need an honest answer
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
From: Dothan Alabama
need an honest answer
Are corvettes high maintenance cars, I know all cars cost money. Simply put I have one car already that I love to drive but aggrivates me to no end when I have to work on it in order to drive it. Not a fan of that really would love a vette but from what I read on here they seem to have there issues. sometimes major. yada yada its not a matter of affordability its I want something that rocks to drive but is not maintenance intensive.
let me know thanks
let me know thanks
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,245
Likes: 21
From: Abingdon MD
Talon,
You are in the C5 section so I'm gonna assume you are most interested in a C5. The short answer is "yes" to your high maintenance question. These are sophisticated sports cars, not Honda Civics.
High performance, ie great handling and high speed capabilities cost money. Expect to get only 25k or so on a set of tires. And when you need to replace them, brand name runflat tires will cost you up to $325 per tire.
Having said this, the C5 is well recognized as a bargain and a great value when compared to other sports cars. Excellent values may be found in 2001 C5's, for example, where coupes are in the low 20's and Verts in the mid 20's for cars with less than 40k miles.
Much of the depreciation has already occurred on these cars, leaving you with a kick-*** car at a reasonable price. IMO, good C5 cars, especially Verts, will be worth at least $15k or so for years to come.
When these cars are properly maintained, engines and transmissions are lasting routinely in excess of 150k miles. I believe that the C5 is the perfect 1st Vette for most people - Great performance, gas mileage and reliability for your $$. Hope this is helpful,
Rickman
You are in the C5 section so I'm gonna assume you are most interested in a C5. The short answer is "yes" to your high maintenance question. These are sophisticated sports cars, not Honda Civics.
High performance, ie great handling and high speed capabilities cost money. Expect to get only 25k or so on a set of tires. And when you need to replace them, brand name runflat tires will cost you up to $325 per tire.
Having said this, the C5 is well recognized as a bargain and a great value when compared to other sports cars. Excellent values may be found in 2001 C5's, for example, where coupes are in the low 20's and Verts in the mid 20's for cars with less than 40k miles.
Much of the depreciation has already occurred on these cars, leaving you with a kick-*** car at a reasonable price. IMO, good C5 cars, especially Verts, will be worth at least $15k or so for years to come.
When these cars are properly maintained, engines and transmissions are lasting routinely in excess of 150k miles. I believe that the C5 is the perfect 1st Vette for most people - Great performance, gas mileage and reliability for your $$. Hope this is helpful,
Rickman
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,123
Likes: 0
From: Issaquah WA
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Are corvettes high maintenance cars, I know all cars cost money. Simply put I have one car already that I love to drive but aggrivates me to no end when I have to work on it in order to drive it. Not a fan of that really would love a vette but from what I read on here they seem to have there issues. sometimes major. yada yada its not a matter of affordability its I want something that rocks to drive but is not maintenance intensive.
let me know thanks
let me know thanks
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
From: Dothan Alabama
thanks for your reply reickman
Tommorrow I go get my 2004 commemorative edtion vette coupe. I was having second thoughts tonight. Its not about affordabiolity, I just do not want a second car that I will love to drive but only after I work on it. I am gonna take the risk, and hope for much happiness. I have owned sports cars in the past, they are much much fun. Its time to own the king of american sports cars. Wish me luck, I will be investing in the GMPP major repair warranty so that should help. My wife is calling this a mid life crisis, was reading what age. I will be 41 in april. I own two harleys and love riding them. But am looking forward to the drive each day in the vette its 25 miles one way to work. I do not think it will get much better then that. Its a GM pre owned certified vehicle. Has 23.5 k miles on it. Lemans blue with the stripes. dual tops, no mods. SO I can make the changes as I see fit. I respect and appreciate candid advice.
