C5 running costs.??
Discussion
As i,ve posted else where in this forum,my brother recently aquired a very nice Vette LT1.
I,ve been looking at later C5,s and have had a number offered to me from my original posts on here.What i want to know is what are the running costs like.Amongst the vehicles i have,i currently run a TVR Cerbera.It expected on these that normal running costs are around £3000 per annum.Last year cost me closer to £4000,and this is without insurance,tax,m.o.t, and fuel.But then again a lot of this is down to the fact that there are only really two good Cerb specialists in the S.east.This year the running costs have,nt been to bad,about £600.Would i expect these running costs with a C5??and what are the parts situation like regarding prices??And are they D.I.Y able.I like to try and do what i can on a car before handing it over to a specialist.Im not expecting Cerb like performance but would expect A C5 cheaper to run.I look forward to your comments and any thing to look out for while looking for one.
Thanks for any advice given.Mark.
I,ve been looking at later C5,s and have had a number offered to me from my original posts on here.What i want to know is what are the running costs like.Amongst the vehicles i have,i currently run a TVR Cerbera.It expected on these that normal running costs are around £3000 per annum.Last year cost me closer to £4000,and this is without insurance,tax,m.o.t, and fuel.But then again a lot of this is down to the fact that there are only really two good Cerb specialists in the S.east.This year the running costs have,nt been to bad,about £600.Would i expect these running costs with a C5??and what are the parts situation like regarding prices??And are they D.I.Y able.I like to try and do what i can on a car before handing it over to a specialist.Im not expecting Cerb like performance but would expect A C5 cheaper to run.I look forward to your comments and any thing to look out for while looking for one.
Thanks for any advice given.Mark.
I don't have C5, but I have a C4 and a 2000 Cadillac so feel qualified enough to answer 
Unless the occasional gremlin strikes - think starter motor, alternator and the like - there's little that goes wrong with the Corvette. An oil and filter change plus tyres as required should be about it most of the time, of course checkin levels, changing anti-freeze and the like according to the specs...
Parts are VERY easy to find, most cheapish and the majority of common items - oil filters, spark plugs, accessory belts etc. available next day.
For more costly items, which for me is anything probably heavy or £150 more in cost, it is often cheaper to import from the US, which if you have the right supplier can be with you within a week. For example, for my C4, I got a new clutch set delivered from Florida, plus import duty, plus VAT, plus fitting by my local - and trusted - mechanic for £450. ALL-IN. So not very expensive...
And so on that: they are very easy to work with, although I think that C5 clutch is a bit more awkward [I may be wrong], but on the whole you can do a lot at home - brakes pads, discs, oil etc. and any decent mechanic should be able to do the rest.
Get yourself the 'Helms' manuals - aka Factory Service Manuals - about probably £50-£100, but an absolute A-Z of every job you'd need to do I'd say.
Remember, there are lots of LS1s (that's what's in the C5s, correct?) all around so it's never going to be too hard or too expensive unless you just get downright unlucky. And even then - if you're used to £3000-£4000 a year - you can probably rebuild plus more HP for a couple years' worth of that!
In summary: my 1991 ZR1 has over the last years required (and 20,000 miles):
- 5 new tyres (1 was a puncture!) (£800 or so)
- 1 starter motor (about £200)
- 1 pair front discs (£110)
- a few sets of pads (some £20 a pair, some £90 a pair)
- 1 vacuum system actuator (about £200)
- 1 accessory belt (£20)
- 1 clutch (£450 delivered and fitted)
And that's it I think... on a 17 year old car.
My Cadillac has had over the last 4 years 1 accessory belt (about £20), 4 new tyres (£400), 1 set of pads all round (£100 or so), 1 starter motor (£200) and that's about it.
Course oil+filter, fuel etc.
You get the picture: cheap as chips to run for the power.
Oh - and did somebody mention MPG
you'll see that even this is much better than you'd think...
