patsfan

Hello Every-one again ,
This is the Car im picking up tommarow evening. Checking the latest post you all seem to know your stuff . Would you all be so kind and tell me if this is worth it ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

( I hope the link works I'm kinda new to this )

I offered him $5500.00 for it. I'm not real knowledgeable when it comes to cars and am wondering if the crossfire will be over my head or very expensive to keep up and going. I have always dreamed of owning a Corvette and im very excited about the low miles and work that has already been done to this vette .

Any input would be greatly apprciated,

PatsFan

mikey whipreck

That car looks good, but I'd like to see the engine... If he did that much to the outside I'd wonder what the engine compartment looks like.

Assuming it runs/drives as good as it looks, I think that's a fair price.

You might wanna try the xfire forums if you want to know alot of details about that engine, I've got an '85 (TPI) so i'm not very familiar with that... I'm sure other 84's owners will chime in.

trueblue92

If the guy is honest about and has proof that he put $9000 into the car in the past year, then it seems like a really good deal. He replaced many items that typically break down or wear out on the car. If there are no engine or tranny problems then you will have a nice car. I wonder how bad the interior is. If the car truly has 56k miles, it shouldn't look like too bad.

However if it looks like a lion and a tiger duked it out on those seats, you might want to question those miles. Remember that there is no spot for 100,000 miles on the odometer. I had a guy try to sell me an 86 vette with 43,000 miles on it and I was sure it was really 143,000.

Anyway, my biggest question is if this guy is so crazy about blackout kits and painting the wheels black , then why on earth didn't he tint those windows?!!

newbecorvetteguy

1st, I hope you didn't make a commitment to buy sight unseen. 2nd, seems like an awfull lot of repairs have been done for a car with 56k miles on it. From the list of stuff he says been replaced or overhauled it sounds more like a car that has 256k miles on it to me. Seems like it should be worth what you offered but proceed with caution. I don't know my stuff but been around long enough to know to be very sceptical of any used car deal. If it has a salvage or reconstruct title stay away from it. jmo

patsfan

Hello ,

Wow thanks for the quick replies. I havent committed ( well given any $ yet ) I'm making the 260 mile trip tommarow to look/ pick up ( hopefully ).

The guy selling it seems honest enough via email and phonecalls. He has recently moved and purchased his house so no longer has time or $ for it ( I think I would make time after 9000.00 invested ).

He says that the intereior is in such ruff shape do to being park and not driven allot in Florida . Would Floridas sun mess ip a Interior bad ? This is a 1984 so its 20 + years old.

I didn't realize that there was no 100,000 digit on the dash. That makes me much more uncomfortable about the car. Is there any hints you can give me about the car to let me know if its older then what was said ? I'm not knowledable about car @ all .

Thanks for all your help already every-one ,

PatsFan

86C4EVER

Welcome to the Forum.
As far as value goes, Corvette Mag. for July stated approximate values for 84 to be:
Crummy $2,900
Decent $4,400
Great $6,400
Fabulous $9,900
Add $200 for transparent roof panel.

I am not sure where your car would fall out, but most people tend to overestimate their cars. (If you think it is great, it is probably just decent.)
If the guy does have receipts for $9K, that would impact the price, but generally, it does not matter how much someone spends to make a car great or fabulous, the car is still only worth the rating, not what was spent on it.
Having said all of that, if you have bought the car and it is only decent or even crummy, I have no doubt you will get your moneys worth of enjoyement out of it.
If you still can, get the car checked out before you pay for it.
Enjoy.
Fred

papidos

I agree with the other member who questioned the amount of replacement done to the car with only 56K. I'm new to vettes but I shopped a lot and I finally settelled on an 86 convertible with 70K that was mint and the interior was an 8 on a scale of 1-10. My vette came from FL too. Even with the FL heat the vette you're considering is a coupe so it's not as exposed to the sun as a rag top. I can't understand how the interior could have deteriorated so much in 56K. Those leather seats are about 1K to replace just the cushions and what else may have to be replaced like the digital dash??$$. My experience on ebay with sellers who don't show pictures of the interior and engine compartment do so by design because they don't want to show it. You may want to keep shopping. I've seen many nice c4 coupes on ebay that are in tact and in excellent original shape for just a little more money. Since you're going there in person you'll be in a good position to determine what's best. Whatever you decide to do I wish you the best of Luck with your Vette.

cmashark

sounds silly, but one of the things i look at are the pedals. if the pedal pads are worn, i would question the mileage. didn't he say that he replaced the digital dash? isn't the odometer attached to that? ask the mileage and the mileage on the dash.

chris

CentralCoaster

Doesn't look like it. I can't say without pics of the interior and closeups of paint.

