# 97 Vette in service dept since 9/18/07 updated 4/26, FAIL!!
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024
**Category:** NYSpeed Automotive
**Created:** [April 18, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024 "2008-04-18T05:53:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/1 "2008-04-18T05:53:25Z")
So here’s a good story that continues to amaze me… I would have posted this earlier but obviously was not able to for legal reasons.
9/18/07
Vette towed in to our service dept. because it doesn’t run. Our Corvette tech who has owned 27 Vette’s and won a free one from GM for his knowledge of the vehicle (contest back in 98) looks at the car for about 3 seconds and says it was in a flood. So he pulls the carpet up… silt all over the floor pan. Pulls the PCM out… water line inside of it and silt on the bottom. Wiring harness, all electrical equipment, engine, tranny, rear end, frame… must have had water in them at some point but the cars interior was cleaned at some point because there is no silt or water lines inside. We find out soon after that the guy lives in a town that had a flash flood 2 weeks prior… what a shocker.
This is where it starts to get interesting…
About a day after we left the guy a message about his car being a complete loss because its useless to fix he calls back upset (can’t blame him for that) and asks us what he should do. We tell him to call his insurance company and he agrees that is a good idea so he tells our service manager that he’ll call them and call us later that week to let us know what will happen with the car. Keep in mind he is in no way upset with us and has no issues with our service dept because we did everything we could up to this point to help him out and he thanked us several times.
So he never calls us back… doesn’t return our letters, phone calls, emails etc over the next few months and still has not up to this point. We have mailed certified letters that he never signed for because we keep getting them back. I called and found out what bank had a lien on the title, then called them to tell them the story. He has not been late on a payment, has not missed his insurance premium, nothing. Its been paid just as if he was driving it everyday. So why hasn’t this guy called his insurance company to make a claim, the dealership, or the bank to figure out what he should do?
Since it has been here for so long I could technically charge him a daily storage charge on top of his repair order (ours is $20 a day) of $4,120 and the $600 we have as shop cost on his RO. We also have a lien on the title now so the bank is sending a repo truck to pay the balance (we aren’t charging them the storage fee to help them out, just the 600 bucks) and they are going to take possession of the car. Since the car is a total loss and the bank is a small one they are probably going to parts out the car or sell it to a salvage yard to recoup the rest of the loan. They can do this because it has been here for so long and because he has not returned any of their phone calls, emails or letters. They even sent someone to his house a few times and of course he was not there.
So the saga continues and our Vette tech and I are trying to make an offer on the car to the bank so we can parts it out. Rims are chrome aftermarket Vette wheels, has the glass removable roof, all body panels that are fiberglass are still good and some other parts here and there. I want the engine so Jay, Chuck, Bill and I can tear it down and make a monster out of it. Maybe a spare for my SS…
I let you guys know in the next week or 2 what happens because they should be here today to take the car.
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### Author:  [@Viper966](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Viper966)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/2 "2008-04-18T06:15:53Z")
i would go to his house and post a note on his front door… that reads…
WE ARE KEEPING YOUR CAR
THANX-
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### Author:  [@ultradriver10000](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ultradriver10000)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/3 "2008-04-18T06:17:57Z")
^^^^^ HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA YES!
Did you try driving to the guys house to talk to him in person?
Also, why would you wait until the day they come to get it to make the bank an offer?
Does it have sport seats? If they are black and sport seats let me know. 🙂
Does it appear totally stock?
Good luck man!!
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### Author:  [@L8APEX1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/L8APEX1)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/4 "2008-04-18T06:17:58Z")
as much as i hate to say it but in this situation you should probably show no interest in this car. it only gives this guy a reason to say theat you only wanted this car for yourself.
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### Author:  [@Griff](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Griff)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/5 "2008-04-18T06:19:18Z")
maybe the guy died and no one knew the car was there?
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### Author:  [@TrueBlue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TrueBlue)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/6 "2008-04-18T06:22:34Z")
Buy it as salvage, gut it, track C5 for pennies on the dollar.
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### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/7 "2008-04-18T06:27:19Z")
> [@ultradriver10000](#):
>
> ^^^^^ HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA YES!
>
> Did you try driving to the guys house to talk to him in person?
>
> Also, why would you wait until the day they come to get it to make the bank an offer?
>
> Does it have sport seats? If they are black and sport seats let me know. 🙂
>
> Does it appear totally stock?
>
> Good luck man!!
totally stock… seats stink so you don’t want them… went to his house myself, not there… can’t make the bank an offer until they physically inspect the car and make a decision on its fate (sucks but I have no choice)
> [@L8APEX1](#):
>
> as much as i hate to say it but in this situation you should probably show no interest in this car. it only gives this guy a reason to say theat you only wanted this car for yourself.