Unless the occasional gremlin strikes - think starter motor, alternator and the like - there's little that goes wrong with the Corvette. An oil and filter change plus tyres as required should be about it most of the time, of course checkin levels, changing anti-freeze and the like according to the specs...
Parts are VERY easy to find, most cheapish and the majority of common items - oil filters, spark plugs, accessory belts etc. available next day.
For more costly items, which for me is anything probably heavy or £150 more in cost, it is often cheaper to import from the US, which if you have the right supplier can be with you within a week. For example, for my C4, I got a new clutch set delivered from Florida, plus import duty, plus VAT, plus fitting by my local - and trusted - mechanic for £450. ALL-IN. So not very expensive...
And so on that: they are very easy to work with, although I think that C5 clutch is a bit more awkward [I may be wrong], but on the whole you can do a lot at home - brakes pads, discs, oil etc. and any decent mechanic should be able to do the rest.
Get yourself the 'Helms' manuals - aka Factory Service Manuals - about probably £50-£100, but an absolute A-Z of every job you'd need to do I'd say.
Remember, there are lots of LS1s (that's what's in the C5s, correct?) all around so it's never going to be too hard or too expensive unless you just get downright unlucky. And even then - if you're used to £3000-£4000 a year - you can probably rebuild plus more HP for a couple years' worth of that!
In summary: my 1991 ZR1 has over the last years required (and 20,000 miles):
- 5 new tyres (1 was a puncture!) (£800 or so)
- 1 starter motor (about £200)
- 1 pair front discs (£110)
- a few sets of pads (some £20 a pair, some £90 a pair)
- 1 vacuum system actuator (about £200)
- 1 accessory belt (£20)
- 1 clutch (£450 delivered and fitted)
And that's it I think... on a 17 year old car.
My Cadillac has had over the last 4 years 1 accessory belt (about £20), 4 new tyres (£400), 1 set of pads all round (£100 or so), 1 starter motor (£200) and that's about it.
Course oil+filter, fuel etc.
You get the picture: cheap as chips to run for the power.
Oh - and did somebody mention MPG
you'll see that even this is much better than you'd think... £600 for fitting a starter motor seems steep. £360 for the thing itself a bit pricy too. But you can pay similar prices for the Corvette, depending where you go.
The ZR1 has a wonderful place for the starter motor - at the back of the engine, under a whole pile of gubbins, in the V. Pain. But I changed it - and I'm not a brill mechanic - in an evening (4 hours or so).
As I said, the balance is price v. convenience: I was quoted (I'll not name anywhere, but it was in the UK) £625+VAT for my ZR1 clutch, which could be delivered next day... so I'd guess plus fitting I'd pay close to £1000, or around 2x as much as I did waiting a week....
The ZR1 has a wonderful place for the starter motor - at the back of the engine, under a whole pile of gubbins, in the V. Pain. But I changed it - and I'm not a brill mechanic - in an evening (4 hours or so).
As I said, the balance is price v. convenience: I was quoted (I'll not name anywhere, but it was in the UK) £625+VAT for my ZR1 clutch, which could be delivered next day... so I'd guess plus fitting I'd pay close to £1000, or around 2x as much as I did waiting a week....
BLUETHUNDER said:
As i,ve posted else where in this forum,my brother recently aquired a very nice Vette LT1.
I,ve been looking at later C5,s and have had a number offered to me from my original posts on here.What i want to know is what are the running costs like.Amongst the vehicles i have,i currently run a TVR Cerbera.It expected on these that normal running costs are around £3000 per annum.Last year cost me closer to £4000,and this is without insurance,tax,m.o.t, and fuel.But then again a lot of this is down to the fact that there are only really two good Cerb specialists in the S.east.This year the running costs have,nt been to bad,about £600.Would i expect these running costs with a C5??and what are the parts situation like regarding prices??And are they D.I.Y able.I like to try and do what i can on a car before handing it over to a specialist.Im not expecting Cerb like performance but would expect A C5 cheaper to run.I look forward to your comments and any thing to look out for while looking for one.
