• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

I generally like C5s better, but...

Gannet

Gannet

New member
(This was posted at Corvette Forum, but I have friends here that don't get over there much. For those that do, excuse the dupe.)

I'm thinking seriously of trading mine on a C6, and quite possibly a C6Z06.

Here's why: the car has 45k miles and it's going to need a clutch pretty soon. I was figuring on using my bonus and tax refund for a Textralia, and it looked like there would be enough left over for a nice cam swap too.

Then a few weeks ago the car got vandalized. Someone threw a concrete block through the rear window. You know those big slabs you put under the bottom of your gutter downspout? One of those. Felony criminal mischief. Description of likely perp but no suspects. No, I didn't tick off anyone any more than normal lately so far as I know. Just some hater, I think.

The flying glass put a few chips in the top of one of the quarter panels. The windshield had been cracked for a couple of weeks due to a rock hit, so ok, it's off to the shop now and all is getting fixed. $2500 from the insurance company, $500 from me, plus another $500 for some other touch-up work I wanted done.

I had long-term plans for a major power upgrade, something on the order of $20-30k. But the car would only book, today, for $18k, and it's headed down fast. The Carfax "damage reported" from this vandalism incident won't help that a bit. Dealing with the insurance on this has been a little unsettling. They (GEICO) were fine to deal with, no issues, it just got me to thinking.

Do I really want to drop $6k for a clutch and cam job, plus another $20-30k later, into a car with 45k+ miles and that will soon enough be insured for about $12k? I can afford to build the thing, but I can't afford to walk away with a shrug if it gets stolen or totaled.

I wish you could get stated-value or similar coverage for a daily driver, but so far as I can tell you can't. Will anyone insure a daily-driver C5 for $40k?

I look at my current monthly payment, and my per-paycheck mod budget, and it just about exactly equals the payments on a new Z06 (for a pretty long term). The Z06 is pretty much "done" as delivered, I think. An exhaust, and maybe eventually a cam and port job, and you're pretty much at the limits of daily-driver street tires. Already has the brakes/suspension/wheels/coolers and heavy-duty this-n-that. And essentially all of it would be insurable, unlike a heavily-modded C5. I already checked the rate; it would only go up about $200 a year, which amazes me considering that their comp/collision risk goes from $18k to $68k.

So I'm thinking about this pretty hard. It's exciting, but it's also sad. I really like my C5. Freakin insurance companies. Freakin other drivers. Freakin thieves. Freakin vandals. You know what I mean?
 
Sucks about the damage....

I had my 99 insured with a stated value policy for $45K I recently dropped it in favor of regular insurance. Why? well I like driving my cars and with Yellow driving my 99 and my Z06 I had to add her to the policy and she added me to her 02. The increase in premium was minimal compared to the problems I would have if either of us got into and accident while driving the others car especially the 99 with that type of insurance.

I say if you can keep the C5 and get a C6 Z06 do it....

I have had my Z for over a year now and no Mods. I am pretty happy with it as it is and having 2 modded cars in the family is more than enough. That being said I would like to eventually swap the exhaust for something more aggressive but the prices right now are just stupid.

Best of luck with your decision
 
Wow that was some heavy reading. Sorry to hear about your humdrums. Chevrolet has 0% 60 month financing on 07 vettes but it excludes Z06 and does not apply to 2008 vettes. Good luck on youe search. :thumbsup:
 
To be perfectly honest, I don't even give the insurance issue a second thought. I've put quite a bit of money into the C5Z and haven't even considered trying to approach my insurance company about increasing my policy coverage. Why? Well, the mods to me are toys and entertainment. Something to talk about with other Corvette folk. Perhaps even bragging rights material... I get paid back in spades every time I drive the car. Like any other hobby, I don't expect to have an insurance company reimburse me if the worst happens. Hell, I don't even WANT my insurance company to have a list of the guns I have!

I live out in the middle of nowhere, in a situation where someone would be trespassing just to be able to see my cars. So vandalism while at home is a pretty remote threat. Theft is always a possibility, but again, rather remote, all things considered. Hell, for that matter, someone who knew what they were doing could yank off those turbos in the time it took me to walk around the grocery store, but I can't see getting worried about such things.

