RMB97LS1

Thanks for posting your update Chris. It's nice to hear the good news. I also have a 97 and really love it. I've thought about selling it while it's running great, just to avoid future headaches. That's a gamble that I'm willing to take though and won't part with it. Replaced the water pump and belts and recharged the AC. That's about it.
If it weren't for forums like this, I think things would be different. The knowledge and help offered just can't be beat..

Choreo

You are not doing too bad. I bought my 2001 "new" and had nearly $16k worth of GMPP Warranty work performed (most of which was to replace the engine after the starter tore off a chunk of the block). My Quicken records show that I average about $3,000/yr in maintenance, but most of that is making sure everything looks and performs like new before something fails (I also have to make regular retirement plan payments to Sal Zaino - I keep layering coats to see if there is any improvement after 50 layers). Since it is my only car, I try to make sure it is always ready for an emergency road trip if necessary (yet I never take it out of town).

Here is just a partial list of what GMPP covered before I had to start picking up the whole tab (for some reason they left quite a bit of items off - I imagine the GM computer ran out of RAM?)...

strand rider

I am glad to hear you are enjoying your ride. Kind of surprised, in fact. I just naturally assumed you were working your way up to a convertible, and would have moved on by now.

I bought my old car because American engineering is typically aimed at an ignorant consumer, the result being the "Yank tank" of wide fame, more durable than most nations car designs. That played into my decision to choose the c5 platform. Typically, Italy has a little garage on every corner with a bunch of little Fiats in thousands of pieces, to try and explain my point better.

I think The drivetrain filled my yank tank assumptions. My only other assumption was that it will sell for what I paid for it, unadjusted for inflation or cost of ownership. Time will tell.

I would have liked to have known more about the disappointing aspects of the car, which the modern complexities magnify. I am reminded of the poster that put in new chrome latch pins to dress up his door openings, and now his car won't start. Like a New Yorker reading about death and crime in the city, I wasn't that outraged. I had already been broken.

Some people act like their Mother built the car out of tears, that it is the best ever. I like a car that is designed for fun, but no sports car has overhang like my car. I think of it more of a Hot Road for people who can't build their own. I am certainly working on my car like it is a hobby.

In contrast with the poster who said the worker was the problem over at GM, I would think the management making the product decisions would have more impact on the product. Still, I can see how a line worker might loose hart when he sees another AZtec coming down the line. The handwriting on the wall coming down at you as big as a car and in three D to boot, eight hours a day.

2003 electronblue

Its the bad parts from China they just love sticking it to us combined with the heroin addicts on the G.M. assembly line they just can not be fired...Of course this was before there bankrupcy the time they were making our c5's....

supercool

C5Wolfe

WRONG! I have bought two "97s" and had NO problems with either one of them except gas gauge which was a "tectron" fix. That represents 100,000 trouble free miles.

Chris Arnold

Well, I hope to get a piece of that now. Everything seems to be running right, and it would be nice to get 2 or 3 trouble-free years out of the car.

Last night, I had another bummer. Ran over something that tore the **** out of my GS-D3 right rear tire. They don't make it anymore. The fronts are old and are getting a little low on tread. The rears were almost new with probably less than 500 miles on them. So, I just bought 4 new tires for the car at $1,012. Ended up putting Michelins on for the first time. PSS's in the front and PS2s in the back, since they don't make one tire with both sizes. I'll keep the 3 remaining tires and mount them on the original wheels as temps in case I have a blowout or unrepairable flat in the future.

damilleniumboy

The only problem my car has is the owner, me. Sorry to hear you are having troubles with your vette.

JW Motorsports

My 99 was very reliable. It never saw a shop the whole time I owned it. Everything that went wrong was minor DIY fixes. Most of the $ spent was on unnecessary mods.

I hope you have everything fixed to where you can enjoy it now.

wildweasel7648

I have a friend who straightened my act out one time when I was complaining about a truck I owned - it was a Ford 150. It was a nice truck, just had little things constantly going wrong with it. Sometimes things just go wrong - that is the way it is. He told me in simple terms "YOU PAYS YOUR MONEY AND YOU TAKES YOUR CHANCES! When buying something new or used, your have to weigh your desire to own the item (whatever it is) with the cost of owning it. I know the fella that bought my 150 from the local dealer after talking to me. He went into it eyes open - and has told me he has not had one problem with the truck. Apparently, I managed to fix all the problems before I traded it! That being said, I knew there would be problems with my 04 vert when I bought it. I planned on preventive maintenance of about 2,000 per year, and have not been disappointed! That is the key, and something you cannot control with a used car - preventive maintenance. My vert is finally coming out of its "little things to fix" phase and is now on a regular maintenance routine with my vette tech of choice. I do to it what he suggests to keep it trouble free, and so far things are going along fine. Glad to hear you finally got out of the "little things that need fixed phase." Enjoy the car - IMO it is the least expensive car in it class to own, from its initial cost to its yearly cost of ownership.

Chris Arnold

Thanks. I hope you're right.