Please help me time the purchase of a new Z06
 

I am strongly considering buying a new Z06. I have been reading the Z06 problem thread and I just wanted to check on a few things that I read about there. Since I've been a member here for a day or two, I know that such threads are highly biased towards the negative side. For every person that posts up a problem, there could be dozens, if not hundreds of owners who don't bother to post how great their cars are. The info in that thread is not deterring me, but I want to learn more. I have intentionally stayed out of the C7 section because I figured it would cost me money if I started surfing here :rofl: For that reason, I need a crash course on the C7 Z06 (no pun intended)

With the eminent release of the C8, I want to use this opportunity to get a good price on a new Z06, if possible. Apologies in advance because I have a lot of questions. I keep my cars a long time, and this is stretching the budget, so I want to get it right. Normally I would order a car this special, but because of the stretching of the budget, I want to try to leverage the release of the C8 to get a killer deal on a new C7 Z06.

I want a 2 LZ, M7, 1st color choice is long beach red metallic, second choice elkhart lake blue metallic. I do not plan to track the car, other than an occasional HDPE. I do plan plenty of back roads "spirited" driving though.

Questions:

1. When is the C8 expected to go on sale?

2. What is the last year model of C7 (2019 I presume) and when will the last one be built?

3. Are the overheating issues primarily limited to tracking the car?

4. It sounds like most of the overheating is on the A8, correct?

5. Is the M7 popping out of gear common, or isolated?

6. Is the poor A/C performance common, or isolated?

7. Cracked wheels - common, or isolated?

:cheers:

Well I can tell you I’ve had zero issues with my 17 2LZ M7. I don’t believe either transmission will overheat on the street. Shop on cars.com for the right car. They have an excellent filter to find what your looking for. If you can find the car you want and can get close to 20% off I wouldn’t hesitate. If your stretching the budget check in to PenFed credit union. They have excellent loan options and rates.

Thanks saleen. Glad to hear that you’re 2017 is awesome! WRT budget, I will be able to pay cash, however, I don’t want to have to pull more out of savings that I have to. I wasn’t planning to spend this much, so I’m feeling a little guilty LOL.

I will check out that site.

You also may want to consider a used one. So many of these cars are purchased and just are taken out to the occasional car meet. Also there is very little difference between a 17 and 19. Definitely worth looking into if you are okay with used. I nearly got one used but it sold an hour before I called the dealer back saying I’d buy it.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Thanks man. This whole thing actually started like that. I was going to go for a lightly used 2017+. The pricing truly is great. My wife told me, "why don;t you just get a new one". So I'm going to get a new one for her sake :D

wowee Bill. Of course that helps! Geat info. Thank you so much for all the valuable info. BTW - I've followed your posts over the years (hell - decades!! :rofl:) and you always provide great info.

WRT to GM adding the 2ndary radiator standard - I was hoping that might be the case. That's great news.
Regarding popping out of gear - both my C5 and C6 were / are M6 cars and I've never had one pop out of gear, so hopefully that won't be an issue for me.Glad to hear about the A/C. The one in my C6 is awesome. Also re-assuring to hear about your wheels.

thanks again for the great info! :cheers:

Regarding ordering vs. finding one on the lot - that sounds tempting - I think my spend keeps going up LOL

Anyone know which Forum dealers are giving the best deals these days?

LOL. I get it. I started out looking at a Stingray with Z51 option. Then realized I could get a Z with Z07 👍🏻

Order a new one....NOW. I hem hawed forever about a getting a C7Z, finally decided (with the wife's approval of course :blueangel:) to order one this past February. Car has a total of 533 miles on it now. I've had a C5Z, a C6 Grand Sport and now the '19 C7Z. All manuals. The C7Z is MILES, and I mean MILES, ahead of the C5 and C6. I was utterly amazed at how much better the C7 is over the C6. I LOVED my C6 Grand Sport. I thought it was the best car I have ever owned. That car was trouble free for 7 wonderful years. The C7 puts that car to shame in every way. Even the wife, who is NOT a car person, totally loves the C7, and all she does is ride in the passenger seat. I too read many threads about the C7Z "issues" and came to the conclusion that every car out there has their own "issues", so the C7Z was no different than every other new car out there.

I highly recommend MacMulkin Chevy. They offered me the best deal and they have ZERO hidden fees. In my case, they simply told me to build my car on the GM website with what I wanted and told to take XX% off the MSRP listed on the website. That was the price I paid to the penny. It doesnt get any easier than that!

As Nike would say...

Do it. Just do it.

Order one with the options you want and enjoy every minute of it!

My Thoughts
 

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This is my 2019 Admiral Blue M7 2 LZ on track a few weeks ago. If you can buy a '19, do it because it is the last and best of the FE Z06's. Starting in '17, GM made a series of evolutionary and significant improvements up to and including the '19s. For example, in '19, the Z06 got some parts that were designed for the new ZR1. I don't remember offhand all of them, but they included rear upper control arms, spider gears, what I believe is referenced as the "low side" fuel pump. The radiator is larger than in earlier models, but that might have started with the '18s - not sure on that one. The 19's were painted in the new paint shop and the paint on mine is gorgeous, best factory Vette paint I have ever had and this is my 10th car. Paint is superior to the extra cost paint on my wife's '19 Mercedes GLC, and almos as good as the paint on my '16 Audi SQ5 special edition (my dd).

