Has anyone here owned a C6 z06?

I had a 2006 blue and a 2007 silver. Sold the 06 since they quit making that particular shade of blue and somebody wanted it more than me. Fun car with an okay interior, nothing special inside but the engine was great and maintenance was pretty low if you didn't run into the valve spring problems of the earlier years. I think that they had this fixed by 2009.

 

I have a 2008 Z06. The only thing I've had to fix was a water pump and the gas struts for the engine cover and the rear hatch. Almost my daily driver. There are many that were impacted by poor valve seat machining and have had valve stem failures. Try to buy one that has had the heads serviced for this.
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One advantage to buying older cars is their typical problems become known.


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I own an '06 Base model and love it. I bought it 3 1/2 years ago at 60k miles for 20k and have driven it another 60k problem free. I might have to replace my alternator or starter soon because it's had an occasional starting issue that just started happening. I have zero complaints though, its a great daily and overall great car. But other than that I've been thinking about upgrading to a Z06 or a ZR1 for the right price. Possibly a C7 Z06 or Grand Sport would be nice too.
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I bought a 2007 ZO6 and tried to turn it into a race car...and EVERYTHING on the car melted. Put over a $100K into it and it still was never completely sorted.

As previously mentioned, you would probably be OK if you only drove it on the street and bought a 2009 (or newer) after they sorted the valve sleeve issues. These cars are not meant to be driven at 10/10's for any extended period of time.

From my experience, the only cars that can do that are Porsche GT cars, and even my 991.2 GT3 was throwing codes on track when driven at the limit.

Good luck!
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Any comments or experiences would be appreciated! Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Bounty I am the original owner of a 2006Z and also own a 2013 427 which is a similar platform. It’s been a great car with zero problems. All original, no mods, nothing changed. Same would go for the 2013.
Like any older high performance car most of these have been through numerous owners, most likely run hard and put away wet. Find an original owner or low owner unmolested car preferably with lower mileage. Learn about the owner if possible how he drove and maintained the car and judge from there. You are doing the right thing asking and researching.
Re the reported valve guide issue. I did my own research and don’t drink the Internet Coolaid that every car needs a valve job. Statistics back it up. Do your own research. Imo the LS7 is an outstanding motor. Like any similar car warm it up properly before running it hard and maintain it properly.
If there is one complaint it’s the car rides firm and shows it’s dated technology. It still a drives great down the highway and a new set of tires can do wonders.

Overall the car is a performance bargain. Feel free to PM if I can offer further.
I’ll add that I have multiple friends that are original owners, all but two still own theirs and share similar experiences. One sold after 142,000 miles and one moved on after about ten years. None had or have had head work.
Bill
Florida

 

I had, loved and dearly miss my 06 z51 vette. I chose a z51 as the taxes and insurance were less than the zo6 and 70 hp difference on the street was not an issue for me. Ga has nasty super speeder laws. No issues in 3 years before i sold because of a layoff.

 

I was written up as a super speeder a couple of years ago just outside of Savana. It was a pretty expensive ticket, but it was kind of cool for bragging rights in a Smokey and the Bandit kind of way.

 

I coulda said hi, and busted ya out of the pokey !!

yea these modern cars are too fast for todays roads and traffic.

 

I’m pretty sure it was the same trip that we stopped at the Mighty Eighth and I took pics of your machine gun!

 

The last good looking Corvette. Until the C8Z, the only interesting motor in a Corvette over the past 25 years.

They have some valve issues - $5k preventative fix and can have some rod issues. But otherwise there isn't much that goes wrong with them. Seems that all the early cars' roofs have been properly attached by this point.

 

I bought one new in 07, great cars. I prefer them to the newer ones.

We do a lot of service work on these at the shop I work for. If I were to buy one again I would definitely pull the heads and have the guides replaced, other than that nothing really out of the ordinary in terms of needs.

