Tell Why I Shouldn't Buy This Car

I had a C5 convertible - It was a flippin blast - sounded great and never gave me any issues - Perfect Florida car without breaking the bank - BUY IT.

 

Because it's a 1998 model of the C5.

https://www.hotcars.com/least-reliable-chevrolet-c5-corvette-model-year-to-buy-used/

 

Exactly. My 1998 Corvette was the WORST car I have ever owned.

 

This thread has irony

My 1998 BMW 540I was the worst <supposed to be nice> car I'd ever owned...

And I traded it for a 2001 C5 ha!

 

I had both a ‘97 540i and a 2000 Corvette convertible.

The 540i was a good car…..until it wasn’t. BMWs seem to have this point around the 7-8 year mark where everything breaks together. This happened twice to me.

The C5, despite being the best looking Corvette since 1972, was built cheaply using crappy materials. It just got to me eventually and sold it to buy a Porsche Turbo. Never was interested in a Corvette again…..except a C2.

 

Yeah I think I just got a "bad" 540i- Certainly not representative of BMWs in general-

You're absolutely right about fit and finish on the C5- Gaps in dash areas were pathetic and general feel of some of the components was not Porsche quality- But it was not Porsche-priced either. It sounded awesome, had great performance and zero issues- Like you it was my gateway drug to Porsche- which allowed me to achieve Ferrari- Now I have both- And damn near ordered a 2019 ZR1 when they were available but put the money toward 458 Spider- Always have a soft spot for front-engine Corvettes

 

Cannot provide any info on a 98 or convertible specifically but owned 3 C5Z over the years. Best cars I ever owned.

 

I had a 1998 C5, 6 speed, convertible, silver with a black top
Had zero issues with it and nothing negative to say about it, was just a great all around car, but I only put 20,000 miles on it over 5 years
Only maintenance I had was oil changes

Don't think I would buy one sight unseen or any car for that matter

 

Overall I really like the C5 design. Classic, clean, and aging very well (which is the sign of a great design). If you find the right one I’d say go for it!

 

Id say drive one. Its a very vette feeling car, either you're into that or not. Certainly a lot of bang for the buck and all that implies. You gotta try it.

 

Owned a 1998 coupe that I bought brand new and while I had a blast driving it, it was horribly unreliable, if I knew more about the lemon law at the time, it definitely qualified. I’ve never bought another C5 but when I do look I normally look for 2002-2004 versions as I believe they had most of the issues figured out by then.

 

I had a really good time with my '99 FRC - cheap fun. But it left me stranded more times than any other vehicle and each of those times was due to the security system, even with all the updates to bypass it. Personally, I would go with a later car that has more updates and grab a manual. There are so many C5s (~125k) that you should be able to find quite a few on local used cars listings.

 

The C5 corvette is a great car it has a clean carfax and looks good
Mine was rock solid reliable ..and a lot of fun to drive
Buy it

 

Acually now that I think about it my first c5 was a 2001 i also had a 2004 they were bothgreat

 

Did you buy it? I agree with some of the posts above that you may want to hold out for a 2000+ vintage model C5 though. And personally, I would only go for one with a manual trans (and add the "skipshift override" module). These cars are a hoot with a stick...

 

I had a C7. Some of the worst quality I have seen on a modern car. I can only imagine how it was before.

They really fixed Corvette with the C8. I took a leap of faith buying it but luckily my hunch was correct. I figured since I was getting an early one I could dump it right away. Now I’ve kept it over 2 years. But no way I would buy an older version.

 

im glad to hear about the quality upgrade being real. Some people always got upset when corvette quality was comented on. Its the one thing that made me leery of a c8.

 

The quality is not great, but the fun factor at the price of the C5/C6, the shortcomings are easy to overlook.

 

I had a C5 for a couple of years and for the most part loved it! Lots of fun for not that much $$$

The only downside was the hydraulic clutch - it felt SO disconnected from anything mechanical whatsoever! I'd never shifted a car where I had absolutely no physical sensation of the clutch doing its thing. I just had to sort of "memorize where it engages" because it was so smooth and utterly not "connected" to anything you can feel. Not saying it was bad - it was just .... weird. I also thought it felt waaayyy too big and boaty and had way too much body roll. I'd heard that it was almost mandatory to do a suspension upgrade to overcome all that - but I never did that.

Outside of that, it was a fun car to drive and I put a lot of miles on it before selling. It was a 2002 model year

Jedi

 

LOL, I used to think that was the worst "mileage saving" crap ever.....now this automatic kill the engine at every stop is even worse.

 

^^^
The "skip shift" feature was ridiculous. That said, if you drive the car with even a little verve, you'll never engage it. I had 4 Corvettes over 3 generations and about 16 years and probably "engaged" skip shift 5 times.

 

funny that you say that my 1996/7 BMW 328 was the last BMW and worst car that I ever owned ... I then ended up buying several C5 and C6 corvettes and they're were great cars I had a 2001 C5 coupe and several c5 and c6 Models each one was great then owned a c6 ZRI actually 2 of them and a C6 my favorite was my 2013 427 convertible
wish I kept that one.....

 

Yeah my good friend has a 2022 Hypersonic Grey Z51- The quality and fit/finish - especially the interior <always sketchy in the past> is Porsche-like. Amazing what they've done- And still a "bargain" compared to the competition.