C5 Reliablity?
09-23-2010, 05:56 AM
#22
I did what you're thinking about doing and bought a '97 C5 MN6 in November of 2006 with 22,700 miles on it for $19,200 from E-bay. My list of repairs thus far:
Transmission rebuild: A minor transmission problem at the time, the tranny occasionally popped out of reverse, has resulted in rebuilding the tranny now that it's at 70k miles. I don't consider this a common problem with C5s or T56s in general. They tend to be pretty reliable trannies. If you pay for labor, this car is going to cost about $600 more than others due to the difficulty with installation and removal.
The horn tended to stick, and I found a fix for that on corvette forums, the part cost me $70 and labor was easy
Side mirror fix: One of the mirrors popped off of the swivel, but a guy on Corvetteforums.com fixed it for me for $70 + shipping.
A/C compressor went out spitting chunks of metal throughout the system. I did it the right way and had the whole system to ensure more metal wouldn't find its way to the new compressor, which cost somewhere around $2,500 if memory serves including labor and parts.
Tires aren't terribly cheap and I've been through 2 full sets of rear tires already. Figure about $1000-$1,400 for a full premium set of performance tires, especially if you want to keep run-flats (puke) on the car.
The blinker acted up and I had to replace the hazard switch, which was an easy fix, but the switch was something like $50.
Brakes: Decided that I wanted a street and a racing set of Hawk pads and Brembo slotted zinc-coated rotors. Cost roughly $800-$900.
Fog light bulb x2: cheap, don't remember, but reaching and replacing this bulb requires you to be a contortionist
Seat tracks are slide back and forth by about 1/2" Simple fix is on corvette forums and only requires the purchase of nylon washers, but I haven't gone through the trouble, yet. Now the seat track on the drivers side is lifting slightly and I don't like the feeling of the seat shifting. So I'm going to have to pull it out and figure out what's going on, soon.
I bought stereo head-unit so I could dock the Ipod for about $450.
I've curbed two wheels, and 2 tire shops have scraped wheels badly requiring a repaint (I have the magnesium wheels). That typically ran $100-$130 per wheel.
As you can see, the majority of the issues were self-inflicted or were really minor. The A/C is the only one that I feel happened way too early and cost way too much. Overall, despite all of the maintenance, I would've made the purchase again, though maybe I'd have taken a closer look for any tranny issues. The car has just been so much fun, and I know when I go out there, it'll start up and go. Gets damn good gas mileage too. If you keep it in 6th with the A/C off and stay around 50mph, you'd be amazed at the kind of mileage you can get. I pulled 38.8 mpg on one trip, just to see if I could. Overall, I love my vette. It's such a pleasure to get in and drive whenever I feel like treating myself. It's still competitive to other stock cars on the road, and if you ever do get the mod bug, well it's hard to beat the performance/$ of a modded LS1.
Good luck with your decision.
Chris
Transmission rebuild: A minor transmission problem at the time, the tranny occasionally popped out of reverse, has resulted in rebuilding the tranny now that it's at 70k miles. I don't consider this a common problem with C5s or T56s in general. They tend to be pretty reliable trannies. If you pay for labor, this car is going to cost about $600 more than others due to the difficulty with installation and removal.
The horn tended to stick, and I found a fix for that on corvette forums, the part cost me $70 and labor was easy
Side mirror fix: One of the mirrors popped off of the swivel, but a guy on Corvetteforums.com fixed it for me for $70 + shipping.
A/C compressor went out spitting chunks of metal throughout the system. I did it the right way and had the whole system to ensure more metal wouldn't find its way to the new compressor, which cost somewhere around $2,500 if memory serves including labor and parts.
Tires aren't terribly cheap and I've been through 2 full sets of rear tires already. Figure about $1000-$1,400 for a full premium set of performance tires, especially if you want to keep run-flats (puke) on the car.
The blinker acted up and I had to replace the hazard switch, which was an easy fix, but the switch was something like $50.
Brakes: Decided that I wanted a street and a racing set of Hawk pads and Brembo slotted zinc-coated rotors. Cost roughly $800-$900.
Fog light bulb x2: cheap, don't remember, but reaching and replacing this bulb requires you to be a contortionist
Seat tracks are slide back and forth by about 1/2" Simple fix is on corvette forums and only requires the purchase of nylon washers, but I haven't gone through the trouble, yet. Now the seat track on the drivers side is lifting slightly and I don't like the feeling of the seat shifting. So I'm going to have to pull it out and figure out what's going on, soon.
I bought stereo head-unit so I could dock the Ipod for about $450.
I've curbed two wheels, and 2 tire shops have scraped wheels badly requiring a repaint (I have the magnesium wheels). That typically ran $100-$130 per wheel.
As you can see, the majority of the issues were self-inflicted or were really minor. The A/C is the only one that I feel happened way too early and cost way too much. Overall, despite all of the maintenance, I would've made the purchase again, though maybe I'd have taken a closer look for any tranny issues. The car has just been so much fun, and I know when I go out there, it'll start up and go. Gets damn good gas mileage too. If you keep it in 6th with the A/C off and stay around 50mph, you'd be amazed at the kind of mileage you can get. I pulled 38.8 mpg on one trip, just to see if I could. Overall, I love my vette. It's such a pleasure to get in and drive whenever I feel like treating myself. It's still competitive to other stock cars on the road, and if you ever do get the mod bug, well it's hard to beat the performance/$ of a modded LS1.
Good luck with your decision.
Chris
Last edited by Chris Arnold; 09-23-2010 at 06:09 AM.
09-25-2010, 02:23 PM
#23
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I've had to replace the window motor/track assemblies in both doors. The rear defrost electrical clip also melted. I just spliced with wires together for free.
Come to think of it, this car has been a handful in the maintenance department when you consider that it only has 70k miles on it, so far.
Come to think of it, this car has been a handful in the maintenance department when you consider that it only has 70k miles on it, so far.
including the Z06s 
for a C5, that is 
