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Ready to pull the trigger on a C6Z! Seeking advice on search criteria & LS7 cocnerns
C6 Corvette ZR1 & Z06General info about GM’s Corvette Supercar, LS9 Corvette Technical Info, Performance Upgrades, Suspension Setup for Street or Track
Ready to pull the trigger on a C6Z! Seeking advice on search criteria & LS7 cocnerns
Hey folks,
I used to own a C5Z about ten years ago and was a very active forum member for quite some time. I was young (and lucky to own a C5Z at 23) and the car was becoming a money pit so I decided to make the right financial call and get out of it. Fast forward 14 years, and I've been through an Audi A4, Mazda 3, and (get ready...) a PRIUS of all cars for the last six years. I'm a car enthusiast through and through, and while I'm glad I prioritized my career and finances over having a fun car, I'm finally ready to get back into a vette.
I'd like to stay <$40K if possible, but I see that might be tough given where the market is at. I'll be putting down around $5K-$10K and financing the rest. I'm not wild about financing given rates right now, but I'm unfortunately not in a position to pay for the car in cash. My wife and I bought our first house two years ago, and we've got a solid emergency fund, so I actually feel pretty comfortable having a car payment again. I'm also going to keep the Prius as a backup car so I'm not forced into DD'ing the Z06.
Here's what I'm looking for: 2008+ (to get the TR6060), less than 50K miles, and as close to stock as possible. I know the goal of finding a close-to-stock car is going to limit my search and will take some time, but I feel like that's a good call if I want something that hasn't been totally beaten on. Not to mention, I live in CA, so there's smog compliance. Any mods like LTs or H/C/I aren't going to work for me. I also use to own a H/C/I/ LS1 GTO, and while the car was a blast to drive, it was not a practical DD in the slightest. While it'd be fun to do the same with the Z, I want to keep it reliable, and I've learned from experience that once you start modding past a certain point, you're opening up pandora's box in terms of potential issues down the line.
Heads & LS7 reliability —I've done a TON of research on the LS7 and the heads, and I'm not trying to start any kind of debate on the issue. I know it's a real thing. That said, am I correct in thinking that if I address the heads, I realistically don't need to worry about the engine blowing up? I've read a few posts lately where folks have been talking about the bottom end and throwing rods independent of the head issue. I'm just trying to understand what I'm potentially getting into. Is the LS7 really a ticking time bomb, even after fixing the heads? Fixing the heads is definitely something I plan to do. However, I might not be ready to plop down $5K immediately after buying the car. Am I making a bad call by planning to do that 6-9 months after I get the car?
Annual Maintenance — what should I expect for annual maintenance on one of these? Just the routine things like oil, tires, brakes, fluids, etc.? How long are a set of tires lasting you all on average?
Any general suggestions on things to look or watch out for?
Thanks in advance for any feedback or tips! Now I'm just wondering how long it'll take for me to find "the one". Inventory is low in general, and I refuse to look at any of the insanely overpriced ones I'm seeing at various car lots across the country.
I'll be watching this thread as I'm going to be doing the same thing you are now. I've done the research too and have a very good shop I work with for all things High Performance. Just changed the cam in my C5. BTR Stage 2. Sounds pretty good and is just north of 400 ttt.
Not going to get into if your finance your car, I will address the maintenance and reliability concerns.
My car is a 2013 I have changed the oil once a year every since I bought the car new in June or 2013. I only have ~17,200 on the clock so once a year is plenty. I have had the brake fluid and coolant flushed every 3-4 years no matter the miles. Had the heads "fixed", new springs, Ferrea exhaust valves, trunion upgrade kit, bowl blend etc, done after the warranty expired. Had the trans flushed last year. So far no problems. As for tires, I replaced the original Goodyear Supercar tires at ~14,000 mile, they had at least another 2000 mile worth of tread left, however the tires were terrible so I replaced them after 9 years. I did replace the stock cast iron one piece rotors with Baer eradispeed two piece rotors because the factory units are nor right, left specific. I don't beat my car to death, however taking it to redline when out happens a lot. I agree with you on the CA emissions, you are going to need a stock car to pass smog in your state. However if you take your time you will find that car with say 40 ish thousand miles on it in your price range. You need to find some older person that just doesn't need that 3rd o4th car around and is willing to sell at a reasonable price. The only bad thing about the C6's is they are in that no mans land right now on parts availability. Not old enough to have full after market support, but just old enough that GM has stopped making some parts available.
