My C5 performed and handled light years better than my 81. However the quality of some "plastic" parts was slipping.
Poor Quality
CF Community Team
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 14,094
Likes: 7,393
From: Pittsburgh
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Jerry, I noticed you never mentioned the cracked fiberglass or paint cracking....hey how about those lovely rear control arm bearing and bushings, and yeah, those rear diff ears that break, brake calipers that seize up, doubt your C5 will have that problem. All cars have SOME issues at times , The 3 you mentioned had there fair share as well, how about floor heat? Crapy paint in the jambs and over all. Overspray all over and now NCRS and Bloomington Gold want it back that way too, craziness. And to address the weight issues. Get rid of the government mandate safety crap, air bags add weight and cost a ton, then they buy them oversees and have to recall millions. Just teach people to drive sensible on the street.
Get rid of the safety crap? You do realize that crap like that could save your life, right? Lets go back to the 1960s with drum brakes & a steering wheel that will puncture your chest like a spear in an accident
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 4,308
Likes: 3,455
From: Somewhere, Florida
St. Jude Donor '20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Jerry, I noticed you never mentioned the cracked fiberglass or paint cracking....hey how about those lovely rear control arm bearing and bushings, and yeah, those rear diff ears that break, brake calipers that seize up, doubt your C5 will have that problem. All cars have SOME issues at times , The 3 you mentioned had there fair share as well, how about floor heat? Crapy paint in the jambs and over all. Overspray all over and now NCRS and Bloomington Gold want it back that way too, craziness. And to address the weight issues. Get rid of the government mandate safety crap, air bags add weight and cost a ton, then they buy them oversees and have to recall millions. Just teach people to drive sensible on the street.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 760
Likes: 242
From: All Over The Place
Thank you Deb for the reminder, Everyone on the CF needs to lighten up. Seeing too much in the way of insults, belittlement, and trashing. No need, especially on here where we should be helping our brothers and sisters. Check the approach of beratement at the door please.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 2,460
Likes: 352
From: Madison Alabama
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 1,116
Likes: 850
From: Southern California
2024 C7 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
unfortunately paying RR price doesn’t mean anything,
my family has 2 phantoms, they are basically 99% Bmw 760 underneath, terrible quality, 12 cylinder junk, ( we got them brand new in 2011)
i cant say one good thing about them, besides when people see them they think it’s holy grail.
my family has 2 phantoms, they are basically 99% Bmw 760 underneath, terrible quality, 12 cylinder junk, ( we got them brand new in 2011)
i cant say one good thing about them, besides when people see them they think it’s holy grail.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 515
Likes: 278
From: Carol Stream (Chicago suburbs) IL
Hello all,
Glad to be back after awhile. I have to get something off my chest concerning quality. I have owned 4 Vettes. 2 matching number 67 big blocks, a 68 matching number big block, and now a 2004. I am so disappointed in the quality of the 04. Cheap seats, cheap emblems, and cheap cheap shifter cables as examples. The 04 has 8000 miles on it and the shifter cable fell apart and now the rear deck emblem is cracking. The car is garage kept , never seen rain , etc. My prior cars all has metal emblems and the leather seats were pretty good. What the heck is going on at GM ? Are the newer models any better ? Thanks for listening.
Best,
JC
Glad to be back after awhile. I have to get something off my chest concerning quality. I have owned 4 Vettes. 2 matching number 67 big blocks, a 68 matching number big block, and now a 2004. I am so disappointed in the quality of the 04. Cheap seats, cheap emblems, and cheap cheap shifter cables as examples. The 04 has 8000 miles on it and the shifter cable fell apart and now the rear deck emblem is cracking. The car is garage kept , never seen rain , etc. My prior cars all has metal emblems and the leather seats were pretty good. What the heck is going on at GM ? Are the newer models any better ? Thanks for listening.
Best,
JC
My father, a retired surgeon, now 87 years old owned (bought them all new) a C-1 (60), C-2 (67), C3 (70), C4 (84) and his last, a C5 (Anniversary). For what it is worth, he declared the C5 to be the best of them all. That's just one man's opinion; but he had a unique perspective of owning them new and having known him all my life; I'd say you can take that to the bank. These C5s are in many cases over 20 years old, and many nearing 20 years old. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any prior Corvette that has held together better with less attention than the C5. That's just my opinion (my car is an '01 with over 111,000 miles on it). I'd say it has held up remarkably well. The car gets a bad rap for a "cheap" interior. Perhaps that's justified to some extent; but I believe the materials were selected not so much to cut costs as they were to cut weight. My C5 weighs in within a few pounds of my E46 BMW. That weight has to come off somewhere and the interior shows it. Still no cracked dash, the seats look fine. I have replaced the visors, a broken radio **** and the driver's side seat cushion. The C5 for a number of reasons spent quite a bit more time in development than most Corvettes; and I think it shows.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 65
Likes: 9
From: Chicago Northwest Suburb
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