wingedone

Good afternoon. I am looking at two z06 c6's. Both are 2006. One has 68k and the other 86k miles. I'm worried about the mileage but the pricing is right at 35 and 32k. I'll be trading in a 2010 535i. My question is, should I stay away from these higher mileage cars and wait another 3-4 months for something in the 40-43k price and 25-40k miles range? I should mention that I've never owned a vette but have been waiting for the opportunity since the mid 90's. I've owned several stangs with the last two being an 04 Mach 1 fully built with 731rwhp and an 03 Cobra vert with about 480rwhp. The time has come to step it up. Just looking for advice. Thanks for the time.

3deep

make sure the heads have been done and get a ppi from a source you can trust.

wingedone

Thanks. Is there a quick way to tell if the heads were done besides having the sales guy say yes? Is this a recall Chevy would repair under warranty by chance? I do plan to modify it to about 550-600whp so the heads would most likely be modified or replaced but not right away. Thanks again.

psp6158

You can get "head addressed" Z's in the low 40's with under 20,000 miles, several here on the Forum. I think the extra couple grand would be worth the lower mileage. My .02

Tech

With 86k miles on it, I wouldnt worry about the heads unless you hear noises or consume oil. Not all Ls7s need new heads.

Bill Dearborn

Where are you located? You do realize that both of those cars are low mile cars when you look at annual mileage. They are 10 years old and one averaged 6800 miles per year while the other averaged 8600. Those are good averages. Average vehicle mileage in the US is about 15K per year which means if they had been used like other cars they would be sitting close to 150K miles. Once you get to averages in the less than 1000 mile per year category you can run into issues due to the cars not being used enough. Auto manufacturers build them to be driven not to sit around and they don't consider doing anything like using better seals and gaskets that might make them hold up better in that regard.

Bill

Vito.A

My advice is to expand your market. Why limit yourself to local cars only? Your 535i will sell easily and you will get more for it than if you trade it in. You can ask a local forum member to look at the car or hire a professional to inspect it.


Start shopping across the country. An $99 airline ticket can be cheap if you save $5-10k on a great car.

bambihunter

In spring of '14 I bought a bone stock 2007 Z06, "Arrest Me" red, LS7, 6-speed, beautiful car....$40K and it had 28,000 miles on it.

I'd wait, look for a better deal. But DO buy yourself a Corvette! I love the "Beast," as her previous owner dubbed her. Flat boogies down the road.

AND: If you get one that needs new rubber, get the Michelin run-flats. The Goodyear run-flats were MUCH noisier than what's on her now; glad I went with Michelin. Cost more but worth every nickel.

fueledpassion

A couple of things to consider:

1) Be prepared for additional expenses not generally thought of with normal vehicles (i.e. expensive tires, brakes, premium fuel, crappy gas mileage because your foot stays on the floor, and in general, the Corvette tax)

2) Plan to save 10% of your income annually for mods that you are going to want to do to it. I believe the Corvette is one of the most modifiable vehicles on the planet.

3) Plan to progressively develop Excessive Horsepower Disorder, aka EHD. It will happen in time. Prepare the wife, significant other, family members, your boss and your wallet.

crAzy

If you can wing it look for the 2008+. They came with a better tranny and upgraded interior. The only good thing about the 2006/7 is they are the only years to offer Lemans Blue which happens to be my favorite color lol. Also the 2006 was the lightest of the years.


I bought my 2006 Z06 with 20K miles on it for $41K in Dec 12'. She now has 52K miles on and just had the heads fixed. I also purchased a 3rd party bumper to bumper warranty for $2500 which lasts for 4 years/48k miles. It has paid off big time. My car has had over $8k in repairs since I have owned it. I will list them below, but don't let this scare you away from them at all. I daily my car and love it. I put 30K miles on it in less than 3 years so it def gets driven.

Warranty repairs that they covered: (Every repair was $100 deductible I paid out of pocket)

AC + Condenser
Both Window Regulators (Went out at different times)
Fuel Tank Sending Unit + Evap lines (I had to pay for the lines)
Heads (I paid for new springs out of pocket)
Rear Hub Assembly


I run nitto Invos on these car and they are a great all around tire. I got 25K miles out of my last set on both this one and my old C5Z. You can get them installed for under $1200.

skudlw

Much too high for a 2006 with that many miles. I would also stay away from the 2006 model year. They had too many problems.

fueledpassion

I cant speak for everyone, but I believe they all had lots of problems.

Really, up to 2009, you can count on a few things to be problematic:

Head casting inconsistency - possible valve guide being non-concentric & rockers being misaligned (or something to that extent)

Half shafts are weak. Weakest in 2006, still weak in 2009 but not as much.

Then from 2009, I believe you just have the risk of the valve guides wearing fast.

A super rare issue with roofs coming apart. Nothing to take into consideration IMO.

Everything else is random stuff, like A/C condenser, windows, etc. And those sorts of things are NOT specific to Corvette's as I've had those issues with ALL makes and models.