Used Z06 vs New Z. Pros/Cons?

bigsix

Well, one car is Japanese & the other is American. Which one would you rather spend your money on?

I'd go for the Z because the Corvette lacks class and refinement.

Zemurray

I've had more than one gm, they have all sucked since about 1973. Just ask my coworker who has just had to have new rings and pistons installed in his well maintained Denali suburban with only 68k miles. This is after he had to put in a new transmission in it 3 months ago.

Put 200k trouble free miles on that vette and then come back and talk to me about it being trouble free. The reason the stats are better on them is due to the fact that old men leave them sitting in the garage and don't ever get up to 50,000 miles.

I've got a Honda pilot in the drive way, 150k miles, uses no oil, drives like new. Only thing ever done to it not maintenance related was a new cat converter.

My FJ cruiser, 101k miles, nothing but oil changes.

ImportConvert

No, the reason the stats on the Corvette are better is because they are built in a separate factory that ONLY builds corvettes, by people that ONLY build corvettes.

As to my engine, it was build by ONE person, who then signed it.

You're friend's suburban has absolutely nothing to do with a corvette aside from branding.

This is like me saying my G20 is a pile of **** so your 370Z is, too, since they are both made by Nissan/Infiniti in Japan. Does that logic track with you? I have replaced a transmission, all the motor/trans mounts, etc. etc. So your 370Z must be a bad car, too. Yeah?

No. It has no relevance what-so-ever.

FWIW, there are plenty of high-mileage corvette's that have needed little/no work. My LS1 engine was a great engine once I put the right oil in it. It went 150K miles and the ONLY thing I replaced on that engine was the oil/filters and the water-pump once. Other than that, it ran like a dream. A few weeks before I sold it, ran a few 2010 SS 6-speed cars. Dead-even. It didn't lose a bit in 150K miles. I can show you dyno-charts from LS1 cars still making over 290whp at the 100K+ mark. GM builds a great engine. So a one of them had a flaw? I think EVERY manufacturer has made a lemon or two. Nissan certainly did with their VQ series early-on with all the replacement engines they installed.

So let me ask you: Have ANY of your GM's been corvettes?

PS. The corvette has a 5/100K warranty. If GM were making junk engines, would they bet $14K (dealer cost + labor) per Z06 that it wouldn't make it for half a decade or 100K miles? I don't know...I also don't care. Replacement is free if it dies. Which I HIGHLY doubt it will.

Spring Mountain has run corvettes for years. They ran the C6's when they first came out until present. While I was there, I asked what the failure points were. They said "wheel bearings until 2008, clutch hydraulics RARELY."

After 2008, they said the clutch hydraulics were about it. They had had around 3 go bad. This is putting 12-14,000 track-miles on the cars in Las Vegas 100*+ weather running them hard with inexperienced people behind the wheel day in and day out.

No engines have been lost. No rear-ends have been lost. No transmissions have been lost, since 2008 (and probably earlier, but I only asked about '08 cars and later). They had no cars older than 2010 when I was there, and those had 9-12K miles on them already.

In my book, that says a lot more about how the drive-line holds up than some guy who knows a guy who owns a Suburban.

Now, so there is no mistake, I am trading my Z06 for a 370Z, so this isn't about GM nut-swinging, it's about the facts.

PS. You live in KY. Go spend the $5 or $8 and get a tour of Bowling Green if it's not too far from you. I spent 16 hours on the factory floor watching them build my Z06, and those people were very enthusiastic not only about my car because I was watching, but about other cars I saw them building as well. They really do care. Sure, they CAN make mistakes, but they are not just grunts who are stomping through the muck hoping to get home. They enjoy what they do, well, a lot of them do, anyway. Go watch them and you will see what I mean.

Lug

almost true.

Cadillac XLR is also built there.

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Zemurray

I get it, you are a corvette fanboy regardless of your screen name. Any reasonable argument is worthless. If burning oil is acceptable to you, so be it. It wasnt to me. It is a Chevy, all cars are made in different plants. Its not the guy on the shop floor who makes the difference, it's the company's dedication to making quality cars. They don't change that attitude just for one model. If they had it wouldn't have a **** interior like all the other Chevy's and it wouldn't burn oil. The guy on the shop floor isnt designing the motor with the wrong tension oil rings in it, or machining the parts to loose tolerances. If I were going to buy an American muscle car I would get a well equipped 2012 high end mustang thats just as fast, twice the quality, for half the price.

Lug

You might want to take a peek here.....
2011 Nissan 370Z Reliability | U.S. News Best Cars

2011 Chevrolet Corvette Reliability | U.S. News Best Cars

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Zemurray

How you can even quantify reliability on a 2011 model car is beyond me. Those consumer reports on reliability are a joke. Measure it on a 10 year scale, not an off the lot test drive scale.

Lug

so.......they didn't agree with you....got it!



How about this. From the same guys, the 350Z over it's lifetime (2003 - 2009) got a 47 rating, the C6 vette for much of the same time (2005 -2010) is rated at a 59. Now the 370Z may be a bit more or less reliable than the 350Z but since you are the one that wants to condemn all vehicles based on some you've had, the shoe has to fit on bith feet. (I made that old saying up on the spot!) And just to show you my bias, I owned a 95 Camaro and it was the absolute worst piece of s*** ever to grace the roadways of our fine planet.

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Zemurray

Who knows how they arrive at that data? Do they track actual dealer service records? I doubt it.

In any case, I've never owned a 370 (until now) or 350, nor a corvette. I don't really care about the argument one way or another. I've just been so dissatisfied with several GM's that I've owned that I wont give them another chance. That's just me, my experience. I have owned another Nissan that was a great car. And I have owned several other japaneses cars. My experience with Japanese cars of all makes has been fantastic. I've loved every one of them and have had great reliability out of them. They have all held up well and still drive like new cars many years later. Even the GMs I've had that did not have significant mechanical failures still drove like **** once they got more mileage on them and felt like buckets of crap. Again, this is my experience, with vehicles that I have owned. I don't really care what some report says that is based on hidden research or data. The 370 might turn out to be a huge pile of **** ( I seriously doubt it, it has a quality fit and finish), but it will be the first Jap car I've owned that is if that's the case. I'm going my way based on vehicles that I've owned, and no one on here can validly argue that or change my mind about it.

nuTinmuch

GM has changed a lot in the past few years.

But whatever. As much as he might be a "Corvette fanboy" or whatever, you're clearly just as much of a GM hater. There have been a ton of GM cars in my family over the years, and we've never had a major problem with them.

This includes sports cars, econoboxes, mid-size sedans, etc. None of them ever gave us trouble.

I would DD a Corvette. Easily.

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Zemurray

You are correct, but my hatred of gm is justified and based on years of my own experience. I've owned quite a few and used to be a Chevy guy.

ImportConvert

I hate nissan, my G20--Sentra derivative from 2002 is a POS. Your 370Z has to be a POS now because of this.

^^^ ^^^


Luckily, my brain doesn't operate like that, so I will buy a 370Z and enjoy it.

birdmanx1

May I ask why are you getting rid of your cool Z06 so soon boss?

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Zemurray

Good for you.

And btw, the 2013 mustang gt500 will eat a z06 for lunch and cost $30k less. Maybe you should get one of those.

GaleForce

Well said! My wife works where the Camaro is built. They have zero say on the floor. Unfortunately, they take all the blame from the general public. You are the first person on an internet forum that I've seen who gets it.

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