Question: 97 w/16xxx mi

[TAS250]

I just sold my 95 a few months back, and guess what...I want another one. So I've been looking at 2000 and 2001's with about 55K mi's going for about 20,000 or so. I came across a 97 manual trans with 16,000 mi's. I spoke with the owner who has several vette's great guy and he said he purchased it in 2002 with 15,000 mi and today it has 16,000 mi. Its sat for 10 years or so indoors in his whse. When he decided to sell it it wouldnt start...surprise surprise. He had it hauled to a chevy dealer who cleaned gas tank, installed 2 new fuel pumps changed fluids to the tune of about 1,600.00. He says its perfect no leaks. Silver/Blk. All stock. Oh...and he's asking 18K. Seems to me like a great price, has window sticker, vcr tape and all manuals. Everythings there. I'm going to look at it this Sat with a pocket full of cash. Anything I really need to zero in on when looking at it. Im thinking how can I get hurt on this one?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Tom

 

[Toms007]

Doesn't sound like a bad deal. I'm going to say though, that you should plan on new tires and tire pressure sensors. Tires are probably original, with that few miles, and they say tires wear out from time. Besides they will be hard as rocks. The batteries in the pressure sensors go bad too, generally they claim 10 years on those.

For tires, I highly recommend, Michelin Pilot Sport AS, plus ZP (run flats). An all season tire with the confidence of Zero Pressure. If you have a flat, you're not stuck on the road somewhere waiting for a truck. The only flat I've had in 30 years was coming through St. Louis about 6 months after putting those tires on my 01. I was glad that I had them.

 

[TAS250]

Thanks for the info Tom, I figured I'd need a new set of rubber but he said the originals arent in bad shape. Either way I'm putting new tires on and I will take your advice. I think he has a little wiggle room on the price as well but I'll find out.

 

[VeridisC5]

Awesomely low mileage for a '97. Mine's got 136k.

 

[timfitz63]

Not trying to rain on your parade, but I was in a similar situation with Aztec Gold #15 a couple years ago: purchasing a '98 Corvette with under 10,000 miles, that had sat for the bulk of its life in a Chevy dealer's collection. And I uncovered minor issues almost immediately; you might peruse this thread to follow my early exploits in uncovering these gremlins.

So, speaking from that experience, be at least mentally prepared for the odd, minor failure to pop up on a vehicle like that which has sat for so long: seals dry out; A/C may need charged; as others have pointed out, rubber gets old and brittle (think not only tires, but hoses, belts, etc.) -- the list of little things can go on and on. Hopefully this guy was a bit more diligent about proper upkeep during storage than Mr. McDorman was, but since he apparently didn't even think to dump some fuel stabilizer in the gas tank, well... hnoes

The early C5's were notorious for developing an annoying seat rocking (fore/aft) tendency; apparently there are some plastic spacers that crumble with use and age, allowing the seats to slide back and forth about an inch. So don't be surprised if, when you're slowing to a stop, the driver's seat seems to slip forward a bit. It's unnerving at first, but isn't really a safety hazard unless one over-reacts to it. Threads covering the fix for this abound on the forum; just search.

The parking brake cables on early C5's have a tendency become unserviceable because (as I understand it) the grease that was used at the time became non-greasy and gummed up the linkages. The parking brake handle still raises and lowers, but doesn't readily engage the mechanism for pulling the cable running to the parking brake pads at the rear wheels. So the parking brake never really engages, and the handle just goes up without any resistance. The fix is relatively simple (clean the parking brake handle mechanism out, apply newer grease), but to do it generally involves pulling out the bulk of the center console. But this would be a very important thing for you to check, given you're buying one with a manual transmission... Until you're certain it engages properly, don't rely on the parking brake to hold the vehicle stationary!

On Aztec Gold #15, the front sway bar links had either failed or were failing; that one really baffled me on a car with so few miles and the easy life of a garage queen... And I recently had to have the exhaust on both sides repaired when the flange weld on a section of pipe leading up over the transaxle came loose (see this thread)...

In the end, none of these things would stop me from buying the car you're looking at; it sounds like a real gem! Just mentioning them so you can make an informed purchase!

 

[96gs917]

Tom,

I wouldn't worry to much, 16k is low but I think the bulk of the problem were addressed by the current owner.
If he's a corvette guy, he should have know better than to let the car sit for 10 years, and then expect it to start.
He should have at least driven it 500 or so miles a year, stabilized the fuel, and thrown a battery tender on it.
You could probably get away with those tires for a while if they look good, and aren't rock hard.

