I am about to purchase a 2005 corvette Z51 from Bellevue WA and the dealer up there told me that corvettes do not rust, besides the rotors, is this true? I am concerned there might be rust in the undercarriage

 

Frame is steel on a std C6, so rust can happen. Also alot of regular steel under there that can also rust. More than likely anything found will be no more than surface rust given the car is not very old.

Major suspension parts are aluminum and the body is plastic/fiberglass composite, so no rust issues in those areas.

 

Welcome to the Forum!!!!!!!!!!!

Before you buy you might want to ask about the car/dealer over in the Pacific Northwest Regional Forum:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/pacific-northwest-127/

The Seattle area has some very active members and most are happy to give an opinion.

Good luck.

 

With a comment like that I would be very leary of that dealer and look elsewhere.

 

Aluminum oxidizies, so it can "rust" contrarily to common thoughts.

a++ Cedric

 

Car manufacturers have come a long way in terms of rust control. Just have him jack the car and look at it or have it inspected by a tech.

a++ Cedric

 

Why are you concerned about rust on a 2005?

Did the dealer say something about rust ?

 

The car was in utah for some time. I know exactly what to look for as I was lacking in my Sti purchase. Regardless of where it has been, I still check undercarriage. Unfortunately the car is over 1500 miles away so I will have carchex inspect it for me.

 

As they used to say about Corvettes. "When its quiet out at night you can hear metal cars rusting." However, Corvettes do have some areas that rust but it takes many years of daily driving in salt/sand road conditions to take a toll on the car. The frame on a Corvette used as a daily driver in the rust belt will typically go about 10 years longer than a full metal car will go before needing repairs.

Bill

 

pm me if you need help taking a look at the car. rust is very rare on the modern corvettes. i have lived here for 6 years, my car was originally sold here in NW in 2002, was daily driven until a year ago (rain or shine), there is no rust on the body/frame

 

My thoughts are not common and what you speak of is not rust as we all know it to be. The OP just wanted a simple answer to his simple question.

I don't need an education on "oxidation" so you don't need to come back here and post a definition.

 

As cars age, it is not major frame rust that is the issue. Corrosion may be a better word, and that affects a lot of items, including clamps on brake lines and fuel hoses, the brake lines themselves, mounting and retaining brackets and their bolts, deterioration of rubber bushings and under car wiring harnesses etc. etc. This can then affect reliability or enjoyment of the car unless maintained and serviced properly.

All said, a 2005 Corvette would or should be in a reasonably good shape for several years with no major issues I would reckon.

 

 

If it's over 1500 miles away you must be in the Mid West somewhere. I would post up where your located and what you are looking for and maybe one of the Forum Dealers or members would have what you are looking for..... Just a thought.....

Mark

 

Seriously - if any of us avoided dealerships where a dealer had said something "stupid" or "untrue" we'd have no place to purchase a vehicle.

 

The reason Im interested in this one is because of the price. I haven't found one 2005 millennium yellow c6 loaded with the Z51 package for $25,500. Mileage is 36,000, so its a bit hard to turn down and as for dealers, they want roughly $30,000 for something like that.

 

Not in vehicular environments. Al is highly reactive, and oxidizes so rapidly that if it were "rusting", the car would have fallen apart into pieces within hours. The reason Al doesn't rust is that as soon as a scratch exposes any of the metal to air, microns of hard, durable, oxidized Al (also known as the gemstone sapphire) instantly re-skins the scratch, sealing out all oxygen, so oxidation halts the moment it starts.

(Rust is a problem with iron/steel because the oxide layer lifts instead of seals, which exposes the metal underneath to oxygen, and that layer then lifts, and so on, eating into the structure.)

 

Does this look like rust, This is an 07 convertible i was looking at. 10,000 miles. Paint and interior is flawless. Spent its first several years in Pennsylvania and jersey. The remaining in Florida.

 

Idk how long you have been searching but I’ve seen the yellow c6s as being the best priced. Even saw a few yellow c7s priced VERY well as there is a very limited number of buyers that would consider yellow.
I think you could do better personally, 25.5 for a yellow first model year with 36k isn’t THAT great of a deal, imo anyway based on what I saw when I was searching.

 

These posts are from 2010. The c7 didn't even exist yet. Someone decided to bring it back from the dead.