Bout' Time

Found a 2000 Bowling Green 6 speed manual convertible. 80,000 miles. He wants $16,000 grand. It looks great in pictures (have not seen it in person), clean car fax, 4 previous owners. Here is my dilemma. I have not driven a manual in years, and when I did it was an old lumber truck in my early 20's. I was looking for automatic, but this car really caught my eye. When I pictured "my vette", I was thinking Black, Red, Silver with an automatic, then out of nowhere I find this great looking green vette with a stick!

Leo23

I would hold out for the color and options that you really want, because if you don't, every time you see one, you'll wish it was yours....

dblerman

$16K isn't too unreasonable if it's in excellent condition, but I would still try to talk him down. If you look hard enough you can find a C5 with much fewer miles for that price.

That being said, bowling green wasn't a very common color, so it might be worth the extra premium if you're in a rush to buy and have your heart dead set on green.

MSG C5

IMO Green is one of those colors you either love it or hate it. I doubt it would grow on you so I would keep looking for your preferred colors.

Ron Dittmer

People on this forum heavily favor the manual transmission, but I would not be one of them for I drive my Corvette around town, sometimes in traffic. The automatic is such a well engineered and computer controlled design that I think it is the best of the best for the commuter and joy rider.

I have test driven a few stick shift C5 Corvettes and was surprised of the consistent rattling noise they make. I think people on the forum refer to it as a throw-out bear noise. Needless to say, that further deterred me from considering a stick shifter.

About the 2000 convertible. If you plan to place a child seat in the passenger seat, then do NOT consider anything older than a 2001 because that was the 1st year of the passenger side air-bag disabling switch.

Mid-year 2000 the auto-dimming mirrors were introduced, so the Y2K you are considering might or might not have that feature.

There are other little benefits to a 2001 including a better, thicker, more quiet and insulated convertible top. For 2002, the redesigned rear gasket prevents paint damage that 1998-2001 has. So if you really want the best C5 convertible made, think 2002-2004.

About that Bowling Green....I owned a 2001 with tan interior for 3 years and it really was a beautiful car. I did replace the rear gasket in time, before any paint damage occurred to the toneau cover. Since that color was offered only for 2000 and 2001, the 2001 is as good as a Bowling Green will get. Generally speaking such a color scheme is more for the over-40 age group. At least that is my take on it. Yes I am over 40....54 to be specific.

Well Wishes.

Patches

Wonder if that's MeanGreen2000's old vert?

dblerman

Is it this one?


Clean looking car

jrose7004

Wait until you find the car in your dreams.

esemes

my 2000 (02/25/00) frc has the switch...

TheoZ

I love the green. Someday I may paint my C5Z green.

But if you don't want a manual, don't get one no matter what color it is.

Vetteman Jack

Actually, the passenger air bag cutoff switch came out mid-model year 2000 as my '00 coupe, which was built 2/29/00 had it on the car.

For the OP, the Dark Bowling Green Metallic color was not a wildly popular one, but in person it is a really nice color on the C5. And the manual tranny in the C5 is really pretty easy to get used to if you haven't driven a stick for a while. However, don't settle for any car - get the one you want that is the color you like with the options you want. There are a lot of C5s out there - be patient and find the right one.

duckvett

While it's true that Dark Bowling Green was not a top-selling color, it is still a beautiful color IMHO and you won't see yourself everyday on the streets.
As for the 6-speed as opposed to the automatic..... this manual transmission is in no way anything like your old lumber truck. Try it, you might like it.

Wadoka

The C5 manual is an easy-to-drive manual. Light clutch effort and lots of torque make for no real issues. I learned to drive manual on a friend's old C5, about an hour in a parking lot, before I drove 2 1/2 hours to pick up my old '99 FRC and drive it home

But it's certainly not a playground in stop-and-go traffic...

6-speed + Convertible and only 80K... sounds good. Point, don't expect the green to make it more valuable because it's rare. It's a love it/hate it color which will just make it harder to resell, really.

Evil-Twin

Mean green's car had twin tubo's . he also totaled it

Hi Ed !

PhysicsDude55

Man, I was in the opposite situation when I was buying my convertible. I wanted a manual, but could only find automatics! I ended up paying more than I wanted and driving 450 miles to pick mine up, but I don't regret it one bit.

When I was looking the 6sp convertibles sold for about 2K more than automatics, because they're relatively uncommon (most verts are automatics). You can find c5 convertibles in good shape for 15K all day long, so I would personally just wait a little bit and not make any compromises.

JaxEagle

Just my $0.02... a bowling green 6 speed is a rare and very SWEEEEET combo. I think that is a fair price for the car if the condition is good. Hmmm.... bowling green and 6 speed... I won't ask where the seller is but I'm tempted!

woodman300

i have a coupe in that color and like it because it is different. my first thought was to get a navy blue metallic but when i saw the green one i liked it. it sometimes looks black because it is a dark green. same thing for me with the stick. i hadn't driven one in years and i wasn't sure if i could do it. but i did and i am happy (except for those bad traffic days). i still say you should drive several before choosing. it may take a while but it will be worth it. the 16k seems a little high but not too bad depending on condition. mine was 17k with 45,000 miles. i should have offered a little less.

Ron Dittmer

Thanks for correcting me on the air bag switch. You are right. It was mid year 2000.

As I mentioned earlier, I owned a 2001 BG/Tan vert for 3 years. I wanted to add that there was one thing the BG had that No Other C5 had........

Matching Tinted Windows.

The tinted glass is the same green. It really was quite unique.

chiavet

Hopefully RD you will see this. I have an 01 DBGM Vert. 20,000. Question on the matching tinted windows, had never hears of that. Are you saying they came from the factory tinted?

CQRT

I always liked those "different" colors and had searched for a copper C4 and the Bowling Green before I bought the Precision Red (about 1200 cars) early 05 C6 . . . nice not to see yourself coming and going . .

The Electron Blue (3rd most popular in 2002) was one of those colors I really wasn't even considering . . . but it's growing on me . . .