dbgoodwin

now that sounds awesome

zachaeous

I have taken my 2001 C5 on trips and have put around 15,000 miles on it three years of ownership. I would drive mine anywhere in the US without hesitation.

laurent_zo6

Man just donated his C5 with 773,000 miles to the Corvette Museum so I think you should be ok. .

https://www.autoblog.com/2017/11/10/...usaolp00000618

golfnutts

I retired in 96 and did the same thing, went to see all the Air bases I was stationed at except the ones overseas:
Kirtland AFB NM, Davis-Monthan AZ, George AFB CA, Edwards AFB CA, wish I could take my C5 to germany that would be fun.
Did it in a C5 with no problems, I did flush the radiator and transmission fluid, and new belts before I left. Best trip ever!! Currently do 500+ trips to corvette car shows never had a problem.

golfnutts

He's retired military we can get on any military installation with our ID cards.

Grandpa1

After having bought my 03 Vert about 5 months ago I would not be afraid to take it on a long road trip at all.
Even though the car was a one owner, low mileage and well maintained car, I changed out the belts, hoses and fluids just so I would know what I had. I did all that myself even though I am fat and old so I would become familiar with the car.
I've already driven it on a couple of 1000 mile round trips and it performs flawlessly.
I did add roadside assistance on my insurance just in case.
I think my C5 is an awesome vehicle and my wife and I love it!

grampi50

I am retired military...I have access to any military installation...

maj75

Tires would be my worry. Roads are not what they used to be in many parts of the country. I just did a California road trip and was glad I didn’t take my C5. The roads were so bad they would have been really uncomfortable in the C5.

JR-01

Some folks just aren't up to it. I will sell my C5 when I an afraid to drive it.

dork

Long-winded, but my 100,000-mile c5 isn't a daily driver. I've got a 2003 z06. . I've driven it at least 6 times across the country on a "regular route" from Biloxi, MS to the San Francisco bay area. West Texas is the "scariest" part of the trip because there aren't many large cities scattered between San Antonio and El Paso along the I-10 route. I've always imagined that a breakdown along that portion of my route would strand me for at least 3 days--just getting the Corvette to a Chevy dealership would be a hassle.

I've got the extended towing package on AAA's roadside service (~$125/yr) which allows for one free 200-mile tow per year. That supplements my regular insurance company's free-towing for under 50 miles. I've never needed them.

I have had two very inconvenient breakdowns, but they weren't the car's "fault". One, a rat or some other creature (obviously) ate through one of the brake position sensor relay wires, and that caused the dreaded "service TC/AH" message which reduced engine power and eliminated Traction Control and ABS until I swapped a new wire in. I learned how to diagnose the problem on a library computer through this forum and ordered the part from a dealer and installed it myself with the help of a borrowed jack and stand. It was an easy fix, but the "breakdown" did cause a lot of stress--though I could have driven all the way home from San Francisco "old school"--no traction control, no ABS; even highway speeds were allowed, just not with the normal z06-like throttle response... The second time I got caught in a Texas thunderstorm and submerged the front end when I was forced to navigate through a flooded deep driveway trough--the only exit from the quickly flooding parking lot. The same error msg occurred and I drove about 40 miles under that condition. Parking it overnight dried it out and I never had a problem after that.

That route usually logs about 6,000 mile per trip, and after at least 6x, or 36,000 accumulated miles, these were my only two breakdowns. Routine, I'd say, for the conditions and mileage. The car's at 102,000 miles now; 98% of it was interstate driving, though ~60% of it was more localized including 15-18 1,800 mile trips--and never any other problem.

Obviously, I'm not afraid of my '03 being reliable.

dork

Y'oughta come on down here to Mississippi... some of our roads are so bad I hadda add "splash guards" to both my Vettes. Rough enough down here in places the car rides like a pickup truck in places. Broke my heart; there's so much gravel and potholes, etc. on a coupla the roads I travel that aftermarket OEM splash guards just don't shield enough. I've never posted pictures of my two Vettes because the mudflaps I got on there are embarrassing--but I learned the hard way, after rocks chewed up the quarter panel and rear bumper.

nmbsun

I bought my 2004 Base Model new. I have had it with Chevrolet's cheap build of a car. This C5 I have has been a total nightmare. You name it and it has failed, on our first trip I stopped for gas and the column would not unlock, then the window motors failed, both sides, about a month apart. Then came wheel bearings failing again both rear wheels, spread out over about 2 months. Not to mention the leaky butt when I first got the car, dealer tried 3 times before they finally fixed the problem. The drivers seat rocks back and forth due to cheap plastic washers that were used to hold the seat in. The drivers side outside mirror will not work with the motor control and has lost the auto dim function. Then the damn thing started running HOT in traffic. Took it back to the dealer and they said, 'Well the fans come on OK". Car still runs hot in traffic after a complete flush, new hoses and thermostat plus new expansion tank cap that failed. The car has rattles all in it from cheap plastic rubbing. I could go on and on but buying my "Dream Car" was the worst thing I have done in a long time. Lesson well learned, now I am just trying to "keep it in parts" so I can get some use around town out of it. Ohhhh forgot to mention the harmonic balancer has been replaced 4 times and last summer after a 200 mile trip I opened the hood to check the oil and noticed the balancer bolt had completely back out! Got fed up with GM brand and went with ati balancer and arp bolt. So far so good, no wobble and the bolt has not backed out.

Would I take this C5 corvette on a road trip? What do you think!

I might mention that all maintenance has been done on schedule and the car has never been on a track or for that matter even driven hard.

JR-01

So you have had the car for 13 years and have had all those problems? Why do you still own it?

Pounder

I have non-run flats and don't give it a thought !!!!

nmbsun

Well most of all I am an honest person. I could not sell this car to someone and take the money and run. And I sure do not want to trade it in and loose even more money on it. Chalk it up to "Lesson Learned".

Coc5

Well, you have access to some, not all. Example where I'm at right now, we had two retired Colonels demand access. The gate guards sent them away. There are no tours given here. When I have deliveries here for me, I have to submit paperwork to security days in advance and then when they show up, I escort them from the gate to my location and then back to the gate. I know for a fact you will be sent away if you were to show up here with no cause to enter.

As far as driving a C5 cross country, I'd have zero reservations about doing it. Just have a plan to handle a flat. I keep a good compressor and a shoe lace tire repair kit. A shoe lace kit will fill a pretty good cut and hold air long enough to get you a little further. After 120,000 miles of driving, I've never had a immediate flat tire, just slow leaks. The C5 is a great road car, just avoid deep puddles of water.

Grandpa1

No doubt, honesty is the only way to go but you could tell any potential buyer the problems you've had.
Seems to me all the new things on the car would help sell it!!
You must like it a little.

nmbsun

What you say makes sense and if the car would "settle down" and things would quit breaking this could be a good selling point. BUT>>>> things just keep breaking, latest thing is that I have the clear top as well as the painted one and the pin that holds in the front of the top broke off and I found out that you have to replace the entire locking lever to just replace the broken pin! I do not know much about auto design but I really believe I could sit down and come up with a better design than most of the parts on a C5 Corvette!

jackthelad

I would have no issues with my 20 year old C5 from a reliability point of view, but from choice I would take something much quieter and more comfortable, which would not wear me out doing 500/600 miles a day.

dbgoodwin

Looks like you're in NC too, What part? I'll come haul that junk 2004 away for you so it stops stressing you out so much!