70RT440

The great thing about cars like Vettes and Vipers is that they are juuuuuust hard enough to live with day-to-day that many of them are second/hobby cars. As a result of this, low mileage examples are not too difficult to find.

Checking prices, it appeared that the cars in my price range were going to have between 50 and 80,000 miles. I crawled under and over the car I bought and it ticked all the boxes. No leaks, clean undercarriage free of salt corrosion, minimal number of owners (two, with the bonus that the second owner knew the first owner), clean carfax, etc. Took it to the Chevy dealership and they gave it a clean bill of health.

in the end, all yuhou can do is be very **** about your due diligence and hope for the best. I have a Toyota Sequoia that I bought with 159,000 miles on the clock and it has performed flawlessly for 100,000 miles and I once bought a new Volvo that pissed out an entire crankcase's full of oil in my driveway the day after I got it home and spent more time at the dealership service department than on the road.

C5 Kirkland

Mileage doesn't really matter to me. I draw the line at Salvage title.

Tuco

Great motors..all depends on what it's intended for. Track vs dd.. 2 entirely different beasts.

grampi50

I would rather see the statement "never driven on salty roads"...rain doesn't hurt a vehicle...

02BlownZ06

I get that but if you're patient the right deal will come along. I bought mine over two years ago, an '02 Z06 in mint condition with 19k on the clock and Maggie S/C on it for 24K. That was a good deal at the time and would still be a decent deal today and I looked for 6 months or more. Also, dealers and private parties both generally ask more than what they will take. Wait until fall of the year starting around September sometime and you will see dealers that don't want to sit on that kind of inventory all winter esp. locations up north. That is how I bought mine for $4k less than the asking price.

Wade Wilbur

The dealer told me that they are kept in a special climate controlled building until they are gently driven onto the fully enclosed car carrier and if it is raining 4 guys walk along side the car with beach umbrellas over the car so it doesn't get wet. When they get to the dealership they are only unloaded when it is sunny and between 70 and 75 degrees and the dealership manager parks them in his bedroom every night until they are sold. Are you saying this is BS???

To the OP - The only two super low mileage vehicles I've bought both had problems related to not being driven often. I'm not a mechanic, but it was explained to me that letting a car sit can contribute to dry rot of any rubber parts along with other issues that I can't remember. I'd never buy a vehicle with really low miles again.

ls777z

There was one with over 200000 miles on it for sale the majority of last summer. I finally called and made an appointment to see it. The day I pulled in the driveway another guy was there (with his C7) and he ended buying it for his father. I did hear the seller saying he would give him a good deal....damn !!

BlackHellcat

LS motor is stout. The rest of the car will fall apart around it before the motor goes. Was looking to buy a 230k mi C5 yesterday. Drivetrain was good, but the rest of the car was a **** show.

BlackHellcat

Yup. Just picked up a 600+ WHP C5 w/25k miles on it for $3k under asking

jackthelad

Given the solidity of the LS engine - and the rest of the powertrain, high mileage means wear and tear elsewhere - seats and trim, suspension bushings, gear shift sloppiness, etc. My concern is very different, it's age, pure and simple. I bought my C5 new in August '97 and the thing that really bothers me is not how many miles it has done, but parts supplies. Should any of the myriad electronics bite the dust, it's would be a case of replacing it with something equally old from a wrecker.. Mechanical stuff can get fixed, but no-one will reproduce the C5's vehicle specific electronic components.

So, sooner or later it will be toast for that reason.

Phanni

Opinions on used Vettes vary as much as the owners here.
Some would never buy a car with more than 30,000 miles, yet when it ​sell, their car it is worth 3X blue book.
Some would never buy a car with a minor accident, let alone a rebuilt title.

The LS engines are rock solid. worn seats can be restored, On the later model C-5s virtually every part can be bought new or someone can rebuild it.
Worrying about resale value of any car is a crap shoot.

