Hello,

I have been searching for some time trying to sort out what the BEST VIN numbers would be for 05s and 06s when looking for a used C6. I know some of you prob have early VINS and have no troubles, but also know that some of you are plagued with DBS and other issues.

Is there any SET cut off numbers (VINS) that at least help avoid some of the troubles the C6s face? I am just trying to be a discriminating buyer and want to enjoy a daily driver, not a dealer shop queen.

Hope some of you pros can drop in and give some good info!

CLK199

 

Any thoughts?

TIA
CLK199

 

Wow... I was had hoped that this would be a hot topic... guess not!

Oh well, guess I will keep on keeping tabs on my own....

clk199

 

Its a good idea, but I have not seen any type of analysis done using the VIN. Maybe GM did but I doubt they would share that info.

 

Vins 0-11,039 you might get the crank pulley bolt problem. DBS with MN6.

There might be something in FAQS and also do a search.

Good luck!

 

On the crank pulley, that was the cut off, there is no range on DBS except any 05 (mostly MN6) Vins...

 

Thanks for the info,

I am going to do a little research and see what I can find... I will post anything worthwhile. Not to say that there is anything wrong with early VINS, just some people want to know exactly what they are getting.

Thanks!
clk199

 

There have only been 3 real widespread trouble spots with the 2005s. The first was the harmonic balancer slippage issue, which GM claims to have resolved after VIN 11039 with the addition of a friction washer. (I'm not convinced the washer does anything, but they may have paid more attention to proper dampener press fit on the crank and proper bolt torque after that VIN.) There were probably only a few hundred cases of this prior to VIN 11039, but even one is a potential safety hazard.

The second is DBS which hits the manual tranny cars. That problem was ongoing throughout the model year, and there's still no resolution. We're beginning to see hints it may have carried over into the 2006 cars too, though at least the operator error generated component was removed when they eliminated the requirement to shift to reverse to shut down properly. There's widespread speculation as to the cause, but no concrete linkage to anything other than that the car has a manual transmission and keyless start (2004s and earlier used a key, and those cars with manuals didn't suffer this problem, automatic cars haven't shown a pattern of having this problem, etc).

The third was various radio problems, static, dead on startup, no MP3, etc, which seem to have been addressed by software updates applied in the field. So that's become a non-problem, even for the earliest production cars. (Amp and speakers are still Bose, and still sound like crap, but we have to fix that ourselves via the aftermarket since GM seems wedded to Bose.)

Beyond those 3 issues, other problems seem to be scattered randomly, and are typical of any mass produced automobile, not just a first year Corvette.