Semper91-RS

Alright. I'm looking in to purchasing a C5 Corvette within 6 months or so, and I was wondering if any of the years had something certain about them to avoid, or something specific to look for. I'm looking for black, with black leather, in any trim (Base, Z06, anything) I've only had one Corvette before, and it was an 88. So I imagine things have changed quite a bit.

phoenixfoundmac

The Z06 is obviously the performance benchmark for C5s(405hp/400tq, more rigid body, larger sway bars, better suspension in general, more aggressive 6speed trans., larger wheels and tires, better exhaust). The Coupe has a sleeker roof line and the advantage of a targa top and of course the vert is totally topless. The coupe and vert have 350hp and 375tq standard. 02-04 is preferable due to some minor upgrades and most of the minor flaws of the early C5s had been ironed out. Many of the 01 Z06s had oil consumption issues and are often problem children.
Options to look for in standard C5:
Z51 performance suspension
F55 Magnetic selective ride
3.15 performance rear end for auto(as opposed to the standard 2.73)
Sport seats(fully adjustable)
Heads up display
Common problems:
Rocking driver seat(gets loose)
Column lock failures(which can be brutal and unpredictable)
Leaky rear end
Leaky side post batteries on early C5s
Other things may pop up(feel free to chime in everybody else), but generally speaking these cars are very reliable. Coming from an 88 C4 you should be blown away.

Semper91-RS

Thanks alot for the input. As of now, I'm driving a 2007 Monte Carlo SS, which is great for the daily, but I am looking, as said, for a C5. After quite a bit of looking around today, I've decided I'm not going to specify on color, so long as it's not bright yellow. Thank you for the information, though. Would you cay 02 C5's are a pretty common (As common as used Vettes get) car? Also; the Automatics were 4speeds in the C5's, right?

Fixvet

I bought my '98 coupe in '04 w/ only 19K miles on it. Absolutely pristine mint condition inside and out and under the hood. Currently the clock shows 59K miles. I've driven all of the USA without one iota of a problem. Everything works like new and I avg. 30mpg on my long trips. 20mpg in my normal daily driving!! Hard to beat! But, a vette is still just a car......some out there are probably lemons, but prices are cheap for the earlier model years in great condition. Small upgrades happen in any car as it progresses thru production years. '04's are great, but so are '98's etc. Only thing negative I've ever heard about is some oil consumption issues in the '01's under hard hi rev acceleration. I've got friends with '01 &'02's that have no oil problems. Other manufacturers have similiar problems, I'm sure.......so don't get paranoid if it happens to a Corvette too. I have the 4sp. auto tranny with a 3.15 Performance Rearend ratio. Standard is 2.73 for autos and 3.42 for 6sp manuals. I love my 3.15......peppy in town and still gets great mileage on the open roads. I'd look for condition, condition, condition. A well maintained C5 will last you 300K miles. There are alot like that out there that I've read about.
Good luck!

ps: I wouldn't trade my C5 straight across for any C6. Not any better!.

Semper91-RS

Thanks, man. I've been looking about only, and the average price for an '02 is about 21-23k in my area, and a few out of state.. Is that a bad price at all? It almost seems to cheap, to me.

Fixvet

Yeah, that would be a great price for a buyer in SoCal for a high mileage C5 ...80K miles or more est.. Fill out your profile so we can see your location. I bought mine thru Autotrader.com back in '04. Ton's of great valued clean C5's out here. My '88 is still worth $20K!