It's really not a financially sound move, imo, to finance $30K + on a 16 year old vehicle that will need another $5k+ put into it for heads, plus probably another $2k for tires (unless you find one with new/er tires), maybe another $1k for routine maintenance updates, etc.
Many low-mileage examples for sale, and especially really low-mileage examples haven't had any routine maintenance other than oil changes performed. Owner's don't look at the time requirements for maintenance items and just look at the mileage. They must think, the car hasn't reached the mileage requirement so I don't have to do anything.
If you find a low-mileage example with heads fixed, new tires, and all maintenance performed, it's probably going to be a decent bit above your $40k budget.
I'd either save up a lot more $ before pulling the trigger, or find something newer that meets my performance car itch. You don't want to end up in the same situation you were with the C5.
I have an 06Z and a 21 C8, both were Consumer Reports test cars. The best I can say about the C8 is that it’s “pleasant” and certainly easier to drive in heavy commuter traffic here in Florida where driving is an entirely random activity. The 06 Z, well I often describe it as “rude, crude & lewd”. It’s a truly visceral car and reminds me constantly of my old 67 L79 with a 4.11 rear; wild and exciting on the twisty hilly back roads of the northeast. To drive the Z06 fast and accurately (I instruct on track) requires skill but the rewards are an incredible feeling.
My Z has 176k and is mostly original. At 109k I had a clutch done just because it was around 100k miles. At 123k, GM took the heads back to Milford and tested them…they were fine. Prior to removal a compression check show 5 cyl at over 200# and 3 were “only” 197#. So new rings, clean the pistons and cylinders (no boring), replace the mains just because we were there, pop the heads on and resume life. One change GM made was replacing the 8qt sump with the later version 10qt. During my time at the NCM, the plant engineers would take my car every so often and benchmark it to get real world data and found that I was pulling higher G’s on run flats than had been anticipated. At 158k the alternator died, 163k the left cat, 172k the brake master cylinder and the right rear shock started leaking. Told my GM friends that the shock should have been a warranty repair…the other 3 were fine so this one must have been defective; but that fell on deaf ears. I’ll be doing some maintenance just from age (including the other shocks), some bushings, the front splitter once again and perhaps new headlights if I can’t clean up the lenses on the originals. I will never give up on the car, the visceral feeling of driving and controlling a wild beast is exhilarating. Keep in mind this is a heavy use track car, at least a dozen GM engineers and designers learned to drive on track in this specific car and it’s been more than up to the task. Oh, forgot, at 163k besides the cat the right rear license bulb died, obviously that was “defective” as well!
Lots of good recommendations already posted. I'd add doing Blackstone oil analysis at every oil change or when you made changes to the engine looking for Ti. I have owned my C6Z for a bit over 4 years. It had 13K miles when purchased and over 30k now. I've had an oil analysis done 4 times showing zero Ti and am only now replacing the heads with a Mamo Motorsports package. As long as the oil shows no or very low Ti you should be good not getting the heads completely done right away. I did do better springs, trunnion bearings and retainers pretty quickly after purchase. From all my research, most find better results not staying with the GM head castings. YMMV.
Good luck finding your new to you Z. Don't break glass and keep it between the ditches.
