It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
- Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark

I'm in the market for a not-yellow C6 manual and I've noticed quite a few older cars with low mileage at appealing prices. We don't get weather here in SoCal which means I don't have to worry about rust or freezing. We do get a lot of sun so I'm worried about rubber parts or plastics having problems due to age. If many parts are going to need replacement might as well spend the money on something newer instead. Any neglected car is a money pit no matter the age so I've steered clear of those.

I'm wondering if it would it be better to spend an extra 30% on a 2013 (~$31k) vs a 2006 (~$23k) with similar miles and equipment. I'm moderately handy (suspension, plugs & coils, convertible top) so I'm fine with some DIY to save some dinero.

How well do these older, lower mileage (~50k-60k) cars hold up if they've been cared for?

What says the internet?

 

I have a very well maintained 2012 and the only repair I have ever made was replacing the glove box latch. You can read down the posts and get an idea about the problems some have had. The harmonic balancer comes to mind. You might pay attention to the tires. They are not cheap. Good luck.

 

IMHO if a older (low mileage) C6 checks off all your boxes, I would save the cash.

Having said that, most people will recommend purchasing the newest, lowest mileage car in your budget.

I cant stress enough that the car has to check all your requirements. If you compromise to save a few bucks, you'll regret it later on.

Good luck!

 

I could not agree more. When I was looking for mine I had a very specific checklist. The year range I was looking at was 2006-2010. I bought a 2006 and have never looked back.

 

Buy the newest, lowest mileage car you can afford. If you can spend the 31k for a 2013, do it. If not, no shame in that either. The cars did get better over the years in basically every way, and so that and the lower age is worth paying for if you can afford it.

That said, condition trumps all else. I'd buy a super clean car that was.older over a trashed newer car.

 

I bought a low mileage 07 2 years ago. I love my car, but definitely go for the newer one.

 

I'm lucky that the only thing I'm really looking for is a manual connected to an LS. And a power top if I wind up with a convertible. All the other options are nice but not needed.

But I'm not hearing anything that indicates that the older cars are particularly prone to age related issues.

I'll keep looking for a nice C6 of any age.

Hopefully not for too much longer.

 

One like mine sold for $105,000 at Mecum over the weekend. Pay me that, and I'll sell you mine. lol

Personally, I'd buy the newest low mileage one I could find.

 

The problem is that two identical cars of the same age and mileage can differ widely due to how it was cared for. Did it sit outside in the sun, or was it garaged? Did the owner baby it and religiously change the fluids, or did he/she drive it hard and put it up wet, only changing the oil when the service indicator reported 2% life left? The hard thing these days is that most dealers will toss any service records that they may have gotten with the car d/t privacy laws and/or laziness, so you have to either buy it from the owner or rely on carfax. And of course, your own nose, hands and feet and on what you can see.

Best of luck. I always say, buy the best car that you can afford. A cheap used car is usually cheap for a reason.

 

While I agree with most in the buy the newest/lowest mile car you can afford... i will say dont let mileage scare you on these things, their not dainty little flowers, their alot tougher than people give them credit for. I have 148k on my Grand Sport (the last 65k of hard use and running the crap out of it) and its been reliable as a top aside from some self induced issues here and there. I wouldn't hesitate to drive it across the country tomorrow at a moments notice.

 

This is probably racist, sexist, etc., but really low mileage Corvettes are always a thing.
1. The average Vette is not used as a daily driver/grocery hauler/kid taxi. It doesn't get driven in bad weather, and daily driving lays on the miles. The kids are probably grown, or at least they can drive themselves.
2. The average Vette is probably owned by some old dude who always wanted a Vette and now can afford one. Lord love him, he worked hard for years and he earned it.

However, once he actually gets a Vette, he quickly discovers that he doesn't really like it all that much. It sits too low, it rides too rough, it's noisy, it doesn't have the bells and whistles and creature comforts that his SUV has, His wife HATES it and it still doesn't get him laid, impress the Big Boys at the country club or turn him back into a car-crazy eighteen year old kid. So it doesn't get driven, once the novelty wears off.

 

Kevin, there is probably a lot of stereotypical truth in what you just said.

 

Are you sharing personal life experiences?

 

I don't like too low of milage on a older car.
I recently had a '08 totaled at 122k miles. Car was in xlnt shape, didn't use oil, etc., and I fully expected to reach 200k miles without problems.
I wanted to buy a replacement c6 vert with a manual trans. No white, black, red, or yellow. Ideal would be a blue '13 with 40k-50k miles.
This turned out to be a very hard to find model.
I ended up traveling 600 miles, out of state, to buy a '09 cyber gray with black top and black/gray seats. 53k miles. Pretty close to what I wanted, and hard to find. $30k out the door including tax and licence from a dealer. I think the fair market $$$ of this car was about $35k+. Price was just a few thousand $$ more (mostly sales tax of $2,100+) than the insurance paid me, and I got a newer car with less than 1/2 the milage.
There were a few things that might have turned off most drivers. The car drove real rough. When I had the dealer put it up in the air to look at the bottom side (cannot register in commiefornia with non stock exhaust), I noticed that the tires had 80%+ of tread left, but that they were oem tires made in '09. Must have been take off's back in '09+. Hard as a rock, rode hard, and sounded terrible, and when I had them replaced, the tech said that the sidewalls just fell apart as he dismounted them. $1k for very good Michelin's. Oddly, the front tires were new Faulkin tires. Not the best, but pretty good. Why didn't they change all of them???
Also, there was a split seam in the drivers seat bottom. $250 to fix locally.
I think these 2 problems probably put off 90%+ of buyers.
Too low of milage can sometimes be a bad thing. I know people who don't drive much that go out monthly and start and idle their cars for 5 minutes just to keep the battery charged. Not really enough time to get the car up to running temp. Overall, not good.
It does appear that about 70k miles seems to be a price changing point. Over that milage, and it's harder to sell to most people.
My car has carfax records of the previous owner getting dealer service every 6mos. Many low mileage oil changes, coolant changes, brake flush, etc. With these records, and a good price, I would probably have bought it at 100k miles.

