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I've had my 2004 CE Coup with 34k miles for almost two years now.
Here's the problems I've had SO FAR.
1. Pop up headlight not working.
2. Battery died three times.
3. Tire Monitor System needs serviced.
4. Sometimes the hood wont latch.
5. Driver side window wont roll down.
6. 12 disc cd changer broke because I switched between discs too fast. How the xxxx was I supposed to know you have to go slow when doing this?
7. Gear shifter under car broke and had to be fixed.
8. Now my sound system is not working properly ever since I was messing around in the fuse box trying to fix my broke cigarette lighter.
This is insane. Before I got this car I drove a 94 Z28 for 20 years and never had this many problems.
I can not recommend anyone buying a C5 Corvette.
Last edited by Patches; 08-23-2020 at 09:29 PM.
Reason: CF is a family site
Sorry you are having problems but most of these seem like fairly easy fixes.
One of the great features, to me, of a forum like this is being able to reach out to others who may have experienced similar issues and gain from their repair knowledge to perform the necessary fixes.
Depending upon manufacturing date, your car is 16-17 years old. You have owned it two years, so that means unless you bought your car from a family member, long term friend, or long term neighbor you may not know much about how well maintained it was for the first 14-15 years.
Don't know if you have been to the National Corvette Museum, but there is a 1998 Corvette there with over 770,000 miles on it and the head gaskets were not even replaced until the 750,000 mile mark!
Hopefully you can make the necessary repairs and then with you providing proper care can drive it many, many years.
I've had the opposite experience. I've had my '94 z28 for 20 years too, its left me stranded at least 7 times during those years(probably closer to 10 times). It currently has the tranny out because it broke a clutch spring. I had to drive it home 30 miles without stopping and without using the clutch. Meanwhile I've had my c5 for 5 years and its never put me on the side of the road. The only issues I've had have been the balancer bolt coming loose and burning through a plug wire. Experiences vary.
Sorry you are having problems but most of these seem like fairly easy fixes.
One of the great features, to me, of a forum like this is being able to reach out to others who may have experienced similar issues and gain from their repair knowledge to perform the necessary fixes.
Depending upon manufacturing date, your car is 16-17 years old. You have owned it two years, so that means unless you bought your car from a family member, long term friend, or long term neighbor you may not know much about how well maintained it was for the first 14-15 years.
Don't know if you have been to the National Corvette Museum, but there is a 1998 Corvette there with over 770,000 miles on it and the head gaskets were not even replaced until the 750,000 mile mark!
Hopefully you can make the necessary repairs and then with you providing proper care can drive it many, many years.
You're right. These are not huge problems. But no matter how small a problem is it's still a problem which gets very annoying when a new one pops up every month.
Every time I get in it I'm thinking to myself "what will break today"? instead of getting excited about a fun driving experience.
Welcome to Corvette Ownership. Some thoughts.!. Did you check the fuses? Try turning the headlight switch off and on several times.
2. Have the battery tested
3. Probably need new tire sensors since they are 16 + years old.
4. Mine did the same until I learned not to baby the hood closing function
5. Do the ‘whack’ method on the door. Search on this site for instr. Maybe the motor is in a flat zone. My did the same but after doing the WHACK method, no more problems for almost 3 years.
6. Disc may be jammed. Sometimes a gentle tap on the casing will work.
I've had my 2004 CE Coup with 34k miles for almost two years now.
Here's the problems I've had SO FAR.
1. Pop up headlight not working.
2. Battery died three times.
3. Tire Monitor System needs serviced.
4. Sometimes the hood wont latch.
5. Driver side window wont roll down.
6. 12 disc cd changer broke because I switched between discs too fast. How the xxxx was I supposed to know you have to go slow when doing this?
7. Gear shifter under car broke and had to be fixed.
8. Now my sound system is not working properly ever since I was messing around in the fuse box trying to fix my broke cigarette lighter.
This is insane. Before I got this car I drove a 94 Z28 for 20 years and never had this many problems.
I can not recommend anyone buying a C5 Corvette.
Your statement of not recommending aC5. Your C5 is not the problem, It is an ownership Problem. No maintenance. I’m the original owner of a 98 that is better now than the day I brought it home. My 2 cents.
I've had my 2004 CE Coup with 34k miles for almost two years now.
Here's the problems I've had SO FAR.
1. Pop up headlight not working.
2. Battery died three times.
3. Tire Monitor System needs serviced.
4. Sometimes the hood wont latch.
5. Driver side window wont roll down.
6. 12 disc cd changer broke because I switched between discs too fast. How the xxxx was I supposed to know you have to go slow when doing this?
7. Gear shifter under car broke and had to be fixed.
8. Now my sound system is not working properly ever since I was messing around in the fuse box trying to fix my broke cigarette lighter.
This is insane. Before I got this car I drove a 94 Z28 for 20 years and never had this many problems.
I can not recommend anyone buying a C5 Corvette.
I'll give you 2k for that junk and not a penny more. Trust me these cars have tons if problems and you don't want no part of this.
Some of us are forum technicians so we know what we're talking about.
