tdle22

I wanted to know if its possible to find a daily driver with little to no rust problems for under $8000. I live in Houston as well if that is of any relevance.

Edit: Hmm, I may have been a little off with my description for a "daily driver". I know I should have said something else when I used that term but I couldn't really think of anything. I do not intend on literally driving it daily.

I'm a college student who rarely drives anywhere. I live on campus so commuting is not an issue and when going to work, I cycle because I enjoy the exercise. I really only plan on using it to go out maybe once or twice a week if even that much because when I do go out, its mostly with a group of friends, and driving around in a coupe with a group of 4-8 people isn't really optimal.

What I'm actually looking for is a fun, reliable ride that I can fire up about once about every one or two weeks. Sorry if I shouldn't have used the term "daily driver" to describe my needs.

AdamMeh

Yep! There are some pretty darn nice cars out there right now. You're going to spend on the upper end of that 8k range if you want something very solid that will need minimal amounts of safety work before you start driving it. Rust is a big problem on these cars so PLEASE search these forums for all the posts about what to look for and how to look. Stick to Southwestern area cars and NEVER buy anything without looking it over in person.

These cars are getting old - plan on very regular work being done to it and lots of attention to detail. If you can do the work yourself the costs will be "reasonable". If not, it will become a very expensive car to own.

Adam

ShootCraps

Yep. see them all the time.

tdle22

How often is "very regular work"? I have absolutely no experience with cars and do not really know what too look for when trying to find rust issues or anything of the sort. I did look over this thread Ten Rules For Buying Your First C3 Corvette to give me a general idea of what to look for but I still am not too sure of myself. I figured I would bring a slightly more knowledgeable friend with me to check out the cars in person.

Also, when looking for rust problems, dont you generally have to remove some parts to get a good look at things, and wont most owners have a problem with that?

Curby

For a daily driver, I would look for an 80 to 82. In that price range, you should be able to find a decent car.

The 82 has overdrive, which nets you better gas mileage.

Now, if you went to a C4 (84 to 96), you can get a much better car for $8K, but who wants a C4?

Mayan2012

Bought my 77 in Rochester, NY last year for $7,500. It had 130K miles but the engine and tranny were rebuilt 18K miles prior. Had a few cosmetic issues (still does), but gives me the pleasure of driving a C3. Besides, I have 3 young kids and I don't have to sweat having one of the kids accidentally brush up against it or that sort of thing.

jcloving

You probably could find one for that price but have 2-3k in reserve for fixes on things like brakes etc.

tdle22

How well has your car held up this past year? Did you have to have any work done?

Mayan2012

Master cylinder went this Spring. Other than that, so far so good. We had a real mild winter and I was able to get her out at least once per month over the winter. Started up and ran well every time.

AdamMeh

All good advice above. I spent the better part of 3 months on here asking questions and reading up prior to buying our '77. I knew I was getting into a lot of work when I got it but was/am able to do almost all of it myself. If you are not able to work on it yourself you will need a savings to have someone else do it (as jcloving said).

In my opinion, if can do the work yourself that's great, if not it will become an expensive car to drive everyday. Any old car will be like that. As I said before, they are just OLD.

Do more searches on here - try looking for "birdcage" as a keyword. You may find more info than you have so far.

And yes, take someone with you that is knowledgeable about cars in general - better to have someone with that knows Corvettes.

Adam

Trae1976

JMHO, but I would highly recommend you look for something newer and more reliable. Things inevitably fail on 30+ year old cars. You will end up spending way more on it than you expect, and it will still leave you stranded on the side of the road at some point in time. If you don't know how to troubleshoot vehicle problems or find pleasure in mechanical work, you will likely end up hating the car.

Sure, there's some on here who DD, but the large majority are "hobby" cars.

Again, just my opinion. Best of luck!