Thanks for any advice given.Mark.
Having had 3 TVRs in the past and now a C5 for the last 3 years, I am reasonably familiar with the overpriced South Eastern TVR dealer network from about 6 years ago. Given that they probably had 2 of my 3 Griffs longer than I did over the 6 years of ownership (service = every 6000 miles, or 6 weeks at the time, lowest bill was £1300), and on the last one, depreciation and servicing over 2 years cost me 32k including a blown engine at 32,000 miles (normal wear and tear my arse - my lawyer convinced them differently), and they never managed to stop the alarm kicking in and cutting the engine mid bend from day one to day last....I,ve been looking at later C5,s and have had a number offered to me from my original posts on here.What i want to know is what are the running costs like.Amongst the vehicles i have,i currently run a TVR Cerbera.It expected on these that normal running costs are around £3000 per annum.Last year cost me closer to £4000,and this is without insurance,tax,m.o.t, and fuel.But then again a lot of this is down to the fact that there are only really two good Cerb specialists in the S.east.This year the running costs have,nt been to bad,about £600.Would i expect these running costs with a C5??and what are the parts situation like regarding prices??And are they D.I.Y able.I like to try and do what i can on a car before handing it over to a specialist.Im not expecting Cerb like performance but would expect A C5 cheaper to run.I look forward to your comments and any thing to look out for while looking for one.
Thanks for any advice given.Mark.
So, a C5. well, servicing is about £90 (oil and filter - fitted by a proper local motor engineer) when the computer says so - which will vary depending on your driving style, but it sill certainly be later than 6000 miles. I tend to do it twice as often as necessary cos it's so cheap and get a local trusted garage to do it cos I hate crawling under it.
A while back, I put discs and pads all round myself, and I am no mechanic but reasonably competent with a spanner. Simple job, 350 quid in parts - yes all the parts including handbrake shoes.
In the 3 years, or 65,000 miles I have only replaced consumables as per the service manual (oil/air filters, mobil 1, 1 set of plugs and discs as mentioned, bit of chassis lube) plus one hub because of a sensor rotting out a connector, and that's it! I do not expect the next 50,000 miles to be too different.
I would say you will save a fortune. They don;t really break, and servicing is cheap. Parts are accessible in the UK, reasonably priced and even and cheaper if you ship from the USA (but not the really big heavy stuff).
I too have come off a Cerb to a C5 Zo6.
The Cerb cost me 6k in 6 months. I would be surprised if anything at all goes with the Vette. They are a league apart in terms of build quality.
I will be honest though, they are less exciting in a kind of "will it throw me in a hedge" type way, which always kept the blood pumping with the Cerb and made me want to drive it every minute of every day.
The Cerb cost me 6k in 6 months. I would be surprised if anything at all goes with the Vette. They are a league apart in terms of build quality.
I will be honest though, they are less exciting in a kind of "will it throw me in a hedge" type way, which always kept the blood pumping with the Cerb and made me want to drive it every minute of every day.
Well the starter failed again on the Cerb this morning.Thats four now in a little over four years.So the Vette is looking ever more inviting.I know the vette is not going to be seat of the pants ride in the same respect as the Cerb.But i know i will have better reliability and more exclusivity unlike what else is about.Im off to have a look at a few over the weekend and the forth coming week.Its a buyers market out there at the moment so i should be lucky.
427James said:
I dont think there is much of a difference in speed and the z06 puts the power down better.
It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Well im now the owner of C5.I pick it up thursday.Your last sentence i agree with entirely.Im looking forward to ownership.Does anyone know if i can have the head-up display retro fitted,as the car i,ve bought does,nt have one.It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Sunday 28th October 22:12
BLUETHUNDER said:
427James said:
I dont think there is much of a difference in speed and the z06 puts the power down better.