You can't live with garbage inside or out, and there's no cheap way around them.

New seat covers alone will cost you $900. Carpet is $400 I believe?

CentralCoaster

And after reading your second post, I'd walk away from it. Not even accounting for the interior, the 'sittiing for awhile' part is what worries me. Sounds alot like the 'low mileage pristine' c4 I purchased.

richdwyer

Get a carfax report on car. Should be able to tell if miles are actual or not.

85 500 horse

Before you purchase this car, make sure you want the crossfire engine. This is the only year for that type of engine. Anything later had the TPI setup, which lasted for several years and in my opinion is much better.

Don't buy this car because it's cheap and you want a Vette now. You WILL be sorry if this is your reasoning. It does need work and unless you do it yourself, it won't be cheap. And you're pretty much guaranteed to spend money on things that the owner "inadvertently" omitted.

Be careful.

Aquaman92

20 years of Fl sun and heat if the car was not garaged would fade the paint and dry out the carpet and seats causing cracking and fadeing.Good luck

newbecorvetteguy

Not silly at all. Checking the wear on the pedals has always been a good way to sort the low milers from the high milers. Still have to watch out. Some sellers are aware of that too and replace the rubber on the pedels. Done that myself though I've never misrepresented the mileage on a car I've sold. Just makes it look like it hasn't been used much.

runner140*

It looks like a good deal. And most important, his feedback is 100% on 150 sales. Can't get much better than that.

LT1Vetteguy78

Well, its more like 50 things he sold and 100 things he bought...but still 100% postive feedback on 50 sales is well perfect.....someone like that doesn't want to ruin there ebay rep,..

Don't buy the car until you drive it and its acceptable to your liking........IMO find a car closer to you rather then driving 250 miles.....or maybe have someone go inspect it for you who lives closer....

patsfan

Wow again thanks for all of the reply's this forum rules !!!!

Anything else I should be looking for when I inspect / Test drive this car ?

Thanks again every-one ,
PatsFan

AORoads

I'd like to repeat some things:
1. only one person said get a carfax, or experian autocheck--do it. it may, stress may, tell you about the car.
2. as far as get more local car, it'd be nice but not always possible. i just picked mine up 900 miles away, a plane ride and two cabs. it can be done, and it can be good, or at least mutually beneficial.
3. that cross fire, one year only thing, is a big one: it means that parts are going to be just a bit more scarce than tpi. scarce sometimes equals more costly. or not at all existent.
4. the one about doing work yourself or having others do it at more cost is also a good one to listen to.
5. i'm sure an e bay reputation is important, but so what? if he has one bad mark against him out of 51, it doesn't make his reputation go down the drain. think about that.
6. i used a chev dealership known for its corvette knowledge and sales as my "inspector" since i only know a little. otherwise, i would have found someone local from a corvette club or a local independent corvette repair shop to ck out the car. you might want to consider that. $150 for a qualified, knowledgeable tech or repair guy who knows Vettes vs. $5600 is a good deal to me.
7. $1300 for an interior to begin with, hmm, i'd think about that really carefully. that's just to get you behind the wheel without your thinking, geez, this thing looks like garbagio. and that's just to start.
8. bring back the vin or pm me; i still have access to experian's autocheck.

and don't buy it because he's a good guy or seems honest. buy it because it's the car you want, in the condition you understand, at a price you want to pay. oh, and good luck and tell us how it turns out.

patsfan

Hello Guys ,

Here's the Vin that you asked for
1G1AY0789E5118110

The drive down there isnt going to be bad for me (even if I dont get it ) . My wife and myself love road trips. ( If I dont purchase maybe I'll be able to find one on the way back lol ) If purchased I will be driving it back though. He says with out a doubt it wont have any problems with the long drive back. ( but again he is trying to sell it ).

bringing it to the Chevy dealership down there is a great idea and would be worth 100.00 spent to make sure its in good order.
Any-1 from N.SmithField and know the addy to a dealership in N. Smithfield RI ? that way I can do a mapquest fropm his house to it b4 i make the trip ?

Thanks again for all your help ,
Patsfan

patsfan

I've also looked up other 84 Vettes and there is the 100'000 digit on the dash which makes me feel a bit more comfortable.

Thanks again all ,
Patsfan