When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Get the newest one you can afford. I bought the last C5 year and still had the same old rear end leak. One good thing is that the 04 car uses top battery post.
The only ones I would be careful with are the 2001s and 2004s. In 01, they moved the production of the LS1 to another plant and they had some issues with oil comsumption. The 2004 model was a test mule for new stuff on the C6.
I would look at the big picture.....what will you be using this corvette for? Will you keep it stock? Will it be a daily driver? Once you figure all that out..then you can decide....FRC, coupe or vert...then narrow it down to color combo and options you would like. If you are going to mod it...then I would for with a 97-01. Whatever you buy...I am sure you will have a blast!!
I have learned the hard way NOT to buy a first year of anything. My 'Vette is an '04 (love the C-5 body) and my Mustang GT is an '04 as
well, in my experience last year of run=good car from the above stated reasons. In my experience (I may get flamed, but I was a GM ASEP trainer) GM drags their feet on improvements model year to model year. And generally, it takes a few years for improvements/repairs to trickle in, my vote is the cleanest, low mileage, 2002+ you can find, for the best bucks. This is a great time to buy, I saved a ton of $ buying mine earlier this month. Actually, my dealer has a ratty '00 A4 I was thinking of buying to resell late spring, h'mmm interesting!