There's been some posts lately about Corvette quality . Some people have wrote that they wouldn't own onw when the warrenty ran out . I just want to share my experiences . I have a 91 convertible purchased new, the vehicle has around 20500 miles on it . I realize that isn't a lot of miles for a 1991 . However , in the last 8 or nine years , the only thing I have done to the car are oil changes and some other maintence work like brake fluid and antifreeze replacement . I think I've only had two issues with the car ever since I bought it . One was an oil leak which was repaired while still under warrenty . The other was some kind of brake problem which wasn't very expensive to fix . I am on my 3rd Delco battery , but that's not unexpected . I don't know how the C6's will hold up ( I'm planning on getting one at some point in 06 ) but I have no complaints about my 1991 .
-Dana

 

Mine seems to be an exception, but it has been anything but reliable. It is averaging one day a week in the shop. It is going back in on Monday to get the main wiring harness replaced for the 3rd time. I definitely don't want to own it if I ever have any electrical problems after the warranty and extended warranty are over.

 

Not wanting to own a Vette out of warranty probably translates to not wanting to own a Chevy with a lot of miles on it. Vettes are great up to about 47,000 miles (which, of course is out of warranty). At around this mileage, big ticket items (think rear ends, computer brains, etc.) tend to start breaking. I think it's built into GM's planned obsolescence policy.

 

Almost a year on my C-6 and feels real strong.

Not one problem.

Great for the present!

 

Not sure I'll trust all the computer gizmos after warranty expires.

 

The computer modules, like any other solid state electronic products, are probably the most reliable parts of the car. Once past infant mortality (typically the first 90 days of operation) solid state electronics typically has a MTBF in excess of 20,000 operating hours.

Electromechanical bits and pieces, like switches, sensors, etc may not hold up as well, but they're rather cheap to replace. (The computer modules aren't all that expensive either, for example the ECM costs $250.)

 

Once electrical parts have "burned in", they last for a long time.
Mechancal parts, on the other hand, tend to wear out due to useage.
I could go into more details about reliability and the "S curve", but it's a bit much for this forum.

Main thing I've found is to drive your car regularly to avoid component failure from sitting idle. My old Porsche 928 would run great when daily driven, then give me fits when I would park it for a week at a time. My boat is the same way.

Best advice - drive it.

 

Appreciate the info and obvious enlightenment - thanx!

 

I believe the C5 was the turning point for quality. I had two C4's that had to go to the dealer for occasional warranty work. But my 2002 C5 only went back to the dealer once. And that was at 35K miles. The driver's side power window stopped working. I had it in four times for that problem and the dealer was never able to fix it, hence I traded it in for my '05 C6 and she has not needed to see the dealer yet with 10K miles on her.

 

Nothing worse for a car than letting it sit idle.

 

Mine's bullet proof to date...4-1/2 mos., 1400 mi. Keeping fingers crossed.



Harry

 

I have come to realize the 05 C6 has some serious electrical problems. I've owned the car for only one month and have had three DBS. It's currently in the shop once again. The alternator also had to be replaced in the first week. The car is not dependable!!!!!!!! I have a Camaro SS that has only failed to start once in eight years due to a battery needing replaced at year 5. I think some owners are too ashame to admit they put all this money into something that is not as dependable as a 5,000 used car.

 

1961, 283, f.i. 4mn, 80,000 miles...never had a problem.

1966, 427,4mn, @ 60,000 miles valve spring broke and put valve thru piston. Bored out engine and went with L88 package,two 4 bbl carbs and electric fuel pump. 515 hp. Difficult to keep rings in. At 80,000 miles got rear ended by police woman.

1991, L98. never had a problem other than both headlights went out (not @ same time). 162,000 miles

1996 lt4 no problems 130,000 miles

2001... worse car ever owned. Engine had to be rebuilt @ 15,000 miles, front brake failure @ 21,000 miles, rear brake failure @ 23,000 miles, mn6 transmission failure @ 35,000 miles, steering wheel locked up while moving @ 50,000 miles, active handling would engage brakes at 70,000 miles (never found cure). piston slap was always present until engine temp got to 90 degrees. Had GMPP warranty til 100,000 miles. Got rid of this vette at 86,000 miles

2005 mn6, 23,400 miles to date. Clutch plates in rear diff had to be replaced at around 16,000 miles (warranty item).Thats the only difficulty so far

KEEP THE WAVE

 

In the long run with high miles will the Corvettes from 63-72 mostly mechanical in nature vs. the newer Corvettes 2005 with over 200 sensors and computers....which one will have less problems last longer? I would think the problems would be easier to diagnose with the computerized Corvettes. But then again when dealing with a 40 year old vehicle it will have its share of problems constantly...in closing which one will end up costing you more in repairs and higher failure rate?

