Took me roughly 2 years of on/off searching to find mine. I knew what I could afford and that was my main issue. Most of the cars I wanted were out of my price range or on the opposite side of the country but in June I found one from a relatively local forum member and couldn't be happier, 1 owner car with low mileage, all paperwork and the color I wanted.

Be patient and when you find that one you will know it. In the mean time just keep saving your money. The more you can afford the pickier you can be.

 

I was advised to be patient and I took a month or two. In hindsight I got mostly what I wanted but kinda wish I had looked longer. I'd say look for up to 6 months, maybe 12.

 

took me 4 months to find my perfect one,
a 97, so price was right
middle mileage 80k
adult driven
auto
not a conv
bolt on mods-headers,high flo mufflers, free air intake, drilled and slotted rotors, zr-1 wheels with new tires(got original wheels also)
classic repairs already made- new head lite motors, wwmotor replace and drainage fixed, a/c fixed(electonic)
complete tune up(wires, plugs, hoses, belts)
custom interior, fixed worn drivers seat, drivers seat movement fixed
new bat
and it was only 10 miles from home and they delivered it

 

I should have taken more time although the car has been a full bore success on all counts.

I browsed off and on for a year or two but didn't seriously research it. You're in the right place now so read everything you can, in the end I didn't look at enough cars. It was real easy in my area to find great low mileage cars so it really was just a matter of price, color, and options. I picked up mine in just over a month.

I discounted the Z's and FRC's from the start and really shoudn't have...

 

took me a little over 6 months. i kept going back and forth between a early c6 coupe and c5z.

my whole deal was condition and care. i wanted to find an older guy who just drove the car down the freeway. lot of c5z's were hammered by people who tracked them into the ground

finally did come across a great deal from an older guy, all stock 2002 c5z and i'm pleased with the purchase. car has a lot of life left in it

 

My son bought his Zo6 two years ago. He wanted only a Zo6 black on black with fairly low miles. He wanted a C5 and found it with 12,000 after looking about 6 months mostly on autotrader.com and Corvette forum.
I had always loved Corvettes since I sat in one of a high school buddy who drag raced (legally). It's possible that's where my son got his love for the corvette.
Anyhow, it's 15 months later and I can't stand it watching him drive his corvette with added black powdered rims and BB bullet exhaust. Corvette fever is highly contagious when it strikes. so... About 9 months ago I decided to get my own baby. Looked high and low in the usual places (eBay, Craigslists, Corvette Forum ) but also another 5 or 6 other websites that were selling Corvettes.
I wanted also a C5 black on black zo6 no mod, one owner, low mileage (10 to 15000). I was ready to wait until I found exactly what I was looking for. Took me 9 months looking every day through all these websites. Then 2 weeks ago looked at Craigslist and nothing in my area but at the bottom of the listing it asked if I wanted to see listing from neighboring areas. I clicked yes and there was the one I had been looking for. One owner, hardly ever driven. Garaged in a heated/air conditioned garage. Never driven in winter or in rain. Battery always maintained with battery tender. Only mod: a cold air intake and chrome wheels.
I thought too good to be true but I emailed the seller. Car was still for sale so first asked the seller for the VIN. Did a Carfax check and all the info checked out so made an appointment to see the car as soon as possible. Clinched the deal right there. Wired him the money and picked up the car several days later.
You should never settle for second choice because most likely you will regret it especially if a good deal on the car that you wanted comes up shortly after you buy yours.

 

I made this mistake. I LOVE driving & cleaning (OFTEN) my black C5.
Got a good deal on a 16k garage queen in 06; Mint.

BUT seems like Every thread I click on the ba@&t#%d has electron blue. Which is what I really love the most.....
Oh well, aftr all the bolt on's, cam, ported 243's, 3:42, maybe cutouts will generate a smile long enough to forget about EBlue.

That being said, it was spotless yesterday when I walked out of 7-11 w/ my daughter, and from a distance as I approached it I did do an internal " wow ".

Black is beautiful. Just on a car its a career not a color.
Mark

 

When I bought my current '03, I guess I looked for about 4 months before finding it right here on the forum. I wasn't real picky about the color (other than I did not want black) and this one had the majority of options I wanted (only other thing I would have liked would have been the dual top option). Been very happy with it in the past four years. I would say be as picky as you feel comfortable with as it is a large expenditure and you want to be happy.

 

Yeah, you will know when you see it

Mine only had 7K miles and was super clean. The guy that had it was an electrical engineer and you could have ate off his garage floor. It also helped that it came with a bunch of extras

 

We got lucky and bought the first car we looked at. Looked on Craig's list for a few weeks when it showed up. Color wasn't a big deal as long as it wasn't yellow. Had to be a 6 speed. Didn't want wagon wheels. As it turned out we found a 2003 torch red coupe 6 speed with polished thin spokes. Test drove it and bought it on the same day. Love the car.

 

I was less picky on color, year, and mods than I was on price and a few options.

I wanted a Z51 coupe, 6 speed, in an unusual color or white. No black, red, silver, etc.

Got a 2002 Mag Red coupe a few months after I started looking, great shape, a few nice mods, and it has been a super nice and reliable car. I do look at the Spiral Gray and Fairway Green cars from time to time and sort of wish I had one, but I can always buy another.

 

I had been looking for a long time without any time reference to buy. It just so happened that I found MY Vette less than two miles from home at a local dealership. Turns out it had belonged to a guy I've know for 20 yrs and the only reason he sold it was he got married and they didn't want a car with only two seats. He was the manager of the local GM dealership parts dept. and always saw the car was top flight maintained. I really got lucky.