Mogg

I was shopping around this last weekend and I really couldn't believe my eyes.

While it's true that the F Body is going to be the cheaper car either way, I started to reconsider my decision of buying an F Body and just going straight to the vette.

For example, I found a nice Blue 02' C5 6spd Targa Top, with 52k miles for 20k. Car is very clean inside and out, almost spot on. Absolutely breath taking to look at. There's an 01' silver 6spd C5 with 45k miles asking 23k. Another 01' with 38k miles, same price of 23k as well. Hell, there's even an 00' Corvette with 56k miles and he is asking 18k for it, also a 6spd.

So right now, I am kind of baffled of whether or not I should just skip the F body and go straight to the vette. Here are my pros and cons to the vette.

Pros:
Higher quality car
Better handling
Fun as hell to drive
It's a corvette
Looks good
Less likely to be abused and more likely to bone stock given that a corvette is generally owned by retirees.
Less likely to have stupid crap break

Cons:
More expensive
More expensive to maintain
More expensive to mod
Higher insurance? (someone help me with this one)
Not practical for everyday use (but either way, neither is the F body, and whichever car I buy won't be a DD)
Only a two seater

That's pretty much it, now as far as F bodies go. I don't know, I am going to try and get myself an SS camaro for under 10k with the same amount of mileage but here is my opinion on an F body. I have owned a 3rd gen F body before, and quite frankly. I disliked it immensely, but I think it had more to do with me because I bought it dirt cheap and expected way too much out of it. I sold it almost 2 years ago and have never even reconsidered purchasing another one until about a month ago. I have driven Lt1 4th gens before and I like them a lot, never driven an LS1 fbody, but I want an LS1 in my next car.

Anyway, the pros to owning an F body is that it will be cheaper by a lot than a vette, it won't be as expensive to maintain, and the mods will be much less. The cons is that, **** breaks in them. I am not saying the vette would be invulnerable to breaks, but F bodies break more ****, and it's always retarded stuff that breaks, or things that are a necessity. For example, my a/c discontinued working on my 3rd gen about a week after I bought it, and that was definitely something I needed. My power windows didn't work when I bought it, my heater discontinued working in the start of winter (something I also needed), my transmission started shitting on me after I put 10k miles on the car, and the car started to burn a lot of oil, and the valve seals were worn out. It was definitely not the best car in the world, or the best car I've ever had, and I am glad I got rid of it.

I just want to prove a point.

But anyways, any of you out there who converted from an F body to a vette, was it worth the extra spending? How has your vette treated you in comparison to the f body, or vice versa?

Thanks

dbuie

Even though I like my SS, if I could do it all over again I would've paid a little more for a vette. They do seem to hold their value better and insurance wouldn't be that much more than the SS, if any. They also get more respect from most people since Camaros are seen as redneck cars as opposed to their more expensive brother.

You get the car that you want however. I sort of stumbled across my SS and for the price I would've been stupid not to jump on it. BTW, I'm 40 and not a redneck, and I doubt that a vette would give me any more pleasure to drive than my SS.

Texfinn

iTrader: (39)

I think you have quite a few generalizations in there.

You just buy what ever car fits the best your needs, aspirations, budget etc. etc.

texasglock23

iTrader: (1)

I had the same debate and walked away with a 98 T/A with 79k miles for under $6k. With the right mods I can blow the doors off of most vettes around here and still have less money. BUT on the other hand, a vette is still a vette which equal sex appeal!

Mogg

Well, I don't want anyone to think that I am bashing the F body in general, because I am not.

I am always looking to tinker with my cars, nowadays though since I have a newer car I don't get to tinker as much as I'd like to.

The fbody I had, just happened to become more of a headache for me, and in the end I decided to get rid of it while I could and just wait a few more years before I can get something better.

I am a rabid F body fan, always have been. I'll make sure the next car I buy is in tip top shop and will not buy myself trouble like the last one.

