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I bought a 04 base, 6 speed with 49000 miles in excellent condition about 2 months ago. Paid $12,250. replaced tires due to age, otherwise no repairs.
I thought it was a great deal.
I agree. I'm back on the forum after being gone since selling my frc but I bought this bone stock Vette with 185k...ouch but still paid 6.5k. I like it and it runs strong. A good example that I've seen also is c4s... Now those r high as heck
Apparently C5 sellers think they are worth as much as C6s now...I don't get it...
C5’s and C6’s are not the same car, and as such are not the same market. There are people who will specifically want a 5 rather than a 6, like myself. To me the 6 has noticeably less baggage space, less headroom, less leg and shoulder room, less comfortable seats, and is a much, much less attractive looking car. It was the beginning of the corvette transformer style era, which unfortunately has only gotten worse. The market will decide what they’re worth and will be worth, but the C5 value is not dictated by the C6 any more than the C2 value would be dictated by the C3.
C5’s and C6’s are not the same car, and as such are not the same market. There are people who will specifically want a 5 rather than a 6, like myself. To me the 6 has noticeably less baggage space, less headroom, less leg and shoulder room, less comfortable seats, and is a much, much less attractive looking car. It was the beginning of the corvette transformer style era, which unfortunately has only gotten worse. The market will decide what they’re worth and will be worth, but the C5 value is not dictated by the C6 any more than the C2 value would be dictated by the C3.
I agree. The c6 front clip with the exposed lights looks very dated to me whereas the c5 still looks new. The smooth curves will never die and I cannot get the image out of my head of how the c6 looks like it's smiling at you. It's like watching CARS
To me the 6 has noticeably less baggage space, less headroom, less leg and shoulder room.
Funny you should say that. I drove a C7 recently. Seats have more support, but the rest of the interior is meh - and much less "airy". I have never liked the C7 exterior styling - too much of the "hot wheels" look for me.
It's a 6 speed auto which I found a bit slow to respond to throttle inputs. My other car is a Genesis with an 8 speed auto, and it responds instantly - the paddles really are not needed because the trans is so quick to respond.
As to C5 vs. C6 in general, the issue becomes the practicality of keeping electronics intensive cars of the C5's age on the road. Key parts form earlier C5's are AWOL, and the situation will only get worse. The C6 being newer has better parts availability - but of course that won't last too much longer because they are aging as well - early C6's are now 15 years old.
Last edited by jackthelad; Jul 25, 2020 at 02:44 PM.
C5’s and C6’s are not the same car, and as such are not the same market. There are people who will specifically want a 5 rather than a 6, like myself. To me the 6 has noticeably less baggage space, less headroom, less leg and shoulder room, less comfortable seats, and is a much, much less attractive looking car. It was the beginning of the corvette transformer style era, which unfortunately has only gotten worse. The market will decide what they’re worth and will be worth, but the C5 value is not dictated by the C6 any more than the C2 value would be dictated by the C3.
This is a good point. I am one eventual buyer who is completely uninterested in the C6. I know it's a better performer than the C5, but to me the C5 has too many aspects that I prefer over the C6, mostly looks. Interior space and passenger comfort are two more areas where I prefer the C5. The unavailability of electronic parts is a drawback, but as far as I know, none of the C5s have problems with any electronic gizmos that will render it undrivable, so i will roll the dice and take my chances....
Funny you should say that. I drove a C7 recently. Seats have more support, but the rest of the interior is meh - and much less "airy". I have never liked the C7 exterior styling - too much of the "hot wheels" look for me.
It's a 6 speed auto which I found a bit slow to respond to throttle inputs. My other car is a Genesis with an 8 speed auto, and it responds instantly - the paddles really are not needed because the trans is so quick to respond.
As to C5 vs. C6 in general, the issue becomes the practicality of keeping electronics intensive cars of the C5's age on the road. Key parts form earlier C5's are AWOL, and the situation will only get worse. The C6 being newer has better parts availability - but of course that won't last too much longer because they are aging as well - early C6's are now 15 years old.
I went to my first Corvette club meeting the other day and I talked to a gentleman who now owns a C7. He said he used to own a C5, and he liked it better than the 7. He said selling his C5 was a mistake...
Last edited by grampi50; Jul 25, 2020 at 03:15 PM.
They are doing nothing but nosediving in So cal and will continue to.
The nice ones will always bring more but these have gone the way of the late C3 and C4.
Interesting... it seemed to me that prices were holding fairly steady in SoCal... if not rising just a bit... but I could be wrong. I just may find out. I have an '04 Z06 in Torch Red/black with only 9300 miles on it. After my cancer diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy, I just don't get it out as much as I should... and have considered putting it on the market. We shall see...
Doing a search ..my car has apparently retained its value for the 4 years I have owned it...ok. And I didn't drop a ton into it. Wheels, tires, stereo.
