A C5 is your best investment. Period.
Thanks for allowing me to join. I'm looking for information to help make a decision if it is my time to be a Corvette owner. I've always loved the looks of them as a kid, and now my last kids left the house, I don't have any reason why not to buy one. Other than it is a rather expensive toy. I have my eye on a C5 convertible. A 1999 blue on tan to be specific. Clean with 80k for $17k. A weekend cruiser for my wife and I. My wife thinks we should wait and bank the cash, and go for a C6 in a few years. Maybe a 2008 with a third of the miles much more features
Any thoughts, opinion, advise would be much appreciated.
Welcome Ken. I'm a newbie here and very impressed with the CAC. You'll find that it distinguishes itself from so many other forums in that it is information/help driven. So many other forums are nothing but pen pal sites. Spending your precious time here will reap huge benefits.
On the choice of generation -- the facts, not emotion indicate that at this time, it is a buyer's market for the C5. If you have time to look at a couple of my posts, you'll see I'm a '04 Z06 owner, my second C5 (first was a 1997 and I was mobbed everywhere I went), and the best decision I could have made. I track the Z06 and use it regularly as a DD (Daily Driver). I believe that the C5, particularly the '02 to '04 is a little secret and eventually, the market will wake up and they will appreciate like crazy. Subscribe to CarGurus, if you haven't already, and you will receive notification emails that reflect all the features you have restricted it to search for, at least twice a week, every week. This will give you a very informed understanding of the market, and can guide your search and final negotiations.
From a purely emotional stand point, I'm with Bill (Hoosierdaddy), Z16, and Big Jim -- the C5 is simply THE most beautiful car made besides a Jaguar XKE (Enzo Ferrari called it the most beautiful car ever made). From a factual standpoint, the C5 is:
- historically revolutionary -- the hydro formed chassis and the host of computerized sensors in the drive train transformed the Corvette into a truly world-class sports car;
- a true Super Car -- for the first time, a 2002 Z06 driven by Dave Hill made the 13 mile, 70 some turns, Nurburgring in under 8 minutes, the world-wide OEM standard and totally objective measure of Super Car performance;
- highly aerodynamic -- a coefficient of drag of .29 -- very slippery;
- still as 'competent' as any newer Super Car on the road even though a decade or more has passed;
- remains the highest performance bargain among all other generations which have always been THE best bang-for-the-buck sports car ever produced.
As to all the criticism about the lackluster C5 interior, for me, I really don't need to pay for a cow's ass glued all over my dash, nor an engine assembled beside a sky lit indoor tree garden (Ferrari). I want my money invested in the car's performance, thank you.
So I wish you good luck like I had with my Z -- a killer deal -- $22,900 with 24,100 miles and ready for the track, exactly what would make Zora Duntov smile. Please keep me/us in the loop.
Here's to good hunting!
But what I say to each their own! B I do want to say welcome aboard, glad you've joined us 
