This car has been beat on. From the sellers own mouth, "I've outrun C5's, goats, SS Chevy pickups, TA's, Camaros. There's not much stock around my town that concerns me. " Sounds like this car's been raced. If you do decide to go for it, bring someone who knows cars to look it over with a fine tooth come for any potential problems/wear. Also look for any signs of rust around the birdcage(Cockpit/windshield frame).

Dont underestimate the cost of replacement interior parts. They arent cheap.

 

Oh lol I was wondering how you guys new that. I am talking about the most recent posting I put on there. It is like 3 from the bottom of the first page, the red 74.

 

If the paint is in decent condition (no large damaged areas, no spider-cracking, just dings/nicks that you can touch-up), all the pieces are there (engine compartment, interior, gauge cluster) and everything works, you should start by offering the owner $7000. That is a decent offer for a 'well used' [but very functional] '74 car. He has put in a crate engine, but you don't know any more about that engine than the 35 year old original engine...AND the original engine is gone, which reduces the value significantly.

If he is offended, tell him your sorry, but you believe that is what it's worth in 'today's market' and to call you if he changes his mind or wants to present a counter-offer. $9K is what it is worth to him, but that doesn't mean "squat" if it is being bought by someone else. I think $7K is a fair offer...and I would never pay more than $8K for that car even if all the parts were there and everything worked. [just my .02]

 

1st of all you need good paint.. these cars are a mint to repaint.. then you need no rust. watch out for this, know what you are looking at.. any rust, however little you think, will show more on a much closer inspection and will hurt your resale value and resaleability.
look for good mechanicals.. does everything work? does it start, stop, roll, steer correctly. Then what do you have to replace to get it to be nice..
Then listen to the seller's speech... posted above is a big bragging by the seller that he has literally run the **** out of the car.... he is done tearing it up so now wants to sell it..
spend a couple thousand more for a much better shape car. the price/condition curve on these cars is not linear.. the more you spend, the MUCH more better condition car you will buy..

 

Not original engine, and not a Corvette engine.

Sounds like either a modified car, or a salvage.

Wait a minute, does this car have a Monte Carlo engine, or a Crate? More on brakes later, but my confidence in "Achtemieier Auto Repair" is devastatingly low.

Cooling problems, electrical problems, and ignition problems, if these are in the past, at best, this is not a good sell job.

This car needs a new interior, and has oodles of miles on it.

This car needs the entire suspension gone through. New springs, shocks, bushings, the works. It also likely has frame issues, possibly badly wrecked in the past and not properly repaired.

This car still has major electrical problems that are scaring its present owner. Don't go back to the seller if this thing burns catastrophically in your garage or beside the road because he has already warned you.

This car has major brake problems. Any remaining faith in "Achtemeier Auto Repair" should be abandoned here. The present owner does not have an understanding of the basics of braking systems, and has worked on the brakes on this car himself. Draw your own conclusions here.

Given the comments above, I can only conclude that this is your warning that this car is a "death trap". I wouldn't want to drive this car up and down my driveway at 2 mph for fear of running over my children, crashing into my house, setting fire to my house and/or other cars, or all three.

Any doubts as to the veracity of my previous comments should be cleared up after reading this.

First of all, the idea of a Corvette owner bragging about "outrunning" pick-up trucks should be a red-flag on its own, but I think we are past that. If I saw this dude on the road, I can guarantee that he would outrun a '70 BB vette if that is what I perceived to be the best way to get distance between me and him.

OK, might as well point out some transmission problems as well. Is there anything right with this car?

Damn! I had my heart set on the windows working right! BTW, which is the "rider side"? On second thought, never mind.

What does he mean by "the connection was affected"? More electricla problems? Connection between the motor and the frame? It's anyone's guess at this point IMO>

But wait, didn't he just say "previous owner leaving it out in the elements for years"?

I don't know, I just walk away from an ad like this feeling a little unfulfilled. To each his own though I suppose.

 

lol pk, I meant the new posting 3 from the bottom on the first page.

 

Sounds like a potential bubba mobile

 

You are one of the few people who have asked for advice BEFORE purchasing a C3. For that you deserve a lot of credit! I, as well as many others, had no idea forums like this even existed and we purchased our cars FIRST and then came and asked for help.

There is a lot of information you can get from this forum. I will only give you two pieces of advice that are at the top of my list. One, watch out for birdcage rust! Whatever car you decide to look at, ask if you can remove the inside trim around the windshield. Poke at the metal with an awl, (don't hit the glass!). If the awl goes through the metal run away fast. One sign of a problem like this is finding silicone around the outside windshield trim. It means there has been a leak and someone was trying to address it. This work is WAY expensive if you have a shop repair it and is WAY time consuming and requires a lot of skill if you do the repair yourself. There are also other areas of the car where rust tends to occur. Make sure you understand where these areas are and how to inspect them BEFORE buying a car.

Second, I think it is very true that cars that have already been restored, (hopefully properly), will cost MUCH less money overall than buying one that needs work. The cost comes from the labor, and repairs on these cars are labor intensive!

Ok, I'm off my soap box! Good luck with the purchase and I hope you find a nice C3!

 

Since the craigslist add is not very informative, you would need to look over the car realy well. Make sure everything works. Make sure that all the controlls work properly, dont just take the owners word that it works. Do as much research about the particular year as you can either on the web or with a good corvette book
I like this one here is a link to amazon. Corvette C3 1968-1982 Buyers Guide