What is normally considered to be "high mileage" for a 1994 Corvette?
I have less than 84,000 miles on my '94. Thanks

 

I wouldn't consider that "high mileage" at all... especially not if the car is well taken care of. My 88 has just under 84k now... still looks & drives great!

 

Average mileage would be considered to be 120k-130k. High, over 155k. However, after 10 years, mileage becomes pretty much anecdotal.

 

"Anecdotal"?? Explain please. Thank you

 

Interesting story, but not directly related. (at least how I used it) I've seen many 130k cars in better condition than a lot of 70k cars. I would say that more people get burned on low mileage cars than average milers. In many cases the higher mileage cars have had more maintainance done on them. People make assumptions on low mileage cars that often prove false. Condition is everything.

 

My 1991 has 97,000 on it, but it is very nice shape. Interior is excellent
and runs very strong. Mileage really doesn't matter much as long as the
car is taken car of. I would rather own a proven driver than a garage
queen.

 

"Irrelevant" would be another good term. After 10 years old, does it really matter all that much? To me, an odometer is merely a tool for telling me when the next oil change is due and helping me calculate gas mileage.

I've seen Corvettes with 200K that I'd drive coast to coast and that look new. I've seen Corvettes with 40K that are beat to parade rest that I wouldn't trust across town.

It's all in how they're cared for.

 

I've seen that too. When I tell people how many miles I have on my '96, most don't believe it.
Everything still works as it did when it was new, and it looks like it has half the mileage it does.

 

My '86 has 68k miles. I don't consider this high.

 

87 with 152,872 (to be exact) here. Just gettin started. Replace the bad parts as they show themselves. New booster and MC the other week. Just came back form the Hot Rod Power Tour putting about 2600 miles on. Never gave it a second thought about taking it on the tour.

 

Betty Boop has 124,241 miles. In 7 years Ive put 55,000 in it. Not enough, there is more ground to cover.

Having a garage queen Vette is like having a hot wife and not having sex with her.

 

Your car is a perfect example of what Friz was saying earlier.
Never get tired of looking at your car.
And I know, cause I drove mine all the way to FL to join ya on the Power Tour.

Power Tour will add the miles on them in a hurry.
Just over 118K on mine now (3,637 miles on this years tour)

 

I will prefer a 100K highway miles instead of a 5K miles a quarter at the time...

 

My 95 has 126K and rides like a top. These cars like to be driven .... it keeps them in condition.

Ever hear this: You don't stop playing with your toys when you get old ..... you get old when you stop playing with your toys

 

my wifes '89 bought with 22k is a low milage car but, when I bought it looked good but the hidden maintenance issues were both deep and wide. After 3 years (summers) I now have the confidence to drive it anywhere but, all the fluids were ****, the injectors were shot, the brakes were crap, the tires were junk, and the underside and engine bay were one giant oil/dirt pit. I bought the car right but, if i would have had to pay someone else to do the work I'd it would have been a loosing propostion.

 

Mileage counts a LOT! Even on a 17 year old car. It is a myth that it doesn't count on anything over 10 years old or on a car with more than 75,000 miles. To prove it, spend some time at NADA or KBB and experiment with different mileage.

Enter any year for the Corvette newer than 1990 and you'll find that mileage counts regardless of how high. It can be either a positive or a negative factor. The lower the miles the more positive you can likely see, while obviously the more miles the lower the value. Somewhere between 150,000 and 170,000 miles is where I found the change from a positive to a negative number existed. So a car with 84k miles is going to have a positive number while one with 184,000 miles will have a negative number.

As an example, for my '96 LT1 convertible, having only 48k miles on it means I can see as much as an extra $4300 on the total price of the car. I change that to 84k miles and the extra money drops from $4300 to $2900. To get to the "break even" point -- the price where you start to lose money because of mileage -- I had to go past 165,000 miles.

Interestingly, the special editions cars don't seem to have the same mileage issues as the base models. As with my '96 LT1, the lower mileage (under 50k) makes a significant difference in price, but for a '96 Collector's Edition or Grand Sport the mileage is not even a factor on NADA. I don't know if that's because these cars are so rare, or the fact that they probably won't have that many miles on them to begin with.

As for your '94, you can play the same game with NADA and KBB. You'll see that mileage does make a difference on the price sheet.

The better question, though, is how do you or the potential buyer feel about the mileage. As many have noted, one car with 84k miles may look very different from another with the same mileage. I personally consider the cutoff for "high miles" for a Corvette to be around 50k miles. The reason for this is that most of these cars are driven like the performance cars they are. Even if that means that you only goose it a few times when leaving a stop light, there is still the higher level of acceleration than grandma will have in her Kia Fallapart.

But that's just me ... as the commercial says ... your mileage may vary.

 

100K of highway miles on these cars is nothing if they're properly maintained.

 

Thats when a Vette enters into "cougar status".

All these talk about driving and high mileage made me think of another road trip.

 

Doc CJ, you make some very good points from a $$$ standpoint, but I get the feeling that the guys are talking about driving/maintaining rather than value.

Personally I don't mind high miles as long as the car hasn't been neglected. I bought my 92 just a few months ago with 145k on it. I needed to swap the MC before I drove it back to WA state from SoCal. Ran great the whole way back.

It came with a 2 inch stack of receipts from the PO from when it was new. Now it does need some stuff no doubt, but everything works and I feel it is a great platform for the mods I am planning.

 

My question, I guess was for both those reasons and for the potential
of purchasing another C4 or later C5 or C6. The varying replies by all
the members gives me things to consider & think about -- all GREAT ANSWERS! Thanks all!