I know, I know. I was making no value statements here...

I've always thought that the perfect car would have the innards of the C6 with the body of the C5...

 

I totally agree with another poster's advice not to jump on the first Vette you look at (believe me, you will VERY tempted to buy the first one you look at).
My first Vette was a '01 vert and at first glance, drive, feel, etc. I thought I hit home run with my first swing. Two weeks later, the EBCM went out ($2500). Two weeks after that, the AC blower motor and fan control module went out ($600). Then a month later a speed sensor went bad ($100 deductable w/warranty). A month after that the throttle control module went out, while I was on the freeway ($700 parts and labor). In the shop 4 times in 4 months.

I got fed up and traded it for the Vette in my avatar and armed with the knowledge I gained with my first Vette I was able to buy the newest and most well conditioned Vette that I could afford. Only 13,900 miles with almost every available option and still under factory warranty.

Buying from a private party or a dealer that specializes in selling Vettes might be the best route to take. I bought both of mine from a local dealer (1 miss, 1 hit). Take somebody with you that really knows Vettes and look it over with a fine tooth comb. Some Vettes have been through a lot, some have been outright abused, some have been garage queens and some have been well-maintained daily drivers (your best option IMHO). Good luck, God bless

 

Oh, I dunno. I bought the first one I drove and couldn't be happier. I picked up a '98 with 21K miles on it for a steal ($22,500 FOUR years ago). My total expense on it has been a new fuel filter. The only real thing that I regretted later was that (a) there were options available that I didn't know about in later models (HUD, active handling) and (b) I really wish I had gotten a six-speed. I intended on driving it back and forth to work in rush hour but since it had so few miles on it, it's turned into a garage queen. You don't need an automatic with a garage queen.

 

I like the newer active handling system, so I'm leaning towards a 01+. I lost one car already on the highway when I missed a shift and the rearend came around on me. I don't anticipate doing that again, but it scared the pants off me, totalled a nice Z28 and the added piece of mind would be nice in the vette.

It has to be a M6. I refuse to own a sportscar with an automatic transmission. Shifting the gears is half the fun and makes me feel like I'm part of the car.

 

Very sexy car!! That is exactly the look I'm going for.

 

Damn, 25 lb/tq is significant.

I think looking for the lowest mile 01 or 02 I can find will be my best bet. It doesn't sound like the 01 had too much of a problem burning oil. That'll get me the active handling as well.

 

I actually think the C6 looks better. It's a tighter package on basically the same chassis. It looks leaner and meaner to me.

But, it's too expensive for me.

 

First off, you've come to the right site for info. Do a search and you can find all kinds of valuable info.

You'll find that the corvette is a much better car than camaro, and see my sig, because I'm not knocking the f-bodies at all.......

I purchased an 02 GM ceritified used car from a dealer for a little over 20k, it had ~40k miles on it. So your price range is right in line with what's offered for sale although convertibles hold there value better than any other vette model, including Z06's. So your probably going to have to get an earlier model for that money. There is variation around the country and times of the year. So far, I've had absolutely zero problems with the car, other than a blown turnsignal bulb. Keep in mind though, these cars are expensive and so are the repairs. I opted of a 3 year warranty (you can purchase the warranty at a discount from some of the forum members here like Fitchner chevrolet and others) in case anything major were to go, don't know how the original owner treated the car (actually I do, it was the service managers old mom , but you get the point).
Check the for sale section here to get an idea what prices are going for.

As for differences between 97-04, there's not that much, most is in options added.
97 first year and pretty good car, considering its a first year model.
98 added other options, like active handling. This would be a must if I were considering.
HUD (heads up display) sounded real gimiky to me at first, but now I love it and miss it when switching cars.
2000 got thin spoke wheels, instead of the "wagon wheels". That's probably one of the more popular upgrades for pre-2k cars, but you may like the wagon wheels better.
2001 got the LS6 intake and 5hp more (think a different cam profile)
You won't miss the 5hp on daily driving at all, but if you plan to do major power mods, the LS1 intake is very restrictive and will hold you back.
The late 2000 and early 2001's had oil comsumption issues. GM knows this, and if you complain enough, they will fix. Overall, its not that big a deal, especially if you know cars and keep them well maintained.

Last and very important, when looking at a used car, it is recommended to get a carfax, but also get the VIN, take it to your local GM dealer and get a printout of service history. For example, maybe that 01 already had the oil problem fixed, and you have nothing to worry about.

Most important though, is have fun when you pick your new car up. Good luck.

 

Keep your eye on places like this -

www.corvettepalace.com

 

in 01 the cars switched to a bigger MAF and an ls6 manifold, most of the power differences can be attributed to these factors and would only cost about $450-500 to swap out, and there is a minor oil burning issue, but if you check your oil frequently and top off as needed then you will be fine, also you have active handling and Heads Up Display on the newer cars, the Heads up display is fairly cheap to swap out, however the active handling isn't, so you'll have to make your decisions, but there is nothing wrong with an 00 or older C5.

 

Sales prices over the last 3 years don't agree with your statement about convertibles holding their value better than Z's, Corvette magazine has done market reviews on C5's at least once a year and over the last 2 years the only C5 models to not depreciate at all, unless based on higher mileage are the 02 and 03 Z's.

I bought my 03 Z with 4400 miles on it 3 years ago for $35,500, and can guarantee you that I could sell it for the same amount today if it still had 4400 miles on it, even with 12k miles I could probably get $32k trade in, which is what a dealer offered me 2 months ago, which is only a $1150 in depreciation a year.

 

Go to www.autotrader.com. There you can narrow down your criteria. That is where I bought mine. You see MUCH better deals in larger cities. There the market is more saturated leading to lower prices.

Good luck!!

 

I've already been researching the deals on autotrader. I've seen some pretty nice car there with really low miles. I've also been looking on cars.com When I find the right car I'll end up flying out to drive it home.

 

For that price, you should be able to find a really nice 97-01 at least, maybe an '02 on a really good deal. Probably would have no more than 50K miles on it. Nothing wrong with buying a pre-02 car - they are very reliable. Yes some of the 6-speed '01s had the ring problem, but not sure how many.

 

Stick with this. It's the greatest thing about a 'vette or any hotrod, banging gears.