I am almost to the point of buying a z06.

I have sold my old car, and have the rest of the money almost together.

The last thing i am waiting for is employment for my wife. She just finished school, and is currently looking for a job, hopefully that will come soon.

That gets me to my question, after thinking about it forever, i am sure i want a 01-04 z06.

I have been researching these cars in this forum for a while, but how would you guys handle looking at a 01?

I am not putting down a 01, but if i am looking at one, is there a way to tell if the rings are bad, or it has a oil usage problem without asking the owner, and hoping he doesn't lie to you?

Is it even a big enough problem to worry about?

 

It's not a big enough problem to worry about.

Just watch the oil and add to it now and again. Mine isn't a daily driver, but I probably have to add a tiny bit of oil every 1000mi or more. Not a big deal to me really. Some people don't have to do it at all.

Is this car going to be your daily driver? If not, how many miles per year do you plan on driving? Mine is just a weekend toy so I only add oil a couple times per year or so.

This is of course, IF you even have to worry about it. I often wish I would have waited and found the perfect 02-04 z06...but it's really not a huge deal. I'm modifying the car anyway, so all the differences won't matter in the end. Besides, the 02-04 models have their own issues too. I consider their issues worse than the 01 personally.

In the end, it doesn't really matter. It's all just a crapshoot. They are fun cars, but none of them are perfect. Something to keep in mind.

 

What he said. Also, I think what gets lost in the search for the perfect Z is the fact that these are used cars and along the way, a lot of potential issues ( oil pressure senders,ecbm modules, steering column lockups, engine re-rings, etc.) most likely have been ironed out. Personally I would want a Z bone stock, clean, zero mods, and hasn't been dragged raced to hell. Just to be sure, take a person knowledgeable in Corvettes, particularly ZO6s, to help with the peace of mind. If modding is what you intend to do eventually, I wouldn't be hung up on the year of the Z unless you have to have a HUD unit.

 

I had a 2004 Z06, that car never gave me a single issue, i daily drove it for almost 50,000 miles then sold it, now i have a new C6 Z06...

I would stay away from the earlier years, and strongly suggest the 2004, they fixed all the issues for the C5 generation and also very rare to hear about the Column Lock issue for 2004.

 

If you're planning on keeping the car for a while, get the newest low mileage car you can afford. If the budget becomes a concern, I would sacrafice the age of the vehicle before going with higher mileage. Just my $.02

 

I concur, as this was my personal preference.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, for the record, it will not be my daily driver, about 2000 miles a year i would guess, on nice days.

So i take it there is no real way to tell if it has that issue?

 

You can generally tell how someone cares for the engine of the car by how well maintained the rest of the car is. On another note, I have a 2001 Z06 and love it. No problems at all.

 

At 2000mi per year, don't even worry about it. It's not an issue. Don't focus specifically on oil consumption. With that kind of mileage per year, just worry about the condition of everything else like any other car purchase.

 

X 2

 

Regardless of whether you DD this car or not, nothing depreciates the value of a vehicle more than mileage. Lower miles = more valuable. I'd rather have a low mileage '01-'02 than a high mileage '04 if I were shopping around to buy one.

 

 

I'd stay away from the 2001's for sure. Try to find a low mileage 2002-2004. If you buy a high miles car, make sure your only paying like 12-14k for it then if you want to go that route.

 

I don't know about using mileage as the major criteria for choosing. I've only got 17k mi. on my '02Z, but I also have about 20k in mods. If you had the choice, would you prefer a bone-stock 70k miler, or a pristine low miles car with a load of expensive mods, that you wouldn't pay that much more for? I'm not selling my car, so this is just hypothetical, but if it were me, I'd go for the discount mods, and pay a little more. I just met a guy yesterday that bought an '01, with 50k, for 23k from a dealer. I didn't tell him I thought it was too much, because he was so happy. It was a very sharp MY that was bone stock, down to the ugly shift ****.

 

For me, I'm a gear head and have been for for over 20 years, so I don't like buy other peoples mods...especially engine performance mods when I don't know precisely what was done, and who did it. Often times you could be buying somone elses problems with a bunch mods that don't work well together, or they haven't been able to pull them together with a good tuner, etc., etc.

I prefer a stock platform to build off of (or as close to it as possible) because I like being able to do the things that I want to do, and getting them done my way. So existing mods on used vehicles hold very little value to me, even appearance items like wheels/tires unless they are exactly what I wanted to run. But again, this is just how I prefer to do it. So for me, mileage is the main criteria I associate with for determing the resale value of a vehicle.

 

I would have to agree, i know everything on these cars are personal preference, and my feelings only amount to one persons feelings, but all of these mods some people put on their cars mean very little to me.

I am going to look for the best closest to stock z06 i can find. I am not saying i will not, or do not like any mods, but internal egine modifications would make me VERY nervous. I happen to think they are pretty fast in stock form, and have lost most of my interest in racing.

I also really love the look of the real c5 z06 rims, and just about any other rim makes whatever car i happen to be looking at worth less to me, because sooner or later i will be going that route.

So, to shorten it up, tons of mods may entice other buyers, but they happen to turn me off. I might see myself doing exhaust mods, or maybe an air filter mod, but that is about it for me.

 

Just take your time and look at each individual vette for what it is. Research it fully....carfax, gm oasis report, owners history, get it inspected by a vette tech, take a friend or local forum member to look at it w you....etc. I owned an '01 and it was great. Many were "rerung" under warranty. If I found a clean SW Z....I wouldn't hesistate if it was clean and the price was right. I guess color will help you some....if you want a blue Z..then you won't have to worry about an '01....you will be looking 02, 03, 04. For me...I want a clean vette that is mechanically sound for fair market value or less.....so those factors will be in the back of my mind when looking. Also....don't let location deter you from purchasing. If I live in Virginia..and the best example at the best price is in Texas.....well then..I will work out a purchase of the Texas car...even if the same car is 10min down the road...but not as clean and marked up on price, wrecked, or bad owner history.
Also....don't count out a clean FRC. These the precursor to the Z in '99 and '00. You could get a clean nassau blue or super sharp arctic white in these years. I wanna say there is a sharp NB FRC for sale right here on the forum currently.
Just take your time, do your homework and your new vette will be home soon!
Let us know if we can help...many of us like to look for vettes or are aware of vettes for sale.

Happy vette hunting!

 

First off a super low milage older cars scares me. There maybe some expensive problems that would have been covered under warranty that have yet to surface. Where as a 10k a year car that was well cared for could be the buy over the long hall. As for 01s, at this point in time it's the Original (kind of like the split window) of it's generation, and an un-moded one could also be more desirable over time?

And after you have one, there is no way you'er going to only put 2k a year on on the clock, it's way to much fun and practical to not drive.

Mark

 

Make sure it had the steering column lock already serviced and that the windows don't leak water around the air veins just above the side windows. As far as ring leaks ask to have it compression tested, the cylinders should be within 5% of each other and within 5% of the factory listed compression. Just be aware asking a seller to do this will **** them off and they will charge you for this. In worst cases, at a shadey dealership for instance, they will give you false numbers because they want to sell the car. Unless you're a mechanic and have a working compression tester or bring it to another shop after purchase you will probably never know if the car was beat on and has ring wear. Either way Ls6 engines are pretty tough and are ment to be driven hard so chances are the rings are fine unless someone unbolted a supercharger before they sold it. I would be more concerned with cosmetics. Goodluck with your purchase, they are a great car for the money.