My opinion, CORVETTE. My 2c.

Gary

 

If brief and didn't reoccur, I'd suspect valve stem seals over rings. Easiest way to check out would be doing a compression check on the engine. At the same time you could see what the plugs look like.

My 2 cents.

 

A bit of blue smoke on start up is something I wouldn't be worried about on a 100,000 mile car. Its valve seals. No one likes to see that smoke, but I wouldn't clinch my butt over it. If thats all that's wrong with the engine, it should be good for many more miles of smiles. It does mean tho, that engine is getting a bit worn. But hey, its got 100,000 miles on it.

 

I wouldn't worry about the puff of smoke on start up on a 100k mile motor. Best advice given: go with your gut. That said I'd buy the Vette, but I like Chevy's.

 

While it's easy for us to all say the Vette, there a reason why and it's not because it's a Corvette forum. If it was an old Porsche, Viper, Mustang, Camaro, TransAM etc many of us would take it given its mileage and condition over the MR2 - granted you might not see a 5k Viper lol. I say it's time you give one a try (Corvette) and worst case of you don't like it, turn it right around and sell it. We're a great community and paying the entry fee is worth it IMHO

 

i just sold my 2000 corvette last week. i think the thing to remember my car was a 16 year old car, it was a bit of a money pit, i probably put 3k into it when i got it, and it still needed tires and i didn't get the AC running....
so a car that is older than what i had, it will have issues.

the 90 looks very nice in the pictures.

i find it odd sellers don't let you drive it. i ran into that a few times when i was looking, and honestly i always walk away feeling they really don't want to sell their car.

good luck.

 

I used to live up your way in the late 70’s and got up early many a Saturday morning to ride my GS850 from West Chester to Allentown and back. Lots of nice roads in King of Prussia back then. I bet it’s all built up now.

Lots of great advice given above. I’ve put 100K on my 95 with the FX3 suspension so I'll add another $0.02


1) I urge all new C4 buyers to invest $20.00 and get yourself a copy of the Corvette Black Book it’s a fantastic reference as it devotes 2 – 3 pages on each year corvette from 53 to 2016 it lists all of the options available for each year and how many were ordered. But more importantly it tells you what improvements were made from year to year. This is great for the C4 because of the long production run and changes to the drive trane. The earliest years had by far the stiffest springs and will give you a rough ride where you are.

2) I also urge all new buyers to drive as many C4s as you can (at least a half dozen) so that you can learn to feel the difference between a well maintained one and one that has not been maintained. Appearances can be deceiving. And don’t rush .. there are so many of them for sale that its actually worth it to.

Do not buy that C4 nor any C4 until after you have driven it for an hour. You don’t have to beat on the car to determine if it’s a good driver.

Once you become a skilled driver in the C4 you will be able to feel the difference in the suspension with the FX3 in the rolling hills in NE PA. Do be very careful in the wet, this car has a lot of torque and it is easy to lose the back end.

The shocks as well as the actuators can be repaired by outside vendors. If you buy a new set of the shocks I believe you get lifetime warrantee but I think it was near $1,000 to replace all of mine when I did it years ago.

If you like working on your cars and bikes then get yourself the two volume set of Factory Service Manuals (the one with the red covers). This shows you how to diagnose problems and how to take things apart. A corvette is not a car that you want to throw parts at.

From my experience and from what I’ve seen here, with a C4 you more often than not get what you pay for. Thus I would urge you to consider a private party rather than a used car lot.

Maintenance records are the most important provenance you can get with one of these cars.

Best of luck in your search

 

I agree with that with provision. I recently talked to someone about it and it was under $800 for the Bilstein shocks. That said, what is it worth not to have to pay for the shock again when it fails? I had a leaking shock that was 10 years old, give or take a year or two. Called them and they just told me to send it back for checking. Called them back later and asked about the other front one. Same thing. They don't want to speculate and would rather diagnose when they get it and decide what to do. I was tracking the package. Within 2 hours of their receipt of my shocks, 2 brand new ones were heading my way.

A few years ago, I had the crankcase venting on a shock. It started leaking. Same thing. Not interested in speculation. Send it back. Brand new shock came my way.


So, what is that worth considering shocks are a wear item?

 

This would make me walk away. There are lots of good C4s out there to be had. The price may be right and the car may look good, but there's no way in heckk I will buy a used car without even driving it. My first C4, I checked it over and everything looked good, then the owner handed me the keys and said "have fun." I didn't even have to ask if I can drive it. My current C4, the owner did not hesitate when I asked if I can drive it but he did come along on the test drive.

I agree with others, it's better to spend a little more on a nicer car with fewer miles or fewer problems, than to spend less thinking you are saving money. In the end you will likely spend more on the cheaper car than you would on the more expensive car. Of course this is only true if you insist on everything in the car being in working condition. If you just want a car that's fun to drive, maybe some of the little issues don't need to be fixed. E.g. heater cores can be fairly pricey/difficult to replace, but are very easy to bypass. Not everyone needs a heater.

