Be careful with the early C5s. The EBCM cannot be rebuilt or bought new when it goes bad.
And electric problems remain for the C5 as well. Lack of grounding points and an over abundance of modules will do that.
You also need to be aware of the column lock (and bypass), BCM location and potential corrosion along with if the car leaks in the rain.
Otherwise fun and pretty bullet proof cars, just not immune to issues!
I know the C5 is better in almost every way but for some reason I still feel drawn to the C4's (since a C5 z06 is out of my league)
Jaynen said:Danny I pm'd him and he responded I am sure he would send the info to you too. Its a 6 speed car looks good except for the windshield needing replaced he said about 5500 is what he thinks he wants and might throw in some extra wheels for a GRMer in short. Seems like a great deal to me. However I think he is east coast and I think you are west so you'd have to deal with transport? It's not Ovid's car btw its pmpn3's
Transport and windshield is a LOT cheaper than manual transmission conversion on an auto. Just sayin'.....
Jaynen said:Danny I pm'd him and he responded I am sure he would send the info to you too. Its a 6 speed car looks good except for the windshield needing replaced he said about 5500 is what he thinks he wants and might throw in some extra wheels for a GRMer in short. Seems like a great deal to me. However I think he is east coast and I think you are west so you'd have to deal with transport? It's not Ovid's car btw its pmpn3's
That's not bad at all, but ultimately the color is a bit of a dealbreaker for me. I really don't like blue cars, and the Corvette I'm buying is red on black which is my ideal combo. Plus since he just got the car professionally repainted I wouldn't want to ruin that by painting it again.
In reply to ztnedman1 :
I know that every car has its issues, and up until now I've mostly driven old BMW's, so I'm quite familiar with electrical quirks.
I've done some research on the column lock issue, so I should be ready for that. It never really rains here in Arizona so moisture isn't too much of an issue.
Jaynen said:I know the C5 is better in almost every way but for some reason I still feel drawn to the C4's (since a C5 z06 is out of my league)
I like the C4's appearance too, but the interiors kinda kill it for me. I'm not really a fan of the C5 Z06 though, mostly because it doesn't come in targa top coupe form. I don't like the way the FRC C5's look. Plus I can always just swap Z06 bits onto a regular C5.
Ovid_and_Flem said:Jaynen said:Danny I pm'd him and he responded I am sure he would send the info to you too. Its a 6 speed car looks good except for the windshield needing replaced he said about 5500 is what he thinks he wants and might throw in some extra wheels for a GRMer in short. Seems like a great deal to me. However I think he is east coast and I think you are west so you'd have to deal with transport? It's not Ovid's car btw its pmpn3's
Transport and windshield is a LOT cheaper than manual transmission conversion on an auto. Just sayin'.....
Good point, but for me the main issue is the color. If his car was red I'd be all over it, but I can't stand blue (sorry). I know it's a silly reason, but I'm trying to have an all-red car collection.
In reply to dannyzabolotny :
Stereotypical midlife crisis? LOL
Ovid_and_Flem said:In reply to dannyzabolotny :
Stereotypical midlife crisis? LOL
I'm 25, so I'm calling it a quarter-life crisis :P
I love the blue if I had the money now I would be all over pimpn car
So I got the 98 C5 yesterday, and man it's a load of fun to drive. I was worried the auto would be annoying, but honestly it's been great. The shift points are well-placed so despite only having 4 gears it's pretty smooth. I pushed it a little on an empty on-ramp and holy crap does that LS1 come alive. It goes from a docile cruiser to a monster in the blink of an eye.
The ride is definitely firmer than my 2000 540it, but it's still pretty controlled and it's not harsh by any means. It feels really nice on a good sweeping turn. In a way it reminds me of my M5, it's got so much torque and is so eager to move.
I'll start a thread about it in the builds section.
Nice enjoy!
In reply to dannyzabolotny :
Awesome!!!
Nice purchase! Auto C5s sometimes go very cheap. I have a friend who sold a VERY nice one for 7k. I might have bought it if i knew he was selling it. I did some major work to that one too (rear main seal mostly but a lot of smaller procedures at the same time like oil pressure sender, oil pan reseal etc) and it honestly wasn't that bad to work on as far as i could tell. I did need to find a 27mm crow's foot which was tricky but made a 'hard' job easy.
Overall the main reason i don't own a C5 right now is because the prices overlapped too much with 996s and of the two i leaned strongly to and bought the 911. But, 5k changes things. If i had a chance to buy a decent C5 for 5k at that time, i probably would have. I figure i will own one at some point.
And HELL YES about the FRC ugliness. Z06s are totally off my radar because of that. I can bolt on goodies a lot easier than i can un-ugly an FRC roofline.
Vigo said:Nice purchase! Auto C5s sometimes go very cheap. I have a friend who sold a VERY nice one for 7k. I might have bought it if i knew he was selling it. I did some major work to that one too (rear main seal mostly but a lot of smaller procedures at the same time like oil pressure sender, oil pan reseal etc) and it honestly wasn't that bad to work on as far as i could tell. I did need to find a 27mm crow's foot which was tricky but made a 'hard' job easy.
Overall the main reason i don't own a C5 right now is because the prices overlapped too much with 996s and of the two i leaned strongly to and bought the 911. But, 5k changes things. If i had a chance to buy a decent C5 for 5k at that time, i probably would have. I figure i will own one at some point.
And HELL YES about the FRC ugliness. Z06s are totally off my radar because of that. I can bolt on goodies a lot easier than i can un-ugly an FRC roofline.
I'm glad somebody else agrees with me about the ugliness of the FRC. You can tell that the C5 was designed with the coupe body style in mind... the FRC looks like an awkward shoe, like the lines don't work at all. I'll take the weight penalty of the rear glass hatch, I can just make up for that with some more bolt-on power, haha. Plus having a giant hatch means tons of room for storing stuff or bringing spare wheels to the track.
And yeah, manual C5 prices are not too far off from 996 911 prices, and at that point it's a much harder choice. For $5k there's not much else you could buy that's as awesome. Mustangs and Camaros are cool and all, but neither have the looks or the handling prowess of the Corvette. The C5 still looks kinda exotic despite being really cheap, and it makes me feel special when I see it in a parking lot.
Count me in on FRCs being ugly.
Brian said:Count me in on FRCs being ugly.
I felt this way for years, but they've grown on me a bit.
dannyzabolotny said:And yeah, manual C5 prices are not too far off from 996 911 prices, and at that point it's a much harder choice.
Yeah, the old C5 vs. 996 debate. On the face of it I would like to see myself as a Porsche owner, but around here non-Z06 C5's run about $4-5k less than comparable 996's. Of course that is just asking prices and I get the impression that neither are actually changing hands at or near asking price.
Corvettes are also cheaper to maintain and don't have the huge "Sword of Damocles" issue (IMS bearing) threatening to bring about personal bankruptcy at any moment. That said I would still love to drive and be seen in a 996. Can you get a Carmax warranty on one?
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