Going to look at a 2002 convertable with about 5k miles on it tomorrow. Assuming the story ( little old lady, only to church ect.) is believable, what problems should I be looking for in a car with such low milage? It has supposedly been regulary serviced, and squeeky clean. If it is as clean as it is supposed to be, I will send it to a dealer to be checked out, but what else should I be asking?
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I gave this bit of advice in another thread, but the short answer (from my perspective) is to do a Carfax report AND run the VIN through the GM database at the dealer where the owner had the car serviced. I have to say that if the car is that low-mileage that you have very little to worry about but it can't hurt to do a little research in addition to havinga mechanic that knows Vettes to look it over.

 

In addition to the usual things you look at with a used car, I would look at:

1) Cheak all the electrics, test everything: power antenna, every button on the radio and all channels and the CD and vary the balance and fade to make sure all speakers work. Test all power accessories and etc, the wipers, the windshield washer. Check the battery (under the hood passenger side) and the area below it for any signs of a leak: rare but disasterous (the engine computer is directly underneath it and if it gets corroded . . . ).

2) Check all "rubber."
- 5000 miles means the tires should be original and have about 80% of their tread remaining.
- the clutch, brake, and throttle pedals should have virtually no wear. Find another car with only 5K miles on it and note the pedals are barely worn--they have the shine on newmoldings worn of but nothing else. A car with 60,000 miles (or even 30000) will have much more wear.
- Tires and hoses last only about 9 years under the best of circumstances before they material because too brittle. Under the worse of circumstances (the car was kept in a very warm garage, etc.) this can happen inonly half the time.
- With the engine not running, check the ribbed belt that runs the alternator, etc. Its side edges should feel smooth. If not most likely someone has done some serious work on the engine or there is a problem.

3) Check the driver's seat for wear. At 5K miles it should not wear but this is a weakness in these cars. https://www.corvetteforums.com/m_33629/tm.htm

3) Ask the car for its own diagnostics. To do this, sit in the driver's seat with the car off.Have a pen and paper ready to copy (and a friend if you can, ready to hep).On the instrument panel in front of you, to the right of the speedometer and tach, etc., are a vertical row of buttons. Turn the key to the ON position, but don't start the engine. Hold the OPTIONS button down and keep it down with one hand, and press the FUEL button 4 times. This will get you into the code reporting section of the digital display. The computer will automatically display all the codes the car has created on the small digitial screen directly in front of you (right below the speedo and tach). It will cycle through each code every 3 seconds, moving through the various computers in the car (there are many) asking all for their codes. Any code that ends in H (ie., P1733H) is a history code (thishas occured in the past but is now fine.
It is typical to have a number of old codes-if the car reports no codes at all it does not mean the car is flawless, it means the owner has probably cleared (erased) them. I'd be just a bit wary of any car that reported no codes at all: these computers are paranoid: the radio remember severy time the battery was disocnnected and it went without power, etc. You can look up what the codes mean at: http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm. Again, don't overreact to codes - these computers are paranoid, but investigate anything that seems serious.

 

Squeeky brakes! mine was about the same as yours, (9600 mi). they still squeek a little but not like when I bought it a year ago.

 

My front right still squeaks, did it at 23k and stil does it at 29k.

 

Guys, you can fix squeaky brakes with aftermarket pads, cheap. It's no biggie.

 

Which are your preference Lee?

 

Hawke are pretty good check out the calipers and their mountings when you replace the pads, too.

 

Thanks, I'll keep these in mind.

 

I bought my '02 when it was two years old and had 4007 miles on it. It looked virtually new.

Does this car have an extended warranty? If so, you need to get the current owner/insured to request in writing that the warranty be transferred to you. If it is GMPP there will be a $50.00 transfer fee.Look in the GMPP booklet in the car and it will give directions for the transfer but if the current owner requests it at the time of sale it may just be much easier than catching up with him later. Mine is still under GMPP till April '09.

'02 was a good model year as most bugs were worked out by then. If the car is a six-speed and has not had the cloumn lock recall done it, definitely do not let them do it. There have been two or three recalls on the column lock and they only make matters worse. If you have the recall done they will reflash your computer to shut down your fuel pump each time the car thinks something is wrong with the column lock. Install a CLB (column lock bypass available for $50.00 from Corvettes of Houston) and that will eliminate any steering lock problems.