So I'm at the age (64) when I just need my first Corvette. I am a firm believer that a guy has to either have a Vette sometime in his life, or something with a 454. I've already had my GMC 2500 with a 454 so it's probably time to do the Vette thing.

I like the C5, good pricing, good styling so that's where I'm heading.

Went to look at my first yesterday, a 2000 with 70K miles.

Disappointed. Private owner, paint dull/scratched, tires bad, transparent top sunburnt/scratched, drivers seat worn, plastic console cracked, drove with lots of rattles, some play (automatic which is what my knees want) with play from drive to reverse (small clank).

Frankly, it drove just like an old used car, nothing special. All for $14K.

I was expecting Vettes to have been pampered a bit. This one even had leaves in the engine compartment.

So, am I expecting too much when I go to take a look at these cars.

Thanks, Bob

PS: I've done Porsches for lots of years and I presently have a 460 HP RX7 Rotary, 2nd Gen that my son built for me. Not especally looking for max HP, just a nice Vette that we can go cruising in...

 

Sounds like this one was NOT taken care of. You WILL find the right car, and know it when you do!

 

Your experience with the car you looked at seems to represent the car poorly, so don't be discouraged. I've owned four Vettes, and the C5 is the best of the bunch in what I use the car for at my age (same age as you - in fact at cruise-ins all the C5/C6 guys are 'mature' LOL).

There were many thousands of C5s built between '97 and '04. Like anything else that is used, some care for it (out of pride, preservation of asset value, etc) and some abuse the car from day one. Some start out with good intentions but things get in the way or their situation changes. You know all this already. The point is, there are many good cars out there to choose from. You didn't say whether you had a buyer's guide or not. That can help you pick a good car and maybe even help you narrow down the year to look for. Your age and the fact that you have other performance cars would seem to indicate that you could afford to buy a car that is in good shape, and bypass the cars that have been run out, neglected and cast away by their owners.

Sounds funny, but as I think about it the best 'used' cars I've bought over the years came from a dealer. It's still buyer beware out there, but a reputable dealer that specializes in Corvettes generally won't sell you total crap (yeah, there are exceptions). My current C5 came from a classic car dealer and I couldn't be happier with it. I had a Ford Explorer I bought from a dealer and drove it for 12 years and put a ton of great miles on it before I parted it out. You'll pay a little more at a dealer, but as my dad used to say 'if you wanta play, you gotta pay'. Buy the best car you can find / afford, have your money ready, negotiate fairly for it, and don't look back.

Keep looking and if you get a bad vibe when you look at a car, walk away. There are so many C5s out there you'll eventually find the one that speaks to you.

 

No that car isn't representative of most Vettes out there. You'll find your share of pampered cars that will meet your expectations. The world is full of C5's for sale and you'll find one that is right for you.

 

Not all Vettes are like the one you saw yesterday - many have been pampered (Vette owners are usually very picky about their cars) and are well taken care of. Keep looking - there is one out there that when you see it you will know it is the right one for you.

 

Keep looking. 14k is way too much for junk. For 15k I picked up a pampered one with only 58k miles.

 

Keep looking, there are plenty of pampered C5's right here. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-c...s-for-sale-52/

and many here: http://www.rogerscorvette.com/showroom.php

 

I bought my first one last year also, too bad I waited so long. My car has got double the miles as the one you looked at, and it's in real good shape for the miles. Keep looking, you'll find one that floats your boat. Mine just happened to be the first one I looked at. I found that I kept comparring all the others to the one I bought. So it must have been the right one for me. I did find that the asking price don't seem to drop with the miles so much, unless you're talking real low miles. In my area a 14,000 car is a real fixer upper. Good luck on your hunt, it'll be worth it when you find the right one.

 

I felt your frustration when I stared looking for my first vette, looked at half a dozen over the last 7 months, drove over a hundred miles to look at a so called excellent 2001 Vert. from a so called corvette expert who use to sell corvettes in his long sales career, only to be shocked at the fiberglass patching on the lower rear wheel panel a small crack in the passenger door and a check gauges light on not to mention the smaller things that jumped out at me and this was at a major car dealership in Florida. I looked at several more cars over the months, I checked autotrader, the corvette forum and Craigslist just about everyday. Then one day I was checking my usual sites and one caught my eye and it was only about 20 miles away. I wasn't to excited because I've had my bubble popped several times prior but decided to go that coming Sat. since it was so close to have a look. Like the previous reply stated earlier you know it when you see it, at that moment you forget about all the frustration from your previous searches and know this is the one, within a little over an hour I was driving my first vette home and happier than a kid on Christmas morning.

