First I will say hello to everybody. My name is Nic and I live in Houston, I have been looking and admiring Z06's for a long time now and I have decided to look at them next week. I will be selling my Cobra privately and was just wondering how much you guys/gals got your Z06's for and let you tell me more about them. Any good information on basic performance upgrades for the 03 would also be appreciated as well as any other input you have. Nice to be here and meet yall!
Welcome Nic,I have a 2002 that i ordered and waited 4 months to get because i wanted the MY,also alot of dealers wanted sticker the dealer i order from took of $2500,check with some of the dealers on this forum I've seem up to $7500 off sticker,if there are any 2003's left.On performance mods most people do the air intake change,shifter,exhaust,x-pipe,headers,pulley,turbos,superchargers and a few of the members have installed 427's.it just depends on how much you want to spend,good luck car hunting.
I would look into buying a Z from one of the dealers on the forum. If I had it to do over again I would have. I would have save some money. Enjoy.
Case
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Most definitely buy from a forum dealer. Rick and Jason are great to work with, unfortunately, when I was in the market a month ago they did not have the color I wanted. I think Rick has sold the last of his '03 but not sure where Jason is with his inventory.
If you must buy in the Houston area, I can share with you my experiences via PM if interested. I ended up buying in Houston, after MUCH GRIEF got a "decent" deal but not as good as the forum dealers. Oh well. My next one will definitely be from Rick or Jason.
I bought my Z from Jason at Ross Downing. Made the drive from Houston to see him. Worth the trip.
Depending on the color you want, it might be too late to buy a 2003. Should be able to get a '03 at around $5000 off MSRP, and then if the rebate is still available, that in addition. Right now the rebate is $2000
2004s are already available. So far discounts are at $4000 off MSRP. You also have a chance at purchasing the Z16 at $2000 off MSRP if you like Blue w/ stripes.
Locally you can also look for deals, but expect to negotiate until you're red in the face. Personally, I haven't been able to get any kind of deal and I shopped 8 local Chevy dealers in Houston.
The above posts cover it all. Most of the time it is worth going a little distance to get a better deal (higher volume dealers typically have better deals). And if you have to get an 04, you might want to consider getting museum delivery in Bowling Green Ky- it is well worth it.
And just for the record,
Maybe you have just seen the light?
DROOL!!!, does anyone have pics of the new Z16 that i can see? PLEASE??? I pretty much allready have my Cobra sold since I have lots of nice mods allready on it and it has REALLY REALLY low miles
The Summer 2003 issue of CORVETTE Quarterly has the Z16 on the cover. Also, the latest edition of the NCM America's Sportscar newsletter magazine has an article on the Z16.
You are lucky, since a new Z06 can be bought for a deep discount and even 0% financing. I've heard horror stories about dealers in your area, but no worse than Northern CA. Two years ago, local dealers were marking up the Z06 by $5k to $15k. OUTRAGEOUS!!! Many of us around here were forced to buy out of state to find a decent deal. You may have to do the same. The forum vendors are your best best for that. Call Rick or Ross. I'm sure they can help you get a good deal, and make buying out of state as painless as possible.
Not surprisingly the local Ford SVT Cobra dealers are just as bad. I've been to several area dealers and they are all trying to gouge potential buyers into paying big markups too. I went to one yesterday only to find several sitting on the "storage" lot, collecting dirt, with no buyers in sight. Worst off, Ford excludes their SVT line (and Mach 1) from any factory rebate incentives or low rate financing. That really sucks.
If I may ask, how much did you pay for your "DSG" SVT Cobra vert and why you selling it so soon? Pros? Cons?
If you don't have the time to be driving far enough to reach one of the supprting vendors, and prefer to stay in Houston, try Munday Chevrolet. I got my 02 for damn near invoice last year, and was treated awesome by everyone, not just the salesman. Have never heard of any problems with them, and they have helped me anyway they can. I can give you the name of the guy that helped me. Let me know. Happy hunting
Welcome! I also used to own a cobra, and miss it every now and then. I am loving the Z though, and have finally been able to start on the mods. Next week the GHL exhaust arrives, along with RT's x-pipe, high flow cats and TPIS long tube headers. Can't wait.
A few things I've noticed when going from the Cobra to the Vette:
Be prepared to spend more money for comparable mods. For example, there are lots of Cobra cat-back kits from respectable companies for $200-$400. Most cat backs for the vettes run $800-$1500 with the exception of the Borla Stingers which are still about $600.
There are fewer brands to choose from. The mustang aftermarket was monsterous. I find my choices pretty limited with the vette. Recently I've been spending a lot of time looking for a new set of wheels. Aside from remanufactured stock looking chrome wheels, there isn't much out there besides a handful of extremely expensive ($3000-$4000 per set) forged wheels from a few different companies.
On the plus side, one of the coolest things about the Vettes are their ability to create a LOT of power without forced induction. In a mustang, if you want to go really fast, you'll need a supercharger or turbo, unless you have lots of $$$ to build a NA stroker from the ground up. A set of LS6 Stage 2x Cartek heads and cam ($3400), an intake and exhaust will have you in the 450rwhp range. That's a big number for a 3000lb car. It cost me about $10k to put that kind of power down in the Cobra (I didn't have an 03), but as long as I go NA, I can make the same power cheaper in the vette. Of coarse, if you have the $$$ and you want more power, you can always put on a blower, turbo, or drop in a 427.
The biggest, most important thing for me though, is that the Vette is such a better starting point than the cobra was. Give the Vette the three years and $30k that I invested into the Cobra, and it'll be a monster.
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got a "decent" deal but not as good as the forum dealers. Oh well. My next one will definitely be from Rick or Jason.
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