A little preplexed.....
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 905
Likes: 0
From: Started out together Now we're both retired
St. Jude Donor '06
A little preplexed.....
I've owned my 96 LT1 about 2 months now. The car, purely stock, runs really great. I log on to the board daily for fun and info. I am surprised when I read so many posts about the apparent fragility of the Corvette. It seems like so many things can ot do go wrong, and many sound like a money pit. It might be a Corvette but it is still a chevrolet. I've owned 27 cars since 1959, many chevy's, some with 350's. Mostly normal things happened to them. I know the CR of 10.5/1 is a tad high, but 300 HP out of 350 ci isn't that big a push(or is it). Is it the car or the way they are driven, since the 'vet is a perfomance car. Mine has 58K on it and I have had a few drops of oil show up on the garage floor. Mabey its the Mobil 1. I am planning to take a trip down to Texas this spring, about 1300 miles. Now I'm getting doubious about taking the 'vet, but I will. Just some thoughts.chimknee
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Probably because most people on here such as myself dont really know what to look for when it comes down to troubleshooting EFI; It can seem downright frustrating to a car guy when you "fix" what you think it should be only to find it was something totally different. Sort of like Calculus. I don't get it! They seem evil until you understand them. I'd take it on that trip! 
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
Originally Posted by chimknee
I've owned my 96 LT1 about 2 months now. The car, purely stock, runs really great.
Back to business, the one thing on the later C4's that seems to be a valid "weak link" on the engine is the OptiSpark unit....other than that, they are good 'ole bellet proof american Iron(and....*SIGH*....aluminum)......
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 8,700
Likes: 298
From: Ft. Lauderdale Fl
Most of the posts.....
Most of the posts are from people who are having problems. There are many of us who have no problems. Many of us use our vettes as daily drivers and some have over 200000 miles. I have a 1996 and wouldn't hesitate to put on a 1300 mile road trip. Make sure you take your emergency gear ( cell phone,credit card,AAA card and a can of fix-a-flat.)
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,101
Likes: 0
From: Orange TX
Originally Posted by elefkow
Most of the posts are from people who are having problems. There are many of us who have no problems. Many of us use our vettes as daily drivers and some have over 200000 miles. I have a 1996 and wouldn't hesitate to put on a 1300 mile road trip. Make sure you take your emergency gear ( cell phone,credit card,AAA card and a can of fix-a-flat.)
JMO
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,252
Likes: 6
From: The Colony Tx
I have an 88 with 130K + and would not hesitate to take it anywhere. Yes they break, but not any worse than anything else. Like another post said, it is the owners not the car.
Most on here have wanted a Vette for years and when they finally get one it is a 'BIG' deal and they try to turn a 10+ year old car into a new car. While that is not a bad thing, it does seem like a lot of things go wrong. And when they do they seem to happen in bunches, rear hatch release problems right now.
Just remember, it is a Chevy. Enjoy it for what it can give you and don't worry in advance. As it developes it's own personality it will give you plenty of little honey-do's to keep you happy and busy on the weekends.
Most on here have wanted a Vette for years and when they finally get one it is a 'BIG' deal and they try to turn a 10+ year old car into a new car. While that is not a bad thing, it does seem like a lot of things go wrong. And when they do they seem to happen in bunches, rear hatch release problems right now.
Just remember, it is a Chevy. Enjoy it for what it can give you and don't worry in advance. As it developes it's own personality it will give you plenty of little honey-do's to keep you happy and busy on the weekends.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,699
Likes: 2
From: The Black Hole LA
Well also look at it this way. Most of the people on here are 'car guys' with corvettes that they have dreamed of owning since they were kids so they want them to be as close to perfect as possible. That being said most of the little things that we dwell on and fix normal people with ordinary cars would simply let go or in alot of cases not even know anything was wrong. Like you said about the small oil leak it developed, most people don't even notice stuff like that, and they sure wouldn't know about the mobile 1 oil as the probable culprit.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 125
From: Dunstable MA
St. Jude Donor '05
As with all cars, there are things that go with age and mileage. Most cars that border or surpass 10 years old aren't worth the $ or the emotional investment, so they just slip away.
Most other cars aren't diddled with as much as some of the vettes mentioned on this site are either. For instance, I would be interested to find out how many of the major drivetrain issues talked about here have been partly due to modifications or a few good sessions of loving abuse along the way.
My 87 has experienced only normal equipment failures for a car its age (mufflers, brakes, cat, alternator, water pump, clutch, U-joint, heater core , lotsa switches) in my 5 years of ownership, and it has almost 160K on the clock. The rest of what I've done with it has been mostly cosmetic stuff.
Most other cars aren't diddled with as much as some of the vettes mentioned on this site are either. For instance, I would be interested to find out how many of the major drivetrain issues talked about here have been partly due to modifications or a few good sessions of loving abuse along the way.
My 87 has experienced only normal equipment failures for a car its age (mufflers, brakes, cat, alternator, water pump, clutch, U-joint, heater core
, lotsa switches) in my 5 years of ownership, and it has almost 160K on the clock. The rest of what I've done with it has been mostly cosmetic stuff.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,648
Likes: 1
From: Denham Springs Louisiana
Let's face it...our C4's are getting older. I don't see that as a bad thing though. I love it when people ask me if my 96 is a 2001 or 2002 model. Next year my Vette turns 10 years old but she will have a 2 year old engine. My Vette was 43,000 brand-new and if I was gonna sell it...I wouldn't take less than 20K being it has a brand-new engine and all. With all that said though...I have come to expect some expenses with owning an older Corvette. I'm lucky enough now not to have to use her as a daily driver. To sum it up...owning a Corvette is fun and sometimes expensive...but the good times outweigh the bad! 
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
St. Jude Donor '05
Shoot, mine's a 90 and its in damn good shape for a 15 year old car.
I think if you really read into many of the posts, the problems aren't about total disasters, as much as optimizing the machine. When I visit this forum, I see literally hundreds of beautiful C4 vettes.
I think if you really read into many of the posts, the problems aren't about total disasters, as much as optimizing the machine. When I visit this forum, I see literally hundreds of beautiful C4 vettes.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,286
Likes: 2
From: Stamping Ground KY
This is the largest forum dedicated to one model of car in the world, that means there are going to be a lot of people with the same problem.
Also, these cars are 9-19 years old, something has to break sometime and Corvette repairs are more than most economy cars.
Also, these cars are 9-19 years old, something has to break sometime and Corvette repairs are more than most economy cars.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,954
Likes: 2
From: Obama=death for America
Originally Posted by chimknee
I've owned my 96 LT1 about 2 months now. The car, purely stock, runs really great. I log on to the board daily for fun and info. I am surprised when I read so many posts about the apparent fragility of the Corvette. It seems like so many things can ot do go wrong, and many sound like a money pit. It might be a Corvette but it is still a chevrolet. I've owned 27 cars since 1959, many chevy's, some with 350's. Mostly normal things happened to them. I know the CR of 10.5/1 is a tad high, but 300 HP out of 350 ci isn't that big a push(or is it). Is it the car or the way they are driven, since the 'vet is a perfomance car. Mine has 58K on it and I have had a few drops of oil show up on the garage floor. Mabey its the Mobil 1. I am planning to take a trip down to Texas this spring, about 1300 miles. Now I'm getting doubious about taking the 'vet, but I will. Just some thoughts.chimknee