I was running on a track in Florida (where I live) and never came close to overheating - not an issue for the manuals. Also, zero problems with popping out of gear. I have (as documented elsewhere on the forum) had problems with two bent wheels after two track outings. That is the one thing that I am unhappy about - never happened on my nine previously owned Vettes, some tracked much harder than this one so far. I have done a fair amount of research here about that and you will find that there are a lot of reports of wheel problems, while others do not have them. I had hoped that the problems associated with outsourced foreign cheap cast wheels had been completely resolved, but it has not been. Since some have the problem and some don't, I think it is kinda a crap shoot as to whether you happened to get a set that barely met oem specs produced by the lowest bidder manufacturer, and a set that didn't. I suspect quality control of batches has been less than optimal. I scored a private deal to get a set of very high quality forged wheels in the near future. That said, do not let the wheel deal keep you from buying a '19 Z06.

I am partial to blue and I like the new blue almost as much as my Admiral Blue. If you can check one out with the adrenalin red or adrenalin red and black interior with red seat belts (like mine) - you may find it irresistible as I did. At a recent car show, they were stacked two deep around my car - and I don't do too many of those things because I am too lazy to do all the detailing required for a show! :lol:

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I think the first C8's will probably his the lots sometime between Dec and Jan. But if I were you, I would not wait much longer to find your M7 the way you want it. There seems to be about 10 autos for sale for every manual for sale. I bought mine at Criswell, which is one of the "big three" Vette dealerships. Got 13% off MSRP last August, and last time I looked at Kerbeck online about 2-3 weeks ago, they were offering about the same discounts on their Z06's. Kerbeck is another of the "big three." Again, if you really want a manual and in a specific exterior/interior color combo, I would get serious in a hurry.

I have done a few minor "intelligent" as I call 'em interior and exterior mods, but nothing to affect the warranty. Cay dynode at 589 rwhp on a dynojet with about 1200 miles on it.

As people become more aware that this is the end of the manual transmission FE cars, you may lose your ability to select what you want pretty quickly.

If you want to know who I dealt with at Criswell (it wasn't their famous sales guy) PM me. They were excellent at every point of the deal including shipping. Car was perfect when it arrived.

Tempest fugit.

Good luck!

I think we’re on the same page LOL !

Thanks you! I do think I’m gonna order, and I’m not even drinking tonight !! Do you have a contact at MacMulkin Chevrolet or just hit their sales link?

Great info. Yes, please pm me your Criswell contact info.

I really like that Admiral blue. I see now they offer a different blue. When did they discontinue Admiral blue?

I worked with Tommy but there are handful on the Corvette Team there and any of them will provide you with the same level of service. Good luck!

I purchased a 2018 z06 a few weeks ago. I was able to get the car for a price that was good and 0% financing. Obviously I didn’t get to choose my color, but I wanted an ‘18 in Watkins Glen Gray and fortunately the one I found was in that color. If you can find one in your area you can go DEEP on the discounts, but you may not have as many options on color or even trim level. I won’t say how low because that certainly wouldn’t help resale values. I can tell you that right now for the price paid this is one hell of a car. I was prepared to pay a lot more for a Porsche and I couldn’t be any happier. I always land on Corvettes and this one will not disappoint you no matter what you choose.

Thank you !

Thanks. Great info. Enjoy that bad boy !

^^^^^THIS EXACTLY!!! I just completed my '19 2LZ order today with Mark at MacMulkin. I'm selling my '16 2LZ to go for this 'cause I have LOVED my Z. Ordered LBR with Kalahari & M7. They had my exact car TBW of mid-June for 10% off but talked me into ordering & getting 13% off. This also helps them gain allocations by doing sold orders. Mark told me SOLD orders usually get pulled quicker than normal dealer orders & thus built sooner (we'll see), but the extra 3% off on a $91K MSRP car will be worth it. They are doing courtesy delivery to my hometown Chevy dealer, Arkansas, (ships direct from factory to here-$450 charge from local dealer-NO CHARGE from MacMulkin). I built it on GM Build Your Corvette, linked it to Mark, sent info required + $2k non-refundable deposit after order accepted. BOOM!! Done. Now as everyone who orders one always says "now the hard part-WAITING". I too have had NADA problems & I push it hard at times doing WOT 1-3 shifts. Had a '14 Z51- M7, & it too was flawless. Good luck & I'd try hanging on to that wife who said "go for it" on ordering new. Dealer inventory has really dropped in the best colors, interior, tranny combos. I know 'cause I've been pouring over ALL the major dealers sites, online selling sites, etc & I too decided just get a new one with EXACTLY what I wanted instead of SETTLING. Good luck!

Wow. Great story! I will look into that. 13% off is sweet for getting exactly what one wants !

agree on the wife. She’s always been supportive of my car hobby ! 36 years. I think I’ll keep her ! :cheers:

Do they still do Museum Delivery (for cars ordered with the option?)

update - I see they offer it but no factory tour.....I had hear factory tours were cancelled....