 

The main issue with any 40 year old car is parts availability. Example, my 1966 98 Oldsmobile. Last spring the divorced choke failed, can't get one, not from GM, not from the aftermarket, can't even locate one in a specialty Oldsmobile junkyard (which seem to run more toward Cutlasses than toward the big 98s). It is wound backwards from the one used on big block Chevys, which I can find. So the solution is to retrofit a hand choke cable, or swap to a carb with an electric choke. Neither is correct restoration, but I needed the car to run and I had a Holly with an electric choke on hand. Now the heater core has failed, leaking antifreeze into the interior. Same song and dance, can't find a replacement, have to have one custom fabricated by a radiator shop. The body is still sound, but body parts are really unobtainium for the car. Etc.

By the time the C6 is 40 years old, the C3 will be 80 years old, and OEM parts will basically be unobtainium for either one. To keep either one running, you'll have to custom fabricate or adapt parts. Frankly, the computers are the least of your worries. It'll will be increasingly easier to program a new computer to replace an older failed one as computers continue to become more powerful and less expensive. 40 years from now, you'll probably just be able to explain, in English, to the new computer what you need it to do, and it'll just do it. Rapid prototyping/CNC machine shops will be able to reproduce any mechanical part you can accurately describe. Etc.

In the nearer term, next 10 years, OEM parts for the C6 will still be obtainable, while parts for a C3 will become increasingly rare. So over that term, the C6 will be the easier car to maintain. For a daily driver, the contest isn't even close, the newer car will be much easier to keep on the road. For a garage queen, it is less obvious which will be easier to maintain, but the nod still has to go with the car with the better parts availability (particularly soft parts, which tend to deteriorate rapidly in cars that aren't regularly driven).

 

Maybe I’ve just been lucky but this is my third Vett and I've never had any real problems with any of them... Other than tires, brakes pads and fluid changes the only thing I've ever replaced on any of them was a couple of batteries... (2 so far) My C4 had about 70,000 miles when I traded it in.. My C5 had about 28,000 miles on it when I traded it... My C6 Z51 only has about 3,000 miles on it but no problems so far.

I guess in general, my experience with Chevy's in the past 10 years has been pretty good... I also owned a 96 Z71 Chevy pickup and drove it 197,500 miles over about 8 years before trading it in and I never had any drive train problems

 

I have to disagree with how you're presenting this. Making a statement like, "I think some owners are too ashame to admit they put all this money into something that is not as dependable as a 5,000 used car.", is misleading and inaccurate. Yes, unfortunately your car has not been reliable and appears to have some serious problems. So does GTC's car and several others. How does that translate into the 2005 C6 being an unreliable car for the many thousands of us who have had no serious issues at all? It's one thing to be upset about getting a bad car...any of us would be...but it's another thing entirely to proclaim that all C6's are unreliable based on your own disappointing experience. IMHO, your conclusion is just wrong.

 

I think the people who have the most problems with the Corvette are the people who don't own one.

 

Eight months and 10600 miles with only one sensor changed at 4800 miles. Maybe it's just the white ones that are so good.
Seriously, I agree with the reply that they need to be driven. If something's gonna break, find out early.
I'd be cheating myself if I didn't enjoy my Vette because I was worried about something breaking. I bought this baby to drive and enjoy. What a great car it has proven to be.

 

That's rediculous. My beretta had over 210k miles on it without ever having a rebuid, new computer, or any other MAJOR issue. My 98 Silverado has 180k and I've had a front end issue, fuel pump around 155-160k, and some composit fitting on the colant system that had to be replaced around 50k. I might have had to replace a starter or something, too, but that was it. Chevy reliability rox.