I wouldn’t say I’m trying to buy a cheap car, just trying to buy a decent rubber bumper at a decent price to go with my C5Z - what that price is, I don’t know. I do know that one of my first posts here was about what appeared to be a very nice ‘76 or so priced at $17k, and most of those comments blasted that price as being way too high for any rubber bumper. So I put my budget at $10k, have looked at eight turds so far, and now am told I need to increase my budget. So where is the sweet spot? Very nice driver at an acceptable price? I do appreciate all of the comments and have learned a ton from everyone here in C3 so far. Jeff

 

Jeff, there seems to be a lot going on in this thread which may have allowed it to get somewhat side-tracked. I think part of the problem is within the C3 world, or any corvette era for that matter, there are going to be cars that are more desirable and some that are less so. Chrome vs rubber bumpers, for example. There are a number of other items/issues that will likewise increase or decrease the value and make no mistake; you'll get a variety of opinions as to what a "fair" price is. Honestly, though, there's nothing wrong with that since people value things differently and that is, after all, what makes a market.

Your original question was whether a stock '76 with 85,000 miles represented a lot of miles for a car of that age. I'm 54, and like you, I remember when we we young that once cars got to 70,000 miles, owners normally considered it to be on death's door and would look to sell the vehicle before anything horrific occurred. And God forbid you ever buy a car with 100,000 miles on it! As to your question; 85,000 miles is not necessarily a lot of miles for a car that's 40+ years old, but it is a fair number of miles on a motor independent of the age. As I said in an earlier post, it's nearly impossible to assess whether that motor will need a rebuild now or years from now. So many factors impact the condition of the motor that anyone telling you otherwise is guessing, at best. As to whether there exists any 40 year-old cars with less than 50,000 miles on them outside of a museum; of course there are! And others have pointed this out through examples. Remember, there are no absolutes! Also, be aware, that there is always the possibility that at some point during the lifetime of that car, someone disconnected the odometer, rendering the 85,000 mile reading complete fiction. But we don't know. That's where we get to my second point I made; you should assume that you will need to rebuild that motor sooner rather than later. Best case; you don't. Worst case; you have it in your budget.

My recommendation would be to set a budget for what you are comfortable spending to buy a car and set a budget for what you are comfortable spending on the car to repair/upgrade it as you see fit. You don't need to know exactly what's wrong with the car; you just need to know that "something" is likely wrong. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be cautious, it just means you should understand that there's almost certainly something lurking as an unpleasant surprise. I believe that if you start here, you'll be better able to determine the "value" of the cars you look at, warts and all. Of course, everyone here would be happy to offer "price versus value" opinions should you find something that piques your interest.

Hope this helps, good luck with your search. Peace.

Peter

 

How wide of a net are you casting? I drove 5 hours to buy my wife's 79, bought it, then took turns driving it home (at night in a thunderstorm, of course). My 80 was 2 1/2 hours away.

I'd consider driving for these three cars. None is a 74-77 coupe, but all are 4-speeds.

https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto...064767809.html
https://greenville.craigslist.org/ct...059667773.html
https://tricities.craigslist.org/atq...059254576.html

Mileage is just a number at this point. So is asking price on Craigslist. Condition is what matters, especially for the parts that are difficult and expensive to fix (rust and paint). Bushings are easy if you enjoy a bit of DIY.

 

JeffNReg..

The fact that your cars stay in your garage and get driven so little puts your garage in the category of "Museum", I believe. Look, if you have low mileage cars that are driven very little after 40+ years, those can be considered a rarity. There are folks who do it that way, but there is little difference between that and what Jay Leno does with his---except for the vast disparity in finances....

 

,,
Really, plenty of info here to make your purchace, don't get overwhelmed,,
this is all I can add,,,,

 

I've noticed lately that rubber bumpers (74-77) have increased in price and chrome bumpers have come down.
Good luck with your search Jeff.