hey guys. my name is bryan and i'm new to this site but i hope to become a regular. i've always loved vettes but after driving my buddies C5 i instantly fell in love. man what a sweet car!! everything is right were it should be and it feels nice and solid. having been buried in the ford world for the past 4yrs, i have a few questions though that i hope you will be able to help me out with.

first off what are the biggest things to look at when buying a corvette?
what are the typical wear points on the C5's?

i've only heard good things about the LS1 but how reliable are they after they've racked up some miles as in say, over 80,000?
i'm looking to get one in the low twenty-high teen range so i'm not expecting a low miler.

finally, this will be my daily driver except during the winter. do any of you daily drive your vette? how does it hold up to that?

well, thanks for the help guys. i hope i don't sound like too much of a newb! i've actually been building, racing and restoring cars for over 8 years. i just don't know much about the C5 and not afraid to admit it!.

 

a. typical wear: (off the top of my head) seats, side bolster

b. at 80k the ls1 is just breaking in .. there are members well into the 100s of thousands with modified cars

c. i've driven mine daily since new a lil over 2 years ago .. i drive mine hard so the parts ive had to replace arent real typical. They come from a) me learning to drive stick on the vette and b) me driving the way i do, hard! .. aside from that she's held up real well .. i just make sure to keep her clean and polished and we usually get along real well.


with the help of this site, you'll be pro real soon .. plus these cars arent as bad a most people would think in terms of working on .. it's a basic pushrod engine .. it's all the gismo's added that make it challenging at all.

 

You have chosen wisely grasshopper, now go forth and mod

 

hey thanks alot for your help. i appreciate it! the mileage thing is the one that concerned me the most. with what i'm looking to spend, i'm finding alot of cars in the 50-80,000+ miles range. the biggest reason i want to spend less on the car is to have room for buying mods while keeping the "boss" happy! it's good to hear that they hold up well. by the way, i live in madison WI. anybody on here live in or around the area? i'd like to meet up with some fellow vette owners that are local once spring hits.

 

Welcome to the forum! I have about 80K on mine and the engine drivetrain are just fine. Seatbottom foam usually gets collapsed, and the leaather tends to wear, Replaceemnt foam is cheap if you can DIY. I'll be doing my driver seat this spring. Some of our members here have well over 100K miles.

Manual transmission cars may have problems with steering column lockup, a big topic of discussion here......Just get the GM fix-it-kit for the automatics [ parts that go into the column to defeat the column lock] and the problem is solved.

Some mid year C5s have weak piston rings that allow excessive oil consumption, It seems that 97,98,99,are fine. Perhaps some of the others can give you more specific details on the years affected.

Manual says to use really thin Mobil One oil like 0-10 or 5-10 or 5-20...My engine builder buddies ADAMANTLY disagree with this. Mobil One is great, but they insist the thin weight oil causes many of the problems that are brought up here on the forum. My buddies suggest Mobil One 15-40 which is what I now run. I get better oil pressure, faster time to pressure at cold start, quieter lifters, and NO oil consumption. When I bought the car it had a fresh 'factory spec' oil change...The engine rattled a bit when cold, it consumed oil at about a quart per 15hundred miles, and as it warmed up, the oil pressure would drop 10 to 15 pounds below cold pressure. Switching to thicker Mobl one was a miracle. The engine is quiet, hold great oil pressire, Yadda Yadda Yadda.....Its a soapbox subject for me, The thicker stuff REALLY works, and your engine will last much longer.

Some of our forum members will run a Carfax for you if you just post the need, Nice folks here!

 

Moving to the C5 is very good move, I've had zero problems with mine. And yes it's a daily driver.

 

it's almost as if my 15yr old bother is posting under your name. brandon? is that you? grow up man

 

Welcome. Owning a Vette will be one of the most memorable things you can do. They are excellent cars. You can't beat them for price and performance and there is this great big family that comes along with ownership!

When you get one... Don't forget the wave!

 

Overblown -- welcome. Don't fear the mileage. Don't fear the reaper and don't fear the YO-EL either. He seems to be missing the all-important "internal governor" that helps most adults get along with each other.

 

welcome dude...

 

Devnull has the best Avatar, ever!!!

 

hey guys, thanks for the warm welcome! i am really looking forward to the first drive in my first corvette. i have to restrain myself from just buying the first one i see and remind myself not to settle. it's so exciting though that it's hard to keep from yelling "I'll take it!!" 2mins into looking at the car! the perfect one is out there though i know it and i'm sure as hell going to find it. wish me luck and thanks again for the welcome.

 

you had me with hello

 

You've brought back memories of the 1st one I bought about 30 years...I remember that excitement. Enjoy what you choose

 

I've been a C5 guy for one month.I look for excuses to drive places and just plain go for rides again....3000 miles the first month...72000 now...Many more to come and soon!!Welcome to the forum!!

 

Thanks... My wife says it matches my personality....

 

Definitely try and drive a couple before you make your decision. Also, watch out for rocking seats on braking and accelerating. This can be fixed yourself (or so the story goes -- looks VERY complex and time consuming) or it is a very expensive dealer fix.

When I test drove my first C5 (I did not buy this one), it had this problem (among others) and it just "felt" wrong at the time, even though I had no idea this was a common issue.

Hang in there and good luck finding your new treasure before too long!!

 

Welcome to CF...
...corvettes are a blast...

...most anything that wears is easily replaced...

the major parts wear well...

StuzVette has 48000 miles over 5 years and still like new

 

Mines a daily driver with 23k.

Things I've had problems with:
Bad battery
Leaking rear diff
door lock modulator failed
Headlamp motor gear stripped

All fairly common problems

Oh, and that little door plug that keeps dropping off!

Over all though its a great car

 

Just out of curiosity, who/what is that in your avatar? I've been trying to decide if it's a kid, adult, "little-person", or.......?? Nonetheless, it is one of the best!