Yeah, the C6Z is a great car, and I wouldn't mind having one myself, but at this point I would not be willing to give up my parking spot under the carport for the C5Z in order to get one. But our situations are not identical, so our perspectives can't be either.

In any event, sorry to hear about that vandalism to your car. I can imagine how I would feel in such a case............ :mad:
 
Rich Z said:
Yeah, the C6Z is a great car, and I wouldn't mind having one myself, but at this point I would not be willing to give up my parking spot under the carport for the C5Z in order to get one. But our situations are not identical, so our perspectives can't be either.
Click to expand...
That's part of the issue for me. I live in a "bad neighborhood" and the security situation for the car is not very good. But other than that, we like where we live very much. It would cost quite a bit more to live someplace supposedly "better". So I would just be trading one cost for another. Driving 20k miles a year, only-car daily driver, and not having a private garage makes me a little more reliant on insurance than a lot of Vette owners. I just wish I liked the regular C6 more or the Z06 wasn't quite so expensive. It'd be a stretch.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. :)
 
Gannet said:
Here's why: the car has 45k miles and it's going to need a clutch pretty soon. I was figuring on using my bonus and tax refund for a Textralia, and it looked like there would be enough left over for a nice cam swap too.

Then a few weeks ago the car got vandalized. Someone threw a concrete block through the rear window. You know those big slabs you put under the bottom of your gutter downspout? One of those. Felony criminal mischief. Description of likely perp but no suspects. No, I didn't tick off anyone any more than normal lately so far as I know. Just some hater, I think.

The flying glass put a few chips in the top of one of the quarter panels. The windshield had been cracked for a couple of weeks due to a rock hit, so ok, it's off to the shop now and all is getting fixed. $2500 from the insurance company, $500 from me, plus another $500 for some other touch-up work I wanted done.
Click to expand...
1.Unless you been slipp'n it, the clutch should good to go another 60,000!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
2.As far as the car fax on a little vandalism,that won't hurt it like a Collision, Flood or Storm damage!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
3. Give it another 15,000-20,000 miles,My 03 didn't really,really start running Good till it had 55,000 miles!!(I just thought it did!!):yesnod::thumbsup::thumbsup:
4. Besides the A$$hole that damaged your car would just love to screw a New one up!!:NoNo::NoNo:
 
I kind of have to agree with Junkie. If you can't keep the little (or big) azzwipes away from your car now, I sure wouldn't drop the coin on a new Z to let them screw that up:(

As far as moddin' and resale, you'll NEVER get your $$ out of a modded car.

We mod for pleasure and satisfaction like Rich said.

Does yours have the removable top? If so, I'd keep it, mod the daylights out of it until your happy and not give it a second thought:thumbsup:

I "could" go out and buy a new Z. Instead, I choose to keep my C4 and play with it:thumbsup::crazy03:

If I were to go the Z route, I'd do as Robert and leave it stock and be happy. But I hate being like the rest of the worldl;)

Good luck finding the credents that did this:(

and thanks for posting your delima here with us. Don't worry about dupes when it comes to other forums. It's new here:thumbsup:

Thanks
 
Update: the car is back

Well, I picked up the car this afternoon. I am much less crabby now. :D

Seems like they did a good job, but of course I haven't seen it in full sun yet, given the weather we're having. We'll see. The shop has an excellent reputation. I won't name names until I'm satisfied (or not).

I was shocked how loud it was inside the car. I actually stopped in their parking lot and got out and opened the hatch and looked to see if there was something missing. But after a few miles I realized that, nope, this is just what B&B Bullets and longtubes sound like. Loud! :thumbsup:

We'll see about the Z06 thing. It's a whole heapin' ton of money. I have a feeling we'll see more dramatic signs of recession in the months ahead, and perhaps that will lead to further price cuts, especially on the used side. A few more months of saving would also get the payment a little less unreasonable.

I don't expect this to be a repeated incident re: lowlifes. The two folks who park on either side of me also have nice rides. We've never seen trouble like this before. We do know the security patrol seems to keep an extra eye on our cars.

Thanks for listening. :yesnod:
 
:thumbsup:Glad you got her back:thumbsup:Hope it's all good.

I wouldn't mind having a Z for a DD, but I like to take the roof off:rofl1:

I saw a sweet set of flares recently for the C5. I'll see if I can find and link them on here for your viewing pleasure:thumbsup:
 
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