c5 and c6 running cost

[pitbull turbo]

i am currently saving up to get a new car and the c5 or even a c6 really appeals to me :-) stupidly fast , amazing looking, nice interior. the main thing is running and servicing costs for me. im used expesive cars like r34 skylines and so on but i am worried about taking the next step up.
also how reliable are the cars as i have only heard good reviews on the ls1 engine.

the other thing is lhd as i relise it will have to be lhd and as i do kinda high milage mainly motorway stuff is this a problem?

[Vet Guru]

Main dealer service for 3 years around £600 that's in total for 3 service's!

Edited by Vet Guru on Thursday 21st May 17:48

[BLUETHUNDER]

Ive had this 2 years now.



One service at £650 which included new front dics and pads. And thats it.One of the best cars i have ever bought.

[pitbull turbo]

so a main srevice is about £600 and say a minor service £200. i was reading some guys manage 30mpg driven carfully on the motor way and about 23 mpg around town which is miles better than the skyline or fiat coupe i have now. insurance is cheaper than the skyline to.
is there anything that goes on these and what major bills might i face?
is it easy to get used to lhd to?
i also have seen some wild perframnce claims and modified cars but what sort of performance should a decent c5 or c6 give?
thanks for the help guys :-)

[irish boy]

im on my 3rd vette now and none of them has had as much as a bulb fail....just the standard service items ie mobile one and filters! i can think of no other car which gives such performance for the bills it gives....these things are built for taking a hammering up the drag strip and take you to work on monday!

as far as performance goes im not sure of the exact figures but my last car (standard 05 c6) was 4.# to 60 and was about equal acceleration to my friends noble m12 in any gear which gives you some idea how quick they are in the real world!

go for a test drive drive....you wont be disappointed

ps do an hpi AND a carfax (american version of hpi) i got stung with a write off brought in from the states and fixed so well you would not believe.....lost 10k!

hence bought the z06 new...

Edited by irish boy on Thursday 21st May 16:51

Edited by irish boy on Thursday 21st May 16:51

[pitbull turbo]

to be fair they seam very cheap to run compared to stuff like 911's and even boxsters that also hit my budget. £650 for a service including front pads and discs is very cheap indeed.
if a c6 is as quick as a noble m12 then it must be pretty brutal!
what sort of price should i be looking at for a clean c5 and a clean c6 and what would be the advantage of a c5 over the c6?
sorry for the dumb questions but i am very new to vettes and i have always been a jap or itallian man. there is just something about corvettes i really love.

[G4HKS]

If you are looking for a nice immaculate C6 manual with thousands of pounds worth of upgrades for under £25k PM me. Not mine now, but my previous car.




Or the full album: http://rides.webshots.com/album/560823752jwlqSJ?st...

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 21st May 17:29

[GW65]

pitbull turbo said:

so a main srevice is about £600 and say a minor service £200. i was reading some guys manage 30mpg driven carfully on the motor way and about 23 mpg around town which is miles better than the skyline or fiat coupe i have now. insurance is cheaper than the skyline to.
is there anything that goes on these and what major bills might i face?
is it easy to get used to lhd to?
i also have seen some wild perframnce claims and modified cars but what sort of performance should a decent c5 or c6 give?
thanks for the help guys :-)

I had a C5 for just under 3 years and did 35K miles. All it cost me was £200 for a service every 10K miles and one set of tyres (which aren't cheap if you go for run-flats). I seem to remember it averaged about mid-20s mpg over mainly motorway miles.

I've had my C6 for just over a year. Only had one service so far which was just over £200. Tyres look like they'll last about 10-12K miles tops, and again they're not cheap if you replace with run-flats. Some people do get very good fuel consumption, but you'd have to keep your speed down and get a clear run. Over 8K miles, mixed town and motorway, I've averaged just over 21mpg; in town it'll do mid-teens, on the motorway "making progress" it'll do mid-twenties (that's all UK mpg rather than the lower US mpg readout from the DIC). That's still excellent considering the performance.

The LHD isn't really an issue, especially if you're doing motorway miles. Also great for admiring the "scenery" when you're cruising through town in summer

[G4HKS]

Don't you ever do any work Gary??

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SeeFive]

I bought my C5 at about 3 years old. Had it nearly 5 years now, around 125,000 miles. I simply change the oil and filters - more frequently than the computer tells me (cos I am just like that) and in those miles have done only a couple of non service items:

1 front hub (abs sensor connector failure)
1 handbrake cable
1 set of discs all round (arguably service)
2 sets of pads (service)
1 set of handbrake shoes (service)
2 aircon charges.
A few inches of black tape to fix a wear point on electrical insulation.

I am just about to put a 6 speed gearbox/diff/clutch in because of selector issues.

Add to that a few sets of tyres, and that is about it. I do not have main dealer services - I have a long standing motor engineer who has looked after a lot of my cars over the years, and my service bills are significantly lower than quoted here, plus I do not have to travel miles to have and hour's work done. It will go to a proper Corvette specialist for the gearbox.

