[F N MUSCLE]

So i need some opinions. Sorry for the long post.

I always order my cars normally and hence get them the day of delivery with less than 10 miles on it. I bought my 2SS new in late 2015, but had been itching for a ZL1 for some time. Keeping an eye on some local deals, a new red ZL1 1LE popped up on my radar. The deal was about 21% off.

I went into the dealer late in march to test drive it and see if i could live with the stiffer 1le ride. In short, loved the car. Everything was amazing. The car had been on the lot for about a year, which is why the discount was as deep as it was. The only thing i was weird about was the fact the car had 132 miles on it. Thought, man that was a lot of test drives taken. Although that wasnt ideal, i knew i was sacrificing peace of mind having a car that only i had driven, for a major discount. Came to peace with that.

I was able to negotiate the trade in on my 2ss to where i wanted (after getting up to walk out on the finance manager). So the numbers worked out. Insurance didnt go up and payments were right where i needed them to be to make the deal work.

Signed the papers and took delivery.

The past two months have been awesome. Lots of compliments, love the car, installing street tires tomorrow, and probably getting ppf and ceramic pro next week. The only issues were the oil life at 40% when i took delivery and the car not starting 2-3 times. Both issues resolved. Free oil change at 300 miles (not one of the two we get normally) and battery replaced today.

Here is my dilemma...

Looking through my records/car manual brochure today when i got the battery replaced, i came across an onstar online registration form for my car with my vin #....with another persons name, address, phone #, etc from back in august 2018. They live in a town opposite me. Im guessing they must have purchased the car 7 to 8 months ago and the financing must have fallen through. Speculating, but since i live in california and we have no cool off period, this is the only thing that makes sense. Financing must have fallen through and the dealer took the car back.

My issue is that my contract was for a "NEW" ZL1 1LE and the dealer advertised it as such. Not sure about the exact law, but is this truly a new car? I have no issue with the miles on it, but man. Had i known it had been driven home by someone else previously, i would have hammered the dealer for a deeper discount. Looking back at my contract, it all shows that the agreement was for the car as new, but i think i might be screwed given they had me sign a recession form. I read through it before i signed it, but didnt think id have this sort of issue. It basically releases the dealer from any past/present/future wrong doings associated with the vehicle.

Should i be upset? Should i ask them for a portion of the money back? Should i retain councel? Or am i overreacting and should i just enjoy the car?

Im checking with the dmv tomorrow to see if my vin number shows any other owners previously on record. If it does, isnt this technically a used car and sold to me under false pretenses. Id ideally like to keep the car given the money i am already investing in it. But i was originally trying to negotiate lower when the loan originated. Had i known this, i probably could have and may not have pulled the trigger had i not been able to.

Long rant over. Appreciate any opinions from fellow forum members.

[Vtor_ZL1]

You like the car, you got a good deal.. don't look back, it will just drive you crazy.


Next time.. don't buy year old left over.


Most dealers try to get you to sign up for all online crap before you drive off the lot as most ppl are technologically inept "let me set these up for you" kind of deals.

[Lynix]

I'm not %100 sure but I think as long as the car has never been registered or titled it is considered a "new" car.

[17rsvert]

How does OnStar registration work? Is it possible to add a vehicle you don't own to your account? Is there something that prevents registration until the car is sold? Maybe someone was planning on buying it, registered prematurely with OnStar, and the deal fell through. Or maybe a dealer employee or relative was using the car and filled out the registration. Somebody, (or some people) obviously put some 132 miles on the car, whether it was 'owned' or not. OnStar registration alone may not mean the car was sold to someone before you.

But I agree you are right to feel misled if the car was actually registered to someone else; you are technically the second owner, and they sold it as new.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by 17rsvert

How does OnStar registration work? Is it possible to add a vehicle you don't own to your account? Is there something that prevents registration until the car is sold? Maybe someone was planning on buying it, registered prematurely with OnStar, and the deal fell through. Or maybe a dealer employee or relative was using the car and filled out the registration. OnStar registration alone may not mean the car was sold to someone before you.

Agreed. For both my camaros I setup th OnStar account before going to the finance office. The deal could have simply fallen apart.

[F N MUSCLE]

Just logged onto the customer site for chevy that allows you to check warranty info, recalls, and car history. When i checked the diagnostics history for oil and mileage, looks like the system emailed info to someone back in 2018 (which coincides with the online registration form i found in my car) regarding oil life and miles driven. See attached.

Definitely seems like someone registered their info, drove for about 60 miles (which is about how far i am from the dealer round trip), then the system stopped tracking miles until i registered.

Very strange.

[Camaro_QC]

Looks like you got a new used car!

[Gunkk]

It's very possible for the car to be new but have miles with some onstar history.

Folks ordering cars can enable onstar while the car is in transit to track its whereabouts. So it would not surprise me if that was the case here. Then I can see how the original deal may have fallen apart before delivery and the dealer let the car out of the barn for a few test drives.

OP: dwell not on the possibility that you were swindled, but instead instead relish in the fact that you got a smokin' deal on a kickass car!

[ScatPack]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

It's very possible for the car to be new but have miles with some onstar history.

Folks ordering cars can enable onstar while the car is in transit to track its whereabouts. So it would not surprise me if that was the case here. Then I can see how the original deal may have fallen apart before delivery and the dealer let the car out of the barn for a few test drives.

OP: dwell not on the possibility that you were swindled, but instead instead relish in the fact that you got a smokin' deal on a kickass car!

This. When you get your vin, you can setup onstar and track your car's whereabouts before it even gets to the selling dealer for delivery. The deal probably fell apart like others said, and my guess on the miles is some asshat salesmanager or general manager took it home for a few nights. They always do crap like that.

As for new vs used, you have no leg to stand of if it was never titled. Hell they sell demos that have 6000 miles on them as new cars still. As long as they have never been titled, then its still technically new. And there is nothing you can do about that.

[SSport16]

Yeah the new/used classification gets into a gray area sometimes. I know my dealer sells "courtesy vehicles", which are loaners that service gives out to people to use while their vehicles are being serviced. They are sold as "new" vehicles even though they have 5K/6K + miles on them because they are never registered other than a dealer plate slapped onto it while it was a loaner.

[GearheadSS]

The dealer likely had a deal on the car that never went through. In some cases, sales will go ahead and activate Onstar before the customer comes in and signs paperwork on the car. Mostly to help save time with the delivery process.

I wouldn't worry about it since you've been enjoying the car.

[F N MUSCLE]

Appreciate all the opinions. Just spoke to my mortgage lender who is also a car freak and frequently buys new vehicles and has come across this before. He says it is not abnormal and to not worry. Same as everyone here. Haha.

Definitely love the car and would not change anything. New tires go on today and the ppf/ceramic goes on next week. Ill post pics when it is done.

Thanks again everyone!

[wyatt 390]

I bought my 18 SS last fall. They dealer traded it from Iowa. I live in Minnesota... they drove it up to Minnesota. I wasn't happy about it but I still made the deal.As we were sitting in the parking lot going over the car we hit on star and they told us the car had been registered already. After some checking we found the car shuttle company said that some of there drivers do it so they have cell service no matter where they are and incase they lock the keys in the car. I found it odd but it all worked out in the end.

[G2K]

At the end of the day it has 13x miles... at least they're giving you a new car deal and new car APR% is better than used car APR%.... and based on your 21% off i dont even think used they go for 21% off MSRP so i wouldn't sweat it.