Hello everyone.

Been wanting to get one of these beasts for few years now so I've been looking at them more and more. Seems like a big portion of them are lemons plagued with problems. Comments?

As far as the model. i wanted the z06 but i've spend some time reading about people reporting problems with bad manufacturing of the heads blowing up the motors. I've only seen people report the problem but minimal info on actual repairs or a cost of the repair and reliability after the head is repaired by a different shop.

What are the big differences between the z06 and the other models other than the engine? Any differences between the years or are all the c6 base models the same, all the c6 z06 the same etc?

Anything else to look out for when buying?

Thanks for reading.

 

How much money ya got to spend? That narrows down the field.

 

About 35k.

 

I don't know why you think a big portion of them are lemons. That couldn't be further from the truth.

 

How much power do you need? A Grand Sport has similar suspension and brakes with the wide body. And really, it's only like 69 horsepower less.
And you can take off the top.

 

find the newest model year, lowest mileage vehicle in YOUR budget.....

lots of them for sale, some very nice and clean with low miles....

 

and within your stated budget........................

C6's are VERY reliable and dependable vehicles.......................

but like anything they do require periodic maintenance and upkeep

 

Very solid cars. I bought a 13' new and it's been trouble free. I have a Grand Sport witch has just about everything a Z06 has except the engine. The LS3 engine in the Grand Sports are about as bullett proof as you can get, and there's more than enough HP there.

 

And use the SEARCH feature. These questions get answered a couple times a week.

 

After owning 4 convertibles in the past 10 years i admit I've had enough of them lol. Would prefer something with a solid top.

Yes 919cw313 i'm sure they are. i searched through about 10 of them. couldn't find what i asked. Downsides of being a new member :/ .

 

Any recommendations on what to search for? So far i'm getting completely useless results .

 

I had #551 and it was the most dependable and solid car I have ever owned.

 

I have thought about this before...you hear about a lot of problems here on the Forum and it tends to make you paranoid about Corvettes but the reality I have owned Corvettes since 1968 and never had any real problems with any of them. In fact my 13GS is one of the best and reliable cars I have ever owned and I am keeping it waiting for the C8's. Use common sense and buy one and you will have a grin on your face.

 

I've had my 2011 Grand Sport for 6 years now.
Not one problem.

 

WOW! this is the first time i've seen anyone on the vette forum reply with SEARCH. most post are helpful.

 

My apologies, but how many "what to look out for" type threads do we need?

 

To put the below in proper context, the C6 is IMO by far the best value of any car in its class. I'm not including touring cars in its class. Furthermore, the routine maintenance is extremely inexpensive. I love my car!

That said, these cars do have some problems and many are big $'s to repair. What is not clear is how many of these cars have problems.

In the minor category, if you reposition your rear view mirror too often (two drivers) it will eventually start to shake. The repair is an entirely new rear view assembly unless you replace pins inside the assembly with metal ones. I did this myself. These is a very kind member that will actually send you the pins for free.

If you slide your power seat forward and backwards too often the air bag wire harness may become disconnected under the seat.

If you use your telescoping steering wheel and tilt mechanism too often you may cause the steering wheel position switch to become disconnected (or lose solid contact). There is a TSB for this that I performed on my car for $4. However I've read members have their cars brakes lock up unexpectedly until the vehicle was repaired (the dealer wanted $150).

Some cars like mine had the left side fuel sensor unit fail. That is well over $1k to fix.

Convertible tops, over time, start to make contact with the rear windshield while going up and down. The dealer fix is multiple thousand dollars. Most just pull it (search on that) during operation to avoid the contact. I tried (with minor success) replacing a piece of elastic that pulls the top out of the way when the tonneau cover goes up and down.

It also seems like a lot of members have had to have their harmonic balancer replaced. I do not think that is cheap but I do not have that problem (that I know of) so I have not researched it carefully.

Again, it is not easy to determine how many cars have these problems. You will not find a different car at a comparable price that has the same combination of speed and handling. Oh yea, did I mention that these cars are drop dead gorgeous too? At this point I still believe IMO they look nicer that the C7 but that is personal preference. I hate all the black inserts in the C7. I'd never consider one unless it was a dark color to subdue those inserts.

 

C6 Corvettes are very reliable vehicles, reading the issues that members post on this forum would make you think that these cars are all lemons... listed below are some of the well known problems


1. Harmonic balancer wobble
2. Fuel sending unit & fuel tank hoses/fittings cracking and leaking
3. Shift cables breaking on A6 cars


Numbers 1 & 2 are expensive to repair, north of $1,500.

 

I agree! over 200,000 C6's were built and, for the most part, people don't come on the forum to say "Nothing happened to my vette today".
I had a 2005 (weak diff/dead battery syndrome/etc) and it was trouble free for the 50,000 miles I drove it. I now have a 2011 Grand Sport with 45,000 trouble free miles.
You have a price point for an older Z06/newer GS/newest base so now decide coupe/vert, manual/auto, color, options and go looking. When you find "the" car get a Carfax, GM VIS & GM build sheet (both free at any GM dealer) and check the history of the car. Have a knowledgeable friend/Corvette person/indie shop look the car over.
I hope this helps.

For more info:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...010/index.html

 

Look beyond anecdotal evidence. Consumer Reports' 2016 Buying Guide provides evaluations of many used car models, and they don't have an ax to grind. To them, it's all about the numbers.

They rate the 2011 Corvette as much better than average and the 2012 - 13 years as average. In my mind, a sports car that rates as average when compared with, say, the Toyota Camry, is doing very, very well. It's certainly many grades better than 'lemon".

The 2013 Buying Guide (Which I still have for some reason) lists the '06 and '08 as average; and the '07, '09 and '10 as above average. The '09 (made while GM was insolvent) is shown as much worse than average.

If I were buying a C6, I'd feel comfortable with any year other than '09.