I had a C7. Bought it new in 2014. I had back problems driving it no matter how I adjusted the seats. I sold the car to a friend but missed the Corvette experience. I bought a clean C5 convertible and I’m back in love. I have absolutely no back problems and it is far more roomier than my C7. I’ll agree it’s not as fast but I enjoy long trips and cruises. The C5, in my opinion, is a better Corvette for me. The people who aren’t into Corvette can’t tell which generation is the latest. They do know a Corvette is cool.
I starting looking for mine about 6 months ago, like most doing the research between a c5 and c6, going online and this forum seeing what people think about their cars, likes, and dislike long term owner ship, problems etc. I was able to decided from all that research exactly what yr range C5, options etc , to look for, thank you all. Anyway starting looking locally to about 500 miles out, I was in no hurry since I had a perfectly good daily driver, which my C5 was going to replace.it. Pricing was all over and wanted a low miles car but not to low. Ended up with a 2004 Torch Red 32k auto, glass top, loaded very clean, no mod car. Bought about 5 min from my house at dealership who only had it for a week, on Jan 9 2021, They wanted full blue book about 20k, I was able to get them down because they would not extend warranty it. And I had to get my own warranty, Paid about $18,900. My goal was a fun, low miles, keeper car, Yes it mite have been to much money, but I did not see allot c5 in my area with low miles, and the price was about National Avg. Since I do not regret my purchase, I hope if someone is looking at a corvette you need to go out and get it. The water shot, keeper car 2004 32k auto, light oak, glass top
I starting looking for mine about 6 months ago, like most doing the research between a c5 and c6, going online and this forum seeing what people think about their cars, likes, and dislike long term owner ship, problems etc. I was able to decided from all that research exactly what yr range C5, options etc , to look for, thank you all. Anyway starting looking locally to about 500 miles out, I was in no hurry since I had a perfectly good daily driver, which my C5 was going to replace.it. Pricing was all over and wanted a low miles car but not to low. Ended up with a 2004 Torch Red 32k auto, glass top, loaded very clean, no mod car. Bought about 5 min from my house at dealership who only had it for a week, on Jan 9 2021, They wanted full blue book about 20k, I was able to get them down because they would not extend warranty it. And I had to get my own warranty, Paid about $18,900. My goal was a fun, low miles, keeper car, Yes it mite have been to much money, but I did not see allot c5 in my area with low miles, and the price was about National Avg. Since I do not regret my purchase, I hope if someone is looking at a corvette you need to go out and get it. The water shot, keeper car 2004 32k auto, light oak, glass top
Looks like you found a very nice one! It must have been meant to be, you search for 6 months up to 500 miles away and find one basically in your back yard.
I had been looking off and on for a new C5 since last April. I was in no hurry to buy one and was waiting on one I could afford that looked and drove good. Miles was not an issue for me as my last one was a 1998 that had 360,000 miles on it and was still running strong when I sold it. I finally found one 3 weeks ago and kept going back and driving it as well as negotiating price. My budget was $10,000 and I ended up paying $10,500 cash out the door. (buying price plus tax, tags, and fees) It is a nice looking 2000 with nice wheels and both tops.
Last edited by Jeffwilson34; Jan 25, 2021 at 11:19 PM.
i agree. The c6 front clip with the exposed lights looks very dated to me whereas the c5 still looks new. The smooth curves will never die and i cannot get the image out of my head of how the c6 looks like it's smiling at you. It's like watching cars
Ravenfire - Jeffwilson - I congratulate you both! You are where I hope to be ...
I've been watching the same few Corvettes in my area (Washington-Baltimore), none of them quite what I want (a 2001-2004 targa coupe, auto trans, without Mag Ride) ... all of them are in the high teens, and I've had a couple of disappointing pre-buy inspections along the way. Ravenfires "looking locally to about 500 miles out" persuaded me that I have to widen the net -- and today I found two very promising cars out around 150 miles from home. Notably, a 2001 with 86,000 miles, in Delaware, and they're asking $12K for the car. (There's also a 2004 coupe with 62,000 miles for $17K, but that's in Newport News, VA, and I'll bet it was driven by a Navy pilot who treated it like a ground-borne Hornet!)
So I might be heading across The Bay, in the next few days -- and if the pre-purchase inspection is clean, I might finally have my Corvette!
I had a C7. Bought it new in 2014. I had back problems driving it no matter how I adjusted the seats. I sold the car to a friend but missed the Corvette experience. I bought a clean C5 convertible and I’m back in love. I have absolutely no back problems and it is far more roomier than my C7. I’ll agree it’s not as fast but I enjoy long trips and cruises. The C5, in my opinion, is a better Corvette for me. The people who aren’t into Corvette can’t tell which generation is the latest. They do know a Corvette is cool.
A C5 is a very comfortable car to drive in. I have had some bad back issues, including 2 surgeries with 2 disks removed and replaced with metal cages, I am also a pretty large guy 6dt 2 and 250 lbs. I have zero back problems in the C5 nor do I have trouble getting in and out of it. But then again before I got bitten by the Corvette bug I was a Fiero person. I owned a Fiero of one type or another from 1988 till 2001 and then again from 2008 to 2015. People always were amazed that I was comfortable in them but they have more room that they look like,
