rotarydad

Before finding our pristine 2000 RED vert, we saw a couple of C5's that were definitely "hung up wet", even lady owned. I suspect that a number of these cars get to the point where the kids buy them, or someone who has no idea how to do their own work on them and then get hit with a couple of $500 dealer maintenance bills, then they just park them to go to seed. Then at some point, they get sold, cheap (or to some unsuspecting newbie).

Regarding how others look at your Vette, now that we have owned ours for three weeks, I find that I tend to make excuses about why I have the car. It looks far more expensive than the $17k that we paid for it.

I sold my 2010 Mazda CX-7 (great car!) to my friend Vickie, she gave me her old '95 Jeep Cherokee (190K miles) for my daily driver and I have the nice "new" Vette in my garage for evening cruising. A major justification in buying it was that I could have taken the $17K from the Mazda sale, bought a new car that would have depreciated down by $5K the day after I bought it, or spend the $17K on a very nice Vette that will only go up in value, as long as the rednecks in their high wheeled pickups don't run over it or the old lady blue-hairs here in FL don't run their stop sign.

RetiredSFC 97

Your vette will not go up in value. That's a myth. Oh yeah maybe in 40 years it will, but only a few will ever become collectible. Who knows what few will become collectible for sure. I have my ideas, as does everyone else.

FourG63 97GST

Whats your definition of beaters, sounds like daily driver = beater, because it may misses a week at the car wash.

Brackneyc

Mine would likely qualify as a beater. It has some scratches (former owner) and I have been known to go as long a week in-between washings. I just got back from a 1000 mile road trip with it, where it saw some rain.

When it is shined up, it looks like new from 20 feet away. I am always being told by admirers how much they like the "newer" Vettes (referencing my car).

Not bad for a 98.

whitesmokels1

If you daily drive a black car, chances are someone will see it on a bad day. My Vette sleeps in the garage every night and gets washed 2x a week on average, but I have walked away from it some days and thought, "I hope no one sees it" due to the filthiness, but I never would have thought it looked like a "beater"

QCVette

I have used a couple of C4's as my daily drivers. I guess you could call them beaters.

I bought them pretty cheap specifically to put over 20k per year on them for my commute to work. I kept the costs down as much as possible, so not much for mods or improvements, just kept them running good. They weren't always clean either, although I would try to wash them once a week.

I called them daily drivers and my beaters, but even though they were not show cars and had some problems, I think they looked pretty good. (Pictures in my home page album of my gray 88 and my white 94)

I now have a 99 as my daily driver. It is a navy blue targa with a bunch of mods. Although I wouldn't call this one a beater, it is my daily driver, so it gets dirty and I don't wash it every day. So if you see it on an "off" day some would call it a beater too.

What I consider the OP's post about are the cars that are obviously run down and needing repairs. I have seen a few C4's with some body or paint damage, mismatched wheels, broken glass, etc. I don't see that with the C5's. Nearly all of them look pretty good yet. Overall, I generally see most corvettes of any generation that are normally very very clean cars.

damilleniumboy

I can say mine was for a year or so. I only had the vette to drive to college and work a couple of years ago. I didn't had time to wash it regularly, and the transmission even went out on it. Man did I had a hard time for a while lol. I got done with college two months ago, and the car got a new paint job plus wide rear fenders just to get back to it =]… I can even say it was the crappiest looking vette around here for a while hehe.

STALION

Where I live all the c5 are low mile trailer queens...that includes the early c2's, c3's...as for c4's, well I've seen a few "beaters" but nothing that bad.

renegad44

Not around here, the ones I see are well kept. I know a guy who had a C4, firemen friend of mine, didn't take care of the damn thing at all. I used to always give him a hit on how bad it looks, well one day he wrecked it, (he was ok), totaled it, I told him that was the best damn thing to happen to it, put the poor car out it's misery....

Marine One

And that is exactly why I'm driving mine instead of letting it sit. I bought it to enjoy, not as investment or a future museum piece.

