I have a 1980 L82 that I love. I am thinking of buying a C4 that I can use as a daily driver and keep the 1980 for weekends. I found a 1996 w/135,000 miles. Any thoughts on a car with these miles? I am not that familiar with the C4's.

 

My 85 has 147K and its fine. If the car was maintained, there should be no worries.

 

My 96 has 160,000 We won't talk about the oil leak. Other than that it runs great.

 

I would be more worried about how the miles were put on the car. I bought my '85 with 111,000 on it and drove it with the original L98 in it until 140,000 (not because it blew up, I wanted more power so I had it replaced). When my original engine was disassembled, the camshaft didn't show any major signs of wear and there wasn't even a ridge in the cylinders of the block. As far as the LT-1, you're off to a good start with the '96 (and '95). This is as good as the C4 gets (vented Opti-Spark and other refinements). If you decide to buy the car, have it checked out and keep in mind as the miles go up, things do wear out. Good luck with you're new purchase!

 

Excellent points! Take his advice.

 

A 96 with 135,000 miles? How much? It all depends on the price.
After 100k miles the resale prices take a nose dive.
The reason is the cars with 100k+ could be costly to maintain.

Cars have a engineered life cycle.
If it was me I wont look at a car with over 100k.

A C4 is a lot more complicated than a C3.
A 96 with 135k miles should be listed for less than $8,000 and there won't be many takers at that price.

Miles make or break a sale depending on the price.

 

They are fun,but definitly way needier than a c3!!!

 

Don't listen to that guy about the price. I paid a good price for my 95 and it had 97,000 miles on it. Now it has 108,000, and it has been a great vette. I talked with someone at a car paint shop who said he thought I was his friend driving up. I asked what his friend had. He said, "He has a 94." I asked, "How many miles?" He responded, "134,000 miles." I inquired, "How much did he pay?" He said, "$10,400. And the vette is in excellent condition." And...it was a coupe. So people are willing to pay a good price for a vette that has been well maintained. If the price were below 8,000 for a 96 w/ 130K, then I would be suspicious about the history and maintenance.

Good luck.

 

www.kbb.com 96 Cpe: 135k miles
Good $10,325
Fair $9,175.
At a wholesale auction back of book would be $8,000 to $8,500.

 

As already mentioned, a 96 Corvette is an excellent choice of Corvettes. My preference is the older ones, but if the car you're looking at has an excess of 100K miles, you must do an in-depth check of all systems before purchasing a potential money bleeder. How many people owned this car? Where was the car for most of its life (east coast usually equals rust)? What's the maintenance, accident and repair history?

At minimum, do a Carfax check. If it were me and I was looking at purchasing a car that had an excess of 100K miles, I'd be certain to have a compression test done. Any competent mechanic can easily do this. If the seller doesn't want this done or tries to sway you from having the check checked out, that is a pretty good indication that he's probably attempting to hide something and that something can very well be serious.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with purchasing a car that has more than 100K miles as long as you are aware of the fact that these cars need more TLC than cars with less mileage. If you cannot do maintenance beyond the simple oil change, you may want to re-think your purchase and look for a low mileage 96. They are out there, but it may take some time to find one and you will undoubtedly spend more $ for it.

 

If he has good documentation on maintenance and repairs, go for it.

You're better off with a maintained 130K car than one with 75K where the parts are starting to fail.

 

Check this one out:
www.craigslist.com
1996 coupe, blk over gry, 102,000 $10,500 obo.
Lago Vista TX. 512 844 7146

 

I think it's too many miles for a daily driver.

 

Great advice from all. I am going to have a life long Corvette mechanic look at the car and go through the service records if they exist. One thought on the thread that seems to be constant is the maintanence history. If there are incomplete records, I am walking away.
Thanks!

 

as long as the car was maintained well it could last well into the 2 or 300's. these cars are meant to be driven and it makes me sad to hear all these people brag about their low miles. what's the point of having a car like this if you don't enjoy driving.

 

Low miles:
www.craigslist.com bay area:
Yellow ZR-1 63,000 miles/ blk inside. $20,500
831 457 0115 Santa Cruz Ca.

 

I have had 3 corvettes and the low milage car ran just like the high milage ones. Most people modify and replace parts anyway so why not pay half the price for the high milage car and get the performance parts you want to replace the worn parts vice paying a premium for the low milage then replacing good parts.
As a daily driver I think the high milage ones are better than a low milage car. Cars that sit have just as many problems as ones that are used everyday. The systems on an older low milage car are still prone to failure.

My latest daily driver has 150k and counting.

Jeff

 

I bought my 85 with 140K off ebay. I placed a really low bid and was surprised (terrified) that I won it. I figured it would be a project car. I have been surprised how a tune up and transmission fluid change has brought this back to life. After the paint job I started using it as my DD. I take it on 6 hr long trips with no problems. Good on gas also.