I've driven a C5 vert' before and I liked it a lot. A much different car than an F body, but I figured that if I want to, I could drive the F body for a week straight and have no problems. Vettes are beautiful cars but I am also afraid of the ******** who key nice cars. With an SS, I'd still be pissed off at that but not as much.

ZONick

I went straight for the vette but mainly just based on my budget. I found my Z06 with the really expensive mods out of the way (heads/cam) with 25k miles for $25k. I absolutely love the look of vettes and I'm not too into F-bodies as far as looks.

It really just depends on your budget. I will say that since I have owned it I get a LOT of copliments on my Z06 where as I never really got any with my 96 cobra. I can't compare it to an F-body (besides my bro's old v6 camaro), but I'm glad I got the vette.

SlowFRC

iTrader: (2)

I've havent gone from F bod ownership but I have a C5 and have been ridden in a few F bods so I'll add to this. You said the vette will handle better which is true, it will also brake better and be faster at a given HP level compared to an F bod due to being 300-400lbs less. Someone in the local car club here rode in my car for auto x this past weekend and when he got out of the car he was real impressed I think his quote was "wow that car has *****" he drives a full exhaust, 100 shot LS1 SS...

As far as insurance goes I was quoted less about $100 LESS per year for a C5 than a WS6 from Allstate, from what I've heard from other people this is consistent, vettes have cheaper insurance due to their lower accident rates.

You said it but I'll back up about the vette tax on parts so if you buy one be prepared to pay extra for almost everything. In the end get what you want and can afford and good luck with whatever you go with

SSrussman

iTrader: (2)

I'm actually stuck in the same boat as you are except I really want a C5 Z06, and what's hard right now is I'm about to start a new job with much better pay and huge potential for me to move up fast and make some really great money....but...I don't know whether I should keep the camaro and just mod it or buy a C5z, in a few months and get rid of the SS.....And another thing that some buddies of mine have talked about to me, was that I should keep the SS and pay it off since I only owe a fairly small amount and then once it's paid off save up for a C5z and make the SS a track only car and the Z06 my daily driver....


Ohh does this bother me as well my friend haha...


If I were you I would seriously get into a vette....you can find C5Z's for the prices of those vettes for the same amount of money...and it seems like to me you are fairly young like me (only 21 here) and worrying about insurance but like stated in a higher post there actually isn't much difference between a SS for me and a C5Z...atleast that's my case...



Good luck with what ever decision you make though!

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

For me, it just depends on 2 things: $$ & happiness. If one makes you think "damn, im glad i got this over that" then get it, unless the wallet does not allow for it.

Vette is cheaper to insure b/c of the demographic that typically drives them (older). at least for me it is. im 19 and this is straight from my insurance guy.

Mogg

I am still deciding, some of you may have read my past posts about what I want. The good thing is, I can take my time deciding. Another good thing is, the corvettes are plentiful.

There are some F bods for sale here, but not as easy to come by as the vettes are.

I like a car that can corner and handle well, but that's not my baseline decision, I am more concerned with straight line performance.

I can see myself enjoying the corvette more, but another question to you guys. How easy is it for me to work on the corvette myself if need be? I can forget about changing the clutch as the car is just too low and fragile for me.

Also, does anyone know where to find cheap aftermarket parts for the corvette? I used to order from summit racing a lot, but a catback from them is like 1200 dollars. Ebay seems to have some for around 500 dollars.

SSrussman

iTrader: (2)

+1 ^

Parts are plentiful for corvettes on that forum and relatively barely used as most of the guys on there just put the parts on there for show on their vettes anyway haha.

there are good priced parts for vettes just got to know where to go and what to buy.

BLK85

iTrader: (1)

Ive also been looking at Corvettes but I have an Fbody right now. You can get 2001 ZO6s for 20-25k. Insurance isnt that bad. For a 2001 ZO6 it would cost me like $100 more than I pay now(per 6 months). I also checked on insurance on a 04 GTO and it was about $175 more per 6 months than I pay now.

