Hello all,

I've been a long time lurker / occasional poster over in the c3 forum as I've had a 78 for about 8 years. I love that car, and was lucky enough to find and buy the very first Corvette I ever drove from years prior, I'm feeling ready to move on. It's not a car that will likely ever value very high as it's an automatic, L-48 non-chrome bumper car. I'm not really wanting to dump a ton of money into something I'm not all-in on......which brings me to the question:

I have a 2020 platinum F-250 Power Stroke which is a great truck for towing my camper, and even daily driving, but I'm not interested in humping my 8,000lb behemoth 120 miles a day, so I've been thinking about selling the c3 and finding a c4 or c5 to commute with. That being said, reliability is obviously an issue, I'd also prefer a non-convertible and manual transmission. I'm really in the dark with C5's. For those of you who have pushed long commutes with a vette (or are just feeling like throwing some knowledge around) What years would you be looking at/what options/weak points etc on the C5. I'm trying to keep this under 10K which seems doable for a higher mileage C5, but maybe I'm wrong. I truly am in the dark when it comes to the market on these cars. I'm not limited to the 10K number, but I guess I just don't want a whole lot more in on a "daily driver" vehicle I'll probably sell in a year or two.

Are the C5's as capable of getting good highway MPG numbers as the C4's?

Thanks for your input!

 

Get a 2001 or newer and you'll be fine.

My C5 returned about 25-26mpg on a 2200 mile road trip last year (well, 2019 actually.... ugh). I drive it every day without issue. 276,000 miles and counting.

As with any 20 year old car, find the nicest one in your budget and bring some basic mechanical knowledge to the table and you'll be okay.

 

My biggest beef with C5 is the factory diff. Find a car that has had the diff properly rebuilt with upgraded belleville washers or budget money to fix it because they all fail. Pretty much everything else is like maintaining a pickup truck. Cheap and simple!

 

I agree with getting a C5 in the 2001-2004 model years. 2001 saw a lot of updates to the platform, including a bump from 345 to 350 bhp. The C5 will be a much more ergonomic and comfortable car than its predecessors while still getting very good gas mileage for those long commutes, especially with a 6-speed tranny.

 

The C5 has design quirks/flaws especially in the electrical system. If not already done, I suggest reading the sticky's at the top of the C5 web page for more info. If you have basic to good electrical/mechanical knowledge and willing to dig in to resolve issues, you should be fine or a pocket book to pay someone else to do. My rule of thumb is if you are going to buy a dated used car, buy the last year of production and low mileage. Good hunting on your adventure to own a C5.

 

I agree with your '01 & newer choice, but not for the gas mileage reason. My 2000 easily got the numbers you're quoting, and maybe better. The '01 & up models have several electronics, and some mechanical advantages, over the older C5s, but fuel mileage isn't 1 of them......

 

I never said fuel mileage was an advantage of the 01+. They are separate lines in the post for that reason.

 

Are 01-04's available in the "high mileage" driver category for under 10K? I figured they would be un-reachable in decent/reliable condition. Sounds like I was wrong....may need to take a more in-depth stroll through the local classifieds / FB Marketplace/ craigslist / Autotrader. From a longevity of the engine/trans standpoint is there any automatic vs manual pit-fall? I assume these small blocks are just as reliable as those they put in the trucks?

Also on a side note I find it entertaining that the C3 guys haven't woken up yet on my thread over there (or maybe my thread sucks), C4 guys are coming in at a trickle, and C5 is firing on all cylinders this morning.

 

Clean black/black 6 spd car sold here recently for 9ish..80k mi
See sub 100k mi cars all the time in SoCal. You have to sort through the roaches though just like C4 s
Dont buy the cheapest one you find thinking youll fix it up cheap.
on the flip side lots of sellers believe they got a golden nugget..ex theres a 110k mi FRC on our local Cl for 15k. Title and description mentions rare rare too much
Whatever buddy lol

Ponder the same thing myself Im just real short with electronics...like the platform but not sure if its my bag.
I could care less about mileage its a sports car.

 

They might be a hair more expensive, but they will be worth it.

An ABS unit on a 97-00 car is non-repairable, and a used one is $1500+. A 2001+ unit is usually repaired for under $200.

A few of the other parts for the early car are also discontinued (steering wheel position sensor comes to mind). And the key fobs are about 4x the price as the later car. Minor differences, but the ABS pump is the biggest one, to me. That alone is a non-starter in my book.