 

Like others have already said, it's out there...you just have to find it. Took me 5 months to find mine last year looking in a 5 state area and ended up finding it 15 miles from home. I paid a little more than I wanted, but it has been worth it...super clean one owner, low miles.

 

It took me 3 months to find my vette. Like you checked this forum, EBay and autotrader every day. Saw my car posted on EBay but I thought I could get it for a little less than the Buy it Now price. The car sold and missing out on that car ate away at me for a month. Then one night I came home and do my normal vette search and my car was listed again with a Buy it Now price being reduced by 1k. I sent the seller a email and told them I would take the car with the stip that it pass a inspection. They agreed, car past inspection with flying colors and I mee them at my bank to complete the transaction. There are plenty of pristine vettes for sale. Just keep your money ready and your eyes out. The search is the fun part. Just like buying a house you will know the right car the moment you see it.

Reggie

 

Don't be discouraged. It took me awhile to find what I wanted. A well pampered low milage convertable. I found it bought sight unseen and had it shipped to me. Today I have made some modifications but if you didn't know any better you would have thought it was new. Keep looking.

 

As the others have said, keep looking.

GM designed the C5 not only as a world class sports car but also to appeal to a wider variety of people and be user friendly. As a result, some do use these as daily drivers. And as with other cars, some daily drivers are well taken care of and some get trashed.

Also, mileage isn't everything. Car dealer lives down the road and he has a yellow coupe taken on trade. I'm guessing they stole it. He kept the car because it was so pristine...like new. This even though it has over 100K on the clock. But some people can ruin a car in 50 thou.

Good luck with your search. I would venture to say that most Vettes are pampered percentage wise.

 

Well, at the young age of (47) i would not trade for my C5Z! I bought the car stock! and have transformed it over the years to my taste. Not another one around like it. although not uncommon to find the abused C5's... that is surely not the norm. Keep looking and you too will find the perfect one FOR YOU! Keep us posted... Happy hunting...

 

keep looking..you have to weed out alot of junk to get to the gems..Took me forever to find mine..I wanted a black/black auto with the 3.15 per axle..No 01's since alot burn oil..finally found a mint 1 owner 99 back in 04 with only 20k miles..been smiling ever since..

 

myth... don't be discouraged from the 01's... some would perhaps be a better choice of words. That is like saying stay away from 02-04 due the valve spring failure..

 

RotaryDad here. Thanks for the great replies!!!

A couple more items regarding the 2000 C5 that I saw the other day in case the owner is willing to radically come down in his price (presently $14,500).

-The Pewter paint is scratched, with dings, some spider cracks in the tail and a bad repair job on one of the doors. Car needs a full new paint job. Actually the paint is not all that bad, just lots of dings that would indicate a full paint job, not patching.

-It's an automatic. We heard a clunk when stopped and shifting from Drive to Reverse and back again.

-A Check Engine light was ON.

-Pass side window did not work, neither switch would make it work.

-Center console plastic was broken/cracked. Needs replacement.

-Tires are getting thin.

-Transparent top was foggy with mild surface cracks all over. Hard top was OK but with the liner falling down.

-70,000 miles. I ran an AutoCheck and it began as a leased car, then sold at auction several years ago. No bad records except a dealer repair to the pass door (4/10) and a dealer repair to the transmission (9/10).

-Overall, it looks like it was a leased car some of its life, therefore the lack of owner keeping it detailed. It was a daily driver.

So, just in case the owner REALLY wants to make a deal, any further thoughts or a proper offering price?

Thanks, Bob

 

Take your time, you will find a nice one when you least expect it. Like my wife said: "She had to kiss a lot of toads before she found a prince"

My 2001 convertible just fell into my lap. However, when I was looking for my Pantera I had to drive and fly over 7000 miles to get what I wanted.

 

walk away - too many questions with this one.

 

Or stay away from 97-00 because of ebcm or the trans syncros yada yada. If you read enough into the possible faults, you won't buy any of them.