When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
IMHO, these are two different cars even though the early C6 was really a C5.5 in some regards...non pop up headlights and seats/interior big ones. I'm a fan of the C5 Zs. Like any first run car, there will be issues (visit the C8 section). By the time the 03 and 04 C5s had hit dealerships most of the issues had shaken out. Don't get me wrong, certainly not bullet proof as my car (2004 Z16) suffers from a few electrical gremlins that frustrate me. Best advice is to drive a late C5 (preferably a Z) and an early C6.
If you're going to keep the car and drive it for years I think that you are almost always better off with the last year or two of a vette generation that you are with the first year or two of the new generation.
I was in a similar delima 15 years ago and was choosing between 95 & 96 C4s vs. 97-99 C5's very glad that I bought the 95. A half dozen years later I bought an 04 C5 and have been very happy with both of them. The C4 now has 140K on it and the C5 has 80K.
I'd avoid the early 2005 C6 with automatic because they didn't have the paddle shifter option. Otherwise I'd go with the C6 if they were both in the same price range. You posted here in the C5 world so that will affect other responses. Good luck!
If you're going to keep the car and drive it for years I think that you are almost always better off with the last year or two of a vette generation that you are with the first year or two of the new generation.
I was in a similar delima 15 years ago and was choosing between 95 & 96 C4s vs. 97-99 C5's very glad that I bought the 95. A half dozen years later I bought an 04 C5 and have been very happy with both of them. The C4 now has 140K on it and the C5 has 80K.
That C4 is nice looking. I had two green C4 vettes in the early 2000s. A 92 manual I bought with no second gear (I got pretty good at 1st to 3rd shifts) and a 96 auto with tan interior. I loved that car.
I'd avoid the early 2005 C6 with automatic because they didn't have the paddle shifter option. Otherwise I'd go with the C6 if they were both in the same price range. You posted here in the C5 world so that will affect other responses. Good luck!
I posted in both C5 and C6 areas. The responses have been fairly predictable.
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
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Drive both and decide. I had three C5s (‘99, ‘00 and ‘03) and enjoyed each one. If it were me, I think I would go with an ‘03 or ‘04 C5. Really good cars and price is certainly right.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