It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Well im now the owner of C5.I pick it up thursday.Your last sentence i agree with entirely.Im looking forward to ownership.Does anyone know if i can have the head-up display retro fitted,as the car i,ve bought does,nt have one.It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Sunday 28th October 22:12
Glad you found a car..but you should have waited to view mine as it has the full monty and more...
Have fun.
Er, yes HUD can be retro fitted - but it is a pain in the balls of a job.
Make sure your C5 has a CLB (column lock bypass) fitted pronto. If/when the column lock fails you are buggered and need to be towed. This was a VERY common C5 issue. Otherwise - best bang for the buck out there.
Make sure your C5 has a CLB (column lock bypass) fitted pronto. If/when the column lock fails you are buggered and need to be towed. This was a VERY common C5 issue. Otherwise - best bang for the buck out there.
Cuban said:
BLUETHUNDER said:
427James said:
I dont think there is much of a difference in speed and the z06 puts the power down better.
It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Well im now the owner of C5.I pick it up thursday.Your last sentence i agree with entirely.Im looking forward to ownership.Does anyone know if i can have the head-up display retro fitted,as the car i,ve bought does,nt have one.It is wider though. Takes a bit of getting used to!
Dont hesitate to email me if you want any advice on these or a drive. I am happy with it and miss the Cerb but not the hassle.
Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Sunday 28th October 22:12
Glad you found a car..but you should have waited to view mine as it has the full monty and more...
Have fun.
Matt Harper said:
Er, yes HUD can be retro fitted - but it is a pain in the balls of a job.
Make sure your C5 has a CLB (column lock bypass) fitted pronto. If/when the column lock fails you are buggered and need to be towed. This was a VERY common C5 issue. Otherwise - best bang for the buck out there.
Hello Matt.Where would i get the parts for the HUD?,and whats the cost in the parts needed??Also,how do i know if a CLB is fitted?Make sure your C5 has a CLB (column lock bypass) fitted pronto. If/when the column lock fails you are buggered and need to be towed. This was a VERY common C5 issue. Otherwise - best bang for the buck out there.
The HUD can be retro fitted - you will find that there is a template in the dash showing you where to cut the hole. Full installation instructions are available on the US forums.
The CLB is a harness fitted under the steering column - if you have a CLB your steering won't lock. A word of caution, as the advice to fit a CLB may not be an option for you. First you need to ascertain which of the various recalls your car has had. Recalls mean that the CLB won't work unless you reprogram the car back to original factory settings. There is a lot of comment on the US Forums about fitting CLBs after recalls. If your car has had no recalls then fit the CLB by all means assuming you have no faith in GM's ability to fix the problem.
Depending on the year of your car, it may have had one of five recalls or Customer Service Campaigns or Technical Service Bulletins. There is currently a recall which lasts until 29/2/08 - the work is free but you need to get your car to the garage. I have spent quite a while looking into this in connection with my own C5. I'm no expert but if you need any more info, send me a PM.
Incidentally, if you join the CCCUK, you can save on insurance and parts, possibly including the HUD.
The CLB is a harness fitted under the steering column - if you have a CLB your steering won't lock. A word of caution, as the advice to fit a CLB may not be an option for you. First you need to ascertain which of the various recalls your car has had. Recalls mean that the CLB won't work unless you reprogram the car back to original factory settings. There is a lot of comment on the US Forums about fitting CLBs after recalls. If your car has had no recalls then fit the CLB by all means assuming you have no faith in GM's ability to fix the problem.
Depending on the year of your car, it may have had one of five recalls or Customer Service Campaigns or Technical Service Bulletins. There is currently a recall which lasts until 29/2/08 - the work is free but you need to get your car to the garage. I have spent quite a while looking into this in connection with my own C5. I'm no expert but if you need any more info, send me a PM.
Incidentally, if you join the CCCUK, you can save on insurance and parts, possibly including the HUD.
