So recenently I called a guy who was selling a c4 vette.
Im still not for sure whether I want to get a c3 or c4, but ive been checking them both out and taking my time.

Anyway, he was selling a c4 corvette that needed a little work, for 3200. There was a crack above the fiberglass above one of the tires, a big dent in the door, the tach didn't work, and the tires were worn.
I told him I could live with the dent, and maybe fix the crack down the road. Then he starts rattling off these numbers about how much its going to fix all of this, that its going to cost 300 dollars per tire. and about a thousand to fix the crack and the dent. I told him I didn't think that tires would cost nearly that much and there are alot of tires that will fit a vette. He tells me that there is only a certain kind of tire that will fit a vette, and they are 300 dollars a piece. Anyway, he made it seem like I definetly didn't want it since I only have about 3500$ of my own money at the moment, but it didn't seem to bad to me,

Is this guy actually acurate on his 1000$ tire estimate and 1,000$ crack estimate?
I would think You should be able to buy a set of tires for like 400, and that you don't need some super special tire. The dent and crack repair also seemed high but I wasn't sure if I was going to bother fixing that anyway because it really didnt look that bad.

So does he know what hes talking about or is he kind of crazy?

 

tires for the C4 can be difficult to find. I found reasonable ones from tire rack but no body else had any less that $250. check that out because he might not be far off.

I cant speak to glass repair so maybe someone will chime in.

 

Tires for 400 bucks? When was the last time you bought tires? A CHEAP set of rubber will set you back about 100 bucks a tire, add in balancing, mounting and disposal, and you are around 500 bucks. Mind you, thats a lowball estimate.

Body work? Yeah, any time paint is involved you are looking at about a grand for small to minor repairs. Hes not far off.

C4's are ugly. Stick with a C3. (My honest, non judgmental opinion. 8*P)

 

I own a 92 (C4) that i drive quite a bit. Tires, yup you can spend $300 a piece. Directional tires in a 275/40/17 with a Z speed rating are pricey. But you don't have to use them. About $800 will get you into a good tire, most likely non directional. My 92 has been very easy to live with, gets great gas mileage, avg 25 mpg. Very little has gone wrong with it over the past 8 yrs I've owned it. Mine has the LT1 engine, very trouble free. Excellent power.
Now my 72 has cost me nearly $20,000. And I've never driven it a mile yet, just around the block. It will get terrible gas mileage, compared to the 92. Safety features? It has seat belts. I recently bought new tires for it, a directional, name brand in a 17" size, paid $700 for 4. They are much narrower than What a C4 runs. A good tire can make corvettes drive and handle like a sports car should.
Styling of an early C3 like my 72 has a cool factor that a C4 does not. Until you open the hood. The suspension setup in a C4 is race car inspired, and were so fast in scca racing they were deemed unfair and had to run in a separate class formed just for them, aka corvette challenge series.
If you only have 3500 to spend, keep looking. A good C4 without body damage and in better driveable condition can be found. As unfortunately, they are way under valued. Mine wears its original paint in good condition, no body damage, everything works as it should and I'll bet I can only get $6k for it, which is why I still own it. It's a super fun car to drive, handles like a go cart, and doesn't cost much in maintenance. Lots of grins per mile.

 

Unless you can do some work on your own the C3 can get pricey on up keep.

Keep looking there are some better deals out there

 

You need to keep doing your homework on C4s. Unidirectional tires are expensive.

Have you posted your questions on the C4 Forum?

 

I had unidirectional tires on my 87 Formula Firebird, original owner, factory installed. They were around $800 to $1000, early 90's, for a set of 4. My wife was not happy when it came time for new ones...

 

or looked at any on-line tire vendors to see prices?

 

My initial thought was that it doesn't sound like you're in a position right now to be shopping for a Corvette. But then I checked the extreme low end priced stuff on Craigslist--you can actually get into one a lot cheaper than I thought, and which should run and drive for at least some period of time. $3k will actually buy you something that theoretically goes and stops. Just be prepared to come up with funds to fix it after awhile. Still, if having to drop a grand at any given time for major repairs would cause you serious heartache, unless you are capable of making the repairs yourself, you might want to think twice about this. If you save up $5,000, you will more than make up the difference in the quality of vehicle you receive. $3500 buys you a rolling wreck of a Corvette, no matter which way you slice it.

FWIW, $3500 will get you into an very nice '93-'97 F-body with an LT1, and the repair and parts costs are a fraction of a Corvette. It might not look as cool, but it is a far superior vehicle to any C3. C4? Just me perhaps, but I would take a Trans Am over an early C4 any day (blasphemy!).

I'm assuming, of course, that this would be a primary transportation vehicle, or at least a regular driver. If it's just a toy, then none of this really matters as much. Buy something and clean it up as time and funds permit.

 

At least the guy with the C4 is trying to be honest with you. That is not always the case.

If you want a cool car, the C3 is that., but for $3500 you will get a C3 that will need many thousands of green backs put into it. Ask some of the guys on the forum how much money they stuck in their cheap C3. They are old cars and often have problems you can't see on the surface. If money is tight, you may not want to go C3.

If your looking for a daily driver, put a few more bucks together and buy a later model C4. You can find pretty nice cars for reasonable prices. They aren't as sexy as a C3, but they are good cars, and you'll be in a Corvette.

 

I have both and both arent cheap to keep up with. Just put tires on my 88 and got BF Goodrich G Force Comp 2's for 180 bucks a pop this week. Plus balancing etc. Great tire for a C4, Z rated etc. Michelin Pilots would cost another 100 bucks more per tire. These are summer tires but my 88 doesnt go in rain or snow. Dashboards on C4's can get pricey as with other parts. Its best to spend more money on C4 and find something nice vs buying a cheap one and dumping a ton of $$$$ into them. You can find well kept C4's in the 5500-8500 range. The 3-4k cars will take 3-4k to fix and you end up with a ratty car anyway.

 

I work on a lot of C3s & C4s most of them that are driven on a regular basis average $1000 a year some can go 2 or 3 years for a lot less but eventually they need tires, a/c or electronic work and they are back to the average. Even when you do your own work good quality parts are not cheap.
Mark