Need Advice
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From: Garden Grove CA, '95 Coupe, Black...
Need Advice
OK...
I am looking at a 95 with 161k miles. Exterior is close to perfect,seats are rough and need to be re done, drives great. No leaks, unmolested, over all a great car with tons of miles. Looks pretty well maintained, just driven.
or....for the same price,
An 85 with 85k miles in about the same condition due more to age than miles.
The 95 is cheap enough to put money into and still be OK, or is the older lower mile version a better buy?
Thoughts?
I am looking at a 95 with 161k miles. Exterior is close to perfect,seats are rough and need to be re done, drives great. No leaks, unmolested, over all a great car with tons of miles. Looks pretty well maintained, just driven.
or....for the same price,
An 85 with 85k miles in about the same condition due more to age than miles.
The 95 is cheap enough to put money into and still be OK, or is the older lower mile version a better buy?
Thoughts?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,642
Likes: 5
From: One day you're a Comet...the next day you're dust... Arkansas
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!
Joe Kucinski
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 7,858
Likes: 2
As long as its been on a steady diet of Mobil 1 the engine main mechanicals should be okay for a lot more miles. The trans (if an automatic) or clutch (if a 6-speed), however, might go **** up on you soon...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,642
Likes: 5
From: One day you're a Comet...the next day you're dust... Arkansas
Racer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 408
Likes: 0
From: Elkton MD
High miles
My Dad worked in the oil industry and swore that he could diagnose the condition of an engine by smelling the oil on the dipstick.
Try it. It's really easy once you've got your sniffer calibrated with a POS.
Also, look into the valve cover via the oil fill cap. If it's clean, it's OK.
Running gear will be very worn unless previous owners kept up with it. Small change though for a $6000 '95. Go for it.
PS Most of my cars had 100,000 on them when I bought them - except for the new '66 Impala and the Corvette.
Try it. It's really easy once you've got your sniffer calibrated with a POS.
Also, look into the valve cover via the oil fill cap. If it's clean, it's OK.
Running gear will be very worn unless previous owners kept up with it. Small change though for a $6000 '95. Go for it.
PS Most of my cars had 100,000 on them when I bought them - except for the new '66 Impala and the Corvette.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,348
Likes: 233
From: SCMR Rat Pack'r Charter Member..Great Bend KS
One other thing; you'll probably find more mechanics willing to put some TLC in on the '95 than on an '85....human nature being what it is.
Larry
code5coupe
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 6,715
Likes: 2
From: Santa Teresa New Mexico
OK...
I am looking at a 95 with 161k miles. Exterior is close to perfect,seats are rough and need to be re done, drives great. No leaks, unmolested, over all a great car with tons of miles. Looks pretty well maintained, just driven.
or....for the same price,
An 85 with 85k miles in about the same condition due more to age than miles.
The 95 is cheap enough to put money into and still be OK, or is the older lower mile version a better buy?
Thoughts?
I am looking at a 95 with 161k miles. Exterior is close to perfect,seats are rough and need to be re done, drives great. No leaks, unmolested, over all a great car with tons of miles. Looks pretty well maintained, just driven.
or....for the same price,
An 85 with 85k miles in about the same condition due more to age than miles.
The 95 is cheap enough to put money into and still be OK, or is the older lower mile version a better buy?
Thoughts?
A $80,000 Mercedes will cost $80,000 to make it like new.
No-one wants a high mileage Mercedes for that very reason.
When I look for a car any car I never look at cars with over 100k miles.
A $6000.00 bargain Corvette will cost you more in the long run to own and maintain than a nice low mileage Corvette.
A car with 161,000 miles is due for some serious money.
A 95 Corvettes opti spank can cost $2k.
Trans $2k.
Tires $1000.
Seats $1000.
Buy a nice car and enjoy it. Or buy a piggy bank with a hole in the bottom.
No matter how money you dump into a 161,000 mile car it will always have too many miles.
Try and sell a Corvette with 170,000 miles.
Low mileage cars cost more for a reason................
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
I cannot disagree with redwing at all. As a matter of fact, aminnich's comments notwithstanding, think about this: if the car cks out fine, and if you are told it only needs, say, 1500 worth of repairs, would you be shocked if in 6 months it needed 5K of stuff?
Why? Because they, the techs told you it was a-ok? Because it'd been well taken care of? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.
And I think these may be some of the questions you have to ask yourself: am I ready for anything to happen in the next week after I buy it, the next month, the next year?
And am I willing to keep pumping money into the car by the hundreds or more, if it happens every month?
And finally, if it gets to be too much to spend on it, how much am I willing to spend to get it in shape to even sell it for close to what I bought it for?
I think that's what redwing is really trying to show you, altho I'm not trying to put words in his mouth.
Why? Because they, the techs told you it was a-ok? Because it'd been well taken care of? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.
And I think these may be some of the questions you have to ask yourself: am I ready for anything to happen in the next week after I buy it, the next month, the next year?
And am I willing to keep pumping money into the car by the hundreds or more, if it happens every month?
And finally, if it gets to be too much to spend on it, how much am I willing to spend to get it in shape to even sell it for close to what I bought it for?
I think that's what redwing is really trying to show you, altho I'm not trying to put words in his mouth.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 7,706
Likes: 485
From: Everett WA
C4 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
In my view, how the car was maintained and how it was driven are much more important than the mileage itself. I've put more than 100K on every car I've owned over the past 40 years.
What you are comparing is a 12 year old car with a 22 year old car. The systems in the 95 are much more sophisticated than those in the 85 and in MHO the 95 will prove to be a much better handling and more comfortable ride than the 85.
That being said ...... all Vettes are relatively expensive to maintain and you should be prepaired to drop several grand into either one at any time.
I would advise you to go with the 95 but then again I'm a bit biased
PS check this out. Andy writes excellent tech articles: http://home.comcast.net/~abbogus/Buyers_Guide.pdf
What you are comparing is a 12 year old car with a 22 year old car. The systems in the 95 are much more sophisticated than those in the 85 and in MHO the 95 will prove to be a much better handling and more comfortable ride than the 85.
That being said ...... all Vettes are relatively expensive to maintain and you should be prepaired to drop several grand into either one at any time.
I would advise you to go with the 95 but then again I'm a bit biased
PS check this out. Andy writes excellent tech articles: http://home.comcast.net/~abbogus/Buyers_Guide.pdf
Last edited by Mr. Peabody; Jan 25, 2007 at 01:00 AM. Reason: added the PS
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,691
Likes: 71
From: Phoenix Arizona
Opti spark $2000? I don't think so. IT'S A DISTRIBUTER CAP AND ROTOR WITH A CRANK (cam) SENSOR. That's it! They sell them at Autozone. 4hr shop labor! If you can work on a car these are probably good deals, if you can't and/or want a warranty buy new! Do older/used cars break, YES. that's why they sell new ones (for $45k up)