I bought my '01 manual convertible 3 years ago this December for $14,000 from a local dealer. It had 97,600 miles on it and I have driven it +17,000 miles since buying it (more or less a daily driver; weather permitting). A year ago I ran over a piece of concrete and damaged the exhaust/catalytic converter and replaced it with a take off so I don't include those expenses. I also did not include my car cover or oil changes.. Much of the little stuff has been DIY, but I opted to have my mechanic handle the plugs and wires (I just did not want to deal with that in my driveway) and I had a professional trim shop replace the top and driver's seat cushion.
I knew going into this car if I was going to drive it, I was going to have expenses (tires were obvious and given the age on the top, that was a "sooner or later"). I assumed I would spend $1,500 (excluding gas and oil changes) a year on average keeping the car on the road. It is after all an "old car" and it has high mileage. It has actually cost me a bit more than that (closer to $1,600 a year). But I don't regret a single dime. I'd trust this car to take us coast to coast and back again. It is well maintained, everything (and I mean everything) works and it will deliver 30 mpg all day long at 70 mph. Pretty good evidence that everything is in good tune.
One man's nightmare, another man's dream. I think the key to happiness is having realistic expectations.
Here's the full list of my expenses since day one (less the accident related exhaust repair, oil changes and car cover):
$86 Costco battery
$15.50 (interior parts- radio ****, $8.50; plastic door pane/screw cover $7).
$47 LMC5 steering column lock-Compliance Parts
$25 trunk struts
$18 deck lid struts
$1,300 (new top/window repair)
$206 seat cushion (Ecklers-$86 part, $120 labor)
$735 tires (BF Goodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S)
$16 indicator bulbs and Torx driver
$15 Duralast air filter
$7 plastic door panel
$388.63 plugs A/C Delco and Duralast wires
$184.42 Brake pads and rotors
$150 Visors
$500 Radiator replaced
$1,049 differential seal and axle seals replaced (transmission and differential serviced)
$27 serpentine belt
$15 tension idler pulley
Those honestly are small fixes. Window motors are an issue not only with Corvettes but Camaros also. A window motor is cheap to fix along with a headlight motor. A disk changer can be fixed by finding one cheap or changing the radio. My old frc....I bought it then went through 3, not 1 but 3 trans missions trying to fix it and it still didn't fix it....now that's expensive!! I ended up selling it and I regret it till this day because had I checked the hear fluid (which was the issue) then I would have kept the rare white frc. I know it's hard to believe and you might overlook what I'm typing but what you have are small minor maintenance issues. You can't label all Corvettes bad...that's like a woman saying all guys are bad just because her guy cheated on her
I have many people (including my two boys) tell me they want a Corvette after seeing mine. And one of the first things I tell them is, unless you know how to work on cars, it's probably not for you. And unfortunately most "younger" people don't know how or don't want to work on them. As mentioned earlier, the C5's are getting old, my 97 is now 23 yo. Little things go wrong and need fixing, but nothing major so far on mine. Although almost all your list I have fixed on mine too.
But I know what you mean that it takes the fun out of it when stuff goes wrong.
I have many people (including my two boys) tell me they want a Corvette after seeing mine. And one of the first things I tell them is, unless you know how to work on cars, it's probably not for you. And unfortunately most "younger" people don't know how or don't want to work on them. As mentioned earlier, the C5's are getting old, my 97 is now 23 yo. Little things go wrong and need fixing, but nothing major so far on mine. Although almost all your list I have fixed on mine too.
But I know what you mean that it takes the fun out of it when stuff goes wrong.
That is everything said that needs to be said in a nut shell. A C5 is meant to be worked on, and modified, at this point in it's history as a performance car. The work I have done on my car, including clutch, TT Rebuild, new fuel sending units, new heads, cam, intake, all new front engine accessories, stereo, bolt ons, etc. would have well over $12k had I not done them myself. If something doesn't work on a car it set's me into an OCD tail spin - so my car is 100% functional and working as everything should. But working on the car and making it perfect is 50% of the fun of the car.
If you are intending to buy a used car to drive while a shop maintains it, maybe a C5 isn't for you. There is a late model C6, or even maybe a C7, with your name all over it that will require a hell of a lot less maintenance.
1st post.. Welcome. Still better than buying a Ford.
I had my Mustang 5.0 for about 8 years. My son then took it over for another 5 or so years until it was t-boned and totaled.
The ONLY thing that ever failed was the fuel pump - and that at well north of 100k. Apart from that, it was regular servicing - tires batteries, wiper blades - and plenty of oil changes.
My '98 C5 bought new, was in and out of the dealer regularly during warranty, having multiple parts replaced - multiple times in some cases. I looked into the state's lemon laws, but as all the failures were classified as "different" and all got fixed, I did not qualify.
The good news is that at about 4 years old, the failure rate went down. Not perfect by a long way, but balanced by being a very enjoyable car to drive. I did learn one valuable lesson though - never buy in the first year or so of a Chevy redesign. "Beta" would be my description.
Last edited by jackthelad; 08-24-2020 at 08:44 AM.
08-23-2020, 08:22 PM
C5 has been a nightmare