Mayan2012

The best way to buy any used vehicle is to take it to a mechanic first (preferably one that knows Corvettes). I have had some sellers bring their car themselves to the mechanic. I have had others let me leave my car in their driveway and let me drive the car myself. It's worth the 50-75 dollars to get it up on a lift and checked out first before investing thousands. Any seller not willing to have the car brought to a mechanic first is not worth dealing with, although I have never encountered anyone who was opposed to it.

MikeKey

IMO you won't find a daily driver that is reliabile for that price. I spent countless months searching and looking at Corvettes under the 10K mark with my mind made up I was going to steal one at 9500 and call it a day.

Dunno how many I reviewed online, but I looked at about 20-25 cars in person around FL and every single one I found in my budget was either complete crap, a big project or was too much of a QUESTION MARK on reliability.

I ended up with a steal of a deal anyways by moving my budget up and saving a few extra thousand.

I came to the conclusion that for under 10K in my area was asking for more of a project than I want.

To me, all I want to have to fix are minor issues, that don't effect the daily drivability of the car.

And I am probably one of the smaller number of people whose car is a daily driver.

However your milage my vary based on where you are. I've seen better deals out west, but I wanted to stay within the state. And as always, opinions will vary.

Don't rush purchasing this car if it's what you really desire, and know why you're getting into it. And what you are getting into.

TexasYankee

DFW Craigslist has C3s for sale daily for well under $10K. It's a buyers market.

24695bob

I own a 72 a 76 and a 79... all in pretty darn good shape mechanically and cosmetically...
and to be honest I would not sell any of them for under 10 Grand...BUT I WOULD also not like to have to "depend" on one of them or be forced to drive one every day ...

OLD is OLD ... old and something always needs attention ...and it pays not to ignore anything ...

Bob G.

briankeery

I'm in agreement here also, either go into a C4 for now....or buy the C3 as a hobby car, and use something more reliable/economical as a DD.

Rick Crunelle

Not to bash the C4s.... but about 2 years ago my buddy got a pretty good deal on a 93. It looked pretty good and rode pretty good. But it was still a 17 year old car. He is an average back-yard mechanic and he ended up having to take it into the shop several times for things he couldn't fix. After all was said and done, after one year he sold it for less than he bought it for (not including all the repairs) and was glad to be rid of it.

The C3s are a little easier to work on (if you know how to wrench), they can easily be made reliable, and you can get them cheap. I got my '75 for $4,600. It was in really good shape, and I could have made it just a reliable driver with minimal investment. I'm into it for about $8,000 only because I wanted to do some extra stuff to really make it nice. So for $8K I'd say it's more than reliable enough to be a daily driver.

'75

My son, who is on leave while transfering from Pearl Harbor to S. Carolina, just bought a 76 coupe here in IL for 5500. The car is very original, no rust except a small hole in the driver side floor. The car looks to have been well maintained,the body is nice, but has faded original paint. It has 73000 mi, we replaced the valve seals, recurved the dist, replaced the vacuum advance can, new ign lock cylinder, and changed all the oils. He left for S.C. this morning, should get there late tonight. So, depending where you are, $8000 can get you a DD no problem.

Stroh

If you have a screwdriver and remove the 1 screw holding each of the perforated plastic panels at the foot on the outside of each side you'll see where the body mounts are, the shape of that steel in this area should show you most of what you need to know. If there's rust there, there's rust up in the bird cage (90% of the time at least). Get underneath her, if there's any swiss cheese there, go find another one. A little surface rust can be fixed. Holes are more problematic.

If an owner wants to sell her, and he's not hiding anything, he'll likely be glad to remove those panels for you, provided he's convinced you're a serious buyer.

There are nearly countless C3's out there, and for under 8K you should be able to find a very nice daily driver.

Mgrad92

The more I read responses like those above, the more I realize that the definition of reliability differs quite a bit from one person to the next.
Heck, even my own definition varies based on which car I'm talking about. My daily driver better damn well start every day and everything better work all the time. It's only two years old and has 36,000 miles on it. I expect everything to be functiong near perfect.
But if my 31 year old Corvette runs well and gets me home, I consider it to be reliable, even if it hesitates when cold or the power antena takes a crap.