I am new to this forum and have an itch for a C5. I looked at one a guy has for sale with no price "yet", just a for sale sign in window. As I looked it over I noticed the left front tire was down to the cords on the inside, their was very small pebbles (kittie litter) on the horizontal area by the alternator. Is it wrong for me to put 2 and 2 together in thinking this car spent time in the ditch? Or is that a common place for dirt and pebbles to collect? If it is a matter of bent steering parts, can a do it yourself-er handle it? One headlight does not come up and the signals flash quickly on both left and right; no signal light in front on one side and no signal lights in back on other. The seats need replacing, it that a zipper on the back there for easy replacement of covers? Anything else a guy should look for when buying a 97-2000 C5? I am trying to do this on a budget with the thought of nickel and dime it back to glory.
Thank you for your time and thoughts,

Dan

 

Gravel accumulates all over the engine so I doubt there is any issues there. The headlights are probably something cheap and or easy to fix. Tires are a need but likely due to a poor alignment job or some worn suspension piece. Either way not a huge deal.

Price is a huge factor here. It is hard to give a recommendation without a price.

Good luck

 

Dan, 1st of all, what gives with the guy putting a FOR SALE sign on a C5 and hasn't even established a PRICE when he puts it on the market?. What gives with this????? On the surface (or even a bit below the surface) this car would appear to be beat to death. For all the things that need repairing that you have already seen, I'd be afraid there's 3 times more issues that are not immediately evident to the eye/ear. My recommendation, unless this car is in the $7 to $8K max range with a clear title, don't walk away from it, RUN like your life depended on it!!!!! There's a ton of decent C5's out there at bargain prices, don't buy a piece if crap that's used up. You'll end up hating the C5 and the wonderful experience of owning one of these fabulous cars will be totally lost. Take your time and good luck, Ron

 

Take your time. Figure out exactly what you want and when you find it...PULL THE TRIGGER! and buy it.

You'll love yourself for taking the time to find the right one. For me looking was a ton of fun. Don't settle for the first one you see.
If you look on this forum long enough someone will let one go for quite a bit less than book.

 

I'd pass on that one unless price justifies the condition. Then again, I prefer one that is showroom ready so I'd still pass even if the price is low.

 

I agree with Don, Sounds like the car may have beed beat, If a tire has cord showing that is proof the car was not taken care of.

 

Like the others have said, RUN RUN RUN! If budget is an issue, wait a little longer and save a little more. There are some great C5's out there for bargain prices.

 

Ron clears up the situation well. Me, I like to look all the paperwork over real close. I don't know the car or seller, but this once sound like it run hard and puy away wet. I have to disagree about the kitty litter up in the engine, a C5 has a seal on both sides, and maybe this guy added the famous 'Hood Seal' a cheap but quite useable addition. But the engine compartment is most of the time is usuall clean. It's sealed off from the radiator and there's a seal running along below the windshield. But I'd get the VIN and any papers he has, (Wouldn't hurt to tell your paying cash) Make a lot of difficult folks to reconsider their price.

Then go back and check Carfax, the insurance companies for that VIN, I'd even stop at you local Chevrolet dealer and ask him iff he had a moment and slip him the VIN and $20.00 and ask if he could check out this vehicle. (And Yes I did that, but it was complicated and I gave him $50.00 after which I was smooth sailing in and out of the dealership) All the work was done.

Do some research, the worn out tire is very telling how the was cared for !

 

If you disagree with the gravel statement I'm guessing one of two things, either you never drive your car or your roads are a hell of a lot cleaner than they are in California. I get an engine bay dirt and gravel bath about ever 5000 miles that leaves pieces of gravel bigger than Kitty litter in every possible crevice of my entire engine bay. This is not necessarily an indication of care. Given the robust nature of the C5 I would not bat an eyelash buying this vehicle for a "steal".

The person selling my car thought it was falling apart even with his maintanence and most of the stuff I fixed for free.

Again pricing is key here. That and your ability to fix the car. I could rebuild the engine or replace a tranny if needed and not everyone is like that, so they get super paranoid over buying a used car. Many people refuse to even buy used cars and I will happily buy their used vehicle for 25-35% of what they paid for it new.

 

pass

 

Pass twice

 

 

Well good for you. Perhaps if you drove at about 25MPH up the graval roads you wouldn't have that problem. But I must say I have not a clue as to where you live and or on what kind or roads, so please take my statement with a grain of salt. I'm no expert. Yes, the roads around here are all paved, sometime rather badly, but more or less paved.

Besides that, I would think someone, anyone who was interested in selling a car, would have the smarts to clean it up, find out what works and what doesn't and put tires on that don't have the steel cords sticking through them. That's all I was getting at !

 

I live in Southern California where an eight lane highway has so much congestion at 2 in the afternoon that it takes me 45 minutes to travel 15 miles. My only point was even a car that has not been regularly maintained may not necessarily be a bad idea or a bad deal. My brother ran his brand new Nissan truck for 55,000 miles before doing his oil. His truck had the spark plugs burned down as they were not the 100k plugs. He also regularly overloaded it by transporting concrete from California to Vegas in 100+ degree heat. That truck was still going at 200k miles. Was it used and abused yes. Was it a bad deal? No. It was engineered with a moderate amount of safety in mind for the typical wahoo.

Honestly if it was me I might even buy it if the price was low enough and part it out, but again time, skill, and price all come into play.

Also having worked with the general public for 11 years now, I can honestly say you give them way too much credit for being logical enough to come to the same conclusion you have about fixing the car before sale. This is often why people trade their cars in to a dealer at a lower price. They just don't want to mess with it, or they simply don't care. If something was good enough for their standards, shouldn't it be good enough for yours?

 

 

Unless you are really getting a steal of a deal on the car and can do the majority of the repairs yourself, I'd keep looking. There are a lot of very nice C5s out there for sale at good prices. Patience can pay big dividends for you.

 

Well said!