C5 buying advise

        Greetings, I will hopefully in the next few weeks become a new C5 owner. I am just about to start looking at cars. I found a thread on this forum which listed some common problems with C5's. I was wondering if anyone had any other advise for someone looking for a vehicle. any years to stay away from? In particular, what should I pay careful attention to when looking at a used C5? Are there any important questions I should ask the previous owner? If anyone has any advice for someone looking at used C5's I would enjoy reading about it. Are there any significant differences from year to year?

thanks!

Edit: I've noticed that there are two different rear window styles for the c5, one has a sharply dropping rear glass simliar in shape to the convertable, and the other has a longer less steeply sloping glass which goes almost all the way back to the rear of the car. I've never really liked the look of the first type, and I want to find a car with the second type of rear class. is there any rhyme or reason to which vehicle got which type of glass? I know most Z06's I've seen have the short glass, I've only found a single Z06 with the long glass. did different years get different types? did different roof styles get different rear glass? and how on earth are they identified? I see some listed as "coupe" some as "hatchback" but the terms seem to be used interchangably by the dealers.

First off welcome to the site.  To answer your question about the different types of glass you are seeing, there are 3 types of C5's:  The coupe, fixed roof coupe, and Z06.  The coupe is the one that you like and is also the only one with a removable roof.  The Z06 is considered the high performance Corvette and only comes in hardtop (fixed roof coupe) because it adds about 18% more rigidity to the body by not cutting a hole in the roof.  The fixed roof coupe was design to look like the Z06 but give you the same horsepower as a normal C5 with better handling ability due to the extra stiff body.

The "Z06" you saw with the Targa Top wasn't a Z06. They didn't make Z06's in that roof style. What they do make is what I call, a "Clone" package. It's got all the cool looking stuff for the outside of the car, like the grill screens, the brake cooling ducts in the rockers, cosmetic stuff like that that you can put on your car. Hey man, I'm in the neighborhood of buying a black Z06 myself for my budget, so good luck in your search, Jonathan.
 
P.S. Don't steal any of the Black Z06 deals man!!!!!

thanks for the info! I had assumed that one I saw was a genuine Z06 by the badging and the brake ducts...but I guess its not hard to add those to a base model. I guess I'll consider both and see what I find. I want the coupe only for costmetic reasons, I just like the way that roof style looks.

Also, you can remove the roof on the Coupe, you can't on the Fixed Roof Coupe or the Z06

I went to check out my first prospect today, red 99 6speed. looked nice but when I told the guy that I was just checking out the cars to see if that's really what I want, and that I'm not ready to take it home today he kinda lost interest in me and wouldn't even let me drive it. I guess that's to be expected though. I might just wait a couple weeks until I'm ready to buy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: PAY2PLAY

First off welcome to the site.  To answer your question about the different types of glass you are seeing, there are 3 types of C5's:  The coupe, fixed roof coupe, and Z06.  The coupe is the one that you like and is also the only one with a removable roof.  The Z06 is considered the high performance Corvette and only comes in hardtop (fixed roof coupe) because it adds about 18% more rigidity to the body by not cutting a hole in the roof.  The fixed roof coupe was design to look like the Z06 but give you the same horsepower as a normal C5 with better handling ability due to the extra stiff body.

just to clarify... the FRC (fixed roof coupe) was in 99 and 00 (btw all m6's w/ z51 suspension and like 80 pounds lighter)...  the zo6 was 01 on... sooo the the FRC couldnt be designed to look like a z06...  the FRC chasis was improved and became the z06...

-me

I dont know how big of a hurry you are in or what part of the country you live but
check out CnV Corvettes web site. They are in Tempi AZ. 150 vets in any year and color
I bought mine there and I got a great car. My wife and i flew down and drove it home.
The prices seems to be very fair and you have a great choice of cars and options.
I am sure there are other dealers that only deal in vetts out there.
I did all of the paper work over the phone and transferd money for down payment before I even got there Interest rate was 6.5% thru credit union that they arranged
My salesman was Tom.Flanders
hope this will help
Jerry

I did notice on that 99 that there seemed to be a problem with the climate control LCD screen. you could see the information on it if you looked carefully, but it was very dim, almost out. someone on that other thread mentioned something about that. is that a common problem? how is something like that fixed?

I too can recommend C'nV Corvettes ..they go thru all their cars to take care of any problems before offering them for sale. If something comes up after the sale ... the service dept says to just bring it in .. I like that :)
I would not dream of buyin from a private owner unless I knew the car inside and out .. reputable dealership ..one that takes care of their cars and owners is mandatory IMHO.
 
I bought my C-5 black coupe there .. Jack Haley was very straightforward and a huge help in helping wife and I make our decision .. they have a 'few' to choose from for *sure* :)
 
-Frank

I definitly want to buy from somewhere with a good reputation. I'm in Virginia though. AZ is a bit far for me to travel. any recomentaitons on a good place closer to me?

Mc Gilles
You should concider doing some research on the web for pricing
It is possible that you could turn your buying a Vett into a mini vacation at the same time.
A Corvette is more than just a car, it is a way of life. Be positive about what you really want
and don't settle for less. A plane ride one way and a drive back is a god way to bond with it
Jerry

I agree with you! my weekend ride is a 97 SHO, and I am about as attached to it as anyone can be to a car, I'm looking forward to having the same relationship with my Vette when I pick one out. I've been looking online a bit to try to find the right deal. unfortunately I'm a bit limited with what I can go with right now. I'm a recent engineering graduate from Virginia Tech and I'm about to start my new job. I've been dreaming of getting a C5 for many years. in fact I picked up a poster of one from the GM guys when they came in to recruit engineers, and it has served as my motivation to keep going every time that classes get tough. but since I'm just getting started I think 25k is going to be about my maximum that I can afford right now, and I'd like to be closer to 20k. I plan for this one to be a 5 year car and then I'll probably trade it in on a newer faster Vette. I'm just looking around for one in my price range, I think I'll hold out for a 6 speed, other than that just as many options as I can find. its fun to dream about, and fun to shop for. I can't wait to be an owner. its probably going to be 2-4 weeks at least before I get to bring one home though.

I found info on this dealer which seems to be somewhere in Northern Virginia called F&A Auto Sales, they appear to specialize in corvettes. anyone know if they are reputable? I may consider buying from a private seller on this one if it looks good anyway. I bought my SHO from a private seller and that transaction went very well. I know you can't always count on that though. but the guy was very accomodating, he let me take it over to someone's house and gave it a good inspection...

I'm not exactly sure where Triangle, VA is but there is a place there called Cooper Corvettes that deals in nothing but Corvettes.  When I was shopping for mine a year ago I can across them and they really seem to know their stuff.  I recommend you check them out.  Here is a link to their website: Click_Here

I don't know if that 99 I looked at will still be there when I'm ready to buy or not, but how big of a deal is it to fix the problem with the climate control where it goes dim like that? the sales guy was talking about the bulb must be out, but I'm pretty sure there's no bulb in there, its an LCD display. looks to me like either the wire which sends it the dimmer signal has gone bad somehow forcing it to minimum brightness, or something has gone wrong with the climatr control panel. is that something that can be fixed or does the whole thing have to be replaced? about how much would it cost to get that fixed? maybe if its still there I'll point out that its broken and try to ask for a reduction in price of about double what it would cost for the repair. 

Is there a complete list somewhere of all of the options available on a C5 by year? when looking at a used car it would be best to have something like that to go down one item at a time to see exactly what's on the car.