 

Owned a machine silver 2006 Z for 6 yrs, early production, ( 483 rear RWHP after single mild tune), ZR 1 spoiler and side skirts lowered with bolt adjustment, Bilstein shocks, Porsche GT3 drivers seat 5 pt. harness, CCW wheels , hoosiers R tires 345 rear, 295 front. for many, many track days. 10 mpg on track, 29-30 highway! Only issue was the placement of the window controls , I have long arms; also, console door cover would keep my hand/arm in unnatural not very ergonomic position during shifts, otherwise No issues, sold in 2013 to buy a 355 spider. I really loved the car and would have no reservations recommending one (with a PPI)
Good luck, Mel

 

Very cool!

You could've run 315mm front Hoosier R7's with that set-up.

I used to get 4-6 mpg on track with my ZO6.

 

OP - never owned a C6Z but I did have a C6ZR1. Not a huge fan of the C6 platform overall. Sold the ZR1 and returned to a C5Z which is my third one of these. It's the most entertaining Corvette I have ever had which include the C4 ZR1 (two of those) and a C4 roadster. Just took it out yesterday for a nice run up to A&M and back. Great time.

 

I had an 06 1LT (a bit noisy with little sound insulation) and traded it for an 08 3LT. Great engine and transmission with surprisingly good gas mileage since most times you are on just a whiff of throttle. Really liked both but the better interior packages really make a difference. Traded the 08 towards a 575M.

 

08 Z06, bought in 2010 with 4k miles, now it has 52k miles with 140+ track days. My track car, so most miles are to and from the track and on the track itself.

Can still run with gt350r, 991.2 gt3/turbo, most modern cars. Car has stock calipers and Hawk dtc70 pads, stock wheels with hoosier scrubs 345 rear/285 front, Bilstein DRM shocks (Doug Rippie motorsports), corner balanced with adjustable endlinks.

It is funny, but the only stock cars that can really run away from me on track are Viper ACRs, Camaro ZL1 1LE, and gt3RSs. Dont believe the hype with all the "necessary" after market race/track products. This 427 with race tub is fine right out of the box.

Of note, I am on my 3rd set of heads (1 GM, 1 American, currently Katech). I have my mechanic check the valve guide clearance every so often to make sure i dont drop a valve...$5-6k a pop to change heads. But, to me it is a necessity when driving the car to its limits...and it has been bulletproof on track!

Hope this helps.

 

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Lol! Forgot the expense of the wrap job...after that many track days, decided to give it a new look over the weathered and tattered black paint. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yes, the LS7 is reliable if you consistently monitor the valve guides. The rest of the car does NOT like being driven at the limit with slicks on.

My motor mounts melted and my engine was moving around so much on road circuits that my headers were rubbing into my steering column.

Also melted all of the OEM suspension bushings, bent my driveshaft, consistently boiled my power steering fluid, and had to constantly rebuild my StopTech Big Brake Kit (AP Racing brakes are infinitely better).

Vettes have always had a soft spot in my heart and I’m getting a C8 ZO6 to buzz around town in, but Porsches and dedicated race cars are the way to go for serious track work.

Tracked my 991.2 GT3 at the limit with slicks and the car would freak-out after a few laps with a code for over-heated rear steering motors.

Not a huge deal, but I would lose rear steering randomly which made corner turn-in very inconsistent.

Again, this is driving cars at their absolute limit (slight slip angle at 140 mph), far from “normal driving.” I don’t think most folks will have issues unless they can truly take the car to 10/10’s.

 

My motor mounts failed also, went with AMD race motor mounts.

I guess we are both trying to make the exact opposite points here.

I am fortunate not to have the issues you have had and I do take my c6z06 to the limit. 140+ track days on slicks, nannies off, stock most everything.

 

Hello. I am having Corvette Z06. but i am also facing the Engine Problems.

 

I have owned a couple c6 Z06 corvettes and a 2013 427 conv… which is essentially thr same…all were fine cars during my ownership