The car is brilliant - it costs me less to run than my wife's 206GTI, and goes a little better as you may imagine. It is also more economical than her car at speed - did the same journey to Scotland from Hampshire in both cars a week apart, and mine used over a tenner's worth less fuel. I do Leeds and back fairly frequently in mine (about 475 miles) on a single tank of fuel driving relatively sensibly (if you get what I mean officer) in a single day with no aches and pains afterwards.

You should get about 4 to the gallon on the track.....

Get a manual. As well as being a lot more fun, 6th gear, 2000revs = 100mph. 70mph is a very economical fast tickover should you wish to travel at that kind of speed.

[GW65]

G4HKS said:

Don't you ever do any work Gary??

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Martin, I would respond to that but I'm too busy working

[G4HKS]

David,

I have just spoken to Chris Graham (who is a very well respected dealer in used Corvettes) and he has several to offer you. Even has a very cheap Velocity Yellow Z06! Tel: [phone]

Best of luck! Martin

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 21st May 23:06

[BLUETHUNDER]

pitbull turbo said:

so a main srevice is about £600 and say a minor service £200. i was reading some guys manage 30mpg driven carfully on the motor way and about 23 mpg around town which is miles better than the skyline or fiat coupe i have now. insurance is cheaper than the skyline to.
is there anything that goes on these and what major bills might i face?
is it easy to get used to lhd to?
i also have seen some wild perframnce claims and modified cars but what sort of performance should a decent c5 or c6 give?
thanks for the help guys :-)

The L.S engine is very adaptable and works well to upgrades. Someone over in the Cerbera forum has a L.S powered Cerbera that has been worked up to 6.9ltr,and is putting out 630bhp.

[vetteheadracer]

I do my own servicing (oil changes ever 10k miles approx). Recommended that you do brake fluid / clutch fluid every 30,000 ish miles.
Cost of servicing is very cheap even if you use a main dealer when you consider the frequency of servicing compared with Skylines etc. I would say the servicing cost is one of the great pluses of Corvette ownership.

The LHD issue, I drive my C6 Z06 daily to and from work on the motorway and alternate with a RHD Mercedes and to be honest I forget which one I am in as far as visibility etc is conserned.

[Y50 VET]

Tyres and brakes are the most expensive parts, unless you have and Ecclers catalogue and like shiinnneeeyyyyy parts, keeping it standard is very cheap to run, most of people around here use Ian Goss and he is very reasonable on servicing, with parts instock.

I am selling my beloved and cherished C5 50th Anniversary after having a test drive in a C6-ZO6 I feel its probably worth the upgrade for me personally I am not a fan of the standard C6 and so I am really glad I didn’t upgrade before. From what I have seen over the last six years it’s a lot cheaper than running even a modest salon car as the brand is quite reliable, I have swapped the battery, one headlight motor, and a starter solenoid, apart from regular servicing brakes and tyres that’s the lot very reliable car.

Sam

[G4HKS]

Y50 VET said:

lot cheaper than running even a modest salon
Sam

Would this be unisex or just for men Sam?

And Mark, how did you manage to get that young kid stuck in your boot?

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 21st May 23:06

[BLUETHUNDER]

G4HKS said:

Y50 VET said:

lot cheaper than running even a modest salon
Sam

Would this be unisex or just for men Sam?

And Mark, how did you manage to get that young kid stuck in your boot?

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 21st May 23:06

I didnt. i cut a hole in the boot lid for her,so the wife can have the passenger seat.....

[Y50 VET]

G4HKS said:

Y50 VET said:

lot cheaper than running even a modest salon
Sam

Would this be unisex or just for men Sam?

And Mark, how did you manage to get that young kid stuck in your boot?

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 21st May 23:06

Just for dislexixis men

Sam

[pitbull turbo]

i must admit they sound to good to be true. supercar looks and good performance with the same service and running costs as my fiat coupe lol.
every review says they handle very well to which is something thats put me off american cars before.
does anyone have any any real world performance figures as they seam alot less powered than i first though.
some seam to have a 5.0 v8 in or a 5.5 v8 and others a 6.0 or a 6.3 v8 :-)
what engines go with what and whats the best one to go for?

[JimexPL]

pitbull turbo said:

i must admit they sound to good to be true. supercar looks and good performance with the same service and running costs as my fiat coupe lol.
every review says they handle very well to which is something thats put me off american cars before.
does anyone have any any real world performance figures as they seam alot less powered than i first though.
some seam to have a 5.0 v8 in or a 5.5 v8 and others a 6.0 or a 6.3 v8 :-)
what engines go with what and whats the best one to go for?

what do you mean by "they seam alot less powered than i first though"? You're looking at a c.1500kg 350-430hp car!

C5s run 5.7V8s 350-405hp depending on model, and almost any used C6 that that you are looking at will have a 400hp 6.0V8. From memory standard C5s achieved high 4s 0-60 and about 175mph, C6s low 4s and 187mph. Coming from a fiat coupe I don't think that you need to be concerned about performance figures...
If budget allows the C6 manual is the one to go for, or perhaps a C5 Z06 if you do't mind the fixed roof. The C5 and early C6 4 speed autos are an acquired taste and take a bit of learning (and even then they can scare you occasionaly on a wet road). Head Up Display is a nice option to have (1999 on I think), as is upgraded suspension (factory F55 or Z51 or aftermarket) - the standard US set up is a bit floaty at speed.