Advice please for an old Vette guy?
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Drifting
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,600
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From: Outer banks North Carolina
Advice please for an old Vette guy?
which one is a better deal?
I have been looking for another c-5 for several months to replace my 97 I should have never sold! Locally I am looking at 2 Vettes, both automatics in good condition. One is a 99 with 98000 miles on it. It is a one owner, the guy is 90 years old and all the miles are highway miles. the only wear on the car is road rash onthe front end which will need painted. He is firm at $13,000. The other car is a 97 with only 36000 miles and he is firm at $17,000. The 99 is a better looking car but the97 has the low miles. My budjet is $18,000 and with the 99 I have money for gears, a tune, and some mods! Should I worry about the transmission on the 99? It drives great but thats a lot of miles on an automatic trans. Thats really all that worrys me is the trans as the motors seem bullitproof if well maintained!
gettin to old, Dave
I have been looking for another c-5 for several months to replace my 97 I should have never sold! Locally I am looking at 2 Vettes, both automatics in good condition. One is a 99 with 98000 miles on it. It is a one owner, the guy is 90 years old and all the miles are highway miles. the only wear on the car is road rash onthe front end which will need painted. He is firm at $13,000. The other car is a 97 with only 36000 miles and he is firm at $17,000. The 99 is a better looking car but the97 has the low miles. My budjet is $18,000 and with the 99 I have money for gears, a tune, and some mods! Should I worry about the transmission on the 99? It drives great but thats a lot of miles on an automatic trans. Thats really all that worrys me is the trans as the motors seem bullitproof if well maintained!
gettin to old, Dave
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The one with the highway miles is probably still alright, but things just sort of wear out and any major repair would override the purchase savings. 36,000 miles isn't even broken in yet............
Tom
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You already know the answer to this one - buy the newest lowest mileage car you can afford. It's been said here about a billion times. Personally - I wouldn't want a car with 98K on the odometer....I don't care how good it looks.
I vote you keep looking - the '97 with 36K at $17K is too much money for a 12 year old car. If the car had 16,000 miles - maybe. The '99 with 98K at $13k is priced about right, so I guess the compromise is to find a different car. With an $18K budget, you should be able to find a newer lower mileage car. Is it absolutely a requirement to be able to change the gears and other mods right away? You can't drive the car as is for a while - when the benefit is to get a newer lower mileage car?
I vote you keep looking - the '97 with 36K at $17K is too much money for a 12 year old car. If the car had 16,000 miles - maybe. The '99 with 98K at $13k is priced about right, so I guess the compromise is to find a different car. With an $18K budget, you should be able to find a newer lower mileage car. Is it absolutely a requirement to be able to change the gears and other mods right away? You can't drive the car as is for a while - when the benefit is to get a newer lower mileage car?
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Burning Brakes
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Personally, I would go for the '97 with the lower miles. Look at it this way, both cars are 10+ years old and in good condition. So the lower miles one seems like the way to go. BTW I hope when I am 90, I can still drive a vette. Good luck with your decision. 
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Of those two, I'd go for the '97, but it is priced too high. Something to keep in mind is the the '97 will not have some of the options a 99+ car will have such as HUD, active handling, etc. If those things matter to you, keep looking as there are a lot of nice C5s out there.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Fairfax Virginia
One more vote for the lower miles.
I would generally assume the 97 is a garage kept car.
However, you say the 99 is a better looking car.
Do you mean condition? Or do you mean you like the color combo better?
Personally, I think the price is reasonable at 17,000 for a car with only 36K,
but that is only true if you like the car.
I would generally assume the 97 is a garage kept car.
However, you say the 99 is a better looking car.
Do you mean condition? Or do you mean you like the color combo better?
Personally, I think the price is reasonable at 17,000 for a car with only 36K,
but that is only true if you like the car.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Belleville Il
Wait for a better deal,, There are lots of cars out there now!! Another vote for lower miles,,but as stated priced too high! You might wait him out and see if he gets antsy,,and offer him a couple grand less. Firm tends to soften over time!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: queens Newyork
keep looking, plenty of better deals too, also look for one with the z51 suspension, as the 6 spd will automatically have 3;42 gears and the auto will automatically have the perf 3;15 axle..