It's really not a financially sound move, imo, to finance $30K + on a 16 year old vehicle that will need another $5k+ put into it for heads, plus probably another $2k for tires (unless you find one with new/er tires), maybe another $1k for routine maintenance updates, etc.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the financing piece. I've honestly gone back and forth as to whether it's the right move or not. IMO, buying any kind of performance car will never make sense from a purely financial standpoint. Many will argue that a car is just a depreciating asset that needs to get you from Point A to B, and using that logic, everyone should buy a no-frills Toyota or Honda and call it a day. I'm obviously not in that camp as a car enthusiast, and the Z06 will serve as a way for me to get back into a major hobby and all that comes along with it - e.g. track events, group drives/cruises, maintaining and detailing it, and the corvette community at large.
That said, I'm actually torn on whether to delay the purchase so I can save up a larger down payment or proceed with my current approach which means financing a good portion of it. Expanding on what I said in my original post, I don't feel like it's totally crazy to consider financing it, given how we've prioritized our financial goals over the last few years. We purchased a home two years ago (I share that because you sometimes see folks prioritizing a car purchase over saving a down payment for a house), are contributing to our 401Ks, and both have a 4-6 month emergency fund parked in a HYSA.
From an income standpoint (only sharing this to give the full picture in terms of what it would mean for me to take on a car payment again), I'm taking home $10K/month right now. After updating my current budget (which includes investing $2K/month into a brokerage account) to account for a $700/month Z06 payment, I'm still left with a $2K surplus (gets saved or invested) at the end of the month. Is a car payment that's 7% of my take home (4.5% of gross) really all that unrealistic? It doesn't feel like I'd be stretching myself too thin, and I wouldn't be compromising or taking away from my current rate of investing into my 401K and brokerage account to fund the payment.
Or is this more about the principle of financing $30K to purchase a 16-year-old car? A $30K loan ($10K down) will cost me around $5K in interest over the life of the loan, whereas a $20K loan ($20K down) would be closer to $3.7K. The difference feels pretty negligible to me in the long run, so what's the real benefit (outside of delayed gratification) of deferring the purchase so I can put more money down?
I'd love to hear other folks' perspectives on this to understand what I might be missing or how I might be thinking about this incorrectly.
Not going to get into if your finance your car, I will address the maintenance and reliability concerns.
My car is a 2013 I have changed the oil once a year every since I bought the car new in June or 2013. I only have ~17,200 on the clock so once a year is plenty. I have had the brake fluid and coolant flushed every 3-4 years no matter the miles. Had the heads "fixed", new springs, Ferrea exhaust valves, trunion upgrade kit, bowl blend etc, done after the warranty expired. Had the trans flushed last year. So far no problems. As for tires, I replaced the original Goodyear Supercar tires at ~14,000 mile, they had at least another 2000 mile worth of tread left, however the tires were terrible so I replaced them after 9 years. I did replace the stock cast iron one piece rotors with Baer eradispeed two piece rotors because the factory units are nor right, left specific. I don't beat my car to death, however taking it to redline when out happens a lot. I agree with you on the CA emissions, you are going to need a stock car to pass smog in your state. However if you take your time you will find that car with say 40 ish thousand miles on it in your price range. You need to find some older person that just doesn't need that 3rd o4th car around and is willing to sell at a reasonable price. The only bad thing about the C6's is they are in that no mans land right now on parts availability. Not old enough to have full after market support, but just old enough that GM has stopped making some parts available.
Thanks for sharing all of this - much appreciated We're on the same page regarding the ideal seller from whom I'd buy the car. This is in no way a knock on Corvette owners, but based on what I know and have seen with a few listings, many of the folks who bought these new are now getting to the age where they're simply too old to drive them or can't drive them often enough. Given how high the demand for these is, there's definitely a bit of luck and timing involved as you've gotta jump on these listings immediately after they pop up. I found one last week that was pretty much this exact scenario (three-owner car, 2nd owner, unfortunately, developed dementia and couldn't drive anymore, and the third had bought it a month ago to build as a track car but changed his mind) and messaged the seller 18 hours after the listing was up on FB marketplace. Someone beat me to the punch and was already coming to see it that day with a cashier's check in hand! Crazy. Like you said though, I'm confident that if I'm patient and really stay on top of the listings, I'll eventually find a car with this kind of history
Not going to get into if your finance your car, I will address the maintenance and reliability concerns..
