I always thought of a commuter car as a Kia, Hyundai, Toyota or other small econobox car. Something cheap to maintain and something you really don't give a flying f--k about when it gets dirty, dented or scratched. A vintage Corvette doesn't fit that bill in my opinion. I just think you need to look at other choices for a commuter car.

 

Your choice of daily drivers is part of the reason the US auto companies are sucking wind. Corvettes were made to drive C4 are great road cars take yours for a ride

 

OK. You're right. Maybe a small Chevy or Ford might fit the bill. I don't like foreign cars either. Small foreign cars just seem like cheap little scrappy cars that no one buys for comfort or pleasure. Just commuting.

 

Maybe its just me...

You have a 1988 Corvette and unless it is a 35th Anniversary Edition in pristine condition, it loses value every year whether you drive it or if its a "garage queen". There is nothing particularly rare or "collectable" about this car so why wouldn't you just drive it and enjoy it? With a car of that age, mileage really doesn't make a huge difference in its value... if that's what you are worried about.

If you are concerned with how well the car will hold up, I think you might be selling your car short! Remember, Corvettes, generally speaking, represent the state of the art automotive technology at the time it was built (at least as far as GM is concerned). Sure, they are going to need maintenance and a Corvette is going to more expensive to maintain than an "average" car, but it really is not a delicate machine that needs to be molly-coddled. It was designed and built to be driven. At 70 mph, my '91 isn't even taching at 2000 rpm so it isn't even breaking a sweat and there is still plenty of pedal left for those times when I need it.

Owning a Corvette is cool. Driving it is even cooler!

 

When I had the 88 I drove it 20 miles each way for commuting.
I'd drive it on a 1500 mile trip. The only thing I did was replace all the fluids when I bought it and kept up the maintenance.

 

[QUOTE=1991-C4;1573852340]Maybe its just me...

You have a 1988 Corvette and unless it is a 35th Anniversary Edition in pristine condition, it loses value every year whether you drive it or if its a "garage queen". There is nothing particularly rare or "collectable" about this car so why wouldn't you just drive it and enjoy it? With a car of that age, mileage really doesn't make a huge difference in its value... if that's what you are worried about.




So in other words you are saying 95% of all the 1988 Corvettes out there are not worth collecting? Collecting to some of us means buying a toy for ourselves because we like it. How many more years do you feel it will be before this 95% of the 88's will be completely worthless? Most of us with any year Corvette feel it's rare or collectable just because it's a Corvette. Something that at some time most people would love to have because it's Americas real sportscar.. So we take care of them and keep them better than most other 25 year old cars. As far as low mileage, it really does mean a big difference in the car being worth more. Check out the selling prices of 1988's with low miles and compare.

 

I DD my 95, but I only drive about 30 miles both ways and mine is still well south of 100k miles.

economy is good for a 5.7 liter, but I really am considering something else, like a TDI VW that gets 40 mpg.

 

That is exactly what I am saying! They are absolutely worth owning and driving, but if you are "collecting" one in the hopes that it will increase in value over time, you made a bad choice.
That's why I bought mine! I didn't buy it as an "investment". By definition, an investment is something that increases in value over time, not decreases.
I have no idea. Like my Corvette, my crystal ball is in the shop!
Something is not rare or collectable just because you say it is or think it is.
No argument there.
Well of course a low mileage car should fetch a higher price than a high mileage car, but to me, the age is the major factor when it comes to value.

The bottom line is that his '88 will most definitely go down in value, whether he drives it or not. Sure, he could keep the miles low and probably get more money for it if/when he decides to sell it, but then he is missing the real joy of owning a Corvette... driving it! Hopefully selling it will be something for my heirs to worry about.

 

Stock it would not have enough power to be my daily driver...
I've been DD my 95 since 2004 however, if I were looking for a DD today I would start with a 2002-2005 Z06 or LS3 equiped C6...







Mike

 

I tell my wife I enjoy going to work, it's just the 8 or 9 hours I have to kill before I come home that is the problem.

A few years ago I bought an 88 specifically to be my commuter car. I drive about 100 miles per day to and from work. It does make a difference. Instead of hating the long trip, it made it fun.

I wanted the 2.59 rear gear for fuel mileage. I got about 30 mpg on the highway and with my mix of driving (mostly highway) got about 26 or 27 mpg on each tank.

I drove it daily for 2.5 years. I had very few problems. I had to replace the EGR valve, but not much else except for oil changes etc. I had a few things that i didn't fix such as the power antenna didn't retract all the way. I bought it that way and never fixed it.

I even used it all winter including several snow days. It did surprisingly good with Falken all season tires.

I found a good price when I bought it and when I sold it I got almost the same price. I had 110,000 on it when I sold it.

The only reason I sold it was that I replaced it with my 94 with a 6 speed. The 94 gets a little better mileage and the LT1 is a little stronger, but the main reason is that I wanted a 6 speed. I have driven it about 40,000 so far and have 121,000 on it now. The only problems I have had are the cruise control started acting up and losing speed uphills (that I haven't tried fixing yet), I replaced a rear wheel bearing and washers, and I replaced the aftermarket muffler eliminators with a new pair when they rusted off.

The biggest problem I had with the 94 was that I hit a deer. The headlights took most of the impact and launched him over the roof. It has been repaired now but it was an ordeal with a bad body shop.

I think C4s make great daily drivers and can rack up a lot of miles without a lot of problems. They even get good enough mileage that I call them economy cars too.

Go for it and have fun!