afox

Hey guys, I posted a wanted ad on the forum the other day and got a tempting response that turned out to be 15 minutes from my house. I'm a bit concerned about the mods done, and want other opinions on the cost. Also, if anyone is aware of a good shop around here where I can have it checked out, I'm all ears. Anyways, a bit about the car..

02 EB w/ Mod Red Z06
67k miles
Very clean exterior and interior aside from some minor leather wear on the seats
Seems like it is well taken care of, and the garage and other projects sitting around point to tedious, respectable work. The seller is a member here and looking to upgrade (I think a C6 Z06).

The car has the following upgrades:
iForged rims
new tires
Baer 2 piece rotors
tick master cylinder
ls7 clutch
b&m short throw shifter
ceramic coated headers
LG mufflers
texas speed cam (forget which one, but fairly mild)
has dyno records showing 40x rwhp, forget the exact number

I am a bit concerned with the amount of mods, but they don't seem unreasonable. It also needs the oil pressure sending unit replaced. He is asking 19.9k firm. I would definitely need to get used to the heavy master cylinder/clutch as well as the tight shifter. The fact that the car is local, clean, rare color combo and the owner seems trustworthy is weighing very heavily for me. I am also just a bit nervous since I only started researching last week since I decided I want a new toy. I do have experience with higher power cars, my first car is an 86 z28 with ~400hp that I got when 10 years ago.

My budget is 20k. I'm really looking for something clean and unmolested, but I am very interested in the extra performance of the Z. I also plan to upgrade exhaust at a minimum. Does this seem like a good buy for me? I don't really want to wait months and travel far an wide, but I don't want to just jump on the first car I see. Based on my research, it seems like a great deal and only slightly outside my parameters, but I don't want to jump the gun.

Thank you for letting me rant! I hope to spend more time here in the future.

Verrückt ZR1

Best thing you can do is find a reputable shop and get the car inspected from top to bottom. Sounds like the owner installed some quality parts, and the setup is far from extreme. Price is just right too. Have you driven the car yet? You may not need a louder exhaust. Car should scream with the long tubes, cam, and LG axle-back.

JR-01

If you are looking for an unmolested car, this ain't it.

afox

Thanks for the price confirmation. I did drive the car, it was pretty awesome. I meant I would get an exhaust anyway if I bought a clean stock car.

JR, that is a good point. Part of me feels like here is an EB/mod red 02 and it's right down the road. Hard to ignore that fact. The mods do make it fun and are things I'd be interested in doing if I got a stock car (except the clutch and cam possibly). The reason I want unmolested is for reliability, and this guy's work looks solid. I could eat off the engine and chassis.

Vetteman Jack

The price is pretty good and those mods are really kind of desirable, at least IMO. If they were done by a quality shop and the car checks out, it could be a very good buy.

However, don't be afraid to travel a ways or be patient to find the perfect car. There are a lot of C5s out there for sale and probably a few Electron Blue Z06s with the mod red interior. And sometimes looking at more than one car shows there might be another color combo you like out there that may even be a better car.

3sACROWD

Trust your gut. The whole thing needs to feel right. By your asking the questions "is this right for me" is a good clue. No disrespect to the seller but you're hesitating which tells me this isn't exactly what you want. Don't settle.

When you find the car you want, you won't be able to wipe the smile from your face and you won't want to leave the car to chance that someone else will ****** it out from under you. When I found mine, I didn't let the car out of my sight until the sales guy had my deposit in his hand. As it turned out, while I was waiting for the sales guy to get off the phone, a person entered the office proclaiming he was going to buy that car. I had already told the sales guy I was giving him a deposit.

All that aside, the price seems reasonable if the car is in the condition you describe.

afox

Thanks for the tips.

The mod red interior is huge for me. The only 01 I would accept would be speedway white, and I would prefer an 02. Only other color I would like is black, and maybe yellow.

I just felt like I was jumping the gun. But at the same time, more and more research is showing that the price is good and the car is an unusual find. I was actually going over my previous response and realizing that I was rooting for the car working out and getting price approval. I have been thinking about it non-stop, and you just can't get that extra power and sound without throwing some mods in there. I have been informally been given a week to decide if I want it before it gets posted for sale. I believe it will sell quickly, and it will feel much like a camaro I let go when I was searching for mine. I hesitated because I wasn't familiar with shift kits and wanted a second opinion. It was sold the next day, and I wound up putting a shift kit in mine anyway. Still wish that one didn't sell.

I really just want confirmation that the price is right, the mods are not too extreme, that I can't touch much better for the price (keeping my budget at 20k max), and that it is unusual (color combo, condition, price, distance). I found a local dealer that only sells corvettes, and they recommended a couple local corvette mechanics that they run all their cars through. That and the owner plans to replace the oil pressure sending unit this weekend regardless. He already had the new one in hand when I went over to test drive.