MSG C5

I haven't seen too many C5 beaters around, however I have seen a few C4 and C3 beaters.

I guess it's just a fact of automotive life. Although many of us on this forum take great care of our cars, an older C5 is just another used car for many people and may be only a 2-3 year period of Corvette ownership.

I remember when I sold my mint and well-maintained 86' IROC Camaro to a local couple. I saw the car about 6 months later in the parking lot of a night club and had to check it out. There was crap all over the interior with cigarette butts overflowing out of the ashtray and the car looked like it hadn't been washed since I sold it.

TheDVS1

This thread reminds me of driving up a dirt road to Inyo Craters near Mammoth Lakes a couple weeks back. I was in my lowered, pristine Z06 and just creeping along to minimize any flying detritus that might do damage to the underside. About a third of the way up the trail, a German family driving a rented minivan coming the other way stopped me as I headed up the road.

The horrified look on the driver's face said it all. "What in the world are you doing on this road in your nice new sports car! The road is terrible and steep, you must stop now!!". Well, as a fairly-veteran 4x4 pilot, I wasn't too worried, but enough so that I stopped at a turnout and decided to hoof it the rest of the way.

Well about a mile later, I kept muttering "I could've driven this EZ" to myself and buddy as we finally arrived. As long as you properly approach ruts and avoid the bigger rocks, there are no issues. I scrape more often pulling out of driveways and parking lots - never did on my short trip up the road.

Anyway the look and statement did provide some excellent comic relief later after a few beers. Cheers!

chstitans42

C5 beater? SURE! Here is one for sale locally around me.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/3134583399.html

ronssito

I hear the nice new car sillyness all the time and usually by people driving new(er) vehicles costing twice what I paid for my 13 year old, used C5.

MSG C5

That's what I love about my 2004 C5. From a mileage perspective, my car is still "newer" than many late model C6 Corvettes.

I have just about completed all my planned mods/improvements for my C5 and then plan to just drive and maintain it while above ground. I don't ever expect it to be a collector's car, however I will enjoy many smiles along the way and will always love knowing that I have one of the best designed and good-looking cars GM has ever produced!

Chilliwack vettes

Saw a '98 vert at a used car lot on the way to work yesterday. Stopped by after work and looked it over. 160Km, 19/18 C6 wheels... that was the best part. Red paint looked every bit and more of 14 years - swirled, faded. Lower fender below side duct was cracked all the way to the front wheel. Needs new tires. Typical visor cloth rips. Salesboy (must have been 22) says they are going to fix it up & sticker it for 16k. I'm thinking there's a lot of $$ going to go into fixing it up and then only getting maybe 14.5k after dickering for it??

He said that it was owned by a 25 year old.**

**Disclaimer - there are LOTS of C5 owners on CF who are younger than 25 and maintain them better than a lot of older guys. So please... don't hate on that statement!**

That is the first beater C5 I've ever seen.

themonk

My '03 is pretty much a DD so it will get dirty inside and out, the white top is vinyl so there are tears on the folds and I don't feel like shelling out $1000 + to replace it only for the same thing to happen. I certainly keep up on the maintenance but it is by no means pristine, I use MY car for what it's meant for, driving and enjoying but it definitely is not a beater, I don't treat any of my cars as a beater.

Dudeurgettnavette

All the C5's in my area look like beaters or they're riced out. C4's on the other hand seem to be mint except the rare few.

lockmart

I drove my 04 to a car show a couple years ago, they had Corvette parking only. Someone commented as I was leaving that car wasn't even washed for today ha. Mine is a daily driver, but I always get comments on how nice it is (except that one person complaining it wasn't freshly washed - who didn't realize I was just about to get in it). Most of the C5s I see are kept well.

TheoZ

I bought my Z06 because it kicks a$$ in traffic and I wanted it. I drive it to work every day, rain or shine. Many days I leave in the dark and come home in the dark. It gets dirty. Tough. I didn't buy it to obsess over. I bought it to drive. I wash it when I feel like it and take it to the beauty shop for a detail every three months. Not very "car guy" of me I guess.