I do want his car for myself… and he has no recourse because we could foreclose on our lein and the dealership (thats me) would own the car anyway along with the bank
> [@Griff](#):
>
> maybe the guy died and no one knew the car was there?
thats what i thought too but there is no evidence of it and how the hell would he have made every insurance payment and car payment on time?
mystery…
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### Author:  [@Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Blue_Eyed_Devil)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/8 "2008-04-18T06:29:01Z")
Maybe his estate is making the payments.
They may think the car is in the garage/storage.:biglaugh:
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### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/9 "2008-04-18T06:29:09Z")
> [@TrueBlue](#):
>
> Buy it as salvage, gut it, track C5 for pennies on the dollar.
thought about it but I think the frame rails have had water sitting in them for months so they are probably rotted
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/10 "2008-04-18T06:35:28Z")
> [@TORQDSS](#):
>
> thats what i thought too but there is no evidence of it and how the hell would he have made every insurance payment and car payment on time?
>
> mystery…
Autopay?
Sure seems like something sketchy is going on there.
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### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/11 "2008-04-18T06:49:08Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> Autopay?
>
> Sure seems like something sketchy is going on there.
i agree… what I can’t figure out is that he hasn’t been late on any payments to the bank, hasn’t made an insurance claim and they have no record of him even calling them. so why would he continue to pay for the car when he could have called his insurance company and he’d have a different vette by now? I shouldn’t really care that much since the service bill is getting paid and the car will be gone but I’m just curious to know what this guy is thinking.
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/12 "2008-04-18T07:07:05Z")
I’m still wondering if the guy is ok. Flash flood, probably didn’t have flood insurance. Maybe the vette was the last straw and he snapped and just disappeared. The insurance and car payments are pretty easy to explain. I have autopay setup for my car loan and insurance so as long as I had enough money in my account they would both continue being paid without me. It’s only 7 months so there has probably only been one charge on his insurance since most policies are 6 months.
Now I’m even more curious about the outcome of this. Have to let us know if you ever track the guy down.
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### Author:  [@RLB](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/RLB)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 8:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/13 "2008-04-18T08:26:18Z")
interesting story
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### Author:  [@Viper966](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Viper966)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/14 "2008-04-18T08:29:12Z")
meh, i would go to the house and staple the note to his door… and see if it looks as if anybody is there…
either that, or perhaps look for next of kin?
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### Author:  [@ultradriver10000](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ultradriver10000)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/15 "2008-04-18T13:04:21Z")
> [@TORQDSS](#):
>
> thought about it but I think the frame rails have had water sitting in them for months so they are probably rotted
Aluminum / fiberglass doesn’t rot 🙂
I bet it is fine.
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### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/16 "2008-04-18T13:06:16Z")
UPDATE:
So I just received a call from the bank and they are calling his insurance again and making a flood claim. I didn’t know banks were able to do that, maybe because of the lein on the title? Either way there is an insurance adjuster coming here to look at the car so when they call it “totalled” maybe I can just buy the car directly from the insurance company. That would make my day.
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### Author:  [@TORQDSS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TORQDSS)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/17 "2008-04-18T13:07:36Z")
> [@ultradriver10000](#):
>
> Aluminum / fiberglass doesn’t rot 🙂
>
> I bet it is fine.
I didn’t think the frame rails were aluminium on the C5’s. sure?
i know the fiberglass would be fine thats what I would sell first.
EDIT: hydroformed steel frame rails on the regular Vette, aluminium on the Z06 and ZR1
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### Author:  [@Justin](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Justin)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/18 "2008-04-18T13:59:48Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> I’m still wondering if the guy is ok. Flash flood, probably didn’t have flood insurance. Maybe the vette was the last straw and he snapped and just disappeared. The insurance and car payments are pretty easy to explain. I have autopay setup for my car loan and insurance so as long as I had enough money in my account they would both continue being paid without me. It’s only 7 months so there has probably only been one charge on his insurance since most policies are 6 months.
>
> Now I’m even more curious about the outcome of this. Have to let us know if you ever track the guy down.
X2 this is what I was thinking.
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### Author:  [@Karter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Karter)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/19 "2008-04-18T14:19:00Z")
maybe he had seperate flood insurance and claimed everything then took the money and ran.
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### Author:  [@AfXtc777](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/AfXtc777)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/97-vette-in-service-dept-since-9-18-07-updated-4-26-fail/47024/20 "2008-04-18T18:21:25Z")
Dave I was going to say something similar happened to me and to pm me, until I read about the company holding the loan filing the insurance claim. Now your on your own, good luck bro!!
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