Buying a c6 have a couple questions
 

For me it depends on the car. If it's a one-owner car with all service records I would be comfortable with 70-80,000 miles. A typical 2-3 owner car I would want in the 30-40,000 mile range.

I bought one with 2,500 miles 3 years ago but that is an extreme case. 25,000 would be my personal limit

It would need to be under 40K for me.

Having 80K on mine with no hint of problems, 1 owner with 120K wouldn't be a problem for me. This isn't a '53 Buick but it is a high performance car that can be abused and 5K is too high on an abused car. 1K is too high if you are buying it as a museum piece. I would be more leery of a 2010 with 20K miles rather than 120K miles with a good maintenance record because it has probably just sat in a garage and not been maintained.

These mileage limits seem crazy to me, but I guess when I was considering mine as a "toy", part of that was knowing I could sell it in a few years with no hit in depreciation.

I went with a 2007 w/ 90,000 miles. It has pretty much reached the bottom of its depreciation curve and has so far been very reliable. Harmonic balancer replaced 6 months before I bought it. I guess it all depends on how disposable your disposable income is :)

I wouldn't be so fixated with mileage. You can find one with 10k miles but the previous owner could have tracked/dragged it every weekend and just ran it HARD or you can find one with 60k owned by a 70yr old used to get groceries and doctors appointments. Good judgment and an independent mechanic to look it over will be key. Look over the Carfax and if it a private sale ask a bunch of questions. Typically the LS motors are very reliable. Good luck on your search.

The first thing I do is set a budget and then trade off between 4 things:
Year, options, mileage, and condition

Your budget is very good, so you just need to decide which things are most important for the way you will use it. Mine is just a weekend driver, so I chose one with 67k miles. The condition and options were outstanding and it fit perfectly in my budget.

You've probably figured this out, but mileage limits are all personal. If I was looking for a toy, I would stick to mid 30s or less. Less would be better.

The cars are reliable, so if I was looking to drive it a lot, 50 to 60k miles wouldnt worry me too much. If I was gonna drive the crap out of it, I'd buy as many miles as I could find so as to minimize the depreciation hir. These cars depreciate way more based off miles than normal cars, and probably more due to miles than age.

If it's your first 'vette the best thing you can do is look at and drive as many as you can to familiarize yourself with the car. You will find out what well cared for and not so well cared for looks like, and don't get in a rush to buy. You have enough budget to buy a very nice vette, take your time and get the color, options and condition you want. With your budget you don' t have to settle for a high mile car.

Psht, less than 100k will be fine. These were engineered to be driven, they're not your grandma's glass figurines.

don't be afraid to open up your search area...……………. numerous 2010 - 2013's here within your budget and mileage on most less than that found on a typical "daily driver" accumulating 12 - 15K per year...……….

half of the fun in your search is finding the perfect Corvette for you, and the second half would be going and getting it and driving it back home, while you learn and bond with it...…………

Lots of reasons to buy a c6 over a c7, most boil down to preference or reliability. I think your expectations of price are a bit low. A well equipped 45k mile car i would expect to be 28-29k. Obviously theres variation by age and condition.

The best advice i can give is buy the car you want, not the price. If you buy based on price, youll just end up buying the car you want later at a loss. It happened to me.

When Corvette shopping, you may need to travel out of state for the best deals! I drove 476 miles to buy mine! Good luck!!

Since its a "toy"...why are you so concerned with the year of the vehicle? Sounds like you are more concerned with price - which is ok. I paid under $20k for my 2005 that is in "show" condition with 40k miles. A C7 is going to cost you over $40k... I own both a C6 and a C7...both are amazing cars but are very different. Obviously a C7 offers a vast number of improvements, but cost alot more. If this is your first Vette, I would say to get yourself a nice, clean C6 for around $20k and just have some fun with it...see if you even like the way it drives and feels... If its just a toy - then it doesnt sound like you need the most HP or high end model...so save the money, get one a little older and enjoy the heck out of it with your wife. May I suggest also getting a convertible...unless you know that is not what you want. If you two will be taking joy rides - there is nothing like a convertible.

Again - this cost me just under $20k:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...98a652febf.jpg

This cost me $38k:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9d4538338e.jpg

You are looking for a toy, not a daily driver, which tells me you want a car with few scratches and chips, that you and your wife would be proud to be seen in, so the fewer miles the better. You probably would not want the engine to have been modified, either. I would look for any C6 with less than 2,500 miles per year on it, garaged for all its life. Most any such car should be well maintained. It might take you three or four months of searching to find the right one, but you will never regret it! Buy it and enjoy it!

I paid $19.5k for '09 ( 2 years ago to the day, almost ). at the time it had 98k miles ( currently @ 143k mi. ), original owner.
even at over 22.5k miles a year, this is not a DD. this are mostly weekend miles. I will occasionally commute to work with it ( 70miles round trip ), 1 - 2 days a week. other than the basic maintenance, it's still original. as far as I know, the clutch is still original too.
like everyone above has been saying, mechanically, these are pretty stout rides.
if it's going to be a DD, I wouldn't let the mileage be too much of a concern. as long as it's in the normal usage range.

good luck!