First off thanks for clicking the post.

I do apologize for another repetitive thread that mentions common things to this community. I spend all my time in the c6 section but yesterday my uncle sent me a link to a car he wants to check out. I live really close to the seller and he was hoping I could lend a hand. Again I know little to nothing of c5s but if anyone has a few seconds to list things to look at when inspecting, questions to ask, strange conditions to look for when driving, or anything it would be a great help to us.

Maybe also point out custom things done to the car by looking at the photos and options codes?

Photos below. (Ebay)

Car Listing

Thanks in advance!!

 

Read the Stickies at the top of the forum page.

 

Simple, completely forgot about those. Thanks.

 

I think it's about $3K too high.

 

Tailpipes seem misaligned.

 

It may be a little high, but I don't think the car should sell for $18.5K. I could see around $20K if it is in very good shape and everything works.

I'm the stickies above there is a Corvette Buyers Checklist, designed around looking at a C5, that will give you a lot of things to check on the car.

 

Check that the a/c blows ice cold from both driver/pass side. Make sure the gas gage can go all the way to full, otherwise its an indication that the level sensor is bad, which is a PITA to fix. Check to see that none of the bulbs are burnt out and that you can read the HVAC display easily.

 

The center section of the front air dam appears to be missing (2nd and 8th photo show it pretty clearly). Photo 11 shows quite a bit of paint damage to the front end.

Didn't convertibles and FRCs come with a liner on the underside of the trunk lid? If so, that's missing as well.

Aside from the banged up paint on the front, those all should be fairly easy, inexpensive fixes. It looks pretty good otherwise. 21.5k seems a little high, but doesn't strike me as outrageous.

 

My '01 didn't.
I would definitely want to know why the air dam is missing. Is there damage?

 

It didn’t have a liner from the factory but it is missing. Someone put a 3 piece liner in it at some time and left the stickies behind after removing it.

I suspect that missing air dam could cause some overheating on the highway.

 

From afar, looks like a nice clean vert in a desirable color. Tailpipes misaligned as mentioned above. Center section of air dam missing(?), looks like from what I can see. Needs a thorough end to end inspection by a good vette shop (not theirs). Demand to see maintenance history. Mileage is fairly low for the year. Just me, but I think 21.5 is high, even if all is well. I would think no more than 19.5 to 20. On a side note, if I see something like the front dam damaged or missing, it immediately has me go into suspicion mode regarding other maintenance items on the car. Be wary! Read the stickies at the top of the page for tons of pertinent C5 info. Good luck!

 

For $21.5K it should be mint. This one isn't.

 

There is a tear in the driver's seat which you can see in one of the pictures of the driver's seat from the side a little above halfway above the side bolster.

 

Overpriced a bit, but expect that from a dealer in the prime summer selling season. I paid thousands less for my 98 Pace Car with half the miles than this one has.

 

Wow you guys/gals are awesome. So much good information. I appreciate it so much. The only thing that caught my attention were the tailpipes, do they look stock? Good pick ups on the other stuff however!

 

They're not stock and either damaged or poorly installed given the misaligned tips.

 

With the missing air dam and exhaust issues a look underneath is even more mandatory. You always want to see underneath a vette. They sit low and are vulnerable to damage from careless driving. This car could possibly have some under carriage damage given the visible clues.

 

Good point. I know I scrape mine on steep driveways but I cant imagine doing something to the the back of the car. Maybe backed into something? Hopefully its a simple fix bc of a bad install...

 

Just a couple of observations that have basically been previously noted above:
1. Exhaust is mis-aligned. In follow-up to your question, It is NOT stock and based on the spacing are also not z06 TI's. What they are is not as important as how they sound to you. Many c5's have after market exhaust. Dealership needs to align properly!
2. Missing center air dam. This can be replaced inexpensively, however the issue is why is it missing. I would follow up on this.
3. The HVAC display appears to be dim from the pictures. This is common to c5's and again can be fixed inexpensively.
4. Truck lid has tape strips and is missing after market 3 piece liner. This can be purchased from any after market supplier. No concern!
Additionally it did appear that there was some chipping on the nose however it could be been the lighting as there were no close-ups.
I would check this out along with checking the bottom of the rockers for any cracking, especially with the center dam missing I would want to check closely for possible undercarriage damage.
In general my overall observation is at first glance the car looks great from a distance and is a very desirable color combination. My concern is that the previous owner was not real fussy with the details for things that were visible such as those items noted above and I seriously doubt they were especially attentive to maintenance issues.
If the car was immaculate 21.5-22.5 would be reasonable for an 03 roadster with this mileage, but in this case I'm thinking around 19-20 if everything checks out mechanically, the paint/body issues are minor and the dealership aligns the exhaust.