I am considering an 03 Z06 that I have found locally. This would be my first Vette.

What are normal maintenance lifespan for wear items like clutch, brake pads, rotors, water pump, etc? Assume reasonable adult driven.

What are known issues or gotchas to look out for?

The car I am looking at has 36K miles and seems to be in excellent condition(but needs tires) and asking 27.5K. From looking around, this seems like a decent deal.

Thanks is advance for the info and insight.

PS Anyone recommend a mechanic to check out the car in the Gainesville, GA area?

 

Clutch: I have almost 70K on the clock now, and have cycled the clutch fluid a couple of times (the turkey baster method). It's working fine. Launching and slipping it are what kill it, and for the stock engine, it seems to last well.

Brakes: Highly variable. Reasonably driven? Two years for pads perhaps? I do not drive mine reasonably, and go through three sets of race pads a year, along with two or three sets of rotors. Rotors are cheap.

Water pump: There is a seep hole between the first and second seal. Thus, when the first seal goes, there will be a SMALL amount of water that leaks from the water pump. This is supposed to serve as a warning to replace the water pump. Just do it, and this is your chance to do the thermostat too if you like. Easy to do from the top of the engine, actually. It's six bolts.

Belts: I broke a serpentine belt once, and now carry a spare. I also broke the upper tensioner pulley, and that seems to be a weak spot. If you note any weird belt wear, replace the belt and tensioner. The lower idler pulley squeeks sometimes, especially in the cold. Replacing this belt is very easy once you see how it threads.

Valve springs: This is a biggie. The LS6 is an interference engine, so when you lose a valve spring, the piston is going to smack the valve on the next upstroke. This makes a dramatic noise and results in some downtime, possibly a new engine. I would suggest (though many will disagree) replacing valve springs around 60K just to be safe. Racers replace yearly.

Timing chains: This seems another weak point, though mostly for users of aftermarket underdrive pulleys and hotter engines then stock. Again, if this goes, it's a new engine. Not much to do about it save that if you have the motor out for something else, replace the thing with a stouter one.

Steering column lock: Not going into detail here, as we all have seen it. You turn the car on, but the stering column stays locked. Get it fixed under the recall, and make SURE the dealer doesn't just do the computer reprogram, but fixes the mechanism.

Seems like alot, but it's really not much to look out for in this sort of car. They are SOLID if you treat em right.

 

yakisoba im a newbee to great info thanks for the insite