So the remaining question is, assuming everything checks out OK: If I'm only willing to spend 20k, want a mod red interior, either 02 EB or 01 SW (maybe 02 black or yellow), want it to be super clean, no mods besides exhaust and reversible things like wheels, lower mileage, etc. What are the chances I will actually find a car that fits all my requirements, including budget? Would you expect to have to wait months for something like this to pop up? I also like that he is right up the road and I can get it checked out locally by a mechanic I trust.

Thanks for bearing with me. Spending 20k on a toy is something I couldn't even dream of as a kid, and I think it has a lot to do with why I am so nervous and hesitant.

3sACROWD

Spending $20K on a toy isn't small change. If you take your time and find what you're looking for, then that $20K isn't so significant any more. I bought mine 4 years ago and have put 80k miles on it. I still look at the car and have pride in saying "That car is mine!" I have no regrets.

I started out looking for an F body car. I couldn't find anything that was reasonable for the price so my brother suggested a Vette. I wound up spending more than double what I planned but looking back, it was the right decision. My car was the highest mileage car (167k miles) I looked at and was head and shoulders above all the others with regards to condition. You could tell it was properly maintained and my gut told me it was "the one."

Understand that when you buy one, you are obligated to post pictures. Good luck!

Jason913

Great advice so far in here. I would keep it in mind!

Sounds to me you should keep looking. You just started your search.... so you may have desire changes after looking / driving a few of them.

Who tuned this car? That is important.

Oil pressure sender: common issue.
Shifter and tick master cyl: common things to replace.... stock ones stink.


Color combo, and quality of parts put on the car were the two most important things to me when I was looking. The rest I could reasonably change or fix, if I wanted.

Jason913

when i was typing my reply, you responded. That changes my opinion.... don't miss out on something you really want. The mods on that car are insignificant in my opinion. A mild cam, long tubes and exhaust should be on every c5!

SPEED750

I would do a little checking around. 20k seems a little high. Remember your on the corvette forum so everybody loves them. In the real world they are a toy to most people and not great as a daily driver. This means hard to sell to most people. Also the car is 13 years old, not a problem mine is a 97 but that means banks don't like to finance older vehicles . Again " hard to sell". Looks like if you have cash you should be able to set your price. Go in at 17,750 and see what happens. I've seen C5's stay on the market for months waiting for the right buyer with cash.

afox

I guess I'm just so surprised to see how insignificant cam seems to most people on here. Are they much easier on an LS motor vs an SBC?

I am not as worried about the cost being a little high as I am about missing out on an opportunity to pick up a rare car right up the road in my town. I do appreciate the input on the price though.

I guess I am trying to determine how rare of an opportunity this is. Again, the only things I'm not thrilled about are the cam and the heavy clutch. I'm trying to get a feel for if everything else being perfectly lined up is rare enough to make those my points for settling. I'm imagining I will need to settle in some regard (price, color, mileage, clean, mods, etc).

afox

Oh, and this is a cash in hand weekend/summer toy purchase. Not DD, not financed.

SPEED750

Well I'm just saying, he doesn't have a line of people with 20k in cash ready to buy. Always shoot low then come up. Worst he can say is no. Texas speed makes great cams , it probably has a 224r or a 228r both are great cams. Did you drive it and it has great street manners ? The ls7 clutch is a great upgrade as well . It's a v8 so your not going to have the clutch feel of a Toyota or any other 4 or 6 cylinder car. It needs to be stiff.

Jason913

ls7 clutch and tsp cam are LIGHT mods to be honest. The clutch will be hardly noticeable. I'd be more concerned with the tune personally.

afox

Thanks for the help guys. Yes this is the first manual vehicle that I have driven that isn't a slow 4 cylinder daily driver. And I think it's a 224 cam, he said the lift was 5 something.

I found a great place to have it checked out. If it passes wroth flying colors I'm gonna snag it up. Thanks again!

Fcar 98

To me it sounds like you like the car,go for it. Worth the buy, right up the road. You may find one some where else that will cost money to go where ever it is. The time to buy is when you see it. Hope it checks out good for you. Good luck!!! PS: Played a lot of softball in York Pa, good times.

jonnyc

the price he's asking for the car is a great deal if it checks out ok in the inspection.

if you bought a completely stock car would you leave it stock or mod it?if you plan to do mods,this is a great starting point at a price that's close to a stock equivalent car.those mods you listed i don't consider mods but more of an improvement from stock

that cam is small enough i wouldn't worry about reliability.it's not that much bigger than stock.the only issue would be if he had to heavy of valve springs installed.or you could always put the stock cam/springs back in it.

have it inspected and if it comes back ok,buy it and don't think twice about it.

Not4spd

IMO the price is right. Mileage isn't high and already has mods most would do anyway. Not sure where the car is located, but EB typically sells for a bit more around here. Should make for an easy resale if the time were ever to come after you purchased. Honestly, the only thing I regret about mine is not finding one already modded. It can get kinda expensive when you start throwing mods at Vettes.

afox

Cool, thanks for all the help guys. I'll be making an appointment with a corvette specialist I found to check it out.