 

For what its worth I rolled the bones on what would probably be considered the most risky C6 purchase possible - an older 1LT, higher mileage, rebuilt title car from a rust-prone state (although that is, imho, a bit overhyped b/c ..fiberglass.. and these really can't be driven in snow & salt), purchased sight unseen. The Corvette equivalent of putting it all in on black, including the gold in your teeth, and saying a prayer.

In January of 21 the truck rolled up with my 07, 6-speed with 79k showing on the odo. I now have 90k on it and aside from initial 'taking care of problems inherited from the previous owner' stuff, replacing harmonic balancer and a bad fuel injector, its been absolutely bulletproof. Provides me tons of driving pleasure, turns heads everywhere I go, and its been nothing but gas, tires and oil.

So I stand with those who say these cars are pretty stout. If budget is at all a concern I wouldn't let odometers that have spun a little scare you off. If its been garaged, well-kept, maint. records, etc.,....buy it.

(unless its yellow)

 

I bought my 2009 1LT base coupe on a whim. I knew I wanted a 2008 or later because they have the larger displacement engine (6.2L vs 6.0L). A local Chevy dealer had one for sale. I went and looked. They treated me like crap. I went to another dealer and they had a one owner car with only 26K miles "on special" at $30.5K. We settled at $28.5K and I've been a happy owner ever since. The car is Victory Red and I've owned it for almost 8 years. Its now got 48K miles on the clock. I still can't get used to the paddle shifting though.

The subject of my post

 

I have had my 2007 for 11 years now and would not hesitate to hop in and drive it anywhere in the country tomorrow. 75,00 miles now and as reliable as any car I have ever owned. Fresh rubber, fresh fluids and an LS will take you wherever you want to go for a long time

 

I purchased my 2006 in 2009 with approx 9K miles on the clock. It took me 6 months to find the color, option list, etc, and I found it at a dealer in the USA. Since my wife worked for an airline, I flew in, and drove it back home in just over 2 days.
I looked at all the colors before deciding on the fastest color, Velocity Yellow. I mean if it was good enough for their race cars, it would be good enough for me
Unlike the stereotype mentioned in the above post, my wife loves the car, and we have taken approx 60-70K miles of road trips in it. We could fly to the destinations, then rent a boring car to tour around.
We have visited many areas in these 14 years, and enjoyed each and every mile. The C6 now has 124K + miles, and it has been a great vehicle with little to no issues so far.
I did have to change the wheels to Machine face C7 style because the other set had aluminum corrosion on the tire bead face.
I'm on my 5th set of tires, but I dumped the GY RF's after about 1 month of ownership.


Good Luck in your search, which is one of the fun parts of getting a C6.

 

Buying a low mileage C6 or any low mileage car is a double edge sword, you pay a premium and once you drive the car the value plummets and the car becomes worth the same as any other Corvette of that year and model. In the case of the C5 and C6 you will see most sellers asking for a huge premium on regular model even low option Corvettes, (non Z06, non ZR1 and non 427 Vert cars) at near the prices of the higher priced performance models which were $25-$50K+ more when they were new, which makes zero sense but more power to the sellers if they do find an uneducated or impulsive buyer, but also shame on them for screwing those buyers.

In the case of the GM LS cars with very low miles, you will eventually need to replace the harmonic balancer. To be able to safely drive the very low mileage garage queen you will more than likely need to replace the original tires, belts and battery and will need to service all of the fluids / lubricants and chase many electrical gremlins from sitting for years without being driven at operating temperature often enough if ever. Starting the engine four times per year for 3-5 minutes is not caring for the car. I wouldn't pass on a 500-5K mile 11-25 year old Corvette but there should not be much of a premium if any since you will need to address all of the above items which comes at an additional and high cost especially if you're not a DIY person. If you intend to drive the car and want to be able to just turn the key and go then I would suggest buying a well-documented, well maintained 20K-50K mile Corvette owned by an enthusiast/car guy at a much lower price and most likely the balancer will already have been replaced with a better unit, all of the maintenance will be up to date and done meticulously and as a preventative measure, so more often than scheduled by GM.

 

Axtually, mostly no.

My wife does HATE HATE HATE my Vettes, though. And they don't get driven in bad weather. Other than that, not so much.