My grand sport sat in the previous owners garage for 5 years before I bought it, but the guy had a new battery, and he
treated the fuel. I bought the car, he filled it with fuel, put air in the tires, and I drove it home 300 miles. The thing
ran great, no problems. It had 5800 miles on it when I bought it 2 years ago.

Good luck, sounds like a sweet ride.

 

[Tuna]

Hanger gueens develop leaks in strange places after they get put back into service. Water pump, head gaskets, hoses, etc. Belts and all rubber parts are suspect. Tires - don't trust them unless the owner put new ones on it.

I bought a very low mileage Vette once and replaced the engine twice in 6 months.
First engine: Water in the tank, rusted the fuel system, causing the mixture to lean out which fried the head gaskets and dumped coolant into the oil
Second engine: dealer rebuilt the first and it blew up a couple of months later. Dealer said it was a bad part in the built.

Crate motor installed, fuel system cleaned from stem to stern, new fuel pump and other things. No more problems. The only good thing about all this was that it was just 3 years old at the time and still under warranty so GM covered 90% of the work.

The car you're looking at is well out of warranty and if it goes bad, it's yours to fix.

 

[TAS250]

Thanks all for the feedback. Maybe the 2000 with 55xxx at 19,500 convertable is the better buy I've been looking at as well. And it has a couple of goodies Borla, cold air induction. Red/Blk manual. I will go into this with much caution. Actually the owner said he did put Sta-Bil in the gas tank but it still went bad. He said the dealer told him the fuel smelled so bad they had to take it out of the building to get rid of it. SOOO as the old saying goes if it seems to good to be true it usually is.

The good news is I love the hunt!

Thanks All!!!

 

[Toms007]

You're right, the hunt is fun.

 

[TAS250]

Pulled the trigger

Well just to circle the wagon, I purchased the 97. Final price 17,000. I think it's hard to get hurt on this one. Vette is in near flawless condition. No leaks(yet) I can tell it was certainly indoors it's whole life. The only flaw I can see is the driver door inside matieral is delaminating a bit by the handle. I think I've seen this before but it wasnt a deal breaker because everything else was excellent. Under the car looked perfect. Has the Z51 package. Seats arent the sport which is unfortunate but again not a deal breaker and they still look good. Leather was excellent everything just still looked new. Everything was functioning. Passenger window was not working on my testdrive but owner got it fixed before I picked it up. Thanks for all the feedaback. Time to enjoy the weekends and car shows again. Happy ending so far!

Tom

 

[Toms007]

Tom, I don't think that you got hurt at all. It will be a car that you can enjoy for a long time. The delamination is a common problem with C5s there have been some people who have fixed them, some just buy new panels and other, like me, just live with it. Mine isn't that bad and someday I may decide to fix it. Co

Congrats and post up some pictures when you have time. OH, and drive the wheels off that baby.

 

[TAS250]

Tom, I don't think that you got hurt at all. It will be a car that you can enjoy for a long time. The delamination is a common problem with C5s there have been some people who have fixed them, some just buy new panels and other, like me, just live with it. Mine isn't that bad and someday I may decide to fix it. Co

Congrats and post up some pictures when you have time. OH, and drive the wheels off that baby.

Thanks Tom,

I plan to!!!

 

[Tuna]

Great! Hope it continues to be all you want it to be.

 

[timfitz63]

Well just to circle the wagon, I purchased the 97. Final price 17,000. I think it's hard to get hurt on this one. Vette is in near flawless condition. No leaks(yet) I can tell it was certainly indoors it's whole life. The only flaw I can see is the driver door inside matieral is delaminating a bit by the handle. I think I've seen this before but it wasnt a deal breaker because everything else was excellent. Under the car looked perfect. Has the Z51 package. Seats arent the sport which is unfortunate but again not a deal breaker and they still look good. Leather was excellent everything just still looked new. Everything was functioning. Passenger window was not working on my testdrive but owner got it fixed before I picked it up. Thanks for all the feedaback. Time to enjoy the weekends and car shows again. Happy ending so far!

Congrats! You're gonna like the Z51 suspension with the manual transmission; that's the set-up on my '04 convertible! Now the only thing left for you to do is drive it to Carlisle next week...!