mikex7

Let me start by apologizing, I feel like a tool even asking this! I've been searching and reading as much as I can about these beautiful cars, and am thinking about grabbing this one, but really have read such mixed reports on this high of mileage and the reliability.

This car has a clean title, 3 month, 3k mile warranty, and looks pretty clean. Im just worried about the mileage.. can anyone throw in their $.02 on this one? Good deal? Dependable car? I know im going to have to have some cash stashed away for any problems I am bound to encounter.. but this thing is just gorgeous in my opinion.

Please go easy on me, im a vette newbie but hope not to be one for very long!!

Thanks in advance

Daffy

Price sounds a little bit high but if it's real clean it's a good deal.. 100K affects the value but if it's well taken care of it means very little IMO..Six speed or convert would help.

mikex7

its actually an auto, targa. I found a checklist of things to look at when buying a c5 online at http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/c..._c5/index.html

The KBB is around 12.5k.. its at an independent dealer. Recommendation on what I should give them for it?

Coolface08

You should always go for the highest year and lowest milage vette you can afford. I'd never buy a car like a vette with over 65k miles.

Price is fair-ish though.

C5C6Norm

Price seems to be reasonable, just check it out real good.

DuronClocker

Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me if its been taken care of... the two big things that go bad with that kind of mileage are the auto trans and the electronic dual-zone HVAC control panel.

I bought my '97 with 116k miles on it for $10,700 including shipping a few months ago with a couple paint issues.. but the trans and HVAC panel were replaced at 100k.

The car overall is solid. What made me totally comfortable buying a C5 with miles like this was driving my buddy's '99 FRC that had about the same mileage on it.

RJ1AZ

The common response your gonna get is buy the lowest mileage specimen you can afford.

I didn't want to spend alot when I bought mine, so I found a clean 98 with 105k on the clock, knowing it was going to have some issues I'd need to address. But I enjoy learning about the car and fixing things myself. It runs like a top and I love driving it.

My .02 cents....if it's in good shape, 100k isn't alot of miles for the engine. Plenty of members on here with alot more than that. Sounds like a reasonable price. If you can afford another 10k, you can get one that was only driven to church on Sundays.

mikex7

In other words, have it looked at by a pro mechanic before purchase and have him really check out the tranny? Id definitely have it checked out beforehand but I really appreciate the input as to where to spend my energy. Transmission of course, but any other recommendations?

haha, I WISH I could afford another $10k. Fresh out of college and working full time, I have an older jeep grand cherokee that I think might explode any day now. I've been in love with vettes for as long as I can remember and am trying to make the most educated decision possible.

My mother drives a 99 vette, which she wont sell to me and its freaking gorgeous.. and that rush that I get when I drive it I CRAVE lol.. thanks for the input so far guys

96mogt

I bought mine with over 100k totally stock and it had a few problems, I.E tire pressure sensor and oil pressure sensor. Thats it. If you take care of it like it should be, preventative maint and it will last forever. The whole mileage thing for what you can buy is everyones opinion, check it out and go with what you feel. My car makes 460 now NA which is more than ALOT of the heads and cam cars with only 20 to 30,000 mile cars . There awesome cars, have fun with it!!! Jay

mikex7

ahh you're making me want to pound on the dealers home front door at 5AM to let me go for a test drive. thx for the motivation!

J S Machine

If the car has been taken care of (most of them have been) 100K is not really an issue. There was a thread on here about 3 days ago with a guy that had one with 400,3xx on the clock It's the highest mileage C5 any of us here have seen yet I think.

Just check for the usual things that could be wrong. I like a 6 spd myself, so I don't know much about the autos.

For what it's worth, friend of mine bought a '99 6 speed FRC with about 115K a month ago for $11,800.

J S Machine

I just read that list and the only things I don't see that I can think of to check for are:

1. The oil pressure guage. When checking the guages as it says, look at the oil pressure guage. If it is pegged all the way to the right it means it has a bad oil pressure sender. This is not always an easy fix, and can be costly if you can't do it yourself. This is a common problem in C5's.

2. Tire wear and Run-flat vs regular tires. The general consensus is that if you replace the stock Goodyear run-flats with regular tires they will ride better. I personally don't know the difference between the two of them as far as ride goes, but I have regular tires on mine. I carry a SLIME fix a flat kit, and if I ever have a problem I think I will be a little bit covered. The main thing you need to be worried about is whether or not the tire pressure sensors work - if they do, that's great because you can monitor the pressures in the DIC - the little screen below the cluster in the dash.

If not, it means there is a sensor bad or something out of whack. You can use this to your advantage with the sale and fix it later. Not really a big deal to fix.

3. Check for codes. Do some searching here on the board and find out how to read the DIC to check for codes. If there are no codes, that means everything is good. If there are, they could be history or current codes. You need to pay attention to both of them. Do a search, there are instructions here somewhere telling you how to do it

4. Last but not least, post up your location and ask to see if someone will be willing to check the car out for you here form the board. You would be suprised at the forum members that will go and check out a car for you. Alot of us know what we are looking at because we are owners ourselves

rebelheart

Any car with that mileage will have some issues,things simply wear out.Take it for a GOOD test drive,put it up on a rack and have a tech take a look.If nothing major shows up,I say go for it. Not everyone can afford a really nice vette the first time out!

Vetteman Jack

Much will depend on how the car was taken care of. If well maintained, and checked by a competent mechanic, that's a pretty decent price. The C5 engine and drivetrain is actually quite reliable.

Patman

100,000 miles is really not a lot for these cars, mine has 105k on it and still runs like new, and has been a very reliable daily driver for me (haven't spent a dime on repairs since the beginning of 2006) One guy on the forum just clicked over 400,000 miles on his C5! So these cars will go the distance! Even if it ends up having a few issues in the future, these cars really aren't that costly to repair compared to other cars in it's class.

jrose7004

It just all depends on how it's been maintained. But if you say it's clean and looks like it's been taken care of then go for it.

peter pan

Go for a good test drive and do some hard right foot stomps and some good stops and turns for a full test and if it checks out go for it

bucwheat

There are many members on this forum who have well over 100k ,these cars go well into the 100s if taken care of,they are very reliable and get great fuel mileage.

VettesandZs

It says you are fresh out of college, if you are under 25, you better call your insurance agent for a quote. I had an insurance company cancel me when I was 21 and in the military, but by then I already had bought my 1 year old Z28 and was stationed on the other side of United States. I drove over 3 years in California with no insurance and I could not do anything about it.

biglite351

When I was looking I noticed that people on here seem to know of all these inexpensive C5's all over the place... but in my area they are quite expencive. $11,500 would be an absolute steal around here.