StreetRacingGuy

I definately feel your pain. I like my Z (and it runs hard) and I have been lucky with the abuse it has had. However, I know a couple of people with C6's with similar problems you have and after writing letters to GM, talking on the phone NUMEROUS times, they are always told to go get fukked more or less. The new 2013 Mustang GT500 will be getting a few people who had bad experiences with their Z06's for sure. Mustangs aren't vettes...obvioulsy, but if you want a fun car to drive hard on the street and take to the track without fear of it breaking, its a better choice all the way around. I don't personally know of any 5.4 supercharged ford motors that have scattered, and you wont find too many discussed on the internet either. Ford can build a solid motor that can handle 1000 whp all day long STOCK (just need to up the boost) and offers a proven solid axle that can be modded to handle 8's pretty cheaply.

I wont get rid of my Z...it has made me some money on the street and is a blast to drive. If I had all the problems, I would probably give the Mustang a try, or MAYBE a GTR, but I know those things are expensive to fix, especially the trannys.

Good luck selling it and finding something else to have fun in! Life is too short to feel "stuck" in a car you no longer like.

Tsar

Vettes are built on an assembly line, by humans. They are production cars, with production engines built in mass quantity also by humans. Nothing is perfect....Nothing. All cars have issues from time to time and you have to deal with it. You're still getting world class performance at an insane price, relative to cars on par with it. If you think GM doesn't cut corners where it can (engine issues asside) you're kidding yourself.

Your light lenses may have been cleaned with a paper towel at one time ...... That will make them craze.

Your inner fender trim may have had wax or armor all applied to them and set out in the sun..... That will grey them out in NO TIME..

Speakers blow when your turn them up too high even in Nissans and Hondas

So your mufflers have something broken, get better ones, the stockers are rubbish..

As for the engine, well I know the valve train is suspect, and the oil system in my 07 has short commings so I don't beat on it (head work is in the near future and mine has 11k miles), and tires are way too expensive to do burn outs anyway.


Don't know what to tell you bro, sell it, or fix it. Either way move on. Lifes too short to be pissed off.

camirocz

So according to quicksilver if you get a tune and run a couple of quarter mile passes you can expect your motor to let go and not feel upset over it.Why the hell would you buy an eleven second car to begin with if its to baby it?Give the guy a break he got a lemon of a car and thats that.If it were a nissan or a viper it would have been a crappy car but because its a vette its the owner s fault.The guy is 100 percent right G.M. is **** quality.I love my z06 too but the quality is far from being top notch.I also had an engine replaced on warranty as soon as i bought it.Brought it to the dealer for an oil change and they said we have to keep your car dont like what we hear.No tune and no racing.30 000miles and needed to be overhauled and they kept it 5 weeks for back order pistons.Not too impressed.Now i am going to race it cause it is supposedly fixed.

Tsar

How can you speak for the first 30k miles if you bought it used?

Cheesecake 07

Too many guys on here cant see through their glasses hazed with the pride of ownership. Is what it is...

My 07 hasn't had any of the issues you've described or any others in this thread but I agree with you. I got 80k miles out of my H/C/I Cobra with a 150 shot on a stock shortblock back in the day. Dragged raced literally 100's of times not to mention 100's more freeway rolls(not smart I get it) all on the bottle. Only problems it ever gave me was a couple mashed 3-4 synchros and a clutch. Ran perfect the day I sold it.

Seems like some guys on here do 15 hours of track time and 3500mi of "spirited" driving and they are satisfied with their $20k engine exploding...like it did well under those condiitons.

Not complaining about the Z...sweetest car Ive ever owned by FAR. However some of the issues are concerning...Just sayin.

Greenstealth

to the op, im sorry to hear your troubles. My mufflers are now buzzing and rattling when the npp is closed. I pray to god I never need an engine. I'm probably at the point now that I don't drive the car the way it was intended to justify keeping it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this car but it may be time to start moving on. Good luck with your car.

Tsar

I can live with a lot of things checking out on a car, but I have to admit this entire engine thing puts knots in my gut. I'm at the point that I don't want to even get a tune done for fear of it dying on the dyno before I have any head issues addressed. I also don't drive the car near it's limits or even as hard as I did my 99 coupe. Dropping a valve is always in the back of my mind. All the other stuff I can deal with, there is a better part out there for most things.

Unreal

35k miles most of them modded and not a single issue. Every car I've seen that sits a long time seems to have issues. I drive my car year round and that keeps it happy.

MarkRx

screw that, i traded my flawless 07Z for a 2012 GT-R. 2nd day with the new car got limp mode, a $20k tranny swap, leaky diff, mystery noise from front right wheel, annoying beep from car for no reason and a peeling clear coat later i'm going back to a Z06.

Marc Lefebvre

Sorry bout your luck, but I love my $70k POS. 24K worry free miles. It is however stock. Marc L.(actually did have a small tear in the drivers side seat bolster)

TTZ06VETTE

I love my 07 z as well but it is far from stock. Knowing what I wanted out of the car I dumped a lot of money into having the engine forged with my twin turbo setup. I would not have felt comfortable driving the car as hard without bullet proofing the engine. I agree with Op that you should not have to worry about valves, rockers, etc. from a car that is marketed as a race ready vehicle with dry sump oil and balsa floorboards for weight. In terms of the other part failures, I use them as an excuse to upgrade!

MyOwn69

Not to steal the thread, but, what's up with that?