Someone else actually brought this up and I just replied with my thoughts on the topic. I'd genuinely like to hear other folks' perspectives to see what blind spots I might have in how I'm approaching the purchase - please feel free to weigh in and respond with your $.02.
I have an 06Z and a 21 C8, both were Consumer Reports test cars. The best I can say about the C8 is that it’s “pleasant” and certainly easier to drive in heavy commuter traffic here in Florida where driving is an entirely random activity. The 06 Z, well I often describe it as “rude, crude & lewd”. It’s a truly visceral car and reminds me constantly of my old 67 L79 with a 4.11 rear; wild and exciting on the twisty hilly back roads of the northeast. To drive the Z06 fast and accurately (I instruct on track) requires skill but the rewards are an incredible feeling.
My Z has 176k and is mostly original. At 109k I had a clutch done just because it was around 100k miles. At 123k, GM took the heads back to Milford and tested them…they were fine. Prior to removal a compression check show 5 cyl at over 200# and 3 were “only” 197#. So new rings, clean the pistons and cylinders (no boring), replace the mains just because we were there, pop the heads on and resume life. One change GM made was replacing the 8qt sump with the later version 10qt. During my time at the NCM, the plant engineers would take my car every so often and benchmark it to get real world data and found that I was pulling higher G’s on run flats than had been anticipated. At 158k the alternator died, 163k the left cat, 172k the brake master cylinder and the right rear shock started leaking. Told my GM friends that the shock should have been a warranty repair…the other 3 were fine so this one must have been defective; but that fell on deaf ears. I’ll be doing some maintenance just from age (including the other shocks), some bushings, the front splitter once again and perhaps new headlights if I can’t clean up the lenses on the originals. I will never give up on the car, the visceral feeling of driving and controlling a wild beast is exhilarating. Keep in mind this is a heavy use track car, at least a dozen GM engineers and designers learned to drive on track in this specific car and it’s been more than up to the task. Oh, forgot, at 163k besides the cat the right rear license bulb died, obviously that was “defective” as well! https://youtu.be/HJELAAnxnDo?si=v10w6r8hFpmwiLc5 Clip of CR “Talking Cars” with a bit about my Z06 and what is now also my C8
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts here. Great to see your Z is still going strong at 176K...that's amazing! I love the "rude, crewd & lewd" analogy —my C5Z felt that way, and based on what I know about the C6Z, it's going to take that C5Z feeling to an entirely new level. I still don't know how in the world I ended up with a Prius of all cars, but boy can I not wait to get back into a real performance car again.
I still have some worries about the LS7 and that some folks have said it's potentially still a ticking time bomb even with the heads fixed. My take is that the people who've had that experience are very much in the minority, and I shouldn't worry too much. Yours is a great example of the engine lasting well into high-mileage territory, and I'm sure there are many, many more that have been well-maintained and are still cruising around with 100K+ miles.
Lots of good recommendations already posted. I'd add doing Blackstone oil analysis at every oil change or when you made changes to the engine looking for Ti. I have owned my C6Z for a bit over 4 years. It had 13K miles when purchased and over 30k now. I've had an oil analysis done 4 times showing zero Ti and am only now replacing the heads with a Mamo Motorsports package. As long as the oil shows no or very low Ti you should be good not getting the heads completely done right away. I did do better springs, trunnion bearings and retainers pretty quickly after purchase. From all my research, most find better results not staying with the GM head castings. YMMV.
Good luck finding your new to you Z. Don't break glass and keep it between the ditches.
