You'd think being in the Army, I'd get my fill of C4. But I guess not. I'm in the market for a new car (or will be once I get home from this deployment). It was jokingly suggested that I take a look at Corvettes. As much to kill time as anything else, I did. And was surprised. I looked mostly at C5's though. I have always had a thing for C4's though.

So I must ask, would a C4 make a good Daily Driver? Are they reliable? Easy to work on? What kind of gas mileage could one expect? After market? Pretty much, any and all information you could offer a hopefully Vette buyer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

They're great daily drivers providing you don't live in the snow belt
and do not have a need to haul around alot of people or things. I've owned three C4's a 85, 89 and now a 93. The best advice I can give you is to buy the newest nicest Corvette you can afford. The C4 is not a pleasure to work on but I doubt much anything else is either.
Gas mileage is o.k. 17-20 city and 28-30 highway as long as you aren't driving it like a Corvette. The C4 and C5 are very different, go and drive both.

 

Many fourm members use their C4's as DD's. You can do it, too.

I hope you pull the trigger on one. Don't forget to look in the C4 For Sale Forum....
There's only one general rule; get the latest C4 you can. (Unless you have a preference for the early interiors or exterior styling) The later cars benefitted from more development. But, they are going for more $$, too....

Larry
code5coupe

 

The gas milage is good. They are fairly easy to work on if you have a set of tools and a little mechanical ability. You can get all the instructions here, you don't have to rely on a mechanic you don't know.

The C4's reliability is probably the same as any other good car its age.

I'd buy one that's low milage, and was not a DD. You want one that's been maintained well and treated nice, not beat. Just my .02

 

I agree with the comments made so far. I bought a low mileage C4 and it has been my daily driver ever since. It had 24k miles put on it over the first 11 years of its existence. I have put another 4500 on it in the past 7 months. I have been traveling a lot for work or it would be a lot more.

 

Ever break off a small chunk of the stuff and light it?, burns hotter than H#LL. heats up c rations well, by the way, Welcome

 

My C4's my daily driver, but he's got a good point. Virginia's not the snow belt, but even with our weather, the Vette is definitely not the greatest in snow. First time it snowed this year, I was sideways more than once before I figured out how to handle it a little better. Even now, it's not nearly as much fun to drive in the snow as on dry pavement.

And I get about 25 mpg for straight highway driving; in NVA stall-and-crawl, it's more like 14.

Regards,
Hal

 

Mine is not a dd......it's a sunny day, weekender. If I didn't have so much stuff to haul around though.....would drive it every day.
Lots o' people around here talk about how hard it is to work on the vettes.
I have to disagree (yeah, I haven't had the opportunity to replace the heater core............YET). I don't have any problems working on mine. I may have and advantage though, my dd is a 1 ton diesel van with a 7.3L crowbarred into the spot they stick a normal sized engine into (2 of the injectors have to be dismantled while still in the engine before being able to pull them out). Hey, that's the way they built the ugly beast (I just get to work on it occassionaly).

Mine is getting about 19 mpg (but it does need a tune up)and lately I have had a bit of cement in my accelerator foot (gotta have fun with it sometimes......after all, it is a VETTE!!! ).
Reliability is as good as the overall routine maintenance one would give any car (with the occassional hiccup (again.....as is with any car)). Wait 10k between every oil change.......not going to last long. Can't comment on the aftermarket end of things (I am keeping mine about as stock as I possibly can).

Good luck with hunt for a new car!!!!!!!
Ask questions around here and don't forget the search engine (it really can be of great value).

 

If you're looking for a C4 as a daily driver look for a well maintained car with service records. You'll want it to look nice but since it'll be a DD you don't need a show car paint job. Prices are still declining in some areas but are much closer to the bottom than a C5.

The C4 had five different engines, L83 Crossfire (84 0nly), L98 (85 - 91) LT1 (92 - 96) LT4 (96 6 speed only) and LT5 (90 - 95), so do some research. And as someone else said the C4 and C5 are different cars; drive both before you start a serious search.

As for working on a C4 if you have some mechanical ability, the right tools, the FSM, this forum and the time you can probably do most of the work yourself.

 

i used my C4 as a daily driver for a while.... but in the end i was not driving to places i had too (shops etc) cos i was always thinking something bad was going to happen to it. other than my twisted mind, the C4 is an ok daily driver
just my.02 cents

 

I know this may sound like a silly question (and it probably is), but are there any factors that would make a C4 a better choice than a C5? Price would seem to be one, but in some early searching I've found some people think C4's are worth as much as much newer Vettes.

Another question. I know it may be hard to describe online, but how do a C4 and a C5 differ? In terms of how they feel.

 

In my opinion...and I've driven several C5's...the C5 makes a better DD because it's more like a normal sedan (in everything but performance). You are correct: the C4's advantage is price; MOST C4's are significantly cheaper than MOST C5's.

It's better riding, has easier ingress and egress, is quieter, has a little better vision than a C4. As a sports car, this may not be an advantage, but as a DD it sure is.
They feel...well, different. You'd have to drive both to understand.

It would be like me trying to describe how an apple smells.

Larry
code5coupe

 

Go with a C5 if it will be your primary transportation. I got my C4 as a sports car/toy and it fits that bill. No way I would use it every day.

 

age does ugly things

 

And don't forget a C5 convertable has a trunk!

 

My 93 is worth as least as much as a 2003 Z06. Anyone want to trade?

 

Ever try to pull a 20" bass boat behind a Corvette.

 

i wouldn't use a sports car for utilitarian reasons. totally wrong genre of automobile. you didn't actually try that, did you?

 

All you have to do is sit in both...and you will immediately see one of the biggest differences. C4 is more of "classic" sportscar feel...almost have to pour yourself into it. The C5 feels like any other modern sports car, IMO. The handling does differ, but it depends upon what you believe is "better". The stock power of a C5, even the base LS1, is generally superior to what you will get out of a C4, with a couple possible exceptions.

I have owned both. As suggested, if you are considering both, drive several of both generations. There is no other real way to make such a decison. Good luck...but you can't go wrong with a vette!

 

I think you would buy a C4 for its looks, sportscar feel, lower price, and their age is beginning to get up there, so for a little bit of nostalgia. You would be more likely to buy a C5 for performance and refinement. The C5 does everything the C4 does well just a little better. The electronics are more complex in a C5 but you have things the C4s don't like the heads up display and memory package. If I were to drive one every day it would be a C5 for its refinement. But I'm really happy with my 96 for a weekend car. Any C5 you buy over $20,000 will have some major depreciating to go. The fun factor is about the same for both generations.