Good morning guys, my name is Richard and I have purchased my first Corvette. I come from a long line of European sports cars over the past 11 years ranging from BMW M3s, Audi S4, TT224, Mini Cooper S (if this is considered a sports car), and have even had some Japanese racers like a Stealth TT and a couple 300Zs. Honestly I never considered a corvette because of some common misconceptions about how they ride and handle, not to mention the lack of back seats. My kids are finally grown now and I decided to buy another car and sell my E46 M3. My wife was on board, but the one car she said she didn't want me to get was a corvette. She said it represented a mid-life crisis and she would be embarrased.

So, Saturday morning I head out with a mission to buy a 2-seater sports car. I'm looking at a Pontiac Solstice GXP, 350Z, and maybe a vette. I drove a C5 vette or two a couple months ago and was not impressed with the interior quality/condition and the inexpensive ones (less than 20k) were in rough condition. Well I looked at the Solstice and wasn't impressed and the price was as much as a C5 corvette. The 350Z gets relatively bad mileage and I couldn't find one to drive anyway. So I started to drive to an area of Knoxville known for having miles of car dealers where you can just browse. I stopped at the first large Chevrolet dealer and was pleased to find a showroom floor with no less than 4 C5s. I really wanted a vert and they had a beautiful pristine red one on the floor. It was 2001 and truly flawless with 68k miles but had a price tag of 23,900 which was above KBB list for the vehicle. After driving the vehicle I was sold. It was an amazingly smooth ride and has gobs of torque. I was trading the M3 and knew I wouldn't get much due to very high mileage, but we struck a deal. When I drove it home, my wife took it for a spin and actually loves driving it. No it's not an auto, she can drive a manual quite well.

Couple of issues with the car now that I have it home, but I will post them in the tech forum. The fuel gauge seems to stick. I shut it off with 5/8 tank, and started it with less than a half tank. It didn't move in the 40 mile trip home, so the half tank was accurate. The other thing is a ping at WOT in lower gears. I'll put in some 93 octane on the next fill up. Maybe some ahole put in 87 so we'll see.

 

Dealer was probably tossing in Regular gas, they have a penchant for being cheap. Throw some Seafoam in the tank and see if that helps the fuel sending unit free up and be more responsive to fuel level changes.

 

Great ideas, thanks. I also read an article about the rear bank knock sensor regarding corrosion. I'll do that TSB as well as it's cheap insurance. Having many Turbo cars knock really concerns me.

 

Congrats on getting your first Corvette - hope it turns out to be an amazing car for you. The erratic gas gauge is a fairly common problem with the C5 - sulfur in the gas tends to build up on the electronic sending unit and causes the gauge to stick or read in error. Try the Seafoam mentioned above or use some Techron concentrate in the gas. May take a couple of bottles to see any improvement. If for some reason it doesn't clear up the issue, you may need new sending units - but let's hope that's not the case.

Anyway, enjoy the car and post up a few pics of the new ride.

 

Well let's see some pics of your Vette!

 

Welcome to the Corvette world! I just joined last year with an 84 I had for 5 months, then got my C5 at the end of the year. These are really GREAT cars. The more you drive it, the more you'll be impressed.

Don't forget to post some pics - we love pics here

 

Congrats and enjoy! Now DRIVE it!

 

Welcome to the Corvette family first, and to the East TN Corvette family second.
If you need any repairs on the car I know a very reasonable guy that will get you all fixed up here in Knoxville. He is also a member here.
You will need to bring the wife and come on down to Knoxville to meet the Vette owners at the monthly Vette club meeting at Reeder Chevrolet at 6pm. It happens the first Tuesday of every month ( Sept 6 this time around). It's an awesome club and you guys will enjoy the activities should you join. It's not a teen club either

Enjoy the car and post up some pix !

 

Congrats on the new ride!!! My wife can swap gears with the best of them as well,, to your wife as well!! Some 93 and a bottle of Techron will more than likely clear things up!!Techron s the most common fix for wacky fuel gauges,,followed by seafoam.Techron is usually the cheapest and easily found. Advanced auto parts frequently has a buy one get one on it,,and you can stock up. I throw a bottle in about once every month or two,,and along with a top tier gas,,haven't had a hint of trouble!!Enjoy your new ride,,, sounds like you are a guy that will actually DRIVE your car!! Corvettes are MUCH more enjoyable when you drive them!!

 

 

keep in mind that you should have some kind of warranty on the car since you bought it from a dealer.

 

I would not worry about the knock sensor unless the car comes up with a code. That did happen on my car and I replaced front and rear. Watch out for the mod bug as this was the beginning. Since I needed to pull the intake (which is when I found a deteriated PVC hose), decided to get the LS6, then thought the valley pan change out should be done (different with an LS6) which got rid of all the polution hose's, and when I saw how much oil vaper was being recirculated back thru the throttle body decided to finish the job with a oil catch can. Oh, forgot the add the polished/bored out throttle body
These were well deserved upgrades, easy to do and piece of mind upgrades. Have fun with the car!

 

I find it funny that people associate a Corvette with a mid life crises.
Someone even used that line on me on a local car forum. I LOL'd (I'm 25)...

 

congrats on your new car. I hope you enjoy.

 

Congrats...gotta love a Red Vert!

 

What a nice welcome from everyone. Some forums don't like new memebers much because of all of the questions they ask. I promise I'll try to search for answers for problems. Just put in the seafoam during lunch and filled up with some shell 93 octane. We'll see if she still pings in a week.

 

Pics or it didn't happen

 

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

 

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum. Be sure to post up pics.

Couple bottles of Techron should help you out and be sure to use premium fuel(91-93 octane).

A word of advise. Do NOT start modding this car. You will never stop. You think your wife didn't okay the car before sheeeesshh LMAO.

-Alex

 

A Solstice yuck. Welcome aboard bought mine 5 years ago. trouble free car, course mine is stock.