Carfax. What is your interpretation of this report

[Joe8915]

If I understand this report, is this correct. See my comments in red.

Event Date Event Location Odometer Reading Data Source Event Detail

1st Owner
10/09/1990
7/09/1991
Total Miles 29,027

2nd Owner
07/09/1991 MOUNTAIN REGION 29,027 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION
10/28/1994 LITTLETON, CO 29,283 Motor Vehicle Dept. ODOMETER READING FROM DMV
10/10/1996 CO Motor Vehicle Dept. PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
10/11/1996 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
10/07/1997 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
08/04/1998 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
10/30/1998 CO Motor Vehicle Dept. PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
11/04/1998 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
11/22/1999 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
08/13/2004 CO Motor Vehicle Dept. PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
08/16/2004 LITTLETON, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
05/02/2005 CO Motor Vehicle Dept. PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
A difference of 256 miles from 1991 to 1994. Could that be correct?

3rd Qwner
05/05/2005 DENVER, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:11B649188)
05/05/2005 DENVER, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
06/02/2006 DENVER, CO Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL

A difference of 34,973 miles from 1991 to 2007

I purchase the vehicle with 64000 miles on 4/15/2007

Please Note: I had the tires check. They are rated at 35,000. The 3rd owner said he never replaced the tires. The tire guy says I have at least another 20,000 miles left on the tires.

Any ideas you have it would be appreciated. How would you read this check?

 

[c4cruiser]

It's entirely possible that the car could have sat for 3 years between 91 and 94. It doesn't look like there was any DMV title issued between that period.

But CARFAX reports are only as good as the data that is reported to them. The second and third owners may not have driven the car a lot. If the car was in excellent condition and used as a Sunday cruiser, it could have been stored over the winters and not driven until the weather was good. Not too hard to only put a few thousand miles per year on a car when it's used in that fashion.

As far as tires, you really can't put a lot into what a tire store or even a manufacturer says about tire mileage life. Tread life is not the only factor in wear. Most high performance tires have tread compounds molded into the rubber that will eventually wear off, become dry, or otherwise cause the tire to lose some (or most) of its performance characteristics.

As a rule of thumb for high performance tires, figure on about 5-6 years worth of performance in terns of handling and wear. After that, the tire can become "hard" due to these compounds drying up and tire performance characteristics will drop off rapidly. If you think the tires are over 5-6 years old and you don't like how they grip, dump them for fresh rubber.

 

[Bigwhite88]

Tires

If they were the original tires and the car sat as long as it appears to, I would expect dryrot.

 

[Joe8915]

It's entirely possible that the car could have sat for 3 years between 91 and 94. It doesn't look like there was any DMV title issued between that period.

But CARFAX reports are only as good as the data that is reported to them. The second and third owners may not have driven the car a lot. If the car was in excellent condition and used as a Sunday cruiser, it could have been stored over the winters and not driven until the weather was good. Not too hard to only put a few thousand miles per year on a car when it's used in that fashion.

As far as tires, you really can't put a lot into what a tire store or even a manufacturer says about tire mileage life. Tread life is not the only factor in wear. Most high performance tires have tread compounds molded into the rubber that will eventually wear off, become dry, or otherwise cause the tire to lose some (or most) of its performance characteristics.

As a rule of thumb for high performance tires, figure on about 5-6 years worth of performance in terns of handling and wear. After that, the tire can become "hard" due to these compounds drying up and tire performance characteristics will drop off rapidly. If you think the tires are over 5-6 years old and you don't like how they grip, dump them for fresh rubber.

Thanks about the hot tip about the tires. I guess I am still in shock about the car. Yes there is a few things that are wrong with car, but I don't think its major items. Now I only had the car for a couple of weeks. Here is the list of items not working correctly.

1. Antenna won't go up and down. The mortor runs. " I tried WD40.
2. Some type of switch or chip, it has to do with the air bag. The light always stays on. The dealer mention $1,200.00, that is if he can find the part. For $1,200.00, I think I can have the light on.
3. Some of the seat options does not work (driver and passanger).

Well thats about it.

 

[94conv.]

The bag light could just be one of the sensors so it might not be as bad as they said. I agree that more then likely it sat for a couple of years, not uncommon.
Its a great feeling to look out and see your vette isnt it?

 

[Red Vette]

Hi from another Colorado C4 owner. My take is as follows:

Looking at the history, the first owner put 29K+ miles on your car in about 9 months. Then sold/traded in and it went to the auction. It was sold but not titled or driven much between 91-94. Probably purchased by someone or "dealer" with the intent to flip the car to the next owner. That's why it sat on a lot for 3 years and was probably test driven by various interested buyers. It was sold in 96 when emission sticker was issued (every 2 years in CO). Between 10/11/96 and 11/22/99, the car was registered with one emission test. After 11/22/99, the car sat somewhere with the owner for almost 5 years till 2004 without being registered. This could mean that it was either stored with the state being notified (no insurance on car requires that the state be notified that the car is in storage and not being driven; this document may not be recorded by Carfax) or insured, but neither registered nor driven (legally). At any rate, the car was not inspected/registered for 5 years. Then the car went up for sale or was traded in, and the C4 was registered and emission tested. This would explain the low miles. The Third owner drove the C4 for 34K+ miles over the next 13 months. Traded to dealer by third owner. Dealer would have put some miles on it by interested buyers. Since the C4 is a 1990, emissions due in even years, or when sold again (2005). You must have purchased the car from the dealer and that would be reflected on a Carfax report this date 5-8-07. So I don't think you can read anything sinister into the milage numbers.

Antenna and seat options can be expected with a 1990; my 1994 had the some of the same problems when I got it last year. Replaced the antenna and seat switch - work fine now. As to the air bag, the dealer has to read the code, since the DIC light stays on, to determine exactly what the problem is. If it is a chip or sensor (technician would have to interpret the code), a replacement is the best answer. If it is an air bag issue, get it corrected as this is a safety issue. I don't know which dealer you purchased it from, but one of the very best corvette techs in Denver area is at Bozarth in Lone Tree. He had a 1991 ZR1 and knows practically everything about C4s. Name is Noel Rosller. You will have to purchase the part from a secondary source such as Taber of vette2vette, etc, once you've isolated the problem. Tire issue is subjective and you could get different opinion from another tire tech. Depends on the tire brand and driver habits.

The best part of the Carfax report is that there was no accident or damage that was reported.

Hope to see you on the streets of the front range, and at Cruise Fest in Colorado Springs. Enjoy your car - it needs to be driven now that the snow is leaving (I hope - had another 15 inches yesterday - plowed again and the vettes stayed in the garage).

Barrett