Gorgeous looking Z you've got! I appreciate the reassurance about not needing to do the heads immediately. It's definitely something I'll address and seems like a no-brainer if I don't want to gamble on a $15K+ engine replacement, LOL. I just don't know that I'll be ready to do it the moment I pick up the car, nor do I believe the wife would be onboard with a $5K bill immediately following the purchase. I've read about lots of folks doing the Blackstone analysis at every oil change, so I'll likely follow suit - it seems like a good way to get ahead of a potential problem. The only caveat (that I'm trying to not give too much credibility to) is the POV I've read from a few people that the bottom end is at risk independent of fixing the heads, making the case that analyzing the oil with Blackstone is not a good gauge for the engine's health or potential issues down the line. Any thoughts on that?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the financing piece. I've honestly gone back and forth as to whether it's the right move or not. IMO, buying any kind of performance car will never make sense from a purely financial standpoint. Many will argue that a car is just a depreciating asset that needs to get you from Point A to B, and using that logic, everyone should buy a no-frills Toyota or Honda and call it a day. I'm obviously not in that camp as a car enthusiast, and the Z06 will serve as a way for me to get back into a major hobby and all that comes along with it - e.g. track events, group drives/cruises, maintaining and detailing it, and the corvette community at large.
That said, I'm actually torn on whether to delay the purchase so I can save up a larger down payment or proceed with my current approach which means financing a good portion of it. Expanding on what I said in my original post, I don't feel like it's totally crazy to consider financing it, given how we've prioritized our financial goals over the last few years. We purchased a home two years ago (I share that because you sometimes see folks prioritizing a car purchase over saving a down payment for a house), are contributing to our 401Ks, and both have a 4-6 month emergency fund parked in a HYSA.
From an income standpoint (only sharing this to give the full picture in terms of what it would mean for me to take on a car payment again), I'm taking home $10K/month right now. After updating my current budget (which includes investing $2K/month into a brokerage account) to account for a $700/month Z06 payment, I'm still left with a $2K surplus (gets saved or invested) at the end of the month. Is a car payment that's 7% of my take home (4.5% of gross) really all that unrealistic? It doesn't feel like I'd be stretching myself too thin, and I wouldn't be compromising or taking away from my current rate of investing into my 401K and brokerage account to fund the payment.
Or is this more about the principle of financing $30K to purchase a 16-year-old car? A $30K loan ($10K down) will cost me around $5K in interest over the life of the loan, whereas a $20K loan ($20K down) would be closer to $3.7K. The difference feels pretty negligible to me in the long run, so what's the real benefit (outside of delayed gratification) of deferring the purchase so I can put more money down?
I'd love to hear other folks' perspectives on this to understand what I might be missing or how I might be thinking about this incorrectly.
My daily driver is a '23 M2, my wife's is a '22 X3M Competition. I put $33k down on my M2 & financed the balance at 4.9%. My wife gets reimbursed for her car payment, so is essentially free, and my Callaway Carbon Z06 is paid for.
I've owned 40+ vehicles in the 30 years since I've had my license. Most were not the best financial decision at the time, so I learned some lessons.
Sure, your income looks fine to support a $700/month payment (don't forget to factor insurance) I just wouldn't have that payment on a 16 year old vehicle that will likely need lot more $ put into it in the near future. Also consider parts for these cars are getting scarce and thus more expensive over time. Ultimately the decision is yours, but if you're concerned with a budget (<$40k), it's probably not the best car to be looking for. Just my opinion of course.
Gorgeous looking Z you've got! I appreciate the reassurance about not needing to do the heads immediately. It's definitely something I'll address and seems like a no-brainer if I don't want to gamble on a $15K+ engine replacement, LOL. I just don't know that I'll be ready to do it the moment I pick up the car, nor do I believe the wife would be onboard with a $5K bill immediately following the purchase. I've read about lots of folks doing the Blackstone analysis at every oil change, so I'll likely follow suit - it seems like a good way to get ahead of a potential problem. The only caveat (that I'm trying to not give too much credibility to) is the POV I've read from a few people that the bottom end is at risk independent of fixing the heads, making the case that analyzing the oil with Blackstone is not a good gauge for the engine's health or potential issues down the line. Any thoughts on that?