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
Tommorrow I go get my 2004 commemorative edtion vette coupe. I was having second thoughts tonight. Its not about affordabiolity, I just do not want a second car that I will love to drive but only after I work on it. I am gonna take the risk, and hope for much happiness. I have owned sports cars in the past, they are much much fun. Its time to own the king of american sports cars. Wish me luck, I will be investing in the GMPP major repair warranty so that should help. My wife is calling this a mid life crisis, was reading what age. I will be 41 in april. I own two harleys and love riding them. But am looking forward to the drive each day in the vette its 25 miles one way to work. I do not think it will get much better then that. Its a GM pre owned certified vehicle. Has 23.5 k miles on it. Lemans blue with the stripes. dual tops, no mods. SO I can make the changes as I see fit. I respect and appreciate candid advice.
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
Congratulations James, you won't be disappointed. One thing you will notice about this forum (and it is a great forum) is that a lot of people tend to post only when they have problems, or negative experiences, asking for help.If you got the warranty, that was a smart move. The Vette is like any ohter car in terms of reliability..it has its fair share of quirks. And yes there are some things that tend to carry a "vette tax" like tires , oil changes (mobile 1 or any equivalent will be expensive) and a few other things.
The good thing is also that you got an 04, by that time they had most of the "quirks" worked out of the C5 by its last year.
Enjoy miles of smiles!
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Racer
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 311
Likes: 0
From: Ogden Utah
I have had very few problems with mine. In fact, the only problem I have had is with the headlights. Replaced nylon gears with brass (under $100). Now the only issue is that the left headlight chews up the rubber bumpers rather quickly and GM wants $6 each for them. I used to go through one about every 6 weeks, but I have turned off Twilight Sentinel so I expect to get a little longer life out of it. But what I'd REALLY like is to figure out why that headlight is apparently over-rotating and cutting the bumper. So there have been minor annoyances and a few bucks here and there but it's not been bad. I am going to need new tires this spring... ca-ching... as Gannet said, they will be pricey.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,788
Likes: 6
From: Winchester TN
Cruise-In III Veteran
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Cruise-In V Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'11
Hi talon46 -
In a word, no.
I do not find that the C5 is at it's root a high maintenance car -
Quite the contrary, actually.
You can attribute your sense of being awash in stories of problems with C5s to the simple fact that you are reading arguably the most popular and populous web site devoted to the Corvette and specifically the C5.
If you visit a hospital, do you assume that all humans are sickly and weak?
No - I have found my C5's to be as reliable and durable as any vehicle I have owned, and they are well designed in terms of being able to easily maintain them.
Also, since GM made ~30,000+ of them a year for 8 years, I predict a strong aftermarket for these cars well into the future.
You can save yourself a lot of money if you stray from the stock Goodyear tires - and tires are a common wear item...
And here, my friend, is my necessary reflection for you that back when I was in high school, I had a hot rod that could not come close to comparing to the performance of my Z, yet each weekend I found myself adjusting rockers, snugging up header bolts, setting dwells etc...
If you ask me, there are NO high-maintenance cars built anymore....
best regards -
mqqn
In a word, no.
I do not find that the C5 is at it's root a high maintenance car -
Quite the contrary, actually.
You can attribute your sense of being awash in stories of problems with C5s to the simple fact that you are reading arguably the most popular and populous web site devoted to the Corvette and specifically the C5.
If you visit a hospital, do you assume that all humans are sickly and weak?
No - I have found my C5's to be as reliable and durable as any vehicle I have owned, and they are well designed in terms of being able to easily maintain them.
Also, since GM made ~30,000+ of them a year for 8 years, I predict a strong aftermarket for these cars well into the future.
You can save yourself a lot of money if you stray from the stock Goodyear tires - and tires are a common wear item...
And here, my friend, is my necessary reflection for you that back when I was in high school, I had a hot rod that could not come close to comparing to the performance of my Z, yet each weekend I found myself adjusting rockers, snugging up header bolts, setting dwells etc...