Oh, and to the OP: Sorry 'bout your grief - you have a right to be upset - I'd feel the same way!

1stZ

GM/corvette isn't really known for "quality" (fit & finish) IMO . I bought the Z06 because of the motor & "pretty good" engineering on handling. For the 80k (that's how much I paid for it back in Aug. 06) I spent, its the most powerful car and close to the best handling car at that time it came out. Plus it was the king for a good 2 years before another car came out that could be close to it & it cost over 100k. I'm very happy with Z06 and still happy about it now even though I'm on my 3rd motor. With all that said though, there are a bunch of "not so important in my eyes" items that really are terribly made on my c6Z (seat sucks, creaks, gaps on the lines, overall interior made of cheap stuff, insulation sucks, i can go on & on). But again, when I made my purchased, I know most of my $ was going toward the motor & handling and I expected GM to go cheap on the rest of the car. Don't get me wrong, I feel for you! Even if its made cheap, it should at least still work.

But then again, what's out there now that can replace our z06 that is reasonably price & is comparable to its performance? Exactly why you still have it is my guess. My next sports car will be the 911 Gt2 (used). Until I have the funds to afford it, I'm good w/my Z06. Even w/my cheap interior. So I can relate... Hang in there and focus on the good things about the car. When it becomes too much and just makes you unhappy overall, then maybe its time to part w/it. If you do, share with us what you get and tell us if you're happy w/it. I've been going back/forth with whether to keep or part w/my Z as well for the past 6 mo. Mine is paid of since back in '07. But there's just nothing out there that isn't over 100k for me.

triblk6spd

I have exactly 20k miles and its moddex to ****. I have none of the issues you have. Keep in mind I dont "beat" my car, I always try to avoid potholes and I almost never drive on crappy roads, I dont.drive in.the rain, and its never been left outside. I also find and fix any and all problems as they may come up. In other words if something squeeks, I fix it, plastic will.fade due to weather and UV so I dont expose it amd.when I do I use protectant. You see where Im.going?
I may be the phyco 5% but thats how I like it. Also lets.face it, all.cars.can.have problems..people.pop 03-04 Cobra motors too!

mirage2991

theres some point about popping motors: i've had a few cars and been on a few forums like this and thus far the Z takes pole position on blown engines.
at 80k plus sorry, im not spending week ends fixing issues nor rattles... i have my 60's metal to do that to at 1/10 of the price... but i think thats just it: 80-100k chevys are still chevys... and maybe thats just our fault to expect more...pick you poison: big perf or better built car with less perf for the same money.

Silver05GTO

Obviously the main issue was the motor blowing after the modding began......but everything else seems pretty minor.

thank heaven you don't own a bmw out of warranty.....

Also have to question what some of you expected out of a "track ready" corvette. The Z06 is the most raw vette in the lineup, its built for speed. Why are you also expecting incredible build quality or luxury? If your using a Z06 as a street car, your not tapping the cars potential and there are much better street cars available to putt putt around town in. Don't fault the car for not being the best street car........

Hirohawa

The Z06 is not or will never be a perfect car.

For perspective though buy another factory 500HP car mod it and go the track a few times a year and put 28,000 miles on it and I bet you you would be a lot unhappier than you are now.

The short list of cars would be:

GTR
a few AMG MBs
BMW M5/M6
Audi R8 V10
2 Lambo models
F Car 458
911 Turbo, GT2

Probably forgetting a few but every car above is at least $100K.

Mod any of these above and you are way over 6 figures.

Drive 28,000 Miles on a Porsche, Ferrari or Lambo say goodbye to 50-70% of it's value. Seriously has anyone ever seen a 3-5 year old Ferrari with 28,000 miles on it?

Looks like for the same Z06 money your next car will have to be a Shelby GT 500. Good luck with the Mustang crowd.

mirage2991

wifes 911 has 53k, its an 06 and is worth more than my 08z with 23k miles... come again with that depreciation?
hmm gt500 is 60k... z06 is 75-90... not the same money either... and i agree with the m-tang crowd lol... there isnt a car out there for the same money... unless you go used.

LS1LT1

100%

LS1LT1

I hear things such as this once in a while.
People talk about how a Mercedes, BMW or Porsche holds it's value better than a Corvette and I often wonder if they're talking percentages or actual dollars lost.
Almost all new regular production cars depreciate so if you're buying a new car based solely on that and not for the joy/fun/function that it offers then buy you should probably buy used.
And who cares what the percentage of initial cost retained is when I go to sell a car? If one person's $130k car loses only 35% and another sells their $70k Corvette and loses even a whopping 50% on it (though it'll likely be less than that), the other guy's car still ate up more of his kid's college fund.
Ever price used BMW 7 series' and/or used Boxsters?

And just curious, how much closer to MSRP was the actual price paid for the 911 versus the Z06?
Even if both MSRP'd the same many people have enjoyed generous discounting/rebates on their Z06 that tend to be much higher than those usually offered on 911s. If you're going to enjoy the breaks/discounts up front at initial purchase then you're going to have to eat some of it at the end as well, can't have it both ways.
All that aside, you're also comparing two cars that DO NOT run the same out on the track, be it a drag strip or a road course. In that regard, one should probably be comparing that 911 to a base Corvette LS3 that also costs substantially less and will cost one less money to own in the long run.
If two vehicles are supposed to compete in similar classes yet don't actually perform similarly then can their respective resale values/depreciation really even be compared?
It happens often enough so I suppose they can be.