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Good for you. I've been looking like crazy and waited until winter as we have 5 months of rain here, and vettes start to go up for sale somewhat. I just hate dealing with these freaking craigslist sellers. half of them don't respond and keep reposting the ad then the one i've been eyeing for a little while but couldn't get a response from gets back to me the night that i'm deciding if i should buy another one. Ugh!!!
Thanks. The strips bother the hell outa me but everyone in my family likes them from the pictures, haha. I'm leaning toward this one because its saving me 4k from my top budgeted car and it would be nice to keep that cash. However i just got an email back from a 2002 super clean 68k metallic red manual and I may be going to that one, we'll see what he'll do on price, that will make up my mind. Thanks everyone for the responses even if i didn't agree with them. I know the pre 01' issues with parts but this car also will only have 2k or less a year put on it so its not a daily or anything.
Good deal on the 98 in my opinion. Looks to be in great condition from the pics. I personally wouldnt let the early model C5 issues stop me from buying one, I have a 98 myself with 103K miles. No issues so far. Knock on wood!! If the overall condition meets your expectations I'd say go for it. Goodluck with the 2002 as well. Id say check that one out to. Get as much info about it as you can, especially the history and make a decision. Keep us posted.
Here in Seattle cars not as nice cost that. So I guess Portland is about the same. The only parts you can not get are the ABS parts. The car can still be driven without those. It would e better if it dose not have Active handling. The early ones did not. My 98 dose not. I know several people with early C5s and none have had the dreaded failure.
Thanks for the responses guys. The 2002 fell through he's firm on 15 and is near impossible to get ahold of. I look at it for 50% more money I don't feel its a good deal. I'm gonna go for the 98 and risk it on the Early c5 parts. Thanks again for ALL your responses. Nice to see all the differing opinions
I will side with those that think it is a fair price. Most cars for that money need a significant amount of work. This one looks to be a clean one. I also think the stripes look good.
The most important thing to consider is this the car for you. If it calls out your name and drives well with no problems buy it! I LOVE mine, I bought it a month or so ago, from a dealer, for 10.5K. The first time I saw it I knew it was the car for me. It was a couple days till I could test drive it, those were real long days. I did take advantage of the delay to do a carfax and a little research. All I am going to say is I am kicking myself for not upgrading to a C5 sooner, and when I walk into the garage and see it sitting there it puts a huge smile on my face. Good luck with the purchase of which ever car you buy and rest assured when you get it you will not regret it! Mike
Not a bad price ,what you want the Corvette for ? #1 Has it been taken care of oil changed 3-5000 miles who had the ride can you talk to them ? any kind of warranty at all ? If looking for a daily driver too many miles just a Corvette to do club things week ends OK .. A big plus is if you can or know who owned the corvette that way you know something about what you are spending $10,000 on without some input good or bad for the last owner about this Corvette it's just another high mileage C-5 corvette ..
OP: I think it is a fair deal, not a screaming I really stole one deal, but a real fair deal. Car appears well maintained, you know the dealer and it seems you can possibly talk to previous owner, all pluses.
As far as buying nationally, I always look, mostly to get a feel for pricing. It appears you have done this and are comfortable with the pricing. So unless the perfect and I mean perfect car for you is in Florida, I say buy local from folks you know and get this one. It will be a blast!
As to mileage. I was shopping just like you and ended up with an 03 with 88,000 miles. Almost the same miles as yours and this car is five years newer than the 98, so in comparison the 98 is low mileage, less than 5,500 per year.
Any car that is not a super garage queen gets driven. And driving is best for the car, not sitting. I think people 50+ years old (i"m 60+) tend to fall back on their youth when 50,000 miles on a 1974 Camaro was a lot o miles. Most cars from that era were totally worn out at 100,000. Not so today. Heck Kia's go 100,000+.
The LS1 motor has a history and it's a good one with many (well at least several) here on this forum with over 200,000. That's the point at which I would start to say it has high miles. Heck your car with a conservative annual 10,000 per year (as dd) would have over 170,000 on it by now. With today's machining teck, engineering and maintenance your car shows I say you have miles and miles of smiles ahead. Mini rant on mileage over.
I think this is a fair price as well. The car looks to be in nice condition.
If this is what you are looking for then do it... I like the stipes BTW..
I really like the stripes too...wait a few weeks before you remove them, you may warm up to them. Around these parts you will get a GM BEATER for that price so you now know my feeling on the price. Buy it and you will not have to say "I should have"!
If you like the car and feel its a good deal go for it. If your time is worth nothing and you can save $500 by flying somewhere to pick up a car good deal. Most of us would think that's a waste and buy local.
There are a lot of negative things that are said about the early C5. Yes some parts are not available. Nothing that will leave it on the side of the road. I have stated before that the owners of the later cars are more worried about what might go wrong with these car because they have more problems with their cars than i do. Good thing they can be repaired. Mine is a 1998 with 46000 miles, none of the dreaded problems. Original owner. I also think it is a good price. Look at some of the junk that is being sold for 8 & 10000 dollars.
Nice looking car and a fair price. See if dealer will change all fluid oil, trans, brake. diff and coolant if there are no records of maintenance. This is about $400 to have done at a dealer. Are the TPWS installed, do they work. Check DIC codes clear them and take a drive and check again before you turn off car.
12-06-2015, 10:46 PM
I really like the stripes too...wait a few weeks before you remove them, you may warm up to them. Around these parts you will get a GM BEATER for that price so you now know my feeling on the price. Buy it and you will not have to say "I should have"! 
