Reasons NOT to get a C5 Z06

[mwortham]

The reasons TO get one are obvious. You asked for reasons NOT to get one, so here you go (in no particular order):

• Tires are expensive
• Seats are horrible for autox / track - zero lateral support
• You WILL have electrical gremlins from time to time - expect a "Service Traction Control / Service Active Handling / Service ABS" message at some point. Usually a relatively easy / inexpensive fix though. Other random codes will pop up too
• Tires are expensive
• Everything in the interior is cheap plastic - lots of creaks, and things will break from time to time
• The car looks dated, both inside and out
• Oil and water temps get really high on on track - car would really benefit from an oil cooler / better radiator if tracked a lot
• Brakes are insufficient for the track on r-comps
• Lots of road noise / wind noise at highway speeds
• Lousy cup holder (and only one of them) - expect spilled drinks
• Bad gas mileage in the city
• Tires are expensive
• It's common for water to leak into the car SOMEWHERE when it rains - both of mine did this
• Steering is numb, not very communicative
• ABS "ice mode" kicks in a lot in autox - really annoying
• If the car is lowered, the ride height, plus long wheel base, plus long front overhang means the car bottoms out / scrapes A LOT
• "Skip shift" feature is super annoying
• Tires are expensive
• Ancient Bose sound system stinks
• Shift knob is straight out of 1985 (who has square hands anyway?)
• Seats are cheap imitation leather, and they will tear
• Very few competitive street tire options in stock sizes
• Car is not very fun to autocross on anything but the stickiest tires
• Steering wheel is too big - belongs in a van
• Steering ratio is too slow
• Stock springs are too soft
• Magnetic numbers don't stick to fiberglass - stickers are a pain
• Tires are expensive
• They like to eat cones at autox events
• People will think you're a jerk

I've also had to deal with:

• HUD failure (huge pain in the butt to fix!)
• AC compressor failure
• Transmission issues - reverse doesn't work in mine anymore, and 6th gear pops out occasionally. Also first gear has become harder to engage over the years - synchros are probably worn out. Not sure how common these issues are though.
• Reverse light switch failure - easy fix
• Wheel bearing failure - wheel bearing / hub assemblies are kinda expensive
• Oil pressure sensor failure - pain in the butt to replace
• Broken seat frame (been living with this for a long time)

It's actually fairly comfortable and practical as a daily though. Just a bit noisy for long trips for my taste. For reference, my car has 130k miles on it. Had about 45k on it when I bought it. '04 is the best year to get. Previous years had various other issues - some minor, others not so minor (oil consumption in '01s, valve spring failures in all but '04s I think...)

[CosmosMpower]

Now THAT is how you do a write up!

[OZMDD]

Wow. Just, wow.

OK, lock it up.