 

So if I go C5 what are the huge "gotcha's" I should be eyeballing, like excessive rust on a c3 birdcage can just tank the car to a parts vehicle only.....any huge "total rebuild" concerns for the C5's? I am really looking at this as a short term, put a lot of miles on, and dump it thing, so really want to get in and drive and just rack up miles on something....I'm plenty handy, done lots of work on my C3, but this isn't that kind of a mission for me this time.

 

I currently own both a C4(96) and a C5(02 Z)...

For daily driver the 02 wins HANDS DOWN... Honestly for most things the C5 wins hands down over a C4.

Got to remember on the C4 the BULK of that car was designed in the late 70's-early 80's(79-80) time frame... So in 1996 you go "wtf were they thinking" and then realize said system or part was part of the original 84 cars...

I do like the C4 ZF6 better than the T56... a lot smoother, although the shift throws are like 4 miles long.

Either car, if you cant work on it yourself, you are going to pay a shop A LOT of money to fix things.

 

I've managed working on everything else I own whether it liked it or not :-D.

Like I said, I'm hoping to probably put 45-50,000 miles on it over a year and a half and sell.

 

I have one of those throw away years 99 FRC cars. If I didn’t love it so much I’d give you $5.00 to take it off my hands. Admittedly, it has just been a pleasure vehicle for me but it would be fully capable of being a daily driver today. Ten years of ownership and as reliable as any car I’ve owned and hasn’t been to a dealership or repair shop since I’ve owned it. The best advise anyone can give you about a C5 is “ condition, condition, condition”. If anyone attempts to give the impression that a 2001-2004 will be trouble free all you need to do is read this forum and you will see that’s not the case. Biggest issue with these cars seem to be battery condition and grounds, both easy to rectify without a ton of money.

I haven’t done a poll but I don’t know of anyone who has parked their car over a abs/ active handling malfunction. I bought into the steering wheel position scare and bought a new one off eBay years ago and guess what, it’s still in the box. If I were in the market for another C5 it would be an 01-04 model for sure! Because it would be a Z06, preferably a 04 Z16.

 

The ABS pump is the biggest "gotcha" there is parts cost wise. If you get a manual, if you can find one that had recent clutch replacement that's the only other BIG service I can think of off the top of my head that would sway me one way or another. The whole drivetrain (torque tube, rear cradle, etc.) has to come out to change it, so it's not a cheap or easy job really.

 

Again, you must budget for a properly built/repaired diff. You can fix it for about $500 in parts or figure around $2k to buy one professionally upgraded. Labor to install is not cheap.

 

YOU(not you personally, you as in the average garage mechanic) is NOT rebuilding a diff in these cars...

Yea you could pull the diff yourself and swap the lsd clutches, not a hard job, but IF the belleville washers have gone, typically the diff is also whining and needs a set of gears as well, which is where the non specialty home mechanic is out of the picture.

Im getting ready to do mine and I will do the R&R in the car, but a local shop is charging me $950... thats ONLY for gears and setup... clutches/belleville washers is extra, any bearings needed are extra(this shop says they rarely see bad bearings, but inspect them and change as necessary), etc... So yea, getting into a diff for $2k is easy to do(bearings, clutches/washers, c6z06 output shafts)...

 

Not that you can ever know on a used car, but assuming I found something with 65-85,000 miles already on the ODO, but hasn't had a diffy or clutch done yet, how much mileage are people getting out of these? Obviously going with an automatic eliminates the clutch issue, but does the auto have inherent problems too.....in other words is there "mileage markers" you guys have found to be consistent and significant with the big items that I should include in my search.

 

My car has 67k miles on it... no clue how it was driven/treated before. Diff is howling, guessing lsd clutches/belleville washers are trash also.

The clutch in my car is fine. The clutches on these cars, if not abused are pretty good and known to go to high mileage. If you are adventurous you can do the clutch yourself in your garage, just takes a bit to get the whole driveline out. I personally wouldnt let the fact a car has a stock clutch and 100k+ miles sway me away from a car. MAYBE keep in mind you may need to do one and it can be $2000 to have it done...or $500 to do it in your garage in a weekend.

ETA: you can "test" a clutch a few ways. I like to put the car in 4th, hold the brakes, and let out the clutch. The car should die almost instantly. If the clutch is slipping, obviously the car wont die. There are others that will take the car on the road, go 30mph, put the car in 5th, and smash the gas... if the tach surges up without an increase in speed, clutch slip. I also read one about parking on a downhill, engine off, put trans in reverse, release the clutch and brakes, car should hold on the slope.

 

The auto in these cars is complete garbage.