Gents,

I know squat about C5's but went to see one with my grandson today; a 2001 6 speed coupe with 37k miles. Your assistance with the following questions will be appreciated:

There is not a single chip on the front bumper cover. I found no telltales of a repaint so am wondering if this is too good to be true.

The underside was clean enough to eat off of except for a trail of oil from the left side transmission output shaft seal. What is the difficulty/cost of replacing this seal?

I could find neither a roof removal wrench nor a lug nut socket (such as come with a C4). Do C5's not have these?

Thanks in advance for your help.

S. Lee Sikes, Burton, Texas

 

Welcome.

It may have been driven gingerly, The way many Vette owners do. Some people buy them, and rarely drive them. They put them in the garage and stare at them, spending more time waxing than driving. So no, it is not too good to be true. It's been driven less than 2,000 miles per year or 40 miles a week.

By transmission output seal, I think you are referring to the differential seal, at the left CV axle shaft. It's commonly known as the leaky butt here on the forum. If that is the case then it requires that the shaft be pulled and a new seal installed. It's not major surgery and not a major concern. Usually a very slow leak of thick gear oil. Probably less than $300 to fix. If it was the actual transmission leaking I don't know how you would see it with the Diff mounted directly to it.

The roof doesn't require a wrench. It comes off with two latches on the front and one on the back, similar to most convertibles. The C5 was designed with a more rigid frame and was designed to be a convertible unlike the C4. The C4 top needed to be bolted down for rigidity.

The C5 came with run-flat tires. Since it doesn't have a spare tire then why would you need a lug wrench? It would be difficult and dangerous to change a tire on one of these on the side of the road. Having two different size tires (for front and rear) would be another issue in carrying a spare.

It sounds like you may have found a good deal.

 

There is a sticky at the top of the page. Useful information for anyone new to C5.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ion-files.html

 

Here is an owners manual.

Owner's Manual - 2001_chevrolet_corvette_owners.pdf

 

Rob 02 and laurent Z06 have given you some good advice/pointed you in the right direction. Good luck in your C5 search - they are great cars.

On the the front end issue, the previous owner could also have run a front cover on the car which helps keep rock chips off the car. As part of your pre-purchase process, you should have a good Tech/body shop look the car over for previous damage/repairs.

 

When I bought my '03 2yrs. ago it didn't have a nick or chip anywhere on it. After purchase I immediately had a clear bra installed, and it still has no chips. So you can find them in pristine condition. It took me over 6mos. to find mine.

 

If you are talking about the locking lug nut socket you may find it under the carpet in the rear hatch of the car.

 

I'm willing to bet this is less than 1% of those that own Corvettes. I, like many others purchased a Corvette as a weekend toy. We don't put alot of miles per year on our car due to time, family, and it being a 2nd+ car. I put on average anywhere from 3k-5k miles per year and I'm far from a waxer. Which I found dull and boring.

 

I just rolled 30k miles on mine, no chips either. No concern there

 

Rob02,

The lug nut socket I referred to is the one for the "locking" lug nut with the car-specific profile.

Regards.

S. Lee Sikes

 

I always look at the “front skid pad” or lower radiator support. If it looks brand new, there’s a good chance it had front end damage. I don’t know a single c5 without some curb damage to that area.

 

I was a little extreme in that assessment. In my area there are a lot of Corvettes but you never see them until they come out on weekends. On the weekends it seems like they are everywhere. A lot of C5, 6 and 7's. A good portion of owners are retired and no longer have a long commute anywhere. To be honest, I don't put many miles on mine either. I don't like the Vette sitting in a parking lit for long periods of time. I have a beater truck that I drive. In a suburban area most of the errands are near by. A majority of Vetts don't see the same mileage as family sedans.

My point is that there plenty of garage queens out there to be had, and that is a good thing, for anyone in the market for one. Waxer is kind of a harsh term (they all need wax), but that's the owner I would hope to purchase from.