It's odd how many C6 owners praise how stout the C6 is, they talk like you can expect at least 100k trouble free miles while others talk about the car breaking every time they drive it with low miles. Smell gas, stuck in park, the balancer pulley goes rolling in the ditch, door wont open, the valves stick to the top of the pistons. What's a person to believe? I have had 3 vettes myself but I don't have a since of longevity because I have probably not put 10k miles on all 3 put together. If you could poll all C6 owners (not just members of this form) I wonder what the outcome would be?

 

People with issues tend to come on here and bitch a lot. They also tend to have bought the cheapest car that had the most unbelievable price out there, then tell everyone the car is mint.

If my 3, I had the utch slave go out, replaced under tab, and a spark plug wire pop off, fixed by me in like 5 minutes.

 

The C6 Corvette is pretty much bulletproof when compared to other high performance sportcars. The problem with forums like this is they greatly magnify the smallest issues and problems.

 

I think it is holding up great.
14 years I have had my 06.
New starter (probably from my headers, melted the solenoid)
New Battery cable
New Alternator
New AC condenser under warranty early on
New roof from delamination under warranty
Center console lock
Shifter cable broke, replaced
Shifter stuck in park (modified pawl)


Regular maintenance stuff like batteries, belts, tires, brakes

 

Well, you can't poll all c6 owners, past and present. But there is a whole branch of mathematics dealing with this type of question called statistics and sampling theory. Given the right sample size and randomness of the samples taken, you can get a pretty accurate result of the overall picture. The problem as @FAUEE points out is that on this forum, you mostly hear of problems. For example, GM dealers take a hard knock, but you seldom hear of good experiences. I've had mostly positive dealer experiences with only 1 really bad experience. You don't see people posting that their harmonic balancer didn't start wobbling today, or that their fuel tank fitting didn't crack and start leaking. Based on what i read here, its guaranteed that my A6 shifter cable bushings are going to fail, but maybe they wont. Has every cable failed? So you end up with a distorted opinion. I'd say that if you could take 1000 random answers to your question, you'd have a fairly accurate picture.

 

And the same overstatement of problems will show on not just all auto forums but forums for any product. You could go to a forum about anvils and read stories about problems individuals have with the anvil they bought yet the vast majority of anvils once made last pretty much forever.

That last part then brings up the question as to why anyone would enter the anvil business.

 

As in any car forum the complainers, those who are dealing with mechanical breakdown issues are usually the loudest and most repetitive. I am not saying that's wrong, but I would concentrate on other more reliable sources to gauge true reliability with the C6 Corvette.

There are many sources you can research that can be found simply by using "Google".

 

True, I recently bought a new ceiling fan on Amazon, and reading many reviews on it they said it was loud, and multiple people said it did not move any air. I bought it anyway and it is perfectly quiet and moves a ton of air.

 

I think my 05, with 76,000 miles on the clock.
Replaced tire sensors all four.
Broken shifter cable
Oil sending unit
Catalytic converters
Then normal repairs, brakes, tires, oil changes.

All in all a perfect running car!

 

I have purchased two high mileage Vettes knowing i would have work to do on them. I bought my 88 C4 about 3 and a half years ago and it has around 129,000 on it and has never left me stranded. I mainly use it for car shows and cruise ins. It was not very well taken care of but after some hard work and a paint job it is a pleasure to drive.

I bought my 06 convertible last year with 168,000 on it expecting to have to do a lot of repairs. Only issues were a new water pump and evap control solenoid (I knew both had to be changed when I bought it). I changed the tie rod ends because i did not like the way they looked with the rubber dried out. I just took a 2400 mile round trip from Mississippi to North Carolina and back with a lot of cruising in between. I had zero issues on the trip.

If you take care of these cars they will last a long time. If you are going to complain about every issue then sell the car and take a bus. I have no issue with buying high mileage vehicles and taking care of them. Have been doing that since the 60s when I bought my first car, a 31 Model A that I used as a daily driver for a year and a half.

 

I bought my 08 3LT M6 vert garage queen going on 3 years ago with 17,750 miles.

It now has 37,100 miles on it. This car was very well maintained and was stored, washed and waxed, and keep under a car cover in the garage.

It only required 2 costly repairs, power steering pump, and the NPP solenoid valve. Surprising for such a low mileage car, but still ok, considering that it was 9 years old and used!

The less costly repairs that shouldn't have happened at such low mileage, were the door pads, and the rubber surrounds on the headlights, considering that the car was in a climate controlled garage out of the UV rays.

The most annoying part of these parts, is the replacement OEM parts are as bad as the originals. I replaced the door pads with new ones, instead of taking the old ones apart and cleaning them. Brand new, they are still temperamental opening both doors. One of the rubber headlight surrounds in less than 2 years is starting to split at the bottom seam like the originals.

All still pretty normal that I can overlook, because I love the car, and it's a blast to drive.

What drives me crazy about it though, and not normal compared to any other car I ever owned or had the pleasure to drive in my 56 years of driving, is the electrical/electronics systems on this car!

The batteries don't seem to last long, and when they start to fail create all kinds of gremlins. Go to start the car, push the button, nothing, no responds, wait 10 mins. and it starts like nothing happens(switch tested good at the dealer). False readings on the DIC, like check coolant level, wrong coolant temp and oil pressure reading.

I can go on and on, and things like this happen even when the battery isn't at fault. After these episodes happen, they can mysteriously disappear for many thousands of miles, and reappear again. The problem is, most of the time, they don't produce any kind of code.

I feel that I'm a reliable source and not a complainer, because I'm just stating the facts that most people on here also know about the car's idiosyncrasies!

There's nothing wrong with my car, it's just the nature of the beast!

 

I’m still on the original battery on my 2011 and car isn’t even daily driven.

 

I have put around 65k miles on the 3 that I have owned. The only issue I had was the ignition switch went out on my 03 C5, and it was covered under warranty. All 3 were bought between 2 and 2.5 years old. In my experience, how a car is driven and the kind of routine maintenance it receives makes all the difference in how long they last and how much trouble you have.

 

If you go on Rennlist...a Porsche forum....you would think 911s are constantly bursting into flame without any advanced notice. Obviously, they aren’t but car forums generally seem to be a place to rant about problems to a larger degree than a place to revel in the worry/trouble free driving experience most owners experience.

 

It's true! There is such a thing as worry/trouble free driving experience most owners experience. It's before and after the car is repaired!

 

Bought it with 50k miles on it. It's at 90k now. I have replaced the ac system completely 2 yrs ago. I just replaced the heating and cooling system: thermostat, radiator, hoses, and cleaned the throttle body. Any car will need repair...it's all on you not minding doing so for the love of you ride!
I love my C6 and will pass it down to my oldest son!

 

I bought my 08 vert 4-1/2 years ago with 28.5k on the clock. It's now near 70k and the only thing that's needed to be done other than regular maintenance, tires, and battery is the replacement of the clutch master cylinder, which was done for free under a TSB by the dealer. It's truly been completely trouble-free, and the most reliable car I've ever owned.

 

2-owner 08 vert with 122k miles. Bought it at 65k. Only repair was replacing the deck lid motor.

 

Dunno, had my 07 since new for 12 years and spent 800 dollars in repairs in 85000 miles. Still had original rotors, rad, water pump when I traded her in. Only issue was she was an auto so had to give her the push out (sadly).

 

My first 100,000 miles were virtually problem-free. There was a water pump, and a couple other things that really didn't need to be replaced, but since it had the drivetrain warranty, the dealer did so anyway.

After that, then a few things cropped up and a few more, just like any other car would. It's called "Oldcaritis."