After lots of reading, including the purchase sticky, I want to gain a bit more insight. I have waited way to long to own a Corvette and frankly if I am going to do it I need to do it soon. I started looking at C4's and being past middle age I thought getting in and out and legroom might be better with the C5. Mostly I have watched for 1996 and 2002 manual trans. convertibles. What has me confused is prices. I have watched many youtube Corvette videos on C4's and C5's models and a recurring theme is low prices. Video after video mentions sub 10K prices on these cars and I have seen some where they confirmed the statement with for sale ad screenshots, from Utah in one case.

My question is do prices vary this widely through the country? In my area I have never seem a 96 - 2002 that was under 10K unless it had very high miles or other issues liked cracked fiberglass. I get that costs can vary by location but when I see 42,000 mile cars in this age range going for $9600 and look within 500 miles of my area and I'm looking at $13,000 plus I wonder why. I get that everything on youtube isn't fact but there are enough comments like this that I thought I might ask here and hopefully get an accurate perspective.

 

I bought my '03 Coupe back in late Aug of this year and noticed if I searched the bigger cities that price was more competitive. I live up near Tulsa,OK and ended up getting my car down by Dallas. Deals are out there and you have to act quick on them or they get snatched up. I missed out on a good deal and was 2nd on line for a C6 also in the Dallas area, it sold within an hour.
If you search FB marketplace or this forum and are willing to travel you can find what you want.
This is my 1st Vette and wish I would of gotten one sooner!
Good luck and enjoy the search!

 

You are not likely to find a nice low mileage stick convertible C5 under $10,000. All the YouTube videos in the world and all the folks that tell you different on this thread need to either put-up or shut-up with a car. But, if you do find more of them than you need with that criteria, I'll buy all of them you can find.

 

If you want a good deal, you should expand your geographic range. I brought my 45k mile, 6 speed Z51 coupe C5 in California. It was advertised on CF. I rented a car, drove out to look/test drive, and drove it home. You can find a decent C5 for around 10k or less, but the majority will be automatics. The manuals seems to command higher prices. Same for a vert vs coupe.

If you can afford 13k, I think you should be able to find a nice manual convertible, but maybe not with low miles. But since buying this car, I've come to believe that low miles are overrated. I've had to replace a lot of parts that failed simply due to age. Harmonic balancer, radiator, shocks, AC compressor etc. But I've driven my car more in the last 5-6 years, than it was driven the first 14 years of its life.

Keep your eye out. This is a good time of year to find a deal.

 

The prices do run the gamut. I looked in Atlanta and the Southeast. Saw them all over the place in pricing. Less than a month ago I took bought a beautiful 1999 automatic coupe, with 84K for just less than 10K from a private owner. All I need to do is get the a/c fixed...as with most GM's it is leaking Freon.... am going to do shocks, brakes and other fluids just because.

 

pricing ranges greatly , Car prices right now are super high in general. If you are mechanically inclined, I would not be afraid of high mileage. As long as the car is clean.

 

I'm in the same boat looking at C5Zs and I keep rambling on about it on the forum here.

This. There was a manufacturer shortage of new cars this year, a lot of people fled out of cities and had to buy cars, everyone and their dysfunctional uncle (who has been unemployed for an eternity) got a check also creating increased demand (and inflation), gas prices dipped and Vettes in general have seen a lot of publicity via the C8, plus people on youtube picking up super affordable C5/C6 Vettes in ~2018 are being watched now. On the flip side the manufacturer shortage is ending, it's winter and Vettes should not be selling in the North right now and I don't think we are going to see another gigantic cash infusion, people are going to need to sell their toys if unemployment continues, prices are in decline again but the decline is shallower than the incline.

In April tax returns come in (though I think they will be lighter because of the stimulus?) that's when prices on Vettes would begin to climb in a normal year with a peak in May. What will happen this year, I don't know. If I had to guess dealers are probably in pretty large on a lot of these bubble bought cars and are going to sit on them, private sales will base their prices off dealers/KBB and those listings will sit as well, prices might come down a bit more toward February but eventually spring demand will stabilize prices until next winter when they should decline again some more. I think in a year or two prices will fall back down to their 2018 low point as dealers cut their losses and more C8s enter the market allowing the hoonigan hermit crabs to change their shells, or if things get real crazy you'll see all these stimulus buyers realize they needed that money for back rent and groceries and flood the market with cheap goodies.

Personally I wasn't afraid to haggle a bit and I'm taking a decent deal now while the selection is still good (if it all checks out). If I were you I would shop around and try to haggle a bit with some of these listings that have been around as we get into proper snowy season when the car is useless and people are getting more desperate for ad interest and their need for liquidation grows. If you can't find an acceptable deal by the end of February be prepared to wait.

