2005 new model introduction problems, are there any ?
 

My Dad always said to stay away from the first model introduction year. He claimed that the "bugs" haven't been worked out. I'm close to buying a 05 with 16k miles. My question is, did the 2005 model year have any new model inherent problems, recalls ? If so, what should I look for ? Thanks for your help, this forum is great.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...-recalled.html

That's a start...use the VIN on the car to see if the recalls were taken care of.

Do a search here lots of help on your topic.

If I were looking for a great car with low mileage like you've come across, I grab it in a minute. I love my 05. I have 182,000 miles on it now :)

The only real problem is jacking up the hp and having a rear diff issue. If the car and price is right go for it.

There has been many, many posts just like this one, and I do understand the caution, but as I (and many) have stated, the 2005 is a very good car and you have no reason for concern...buy it if you like it. I am still driving my '05 with 70K on the odometer and have had almost nothing go wrong in 8 years. It has been (by far) the most dependable (and fun) new car that I have ever bought. :thumbs:

Bought mine new in February 2005; it now has 78k miles, and has had zero problems.

The only problem I have in my '05 is not having the steering wheel controls for the radio. :)

One other great thing. You'll be getting a car with only 16k miles on it. Besides being like new, it will look almost exactly the same to anyone as a 2013 model.

All good info. I would add the later the vin the better chance things have been corrected during the model run. Last 6 on the vin ran from 100001 thru 137341. Just sayin...

I think the biggest issues were (and still are with many model years) wobbly crank pullies and a quite a few 2005's ended up with faulty DRL/blinker harnesses. These issues are more rare than the forum will make it seem however because chances are people only post when they have a problem.

If you find a good deal go for it; the only reason I traded my 2005 in was because I wanted a manual.

Great idea, This vin is 121116, so it appears that it was 3/4 into the production year.
Thank you for the information.

I have owned 25 vettes from each of the first 6 generations and out of those I have had 4 first year cars. They were by far the most troublesome and problematic of all that I have owned. I now avoid first year vettes from any generation.

There were a number of changes that GM made when the 2006 model came out. The trans and differential were carried over from the C5's and the automatic went from a 4 speed to a 6 speed and a beefier differential in 2006. The most noticeable things are the steering wheel and the shark tale on the 2005's with XM.

If you go to this site you can search the TSB's and Recalls for any year and you will see that the 2005 by far had the most of any C6. Another thing is to have any GM dealer run the GMVIS report to see if there were any ongoing problems during the warranty and if all recalls were done.

http://www.corvette-web-central.com/CorvetteTSB.html

Look for cosmetics at this point bubbling on the A pillars and dash, all of the recalls should be taken care of at this point. I bought my '05 two years ago and love it.

So you're past the issue of the Harmonic Balancer bolt coming loose, a bad crush washer design but I think that only went to about production no. 11,100. Run the VIN and check the recalls...I've had my '05 for almost 4 years, have 25K miles on it and other than tires and the Balancer (I replaced it with an ATI, not really sure if it needed it but better safe than sorry, it probably would have failed eventually) no problems, love the car! Good Luck...:cheers:

I'm surprised there's still 2005 on the road! Everyone on here with an 06-13 claim they are death machines.

I have an 05 with 45K on it, the only problem that I have had are those stupid day time running lamps. Now I make sure I turn them off when I drive.

Any problems with my 05, Z51, Vert, have been owner induced. The car is great, it was built about 3/4 of the way through the production run. The car is old enough so that most of the issues should have been taken care of. Good luck. :thumbs:

Thank you, thank you. I can't express how helpful everyone has been. My motivation is the low millage, Navigation and Z-51 suspension. Purchasing it from a dealer. We have been back and forth negotiating a price of around 28k. From what I can see from KBB or NADA, it seems very fair.

Not looking to throw a wrench in this (and you will get plenty of opinions I'm sure) but that price MIGHT be a little high. I don't see where you're from, I know big city prices are usually higher than rural area's and buying from a dealer you will pay more but that being said you might want to research that a little or maybe offer him 25K and see what happens. As an example, I bought my '05 Z51 loaded with Navi and 2 tops, 10.5K miles almost 4 years ago and paid 30K, I bought privately. Our cars are 9 years old so 28K seems a bit high, just my opinion...Good Luck!

I love my 05, 14k miles on it.

I agree, if you want to add a Supercharger/HP, get a 2006 or better yet an 07/08

I paid $27.5k and mine had 11,600 miles on it when I got it.

I had been searching for about 4 or 5 months before settling on my 05 vert with 14k miles on it. Depending on the overall condition, and the fact that the miles are low, I think that is a very good price. I've noticed the last few weeks prices have started to creep up some of the new listings. With spring around the corner, the prices won't be coming down.

On a side note; I have a good friend who used to work building cars for dodge/Chrysler (for about 20 years). He said the only cars he would consider buying were first or second year models. He told me that all the research and best parts went on during the first few years and then they would start replacing quality parts with cheaper versions to make the car more cost effective.

I'm not sure I would agree but he stood by his claims. Just a different take on first year models.

I would jump on that price. Good luck.

PS: Not sure the color of the car you are looking at but my 05 is VR. That color was not added until mid year on 05 so was not part of the first run.

I think that opinion is starting to change. There are no '05 owners on here that regret buying it. Only happy 05 drivers and I'm one of them. The one's that have negative remarks to say have never even owned one. I've had mine over 3 years and other than replacing the balancer and the battery and a glitch in the shifter I've never had a single problem. It's been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

If this is a loaded convert then 28k is a good price if it is a coupe it should be more like 24-25k. Converts go for about $3to5k more than a comparable coupe.

