CARS CARS CARS need some opinions

[garra671]

So I just sold my Honda S2000 and I've been looking at new cars and I recently test drove a 2005 corvette with 142xxx miles on it. He's asking 14500 but I noticed it's been on car gurus for about 2 months and was able to talk him down too 12500. Before I pull the trigger on this though I need some car guys opinions. How reliable are these motors? And how much additional mileage can I expect to get out of it?

I've googled till my fingers hurt but all I seem to come across are corvette forums where people tend to be biased.

Attached is the carfax information.

 

[Adam113]

How many miles a year do you drive typically? I only ask because a car with that many miles for 12/13k can become fiscally worthless pretty quickly and you can get upside down on it if you look to sell it in a few years. Fun cars though. The LS engines are pretty incredible, and that's coming from a Mustang Cobra owner.

 

[Waters]

IMO I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a Vette (or most other cars) with that many miles....I tend to not trust cars as much when approaching the 150k mile mark unless I am prepared to be out whatever I spent on the car initially.

 

[Barrett]

LS engines are very reliable, that is a lot of miles for an 05. How does the body look, any excessive squeaks or rattles? Any knocking noise from the engine on a cold start, those engines are known for some piston slap. Have a friend start the car up while you stand behind it looking at the exhaust, look for any blue smoke.

 

[4FordFamily]

My concern is more transmission than it is motor. To test a transmission, drive it under very low load (barely hit the gas at all). If shifts are delayed or hard, you have a weak transmission or transmission in need of service most likely.

 

[ReeferBob]

Price seems pretty good. I would be more concerned about everything else accept the drivetrain. Should be a fun car and can't really lose with that price I bet you have more in your tanks!

 

[garra671]

How many miles a year do you drive typically? I only ask because a car with that many miles for 12/13k can become fiscally worthless pretty quickly and you can get upside down on it if you look to sell it in a few years. Fun cars though. The LS engines are pretty incredible, and that's coming from a Mustang Cobra owner.

I drive the standard average if not more. About 13000 a year

 

[garra671]

LS engines are very reliable, that is a lot of miles for an 05. How does the body look, any excessive squeaks or rattles? Any knocking noise from the engine on a cold start, those engines are known for some piston slap. Have a friend start the car up while you stand behind it looking at the exhaust, look for any blue smoke.

Everything that I've seen so far on the car has been perfect condition. I don't know if the guy just drove the hell out of it and really maintained it. Or if it's going to be on its way out soon. I didn't notice any slapping or blue smoke when I saw it the first time.

 

[Marquiseo]

I wouldn't. Save your money and get something else. That mileage is the deal breaker.

 

[mikenestle]

I manage a car dealership for a living. If you can pay cash or have a loan no longer than 2 years I say go ahead. If longer than that you could run into a serious inequity problem down the road if it doesn't work out. I would also take it to a good mechanic and have them check it out very well. If the seller refuses to let you do that walk away. Keep in mind with that mileage you will be replacing a lot of things in the next few years. On muscle cars sometimes little things can be expensive.

 

[Friday24]

The LS is a pretty reliable strong motor, but as with almost all Vettes it's everything else that will start having issues at that mileage. In my experience working on and owning Vettes is they are great weekend drivers but start having issues past the 100k mark. The C6, and particularly the first few years 05-07, they had a lot of electrical issues, and transmission problems.

 

[Mr.Rocc]

To be honest, the rule of thumb is if your buying a sports car someone beat it super hard. Especially if they are running 21k miles a year on it. Especially for $12,500, i would pass and try to find something with a whole lot less miles.

 

[garra671]

I manage a car dealership for a living. If you can pay cash or have a loan no longer than 2 years I say go ahead. If longer than that you could run into a serious inequity problem down the road if it doesn't work out. I would also take it to a good mechanic and have them check it out very well. If the seller refuses to let you do that walk away. Keep in mind with that mileage you will be replacing a lot of things in the next few years. On muscle cars sometimes little things can be expensive.

Since you manage a dealership you're probably pretty familiar with carfax; how much of a red flag is it that "engine checked" kept popping up up until about 2-3 years ago? And then nothing after that. (The guy that owns the car currently told me the previous owner had the engine changed and that the engine mileage is 20k less than what it shows on the car)

 

[mikenestle]

Since you manage a dealership you're probably pretty familiar with carfax; how much of a red flag is it that "engine checked" kept popping up up until about 2-3 years ago? And then nothing after that. (The guy that owns the car currently told me the previous owner had the engine changed and that the engine mileage is 20k less than what it shows on the car)

It's hard to say. The problem with carfax is it doesn't give enough info and tends to be inaccurate. You could probably run any car with that many miles and have red flags pop up.

 

[Mattrg02]

I'd go Porsche Boxster S :-D

 

[garra671]

I'd go Porsche Boxster S :-D

That my sir is a woman's car. No offense if ya got one. But porsches for 1 wayyyy too expensive to work on. And 2 The only modern ones in my price range would be a cayenne or boxster.

If I were too get one it would be a gt3 911 careera or cayman.

 

[Mattrg02]

Carrera is a single, rich mans car

Cayman is basically a hard top Boxster.

 

[Friday24]

A real mans sports car has at least a v8....there is no replacement for displacement [emoji106]

 

[Mattrg02]

Hmmm, tell that to the v8s that I smoke, every few days, in my v6 Boxster S ;-)

 

[garra671]

A real mans sports car has at least a v8....there is no replacement for displacement [emoji106]

V8 doesn't mean anything. (I ended up buying the corvette). So no biased judgement here. But a 5.0 v8 will get smoked by that boxster more than likely. Cylinders aren't displacement. A 7.0 v8 would destroy a boxster however.

You are right though there is not replacement for displacement.