You won't be able to rely on an oil analysis 100% for the heads. I've seen an oil analysis done right before a motor blew that had no Ti in it. If you get one that doesn't have the heads redone, plan to do it immediately or let the car sit until you do with little driving. That's what I did with mine but im pretty risk adverse. Took me 6 months to get everything done but I didn't want to blow up a $15k engine that is now out of production. One thing the oil analysis could help indicate is the rod bearing failure that some see. I agree with others here, I think $45k is going to be a more realistic price for a clean C6Z. I wold also opt for an 08 or newer to get the TR6060 personally. The 09 and newer cars had larger oil sumps (if tracking is something you'll do) and even newer cars had some nice creature comforts.
Once you've had work done, if you end up getting a cammed car, I'd check valve springs every 20-30k miles and probably somewhere down the line plan to have the guides inspected again and another valve job done to the heads just for reassurance but IMO that might be something you do every 50k miles or so. That would probably run around $2-3k if you are having someone do the work. I just replace my tires which set me back about $1600. Another thing that commonly fails on these cars is the clutch master cylinder. The previous owner never changed clutch fluid so mine went out and having a new one installed by GM set me back $1k. Just some things to think about and costs to plan for down the road.
I also daily drive a 2010 Prius so welcome to the club . Still gets 45 MPG and I commute 40 miles a day so i can't beat it.
You are doing a lot of good financially by living within your means and saving. Investing in the future isn't gratifying. It isn't the same as buying a fancy gadget or big electronic device or exotic vacation.
Do not pay interest on a depreciating asset. This can undo a lot of the good.
Don't let a car own you. Its supposed to be the other way around.
Hopefully you can find one with the heads already addressed. I am guessing quite a few have already done something with the heads. With that said, getting the heads fixed still doesn't guarantee anything, as nothing is bullet proof, but the chances of dropping a valve is greatly reduced. From my experience, I had to replace my engine at 130k but not because of the heads, spun a main bearing. I had a new crate engine put in and now have 204k miles (74k on the new engine).
I have had my 2006 Z06 since new, and have kept it pretty much stock except for exhaust and wheels. I haven't really done anything other than routine maintenance on it. The only thing I wouldn't call routine is to change the clutch fluid at least once a year, more if the fluid becomes really dirty. How long tires last pretty much depends on how you drive. I don't drive mine that hard, don't track it, and I have been getting 50k out of a set on average. I really like the Continental Extreme Contact Sport 2 tires, long lasting, quiet, reasonable price (compared to similar tires for the Z06). But they aren't runflats if that is important to you. I carry a patch kit and portable air compressor, but I have never had to use them - knock on wood.
Someone else actually brought this up and I just replied with my thoughts on the topic. I'd genuinely like to hear other folks' perspectives to see what blind spots I might have in how I'm approaching the purchase - please feel free to weigh in and respond with your $.02.
Since it hasn't been mentioned, based on your income/budget #'s you listed (if I read correctly), you could save the $2,000 surplus + $700 / month and after a little over 11 months have the $30,000 difference and pay cash for the car. Accomplishes not having a payment and forces some delayed gratification which may cause you to appreciate the Z even more. You sound younger so another 10 or 11 months would be nothing for you. Again, as stated, it sounds like you all are and have been doing a lot of things right so why start deviating now by having a payment for ~ 5 years on a 'toy'. Probably be ok either way, just better off this way. Also, when you save for a year it will make you think and be way more on purpose with whatever you buy.
I have an 06Z and a 21 C8, both were Consumer Reports test cars. The best I can say about the C8 is that it’s “pleasant” and certainly easier to drive in heavy commuter traffic here in Florida where driving is an entirely random activity. The 06 Z, well I often describe it as “rude, crude & lewd”. It’s a truly visceral car and reminds me constantly of my old 67 L79 with a 4.11 rear; wild and exciting on the twisty hilly back roads of the northeast. To drive the Z06 fast and accurately (I instruct on track) requires skill but the rewards are an incredible feeling.