I believe the only ones I would fear (if the price seemed right) is one that has had the engine highly modified by a unknown builder. Even then, Engines are cheap.

Keep in mind, to me Corvettes are toys, not daily transport

lonerider2002

When I decided to buy a Vette I did quite a bit of research on the options available, interior colors, which year is the least troublesome etc...and I narrowed it down to a 2002 model w/auto (in case wife wants to drive it, and I'm tired of shifting gears anyway) in speedway white w/gray interior and no engine mods.( mods to me means somebody drove it hard at some point). Before deciding on how much mileage was important I had a budget number that I was determined to stick with and was hoping to find one close by. After over 6 months of looking I found one at a dealer 4 hrs away with 87,000 miles and the only mod on it was Billy Boat Bullets. There had been several owners with the last two being a lady and the current service mgr at the dealership who was able to tell me all I needed to know about it. I negotiated with them and drove it home paying exactly what I had set for my budget. I'm a fair diy'er and was able to replace the brakes/rotors, fix the oil sending unit(twice) and repair things like the ebcm, lights on the radio/shifter and so on. Of course you have to factor in new wheels/tires, /belts/pulleys/shocks/links/sways, fluids, upgrade the stereo an so forth so the initial total investment can(and probably will be) more than what you originally figured on. That was over 5 yrs ago and she now shows 103,000 on the clock and she runs and looks like a new car. If I was to sell my car now someone would get a wonderful machine-- 100K+ miles not withstanding. I would never have one as a daily driver- just not practical, but a well maintained Vette should last more than a lifetime if treated right and I plan to be her owner for at least that long.

jackthelad

"I would never have one as a daily driver- just not practical,"

Totally disagree. I bought my C5 as my daily driver and that's what it was for the first half of its life. Only time it was not, was when there was significant snow - they are basically useless in snow, but my equally ancient K1500 does the job.

Tsumi

The trunk is as big as, if not bigger, than most sedans. Highway economy at close to 30 mpg, if not higher depending on how fast you go. Take it easy in the streets, and you'll do at least 20 mpg. If I didn't have a company car now, I would be daily driving my Corvette. And if I was given a choice between being reimbursed for personal use of my car or a company car, I would choose reimbursement, but unfortunately my company does not offer that choice.

lonerider2002

Practicality to me means being able to stop off at Lowes and haul back some material to fix my roof or mulch my landscape--or take my two dogs on a drive so they can stick their heads out the windows -- or take my brother and his wife out to eat -- or if I'm away from it for a while in a bad area I don't have to worry about damage or theft etc...
If having one for a daily driver works for you then that's great, but I like to look forward to the weekend and take it out and enjoy the ride because it is a different breed of car and I would imagine when they designed the Corvette it was not for everyday driving--but if that's your thing then more power to you. We all enjoy our Vettes in different ways and that's fine with me. .

bigthaw

If you know what you are looking for mechanically ; I do... I completely disagree with your low mileage statement. To me mileage is 1st consideration....the lower the better.
I just bought a 19 yr old C5 with 19k miles, bone stock...near mint...awesome for a great price. I am still amazed at the condition of all the rubber everywhere on the car..like new....I had to get the original rear run flats off it the day I got it....always garaged, never left sitting outside, never driven in the snow or salt, obviously rarely driven in the rain... southern car..
no rust or corrosion anywhere...the paint is a 10 like new...drives like new...yes I had to fix, repair,a few things....due to sitting..changed all the fluids etc...but ohhh its worth it...21,400 miles on it today...magnificent!!!

Tsumi

The XLRs got the enclosed car carrier treatment but the C5s almost definitely did not. So yes, I would say your dealership is BS'ing you.

BlackHellcat

Corvette is actually a great DD & touring car. Unless you need a backseat or a truck bed etc, it's great. (Obviously not the greatest DD for snow, but neither is my Hellcat & I am doing it anyway)

Tsumi

Pretty much. It's a great replacement for a sedan if you don't need a back seat and good snow capabilities.