Mods are defiantly a little more but not a lot. If I got a ZO6 I would put a cat back, intake, and a tune and probably be close to 380-400whp. Thats more than I have now and would be a lot more reliable.

I say get the Vette and dont look back.

SSrussman

iTrader: (2)

Make a Poll and see how many people would do Vette> f-body...not that it's a insult to fellow f-body owners, but that's the majority of what the people think IMO...

02BLACKTAWS6

I won a 2009 Corvette. No joke. I took the money instead of the car and bought my Trans Am. (Okay, and some other stuff ) Reason... I bought the car that I wanted. Not all F-body owners have them because they couldn't afford a vette. I just like them better. That being said, sounds like you like the Vette. Go for it.

jrob56

iTrader: (39)

build quality-vette
straightline-vette
curves-vette
cool factor-vette
appearance-vette
lower cost-fbody
lower insurance-vette
lower cost to mod-fbody
seating capacity-fbody
ease to work on-vette(half the engine isnt under the damn dash like fbodies)

the c5 wins in every category but a few, and you said it wouldn't be a dd so the seating i am guessing doesnt matter, if you can afford the payment and the vette tax on parts get the vette! if you dont i have a feeling youll always kick yourself some for not...i know i would! when i get out of school the camaro will be a track car and a used c6 will find its way into my garage

will01

Well said Texfinn.

What are your goals? What do you want out of the car? Looking at your list, it seems cost is an issue, two seats is an issue, reliability is an issue.

Is this car your daily driver? Does handling matter? How many people will be in the car at a given time?

Both cars are good, it really depends on your needs...

Mogg

Goals with the car? Well, haven't planned that far ahead really. I have just been looking around.

I do want a 100% stock vehicle though, I don't know how tough it'd be to find one. With Corvettes, it'll be a bit easier but with Camaros/Trans Ams, it'll most likely be tougher.

For now though, I plan on doing full bolt ons, exhaust from the headers back, CAI, that's pretty much it for the first year or so of ownership. Then maybe I'll do a cam swap, and further down the line I'd turbo it.

Car will NOT be a daily driver, it'll be a weekend driver only...track car too on some days. 2 seats isn't a big issue for me, as I do have a 4 door sedan that I drive daily, but on the weekends I generally carry up to 2 more people excluding myself. Most of the time though, it's just me.

Yes, reliability is most definitely an issue, I am willing to spend money on basic routine maintenance, and more if I have to, but anything costly like transmission problems, or even a new tranny altogether is what irritates me and really bothers me. I know the T56s in both the F bodies and Vettes are built to take a lot of power and abuse, and shouldn't even be compared to the fragile 700R4 I had in my **** box, but sometimes stuff happens. I hear a lot of mixed things on the T56s for the LS1 f bodies, some gloat happiness and satisfaction, while others are breaking their wallets for rebuilds/replacements. My friend's modded Lt1 formula has 151k miles on the original M6 tranny and it shifts like butter. He has never had a problem with it (aside from a few clutch replacements), and he raped the **** out of that car in its youthful years. That's what I want. I won't be lead foot happy with my car, but when I want to gun it after installing a mod, I want it to respond to me and not give me any problems.

Handling isn't a decision making factor, but that doesn't mean I want a car that can't handle well. F bodies in general aren't known for handling, but I may do some suspension mods down the road to rectify that. For the most part, it's all about straight line performance.

adam02gt

iTrader: (1)

As much as I drool over every Z06 I see I'm gonna have to say f-body. For me they're cheaper and honestly more fun to drive.

BlackTTC6

My last vette was 20 dollars less a month to insure then my 02 SS.

Apoxi

iTrader: (1)

I'm 19 and I would keep my camaro over a vette at this point in my life. A camaro is a stupid, fun, visceral car and the vette is a refined old mans sports car imo.... For being 19, i want the stupid car.