My Z has 176k and is mostly original. At 109k I had a clutch done just because it was around 100k miles. At 123k, GM took the heads back to Milford and tested them…they were fine. Prior to removal a compression check show 5 cyl at over 200# and 3 were “only” 197#. So new rings, clean the pistons and cylinders (no boring), replace the mains just because we were there, pop the heads on and resume life. One change GM made was replacing the 8qt sump with the later version 10qt. During my time at the NCM, the plant engineers would take my car every so often and benchmark it to get real world data and found that I was pulling higher G’s on run flats than had been anticipated. At 158k the alternator died, 163k the left cat, 172k the brake master cylinder and the right rear shock started leaking. Told my GM friends that the shock should have been a warranty repair…the other 3 were fine so this one must have been defective; but that fell on deaf ears. I’ll be doing some maintenance just from age (including the other shocks), some bushings, the front splitter once again and perhaps new headlights if I can’t clean up the lenses on the originals. I will never give up on the car, the visceral feeling of driving and controlling a wild beast is exhilarating. Keep in mind this is a heavy use track car, at least a dozen GM engineers and designers learned to drive on track in this specific car and it’s been more than up to the task. Oh, forgot, at 163k besides the cat the right rear license bulb died, obviously that was “defective” as well! https://youtu.be/HJELAAnxnDo?si=v10w6r8hFpmwiLc5 Clip of CR “Talking Cars” with a bit about my Z06 and what is now also my C8
I'm looking at possibly getting a C5 Z06 myself. I have a C7 Z51 M7 now, but IMO the C6 is a much more fun car to drive. I have no interest in a C8. Too civilized and no manual. I used to have a C6 and it felt much different than the C7. It felt powerful. Savagegeese nailed it in their C6 Z06 review. They said the engine had drama and excitement to it, the C7 doesn't. I'm sure the C8 is even worse. I know the C8 Z06 is incredible.. But, not really affordable for most.
Hopefully you can find one with the heads already addressed. I am guessing quite a few have already done something with the heads. With that said, getting the heads fixed still doesn't guarantee anything, as nothing is bullet proof, but the chances of dropping a valve is greatly reduced. From my experience, I had to replace my engine at 130k but not because of the heads, spun a main bearing. I had a new crate engine put in and now have 204k miles (74k on the new engine).
I have had my 2006 Z06 since new, and have kept it pretty much stock except for exhaust and wheels. I haven't really done anything other than routine maintenance on it. The only thing I wouldn't call routine is to change the clutch fluid at least once a year, more if the fluid becomes really dirty. How long tires last pretty much depends on how you drive. I don't drive mine that hard, don't track it, and I have been getting 50k out of a set on average. I really like the Continental Extreme Contact Sport 2 tires, long lasting, quiet, reasonable price (compared to similar tires for the Z06). But they aren't runflats if that is important to you. I carry a patch kit and portable air compressor, but I have never had to use them - knock on wood.
As a car guy, if you want/need to finance it go ahead. Life’s to short to pass on what you LOVE because “maybe that money could’ve made me 5% more”.
Thats silly talk to me. Life is about soo much more than absolutely maximizing retirement funds, especially as we can all clearly see they’re 100% dedicated to killing off gas cars very soon.
Better but the car as soon as you can and enjoy tf out of it, sooner than most think buying/driving it won’t be viable for most people- or legal.
03-30-2024, 09:29 PM
Ready to pull the trigger on a C6Z! Seeking advice on search criteria & LS7 cocnerns
I've read about lots of folks doing the Blackstone analysis at every oil change, so I'll likely follow suit - it seems like a good way to get ahead of a potential problem. The only caveat (that I'm trying to not give too much credibility to) is the POV I've read from a few people that the bottom end is at risk independent of fixing the heads, making the case that analyzing the oil with Blackstone is not a good gauge for the engine's health or potential issues down the line. Any thoughts on that?
