...no, not another "is it too high miles?" thread

Hello all, I've been doing a lot of reading in the archives with key words "high" "miles" ..... and have a couple of questions... I am entertaining purchasing a vette in 1Q10 or 2Q10 as a weekend car / drive to work every few days type of deal...

I've never "shopped" for a high mileage vehicle (obviously due to $$), but being a wknd car / hobby type of thing, I am not worried about something breaking and not having a car to go to work type of thing.. I was looking at C4's in the $10K-$15K range and even lower, but then decided to do a search on C5's and was surprised at the prices, $12K-$15K for 100K miles, some lower, and a lot of them higher... The selling point to me? It's got the LS1...

Anyway..some q's / concerns.....

I know little things will go here and there with age and mileage, that's part of the deal, and I tinker with my own cars, so that will be part of the plan / fun, headache , etc... What concerns me is a couple things...

Weather I buy it at 100K miles or 125K miles, etc... the miles will creep up and eventually hit , who knows... maybe 140-150K... at that point, the transmission , sooner or later, will go I feel ... I've seen prices on rebuilt trannies online at about $2.5K When are the trannies actually dieing on these cars, typically? Is the $2.5K +installation typical or should I expect to pay less ... I can see the car sitting for monthsss if the trannie goes...

Also, who in their right mind would buy a 150K++ miles Vette ??, with all the deals on ones with "just" 100K miles or so... I also see "LOW" mileage Vettes sitting for monthsssssssssss unsold here and on autotrader, etc... so if those have trouble selling, I can only imagine a 150K+ Vette ...unless you practically give it away, which I guess would have to be factored in at purchase... I guess no question on this, just my thoughts..

thoughts?

 

I just sold my 98 Vette with 120k on it for $11.9k - it was in excellent condition with no problems or codes. I believe with proper maintainance that it would be reliable to 200k+. I think the whole "high milage" issue came about in the 70's and 80's when they used planned obsolesence. Having owned many Covettes, I could never go back to C3 or C4, C5's are great cars. And here in FLA, they are plenty to chose from under $15k. I only sold mine because money was getting tight. With C6's dropping below $25k (at least here in FL) I will be getting one sometime in the near future.

 

the longevity completely depends on how well the car was taken care of. also, the m6 transmission lasts a bit longer than the a4 (if the previous owner knew how to drive it of course). however the clutch needs to be changed out at around 100k miles, so if you are looking at one with 125k, chances are it has a new clutch at least.

 

I agree that the longevity of the C5 components will depend a lot on how well the car was maintained. There are a number of owners here on the forum that have cars well in excess of 100K miles and they report few if any problems so far.

 

I think it's all about how the car was treated. I just bought a weeklong winter car, a 2002 Cavalier and it had 101.205 miles on it and I ran a carfax and it was a one owner, it was owned by Consolidated Electric of New York City, and had been bought at a Chevy dealer I go past once a month, Huntington Chevrolet of Huntington Station. Long Island NY

I wouldn't buy a car with 150.000 miles on it no matter what condition. But I bought this one because I have seen how Con.Ed takes care of their equipment. Thay are consumate experts at oil changes and wheel and tires. Life on the streets of Manhattan and long Island isn't such a great envrioment, and I knew that the wheels are out of alingment. But I bought it, did a wheel alinement and changed all fluids and filters save for the brake fluid, which I'll do in the spring. But if you get into the car and start it, and not look at the odometer, you wouldn't know it had that kind of milage. If you find a nice car that hasn't had the crap beat out of it, but has moderate hi- miles, I'd say buy it. Do a carfax and have it looked and listened to by a good mechanic, and you should be fine.

 

I totally agree with the "200K +" -- there are some forum members here who have put on 300K + without a hitch. Regular maintenance and oil changes are key (and of course, not driving them like raped apes )


The C6's here in Cali are dropping around 25K also. The local dealers here will give you about 22K in trade value for a low mileage C6.

 

Upkeep and maintenance would be prime concerns, it would also be helpful if you could find a 1-2 owner w/ that type of mileage.

 

My view is that unless you are mechanically inclined and have a place, tools, and time to work on the car you should not buy an older vette with higher mileage.

Too many issues/problems that could come up and are expensive to fix. These cars have a lot of sophisticated electronic components that go bad over time.

If the rubber gaskets around the windows go bad and have to be replaced you can be looking at a bill of over $1K. Don't ask me how I know. By the way, that does not include installation.

Something to keep in mind. These cars when new cost $40 to $50K. Parts are expensive!

 

I have 198,750 miles on mine.
I have owned it since it had around 125,000 on it.
I have had no major problems with it.

 

i bought mine with 183k on her and shes mint! just got her cheaper so i could have more money to build her or just throw a ls2/ls6 in her haha

 

I think i am comfortable buying something that reads 100K-115K miles... as I've seen the prices very nicely drop once it hits that 100k mark... as long as it has maintainance records it shoul be fine or no more potential problems than if I might one with 90K miles, just b/c it hasn't hit the 100K mark.

 

With some careful shopping,,especially if you are willing to go north a bit,,you are getting into prime vet shopping time!!!Winter is a great time to find deals on vets(or any sporty car). I got a well equipped 55,500 mile FRC for $18,600almost 2 years(Jan. will be 2),and that was before the prices really dumped. For around $15K you should be able to find a nice one with half the miles you are talking about. Just a thought!!

 

I just hit 100 miles in my 02. Drives and looks the same as if she had 10miles. As long as the vehicle was maintained correctly and not too abused (its hard not to give'er once in a awhile) than i dont see any issues. Please not that you may have a clutch job coming up soon if that hasnt been done already. If you do get a high k one. Do the basics like change all fluides, belts, things of that nature which are low cost maintenence repairs.

Good Luck !

Rod