I use Edmunds.com for values, they tend to be far more accurate, comprehensive and current than NADA or KBB.

I agree. If you read enough forums, you might start to think that 06 Z06's all have bad valves and blow engines.

My father in law has an 05' with 35K miles on it and he has had no trouble at all. Only grins!

I have an 05 that I bought in 06. It has been extremely reliable with no troubles at all. Only thing I have done is change oil, replace tires and a couple of batteries. Best car I have ever owned. It is very comfortable on trips and gets great gas mileage.

You didn't say if it has automatic or manual transmission. The 05 manual transmission has to be put in reverse when parking or else the electrical stuff won't shut down completely and it runs down the battery. This is the only year that is like that as far as I know. Most people don't know this (Dealers) so they usually leave them in 1st gear and the battery may be discharged when you want to start it again. Not a problem at all if you know this.

:willy: :willy::willy: I have an '09 Z06 with 70,000 mi. and an '05 vert with 190,000 mi. :willy::willy::willy:

Somebody shudda tole me they were no gud!



lisa

As someone else said, the 28k depends on (among other things) coupe/vert and manual/auto.
I could slide you into a nice '05 vert, Z51, 6sp, 45k miles, no nav for a few ggg's less. Just sayin...

:iagree: I test drove 5 Vettes (05-07) I wanted the LS2...and the very first one was a 14k M6 and the sales person couldn't get it started. Then her GM went out to try...nope. Trying to jump it between those two and finally called a wrench. He jumps in it puts it in reverse and starts it...many don't know.

Shifting to reverse in the 05 is for shutdown purposes only. The car will start in any gear or neutral.

I have 05, only problem was the shifter that was repaired under warranty and 38,000 trouble free driving.

If you decide to buy, here is the owners manual you might want to start reading, it's in PDF and save it.

http://www.c6registry.com/Technical/manuals/2005OM.pdf

I bought my 2005 coupe last May with 12,988 miles on it. It came with both tops, privacy screen for the rear hatch, NAV instead of the 6-disc changer, Bose, automatic, polished aluminum wheels, HUD, heated seats, tilt-n-tele, etc. The car was in pristine shape when I drove her off the lot. I paid $32,900 for her. I bought her from Roger Judski of Rogers Corvette in Orlando. At the time, his price matched right up with Edmunds based on mileage, options, etc. As for "new car bugs", I'd say the 'Vette has been around long enough that Chevy spends a good deal of time developing the next generation prior to releasing it. I love mine!

There was a recall for an active handling problem and a comb and tie wrap were added to a connector on the steering column. Some cars had a roof panel de-lamination problem again, cured with a recall. Previous owners had these recalls done on our car. They put just over 13K miles on in while they had the car and we have put 18K trouble free miles on the car since we bought it almost two years ago. If you can afford a 2008, you get a few extra ponies under the hood and a stronger rear diff. Not something that would make or break the deal but something to be aware of.

Point being...battery was dead!

That's clearly not how the last part of the post comes across.

I see the same thing happening right now with used Harley Davidson prices, HD just did MAJOR redesigns of their 2014 Touring line along with some pretty significant price increases. In order to sell the new bikes most dealers are giving great trade in prices on older bikes and selling the new bikes at MSRP. Problem is now they have to sell those traded in bikes at a higher price to make a small profit on them. Could be the same thing with the Vette's, maybe dealers paying the high end on trade-in's in order to push the C-7's off the lot. Wasn't too long age there was some price threads with '05 pricing in the low 20's. Good for the seller, not so good for the buyer...

There are tons of threads on here about the problems of the 05. I'm glad I hadn't read any of them before I bought mine. It has been trouble free and I love it.

Once again, thanks for everyone's reply. I'm heading to New Hampshire tomorrow to take a look. If it's everything the dealer says it is, then I will be the proud owner of a C-6. It will look real nice next to my 1972 Red C-3 in the garage.

Thanks to 1bdvet for the owners manual link.

If everyone listened to only the negativity no one would have bought an 05 or anything with a 427. It's just silly.

Everyone, including myself, complains when we have a problem but seldom does anyone pipe up when their cars are working fine for years and years. While you can learn what problems you might come across, the chances are pretty low. You can get a slanted view as to how problematic these cars are. If the recalls have all been done on your car, you should be good to go. I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep worrying about what MIGHT happen. I added the column lock bypass module the first summer that we had our car just as a preemptive strike as I saw complaints about the column lock staying locked and the module wasn't all that expensive nor hard to install.

I wonder about your thoughts on the used Corvette market prices.. By no means I'm saying your right or wrong. My thoughts are, that it's a supply and demand driven industry. I would imagine that with the unusual high volume of vettes being traded in that it would actually lower the prices.

I think it depends on what they're giving for those trade in's. True they might be getting lots of used cars being traded but if they're giving high trade in prices in order to push the new model then they have to sell them at AT LEAST what they gave, more then likely higher to realize a profit. Their goal is to move new cars (or bikes), that's the bottom line. As I said earlier with Harley, most dealers are giving great trade in prices on used bikes in order to sell new bikes. There was some site that showed that at MSRP, the dealer was making about 5K profit on a new Ultra Limited (MSRP around 28K), more on the CVO's. So even if they take a $1000 hit on a used bike, they still make about 4K on the new bike sale. Just a thought...:cheers: