WARNING: This is a long read!! Good story though.
This all happened a little faster than I thought it would. I have been looking around for a good, used Corvette for some time now. I have debated about all the different C5 and C6 models, read all the popular articles and countless rambling forum discussions. It finally pulled together for me last week that I was looking for a C5 Z06 to be my pride and joy. I was looking for that raw, edgy racecar feel!
On Friday at the end of the work day a fellow posts up this black Z06 in Calgary. The car has 44,000 km, second owner, all original and stock everything for a very reasonable price. I get on the phone asap and speak to the guy, I'm the first one to call him, though he's had a dozen emails. The gentleman selling the car tells me he appreciates that I actually called instead of emailed him about the car. We chat about it for a while, and based on our discussion I take a leap of faith. I tell him if he is willing to hold the car, I'm going to book a flight out there on Sunday, and if everything checks out I will pay him his asking price and be on my way. He agreed he would hold it until Sunday afternoon.
So the wife and I book a flight with our Air Miles, got that covered. Now it's Friday night and we head up to the lake for some time with friends. I soon realize that I need to get several things in order here. I need a bank draft, I need a Temporary Insurance Card from SGI, and I need to find a place in Calgary that is open on Sunday to get a transport permit. All of this on a Saturday at the lake, with very little cell phone reception. I pulled a favour from my banker, who agreed to pull a bank draft for me, and put it in an envelope in her mailbox at her house for me to pick up Saturday night. Whew! Then a friend at the lake who is from the area tells me there is only one SGI issuer open on a Saturday for about a 100km radius. So he takes me through the back roads to Parkside SK to get my TIC. We get there and find out they don't have interac or visa, so I'm scrounging through my truck and come up with the $11 needed to purchase a TIC. Whew again!! Now just have to get there and look at the car.
So now it's Sunday morning and I realize that this guy is located south west of Calgary, and a cab ride is gonna break me financially. I call some of my cousins out in Calgary and ask them if I can bribe them with lunch if they can cart me around Calgary to look at this car. My cousin tells me I'm too young to go through this mid life crisis (ha ha I'm 33 she's 40) but I can take it. She picks us up from the airport and trucks us over to the seller's house. Car is MINT, even better than the photos he sent me. I can find one small scratch on the paint, which I have since polished out. 44,000 km, bone stock, new battery, new tires, new filters and fluid change. Perfect. We take it out for a drive and I'm in heaven. The seller demonstrates how easily I can kill myself in this thing when he turns Active Handline mode to OFF. Holy s*** I am SOLD!
Now to get a transport permit. It is 3:30 and we find out the Registries all close at 4PM on Sunday. And the closest one is a 20 minute drive. So we hustle out to the Registry just in time to get a transport permit. And by 11:30PM, and one close call with a police officer who gave me a warning, we are finally home!!
Thanks for reading this, I think the whole story adds to my experience with the new car. Thanks for reading!!
This all happened a little faster than I thought it would. I have been looking around for a good, used Corvette for some time now. I have debated about all the different C5 and C6 models, read all the popular articles and countless rambling forum discussions. It finally pulled together for me last week that I was looking for a C5 Z06 to be my pride and joy. I was looking for that raw, edgy racecar feel!
On Friday at the end of the work day a fellow posts up this black Z06 in Calgary. The car has 44,000 km, second owner, all original and stock everything for a very reasonable price. I get on the phone asap and speak to the guy, I'm the first one to call him, though he's had a dozen emails. The gentleman selling the car tells me he appreciates that I actually called instead of emailed him about the car. We chat about it for a while, and based on our discussion I take a leap of faith. I tell him if he is willing to hold the car, I'm going to book a flight out there on Sunday, and if everything checks out I will pay him his asking price and be on my way. He agreed he would hold it until Sunday afternoon.
So the wife and I book a flight with our Air Miles, got that covered. Now it's Friday night and we head up to the lake for some time with friends. I soon realize that I need to get several things in order here. I need a bank draft, I need a Temporary Insurance Card from SGI, and I need to find a place in Calgary that is open on Sunday to get a transport permit. All of this on a Saturday at the lake, with very little cell phone reception. I pulled a favour from my banker, who agreed to pull a bank draft for me, and put it in an envelope in her mailbox at her house for me to pick up Saturday night. Whew! Then a friend at the lake who is from the area tells me there is only one SGI issuer open on a Saturday for about a 100km radius. So he takes me through the back roads to Parkside SK to get my TIC. We get there and find out they don't have interac or visa, so I'm scrounging through my truck and come up with the $11 needed to purchase a TIC. Whew again!! Now just have to get there and look at the car.
So now it's Sunday morning and I realize that this guy is located south west of Calgary, and a cab ride is gonna break me financially. I call some of my cousins out in Calgary and ask them if I can bribe them with lunch if they can cart me around Calgary to look at this car. My cousin tells me I'm too young to go through this mid life crisis (ha ha I'm 33 she's 40) but I can take it. She picks us up from the airport and trucks us over to the seller's house. Car is MINT, even better than the photos he sent me. I can find one small scratch on the paint, which I have since polished out. 44,000 km, bone stock, new battery, new tires, new filters and fluid change. Perfect. We take it out for a drive and I'm in heaven. The seller demonstrates how easily I can kill myself in this thing when he turns Active Handline mode to OFF. Holy s*** I am SOLD!
Now to get a transport permit. It is 3:30 and we find out the Registries all close at 4PM on Sunday. And the closest one is a 20 minute drive. So we hustle out to the Registry just in time to get a transport permit. And by 11:30PM, and one close call with a police officer who gave me a warning, we are finally home!!
Thanks for reading this, I think the whole story adds to my experience with the new car. Thanks for reading!!
