Would You Buy this C6 Corvette Z06?

This Corvette’s odd backstory is leading some Corvette Forum members to give it a quick thumbs down.

Corvette Forum member Chatcher recently posted a thread in which he shared the link to an eBay auction for a 2009 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. The car had been purchased as abandoned in a storage locker and it has an odd list of details, but the OP wonders if for $30,000 – this would be a good deal.

The Original Post

When the OP first started this thread, this was his question posed to the group:

It seems like a good deal but how would you know if there wasn’t an outstanding lien even though its not reported stolen?

He also included a link to the eBay auction of the black Corvette shown here.

The Upside

Some of the details of this Corvette sound enticing. It only has 720 miles on the odometer and it has the original tires, so it seems unlikely that this Z06 was beaten on. In fact, it has never been registered for road use, so it really hasn’t been driven at all since being built almost a decade ago. The car is in perfect condition, with the exception of some scuffs and a crack on the front fascia from being improperly transported, and the original eBay listing price was only $30,000.

The Downside

It seems like a deal if you only read those details, but it goes downhill from there. Since the Z06 was purchased in a storage garage auction, nothing is known about it beyond what the buyers could see or research via the department of motor vehicles. They made sure that the Corvette wasn’t stolen, but there is no title. This means that whoever bought the car on eBay would have to make it a track-only car, or they would have to go through the process of acquiring a title after getting the car. During that titling process, if there is a lien on the car, the bank or creditor could repossess the car – as several members pointed out in the thread.

Key Concerns

The OP shared this concern:

I don’t know if scam is the right word for this situation. If they the bought it out of an abandoned storage locker are they now responsible for any liens that are on the vehicle? Also does the storage facility have the right to sell this vehicle for storage fees alone? Even at a 2-3 years of unpaid storage this car is worth more than the fee’s. I know homes that go up for sheriff sale, you become responsible for any liens if you buy the house out of back taxes. Worse if the car is paid for how can it be sold by anyone other than the owner? I’m just curious more than anything if this could be done or not.

And Motown Z replied with this input:

They can only sell the vehicle after sending the owner several certified letters stating the unit is going to auction , if the owner fails to recover the unit they can proceed with auction , most states require a title to be secured for sale of a vehicle while others do not , however if there is a lien on the vehicle it cannot be legally sold as it is property of the lien holder.

Stefuel shared similar concerns:

No way would I plunk a wad of cash down on something like that. Just to many reasons you could end up with less than nothing. If the car was put in there to hide it from the repo man, the bank is still owed money on it and it belongs to them. Could be a listed asset in a legal battle that the owner lost. Then there is the chance that it belonged to a military person who put it in storage before going overseas and never made it back. In that case I would want to see the car go to his/her family. They have lost enough. If there was no note on the car I would expect to find it in a big beautiful heated garage someplace not some fleebag storage bin someplace. My guess it it was being hidden.

I think the rules vary from state to state but have seen storage facility auctions where you bid X on the contents before they cut the lock. It’s a crap shoot. The owner of the storage facility only has to post a legal notice in the local newspapers for 90 days before the abandoned storage bin can be cleaned out/auctioned off. Think about this, what would happen if you went to one of these auctions, bid a thousand dollars and won the auction. You crack open the container and find a thousand pounds of illegal drugs. It would be immediately confiscated and you’d be out of a grand.

Better Deals

Aside from the concerns about the Corvette being sold on eBay, several members pointed out that there are better choices for someone looking to buy a C6 Z06.

Itomh said:

Current bid is at $30K with 3 days left, it will provably escalate to another $5K to $10K before it’s all over. I would walk away as fast as I can on this on as there are plenty of mid $30K Z06’s with proper paperwork to be had.

And he was right, the auction ended at $57,000, although that buyer ended up backing out of the purchase.

OH8Z06 agreed:

Plenty of “LEGIT” CF members selling theirs with clear titles in their name… Why even mess with something like this… No thanks!

ZF Six summed up the input of the community in one concise post:

Absolutely not. First of all the condition sucks. It’s missing an emblem, the front bumper needs to be replaced, and I’m sure the paint is in terrible shape.

Second, if the car has a lien then the bank will come get it no matter who the current owner is.

Third, if you are able to get a new title, doesn’t that show up on the history report? That will decrease the value of the car.

Fourth, it’s “never been registered” yet it has tinted windows, smoked side markers and smoked tail lights. Strange?

Not worth the risk, especially at $30k.

So, the concenssus of the community was that this Corvette Z06 was not worth the risk or that price, but what are your thoughts? Head into the original thread to read all of the comments and to offer your own.

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