cls241

Private sale: a friend is letting me buy his 2001 C5; he has a C4, C5, C8, and about seven other cars, mostly 40s-60s roadsters. The C5 was not listed for sale, I asked about it, after hearing him talk to someone else at a party, and thought he was buying it, assumed it was gone. He did not, so I reached out, and he's offering it to me at what I feel is a good price.

I did a CarFax on it last night, and it's clean and had five owners, including him. He's had it since 2018, and it's garage-keeping, driven enough to keep everything going, with no damage, no accidents, and always personal cars.

The photo is from the car fax, I am not a huge fan of the Lambo Doors, but it will be helpful if someone is parked close. The stripe is an add-on, may see if it can be removed at a later time.

New black wheels (not shown) and new Continental ExtremeContact Sport2 tires all around with less than 1500 miles of road time.

It will be a summer/weekend car, not a daily driver. The only change or mod I will likely add is a CarPlay/BT device, as I am not planning on selling.

I had a 1986 vette from 1986 to 1987 and had to get rid of it due to finances and moving out of state, but I have always wanted another one. I had to go sit in one locally to make sure I could still get in/out, as time has changed a lot, including my age, body shape, etc.


I will test on Saturday as he's five hours from me, and we're meeting about two hours from my home. If all goes well, I will have a two-hour drive back home in my (new to me) C5.


I hope I am making a good choice and can find good ideas and people here in this forum.


Thanks.

Vetteman Jack

Moved to C5 General and best of luck with your purchase of the car.

FOGeologist

Test drive at speed first - make sure those lambo doors are well-sealed and the glass ends up right where it needs to be. Otherwise you’ll be chasing whistly air leaks and fitment/rattling issues. Go over some bumps at low speed to make sure everything is sound.

cls241

Thanks. The person I am buying from is a long-time friend who owns many cars, some of which are six-figures. If there were an issue, he would have fixed it over the seven years he owned the car. Regardless, yes, I will be test driving, and if there is an issue, I would certainly let him know as that may adjust the price if I need to 1) fix the doors or 2) revert them to standard doors. I will be test-driving it in a place I am unfamiliar with. I am meeting him at a dance/event in WA, and it will be raining in the 50s, so sadly, it is not ideal circumstances to test drive, but I will do my best. I agree 100% with everything you're saying and greatly appreciate your advice. I will take it seriously. I am a bit OCD, and whistling doors would drive me batty after 5 min.

kkupec02

Welcome

mstromquist

Looks like a nice car. Good luck with it all and hope it's all you want and expect. C5's are better in my book then the C4's. I've had both as well and love the C5.

cls241

Thank you very much. As the weekend gets closer, I get more nervous, as I know he’s having second thoughts of selling it. I hope he does not change his mind. I have been doing a lot of research, getting ready for the car, calling for insurance, ordering the CarFax, etc. Crossing fingers.

I am surprised they want to keep their white C4 and sell the C5. Of course they’re keeping their C8, it’s got a ton of updates, it looks more like. Rocket Ship than a car, I guess I like the older corvette designs over the new ones, still love the original sting rays.

Glad you enjoy your C5, and I hope I am part of the club this weekend!

Chuck A

Very nice, indeed

cls241

Thank you, kind of you to post and say that! Appreciate it.

redzg

Pay significant attention to the clutch and transmission. Clutch primary and secondary cylinders can go bad due to both mileage and age. If the secondary cylinder leaks or sticks it means removing the drive train. Flushing clutch fluid is nearly impossible, and is not often done. That does not help clutch life. Second gear synchros live a hard life, if it's notchy going into second it won't get better on it's own.
Take a good look at the HVAC control panel. If it's a dual zone system (likely) it may not be legible in daylight. Common problem, not impossible to fix, but will require some work. Along the same lines, shift the HVAC zones and make sure they actually change. Very common to have the blower push air out all the vents at once, due to a broken vacuum line mixed into the wire harness under the hood. That one takes more than a moment to find/fix.
And you will probably notice the seats slide back and forth about a 1/4 inch on every shift. That's what used to be a pair of rubber spacers on the seat drive rails. Used to be rubber, but are now more of a gummy mess.

cls241

Wow, that's great stuff; thank you! I will add this to my list for Saturday and review it with my friend, the seller. Since he does most of the work himself, I won't have paperwork supporting it. I doubt he wants to be low-up in a friendship over $12K, but one never knows. I have not been inside his car, only others local/similar, so as of this reply, I don't know about the seats (power or not) or the climate control. H (single or dual). He's told me about clutch issues on ALL Corvettes on this timeline, and we'll see if anything has been done on his end. I know he's redone the driver's seat, but I'm unsure about the mechanics. Thanks again for all of this, I hope to have good news and post again soon with some updated info and photos.

yellow2007

Restore the doors to original and get the window valet..........if someone parks close you can put your windows down while outside the car. I always say, let me know when Lamborghini uses vette doors.......

cls241

I had to look that up, never heard of the Window Valet before, I read about it, watched the video. Would not the Window Valet work on the Lambo Doors? Not sure I need it, but just wondering why not, it's only the window. Yes, I am not overly thrilled with the Lambo Doors myself, but it may be helpful at times, I don't know yet. I need to actually use them 1x or 2x to know for sure.

rrwirsi

Are you mechanically and electrically savvy? The C5 have both mechanical and electrical anomolies that can test an owners enjoyment. If not, then 1) take a car savvy person with you to 'review' the car. Many times they will spot stuff you do not; 2) Make the sale dependent on an inspection; 3) then suggest finding a local Vette shop that can help in any future repairs. The local Corvette club is a good source for recommendations.

cls241

note: I can't test drive on Saturday; the owner put his back out and can't drive a stick to the meeting place, so the purchase is postponed until at least next week.

• The sale cannot be dependant on an inspection as we're 5 hours apart and I have to drive 4 hours to meet and if I don't buy the car I would not have a way home, I am being dropped off. I would have to take an uber to a train or bus station and hope I can find a way home. He's not local.
• I have a local shop that works on Corvettes; they've also always been good on other cars.
• I am not Mechanically or Car Savvy, anything that needs to be done will require a professional
• I have joined a local Corvette club, but it may be moot if this deal falls, though, I'm wondering if he's having seller's remorse, as he said if I don't buy it, it's not for sale.