If you ask me, there are NO high-maintenance cars built anymore....
best regards -
mqqn
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Well put. That about sums it up for me and with the help from the Forum many of the routine fixes are DIY. That said, if it needs to go to the dealer to fix a problem you could be looking at some large $$ sums so you should be prepared for that risk.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,447
Likes: 6
From: Los Angeles
My C5 is about as low maintainance as my previous Toyota truck. Just keep the fluids fresh and do your preventative maintainence checks and you will have many many worry free miles.
Best performance for the money IMO
Tires are only expensive if you buy runflats or very high performance tires. Many of the budget non-runflats outperform the stock tires anyway.
Best performance for the money IMO
Tires are only expensive if you buy runflats or very high performance tires. Many of the budget non-runflats outperform the stock tires anyway.
Last edited by DefenderC5; Mar 14, 2008 at 07:31 AM. Reason: speeling
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,050
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles CA
Everyone who has a C5 knows about the Corvette grin. They are a joy to drive whether you just installed the latest mod or whether it's stock. It's just such a great handling car with plenty of power stock and looks so good that it's just a blast driving it anytime.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,431
Likes: 3
From: Iowa City Iowa
If you can deal with owning 2 Harley's, a C5 will be no issue for you. I bought my 2000 vert with 38,000 miles on it and now have 62,000. No problems yet. And yes, I know, the new Harley's and not like the old ones, well, the C5 is not like the old vettes either! You'll luv it, just remember, it's a car--drive the dang thing!!!!!!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,791
Likes: 44
From: Loudon/Lake Mary Tennessee/Florida
Tommorrow I go get my 2004 commemorative edtion vette coupe. I was having second thoughts tonight. Its not about affordabiolity, I just do not want a second car that I will love to drive but only after I work on it. I am gonna take the risk, and hope for much happiness. I have owned sports cars in the past, they are much much fun. Its time to own the king of american sports cars. Wish me luck, I will be investing in the GMPP major repair warranty so that should help. My wife is calling this a mid life crisis, was reading what age. I will be 41 in april. I own two harleys and love riding them. But am looking forward to the drive each day in the vette its 25 miles one way to work. I do not think it will get much better then that. Its a GM pre owned certified vehicle. Has 23.5 k miles on it. Lemans blue with the stripes. dual tops, no mods. SO I can make the changes as I see fit. I respect and appreciate candid advice.
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
My daily commute is ~37 miles each way. I now have 60K miles with no troubles. I have replaced my tires with a new set of GSD3s ($1,100) and I am soon to replace my antenna ($300-no I can't get the replacement mast to work either
).A vette can be expensive but so can any car. As far as common issues this car has none compared to many other high performance cars.
This is my third vette (1-1973 Coupe, 2-1988 Coupe, 3-2002 Vert). I have enjoyed all three. I hope that you enjoy yours.
Vette Dan
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,043
Likes: 1
From: OKC Oklahoma
Tommorrow I go get my 2004 commemorative edtion vette coupe. I was having second thoughts tonight. Its not about affordabiolity, I just do not want a second car that I will love to drive but only after I work on it. I am gonna take the risk, and hope for much happiness. I have owned sports cars in the past, they are much much fun. Its time to own the king of american sports cars. Wish me luck, I will be investing in the GMPP major repair warranty so that should help. My wife is calling this a mid life crisis, was reading what age. I will be 41 in april. I own two harleys and love riding them. But am looking forward to the drive each day in the vette its 25 miles one way to work. I do not think it will get much better then that. Its a GM pre owned certified vehicle. Has 23.5 k miles on it. Lemans blue with the stripes. dual tops, no mods. SO I can make the changes as I see fit. I respect and appreciate candid advice.
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
It has brand new run flats on it.
Pics will be posted saturday sometime plan to take the old lady to the drive in and watch bucket list, and some other movie take the vette and enjoy.
James
U will LUV the car. GMPP smart move.