Edited by C5RagTop on Monday 29th October 09:55
The dreaded "Service Column Lock" warning appeared on my 2000 vert's DIC nearly 4 years into ownership. I must admit, I kind of ignored all of the warnings on corvetteforum.com and I regretted it. It was a major pain, because the car had to be transported to a service center and my car had been lowered, so getting it onto the low loader was a challenge in itself. I'm no expert on the recall (which cars need CLB and which don't) situation - I'm only speaking as a victim of the column lock failure.
Other than that my C5 was pretty much trouble-free during 5 years of ownership. It needed a new battery (original started to leak) after 6 months. The drivers seat frame creaked and rocked slightly (another common fault in cars of mine's vintage). I couldn't face pulling it all out, so just set it as far back as it would go, which stopped it. Finally - a couple of wear issues... The seal on the bottom of the roof where it sits on the rear deck started to scuff the paint after a couple of years and the door side edge of the drivers seat started to come apart (really common in older cars) at about 4 years.
I also took mine of it's original Good Year EMT's as early as was practical. Those tyres are noisy, wooden and nothing like as grippy and quite as the GSD-3's that I replaced them with.
You'll also be needing a Donaldson 'Black Wing' intake and a decent cat back exhaust.
They're great cars, I love 'em and am now in the market for another (coupe this time) now that my job doesn't require a sodding great SUV anymore. Enjoy your C5!
Other than that my C5 was pretty much trouble-free during 5 years of ownership. It needed a new battery (original started to leak) after 6 months. The drivers seat frame creaked and rocked slightly (another common fault in cars of mine's vintage). I couldn't face pulling it all out, so just set it as far back as it would go, which stopped it. Finally - a couple of wear issues... The seal on the bottom of the roof where it sits on the rear deck started to scuff the paint after a couple of years and the door side edge of the drivers seat started to come apart (really common in older cars) at about 4 years.
I also took mine of it's original Good Year EMT's as early as was practical. Those tyres are noisy, wooden and nothing like as grippy and quite as the GSD-3's that I replaced them with.
You'll also be needing a Donaldson 'Black Wing' intake and a decent cat back exhaust.
They're great cars, I love 'em and am now in the market for another (coupe this time) now that my job doesn't require a sodding great SUV anymore. Enjoy your C5!
BLUETHUNDER said:
Sorry Graham.I know if i had seen yours first,i probably would have bought it.I was just grabbed by the one i went to see today.(its the one in the classifieds above yours)Up until last week,i had,nt even thought about a corvette.It was only by chance that i drove my brothers,which ids the older model.that i started looking in to it.
No problems and sorry on the info about HUD, I was told when I was researching that it could not be retro fitted and not to buy a C5 pre 1999 - go figure!The new wheels / tyres will hopefully arrive for mine later this week (trying to time them for my
arrival back) and then I'll update my advert.
Enjoy your new car and do join the CCCUK!
Graham
Apologies Mark, I didn't answer your question about retro-fitting HUD. Although you can use your existing dash-pad - it is much more straightforward to source all the parts from a wrecked donor vehicle (Buying GM parts new is over $2800). The projecter assy and harness sit in the void in the dash structure that is common in all C5's. You need to also salvage the HUD activation control panel and harness, which is a push-fit in the top left of the dash nacelle.
In theory you also need a HUD compatible windshield - but you can buy (here at least) a transparent film that is glued to the area onto which the display image is projected.
I appreciate that finding a stuffed C5 with HUD in UK is not as easy as it is here - but if you are determined to have one, I'll help you if I can.
One final thought - I'm pleased that my C5 had HUD, but it's really not that big a deal - good at night - useless during the day if you wear polarized sunglasses, which render the projected image almost invisible.
Matt
In theory you also need a HUD compatible windshield - but you can buy (here at least) a transparent film that is glued to the area onto which the display image is projected.
I appreciate that finding a stuffed C5 with HUD in UK is not as easy as it is here - but if you are determined to have one, I'll help you if I can.
One final thought - I'm pleased that my C5 had HUD, but it's really not that big a deal - good at night - useless during the day if you wear polarized sunglasses, which render the projected image almost invisible.
Matt
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