Newcomer
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 368,340
Likes: 24,779
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
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CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Check out the stickies in the C5 General and C5 Tech sections - plenty of valuable information there. Also, I am moving this to the C5 General section for more comments and advice from the helpful members there.
Racer
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 310
Likes: 38
Im in your boat, but been around here last 6 months or so learning all I can about c5/c6, the sticky's have a lot of good archived information. I stuck to ls1tech, ls1gto, tbss forums before but had an account here. Youll learn a lot just cruising C5 General and C5 Tech though, seeing questions asked and answered. If something peaks your interest you can dive deeper in the sticky's and search.
From what I have seen, Ill be staying to the 01+ cars mostly due to discontinuation of parts and electrical bits and improved electronics. If your a manual guy 01+ got a stronger torque tube. LS6 intake on 01+. Big improvement in AH, ABS, TCS handling too if memory serves.
Things to watch for in those years:
Oil consumption in 01.
Valve spring issues specific to 02-03 Zo6(ignore on base car)
Late 03-04 fuel tank issues(specific vin run you can find on here pretty easy)
If manual hunting Id place a premium on a clutch already being replaced as well. Price to do it at a shop is pricey. If you can do it yourself, could get a deal on one that is slipping or use it for bargaining never being replaced depending on mileage/usage.
From what I have seen, Ill be staying to the 01+ cars mostly due to discontinuation of parts and electrical bits and improved electronics. If your a manual guy 01+ got a stronger torque tube. LS6 intake on 01+. Big improvement in AH, ABS, TCS handling too if memory serves.
Things to watch for in those years:
Oil consumption in 01.
Valve spring issues specific to 02-03 Zo6(ignore on base car)
Late 03-04 fuel tank issues(specific vin run you can find on here pretty easy)
If manual hunting Id place a premium on a clutch already being replaced as well. Price to do it at a shop is pricey. If you can do it yourself, could get a deal on one that is slipping or use it for bargaining never being replaced depending on mileage/usage.
Last edited by jrob56; Jul 22, 2019 at 12:24 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,398
Likes: 768
From: jefferson texas
As noted above, read the stickies at the top of the page, tons of pertinent information. Whatever you do make sure any prospective buy is thoroughly checked one end to the other by a tech/shop that knows these cars well. Repairs on these cars can get very expensive very rapidly. Remember that great maintenance and care trumps mileage every time. Be fussy, there are a lot of very nice and well cared for C5's out there. Good luck with your search. Be patient and demanding.