 

If you can find a good, clean, lower mileage, M6 vert C5 for under $10K you better grab it. You do not, and I repeat, do not, want a cheap high mileage beater C5. Although C5's are now older cars they are mechanically and electronically pretty complicated pieces of machinery with a lot of very expensive or hard to find components. To a large degree you get what you pay for! Expand your search to nation wide, be prepared to travel and you can find that M6 vert. Just my opinion but if you want a really well cared for and maintained, accident free M6 vert (the only kind to buy!) you are probably looking at a minimum of 17K to about 20K. Try to look for the latest year you can afford. Early C5's are running into replacement part availability problems. Remember and keep in mind that cheap cars can turn out to be very expensive when trying to get them back up to snuff. When I was looking for a M6 vert I kept expanding my search over the course of a year or so. I finally found what I was looking for half way across the country, did a one way econobox rental, bought it and drove back. What you are looking for is out there, patience and a wide search area will find it. Lastly, and just my opinion only, C5's are a much superior car over earlier generations, including the C4. Good luck with your search!

 

You are not likely to find ANY NICE, LOW MILEAGE, C5 CONVERTIBLE stick OR auto, for under 10G. If you do, there is either something wrong with it, or the owner has flipped his flap jack!!!!

 

An old rule of thumb I've heard many times here in Michigan, is this; If you can touch a convertible for under $10,000, stick or otherwise, buy it TODAY. Convertibles carry a premium over other models, with the probable exception of Z06 models. Yes, I have a 2000 Vert, but even unbiased opinions will tell you the fact of the matter is, it is true. To the OP-I agree with friou-The C5 engineering is far, far ahead of the C4 engineering. Focus on '01-'04 C5s. The '97-'00 models have some issues that cannot be corrected without buying used parts, and/or spending big $$$. Good luck in your hunt.

 

I'm in the same boat as you. Been looking but I think the Covid pandemic caused prices to increase (strangely enough). I'm not huge into cars, more of a sport bike person myself. But I noticed bike prices have been absolutely ridiculous lately.

 

I agree with what many have said. Prices vary from place to place, but one thing that is true anywhere is that verts cost more than coupes, and manuals cost more than automatics. Add to that the fact that C5 prices have been inching up lately, and I think that you will have a VERY HARD time finding what you're looking for for under $10K. The C5 is so much more car than the C4. If you can afford a C5, I wouldn't even be considering the C4. My advice would be to look at newer C5s ('02-"04) with somewhat higher mileage (70K-100K). Mileage is not really a big deal with these cars as long as they were well maintained. Some of the people on this forum have cars with well over 200K on them. In fact, I would actually PREFER a well maintained car that has been driven regularly over a garage queen with low miles. Lower mileage garage queens will have a lot of issues if you actually want to drive them. You'll basically have to replace anything rubber as well as all the fluids just to make it a reliable car. With an '02-'04 you won't run into the parts issues that many have mentioned with the older C5s, but the higher mileage car will be cheaper than an older C5 with low miles. It also won't have the issues caused by not being driven. Read all of the sticky posts here and in the tech section, and be sure to get a pre purchase inspection done by a mechanic who knows C5 Corvettes before you pull the trigger on anything. Good luck with your search.

 

Early cars do have sparing issues - but in a couple of years it will be that way for all C5's. The "youngest" is now 16 going on 17 years old, and the "Big 3" tend to spare somewhere in the 10-13 year range.

 

It's more than just parts availability. The '97-'00 EBCM has known issues that can't be fixed. the '01-'04 EBCM CAN be fixed. Some of the issues that arose with the earlier cars where fixed during later production (with better engineering). As such, those issues simply don't exist on the newer cars. The newer cars also have a little more power. I'm certainly not saying the older C5s aren't AMAZING cars...they are! I'm also not saying that you can't find an "older" C5 that isn't fantastic and problem free (as much as any car can be). However, if I'm advising someone who is looking to buy a C5, I'm going to tell them them that the newer cars are generally IMHO a little better.

 

Prices for used Vettes have jumped noticeably in the past 10 months or so. A nice, well maintained and lower mileage C5 is going to go for more than $10K.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded. Opinions vary on some things and I was aware of some of the information but there were a number of things that were news to me. Since I have always searched exclusively for convertibles with standard trans. I didn't realize these cars commanded higher prices. I wouldn't have guessed that since it typically is not the case, likely it's a Corvette or a sports car thing. I was disappointed to hear of the concerns over the late C4's. That has always been my backup plan to keep cost under control. I also looked back at the dates of some of the videos and they were from one or two years ago so apparently prices have risen as was mentioned by some of you. That's odd to me. You'd think that with the virus and everything else that has happened this year, prices on luxury items would have dropped. I guess I will keep looking but now with more clarity of the market thanks to your input.

 

Looking to step up next year and will likely sell my 99 z51 A4 Coupe. Paid $15k 2 years ago with 42k miles and will look for around that with it at 50k. Solid car in great shape with a few extras. C5s are not $10k cars unless they are beat and have 125k miles.