Carfax, KBB, and suspect salesmen

Greetings,

I am looking at a Z06 for purchase. The price listed and mileage are right in the sweet spot of everything I've seen offered all over. Everything else has too many miles for the price or too much price for the miles.

The salesman says they took it in on trade from a guy that bought it from them. Says he went over it thoroughly to make sure it was perfect.

I check the Carfax and it looks like the car has had 20k miles put on it in 6 months. Earlier this year it got tested for emissions in a neighboring state with about half the miles on it.

These two stories do not add up for me. If the guy saved up for it (allegedly came to the dealership in an old Saturn, which primarily turned the salesmen off) he drove it A Lot, and then punted. It puts me in the mind that the car might be hurt, and he got out quick. That would make the car a ticking time bomb,which I don't need.

Lastly, according to Carfax the price is about $1000 too low, which would be correct if everyone sold at list price. KBB says the price is at least $3000 too high, which would mean I'm going to need to make a case for a "fair" price.

Here are my questions.

Is it worthwhile to get a PPI on a car with less than 50k miles?

Can I trust the data from Carfax and Autocheck (their data matched)?

When it feels like the salesman is lying how does one turn that around into a negotiating piece?

How low, by percentage, is it okay to make a legitimate offer? If I'm looking at KBB correctly this car is somewhere between 15-25% too high.

The car does not make any crazy noises, and looks right for the miles/years. Am I being overly cautious?

I used to sell new and used cars. I would tell you ANYTHING to sell you a car. and I was one of the honest ones. It doesn't mean he is lying when he tells you those things but check every avenue you can to verify what is stated. So yes it is worthwhile to get a PPI. I never trust carfax. too much is missed if it is a short period of time. not carfaxes fault, a previous owner can cover up a lot given time and cash just like anything else caveat emptor. Never feel like any offer you make is not legitimate if you are making a true offer.

Definitely get a PPI. Are service records available other than the basics on Carfax?

Any serious offer is fair game. Go low. They can only say no.

Yeah, carfax misses a lot. I was about to purchase an early oughts s40 which I liked a lot. It was less than KBB, ran and drove fine, but there was clear overspray on the quarters onto the rear glass. The dude was sketchy about it and to me, it seemed clear that it was in a pretty significant accident that was never reported. Trust your gut with these things. Sometimes I think our "spidey sense" as car guys is more reliable than any database.

You are trusting the wrong sources.

Hire a competent mechanic to do a PPI, and use his input and your judgement to make a decision.

Don't make your decisions based on Carfax, KBB, internet advice, or imaginary scenarios about mileage accumulation or timelines.

There are many other reasons the guy may have traded it in. You are assuming there is something wrong based on nothing.

And yes, a car salesman's job is to sell cars, not to tell you what you want to hear so you DON'T buy a car.

Try and contact the previous owner - maybe his info is on some paperwork that you can look at.

In reply to jrg77:

Just to counter your theory, not because the advice above is wrong (it isn't; get a PPI and distrust the sales folk) :

Consumables.

Someone I work with dailys a Grand Sport, and we recently had a conversation on this. Your previous owner might have had to drop fifteen hundred or more on tires during this crazy run up of miles, and has since decided an Accord isn't so bad after all.

jrg77 wrote: Am I being overly cautious?

No. You are being silly with these imagined scenarios. Pay to get the car checked out by a competent, independent mechanic and if there is nothing wrong with it make an offer based on what the car is worth TO YOU.

jrg77 wrote: Is it worthwhile to get a PPI on a car with less than 50k miles? Can I trust the data from Carfax and Autocheck (their data matched)? When it feels like the salesman is lying how does one turn that around into a negotiating piece? How low, by percentage, is it okay to make a legitimate offer? If I'm looking at KBB correctly this car is somewhere between 15-25% too high. The car does not make any crazy noises, and looks right for the miles/years. Am I being overly cautious?

Answering your questions in order:

If it makes you feel better, then it can't hurt to have a PPI done.

The data from Carfax is only as reliable as the reporting sources. It's not a catch all tool, just something to help you. It also can't tell you if the car is a heap of crap or not.

You don't. If he's lying, you can call him on the carpet, but I don't know about turning it into a negotiating piece. If anything, it's a piece that I walk away from. Or if you really want the car, just ask to deal with the sales manager instead.

Offer anything you want. Obviously, you need to be reasonable. If you offer them $5000 for a $25,000 car you're just going to make the buying process needlessly complicated, but within reason anything is fair game.

It could be a red flag that someone bought the car then dumped it 6 months later. Or it could be nothing. I've bought and sold cars in 6 months many times, for various reasons (none of which were because the car was junk). Maybe that was the POs intention to begin with?

Nothing wrong with being cautious. Do your homework and from there it's a leap of faith.

If you do decide to get a PPI done, I would strongly recommend having a known, reputable Corvette SPECIALIST do the PPI. They will know about model year/trim level specific items to look for that an otherwise competent mechanic might miss.