by $500 and he accepted. I flew to his
> location, inspected and found the car to be exactly as represented, paid
> for
> it and drove it 300 miles home. Best used-car transaction I ever made.
> It
> is exactly the car I wanted, a 1993 Ruby red 40th anniversary special
> edition coupe, with a 6-speed.
>
> Yes, I've put money into it since I've had it, but since I saved thousands
> over what I'd have had to pay a dealer for the same car in the same
> condition, I have had some work done on it and am still within my original
> budget. I have had a ball driving the car on weekends this summer, made
> some new acquaintances at cruise-ins and in the local Corvette club, and
> couldn't be happier with the car.
>
> As for Dave, he's in my killfile. Most of his advice and posts are
> hogwash,
> and I also killfiled the other people whose sole purpose seems to be to
> follow Dave all over the usenet and rag on him. I did the same with the
> ridiculous hissy-fit match between a couple other posers called SAPguru
> (and
> his aliases) and some idiot named Pendergast and his sockpuppets.
>
> My best,
>
> AJM
> '93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp
>
I have adopted that same method of reading this group. It's takes one bit of
BS from a poster and he's in the kill file. We have allot of knowledge out
there and it can be shared without the likes of some posters. As far as I
know no one will read this because I'm already in their kill file.

I do get an occasional chuckle when dave's remarks show up in others posts.
It takes all kinds, if you don't believe that you haven't been watching the
campaign.

--
Dad
04 C5 CE Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd