Hello everyone. Well I am finally in the market and hope to make a purchase in the near future.
I turn 61 in June and waited long enough! Most likely going to be looking at the C6.
I was looking at a price range of 20K - 25K. I don't know if that is feasible or not.
I am planning on going to Carlisle PA for the show in August. Is it a good place to start my search?
Has anyone made good deals there?

 

Welcome and moved this to C6 General for responses to your questions.

 

Welcome to the Forums

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the forum. My suggestion is to do some research on the C6 and determine what you really want. When I say that I mean model, packages, auto, manual, vert, coupe, mileage, color, and how far are you willing to travel or pay to have it shipped. Then search using only those parameters and sooner or later you will find what you are looking for. It took me close to 4 months before I found mine. Good luck in your quest for the perfect car for you.

 

Welcome. 61 is certainly not old to get your long awaited Vette. I was 68. For me I did a lot of on line research and looked for close to a year to find mine. I was glad I waited for the right one. To me I got the newest and lowest mile in my price range. I actually spent a little more and was glad I did. I think priorities should be roof type, transmission type, color, wheel type and finish.

 

I went to Carlise from Texas a couple of years ago to see the new C8. I wasn't looking at prices for used corvettes, but you have to imagine that is Corvette "meca" and people will be asking a premium. Prices are up and I don't imagine they'll be lower by August.

If you haven't figured out what you want by August then I would say that is a good starting poing. You'll be able to see every type of Corvette. Most people are very friendly so you could walk around, talk to people, ask to sit in their car, etc.

Welcome to the forum and best of luck to you.
Jason

 

That price range is going to be older w/ higher mileage but it's not out of the question, though tougher than it would have been 18 months ago.

As mentioned, prices are insane. In late 2019, right before the pandemic, I sold my '12 base and bought an '11 GS from Carvana. Now I wouldn't sell it for anything less than $3k than I bought it for - and that's still cheaper than what they're going for on Carvana. Not just Corvette's. I have been seeing very low mileage used cars on Carvana and other local sites where the asking price is higher than the original MSRP - such as the Kia Telluride.

Good luck and stay patient - don't settle if you get a little discouraged.

 

At the upper end of your range I think you can score a decent car as long as you're not looking for a Z06 or something special. Probably need to be looking at '05's or '06's . Read lot's of the various articles in this forum to see the typical issues with these cars then ask a seller if they'd done the repairs if necessary. You don't want a costly surprise later. Very typical is the harmonic balancer issue.....this is where the factory balancer fails and causes it to wobble, eventually tearing up or throwing belts. This is an expensive fix, anywhere between $1000 and $1500 unless you are really mechanically inclined and can do it yourself in which case parts are around $300 but it's a miserable project. Another is the column lock, which locks the steering wheel when the ignition is turned off. This is an electric solenoid that "pins" the column. They're also a high failure item however the fix is not terrible but does require an electronic device that fools the computer into thinking the solenoid is working. This requires removing the gauge cluster to install it (not as difficult as it might sound). There are other less frequent issues however again you'll find tons of good info here. There's lots and lots of discussions about tires also if your purchase is ready for new ones. Do some research on that issue too. If the battery is over 3 years old get a new one even if it's working fine. These cars are extremely sensitive to the battery putting out the correct voltage or your computer will give you all kinds of notices on the DIC. Absolutely not trying to scare you, just need to be a wise buyer and know what the typical issues are with C6's. They're GREAT cars and a BLAST to drive. Good luck, have fun.

 

You are buying into the market at a high point so your $$$ won't go as far as it would normally....20-25k will get you into a C6 base model car with some miles on it right now

 

totally appreciate the feedback guys! I'll definitely check out the articles and do as much homework as I can before heading out there.

 

Welcome to the forum. I am new here too. Picked up my 2011C6 Grand Sport about a month ago. I did a ton of research and locked in my must haves preferred to haves and nice to haves. Spent about a month of online shopping to fully under the market and that helped me know what a good deal looks like. Picked mine up for 24900 with 54000 miles. Has all my required all my preferred and only missing one nice to. But was really on the fence about manual over automatic.
Good luck in the hunt and send pics once you pull the trigger!

 

thanks!

 

Another suggestion so that you don't have to wait until August is look for local corvette clubs in your area, and see where they meet up at. You could drop by and tell them you're interested in Corvettes.

There's one thing we all have in common, Corvettes, and most of us like talking about our cars. So they'll be more than happy to talk to someone.

 

By the way, something else I just thought of you might be interested in is that the original radios, even with the Bose system or NAV are rather poor plus you can't add a back up camera or hands free phone on most of the older ones. One of the first things guys do is change their "head" unit (radio) to a much nicer feature friendly radio. You'll find a number of threads on this topic too. Fairly easy to do even for a modest do-it-yourselfer. There's u-tube video's on step by step instructions. Lots and lots of options in the radio market. If you get interested in doing this be sure to at least talk to Crutchfield as they're the number 1 source for info. You can add a rear view camera, front camera, hands free phone, even skip the nav a and use your phone for nav and see it on the screen. Most everybody is really happy with this upgrade. Took me awhile to figure out that a search on the C6 forum usually leads to a lot of dead ends but if you google what you want it will lead you to the right thread on the forum! Crazy but it works. And yes, join a club, even before you buy.

 

Welcome aboard always great to see a fellow member from NJ. What part of the state are you in ? I would be more than happy to meet up with you and answer any questions that you have.

 

I'm in Mercer Co. Hopewell Twp.

 

WELCOME;
My wife is from Short Hills, NJ.
Going to Carlisle PA? I have been going for 25+ years and have a vendor spot there next to the show field. IMHO, that is not a place I would choose to buy your 1st Corvette on site. Not that there are not really great cars there, there are and some not so great too. If you are in NJ and the car is in PA you are a out of state buyer and that to me has hurdles to get over and probably costs too. If you do buy through Carlisle then more fees probably apply. If you meet up and check one out, great, the show is place to see, learn and it is the best show for Corvettes of all kinds, accessories, clubs no question. I go and buy parts, sell some there sometimes too.
My $1.00 worth, I would go to a local dealer test drive one, or two or three as this will help you decide year, color, options and then there is your budget.
FWIW, good luck on your Corvette buy.

 

You will certainly find a lot of nice Corvettes for sale at Carlyle. Prices for Corvettes are pretty well inflated now and probably will continue to be for years to come.

This link will provide a good source of information. Corvette Tech Center - Corvette Action Center

Check out the Tech Center. 2005 - 2013 Corvette Tech Center - Corvette Action Center

Welcome and good luck with your search.

 

thanks for the input