It doesn't matter how the ladies respond when you say "MR2 Spyder" or "Corvette." It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of the car you choose, except the people who will spend considerable time in the car with you, or will be driving the car. What really matters is how you feel when you are behind the wheel... how you feel when pull into the garage after a long fun drive, when you are all by yourself. Which car will put the bigger smile on your face?

 

It may have been his insurance company that was the hold-up on letting someone else drive the car. Some companies are terminally **** about anyone but the policyholder driving the car or his policy may have been written that way to get him a better rate.


On the other hand, if a potential wouldn't let me take the car to my mechanic or put it on a lift and look under it, I would run away fast as possible.


IMHO the car is beautiful. There's a youtube video that gives seven (7) rules for buying your first c4; it gives a lot of good information. You can buy the car and part it out for what you will have in it.




Jonathan.....

 

The C4, is a great performance car for the money. It might just be the best performance car out there for the money spent.

Things to look for is for water on the side of the block, near the #7 and #8 cylinders. (#7 is the far most back driver side cylinder.) dribbling down from the head. (#8 is the rear most passenger side cylinder)

L98 head gaskets kind of suck, and the best fix for them imo, is replacing them with MLS Cometic gaskets.
Look for leaks on the rear china wall ..that's the back of the engine near the distributor. That's the most common spot for intake gasket leaks on an SBC.

Other than that, the usual gremlins of a used car.

As for which to get..... get the C4, you can actually get parts for it, easily. And if you ever get tired of the factory power levels, you can easily upgrade them, to virtually any power level you want, being that it's a small block chevy under the hood...and it has a massive engine bay, which makes it a great candidate to Big Block Swap.
LS engines also fit in there nicely.

My personal advice, from doing it the hard way.. if you have aspirations for more than 375hp NA...either just buy a crate engine, or Swap it with a Big Block or LS engine. Or buy a car that's already done.

As far as test drives go...I wouldn't buy any car without a test drive. One where the previous owner lets you beat on it, to see if it has any hiccups. There's alot of issues that can stay hidden by mild driving, and by being a passenger no less. You aren't in any hurry to buy the car... so tell the owner of this one, that you're still looking (Because you are). I honestly think I would sooner buy a car off ebay, than buy one in person that the PO wouldn't let me drive.

 

After further negotiation with the seller, I have the price now at $4200. He insists that he's giving the car away because it is in such great condition. I am a fairly good read of people and he seems like an honest guy. He does have a 1984 Corvette as well. He said he will let me test drive it prior to making the actual purchase. As of right now I am due to meet him Wednesday morning at 9 AM to buy the car after a test drive. I am very excited and slightly apprehensive if only because it is an old car that I might have to put some money into. And honestly, I don't mind putting money into it as long as it's not thousands of dollars every other month. Spending a few bucks to keep it running is fine as long as I get to spend plenty of time behind the wheel enjoying it.

Everybody here has been great and I appreciate all the advice. I do very much look forward to spending a lot of time on this forum with all of you soon.

 

If money has not changed hands, I would get a scanner and read all the codes to see if any of them are hidden or not. After which, I would run a compression test to see if it is even and within spec.

 

Congrads, looks like you are getting a well cared for car. Now take a deep breath and remember that for $4200.00 the world will not come to an end if this car needs some money put into it which it will but just because it is a vette does not mean that it is over the top costly to maintain.

My advice is go for as long a test drive as possible before you hand over the cash just in case something is going on that is either heat related or time related.

WELCOME IN ADVANCE TO THE NUT FARM GREATEST GROUP OF VETTE OWNERS ARE RIGHT HERE ON THE C4 FORUM.

 

Hey OP, no offense well don't take offense lol but the MR2 is ugly IMHO.

Even if say you are happily married and never care about attracting another new woman in your life, the C4 still has much better styling and I believe 9/10 random ppl you ask will agree.

Someone above said replacement shocks for the FX3 are $1000. That's what I thought but they can be found for $800. Or you can have them rebuilt (not sure how much cheaper). All this info is in threads here, just gotta search and if the forum search is giving you bad results do a google search w/ the word corvetteforum right at the end.

From what I know, the only really expensive maintenance thing that you can't substitute something cheaper and easier (like less expensive shocks) is the clutch -- research clutch replacement, I just had to do all of this. I didn't have the tools, time or experience for it and spent about $700/750 in labor, another $600 in parts. AND this didn't include a new flywheel (which you may or may not need, I don't know details on that for a pre ZF transmission C4). If its been replaced what parts were used and what kind of flywheel is in there?


Overall, the C4 is very fun to drive, head turner if you keep it super clean. Go find one to drive and your choice will be made!

 

Speaking of getting a bang for your buck, or in this case 4200 bucks, any idea about the "head room" in a Vette?

 

I'm guessing you might need to make a few adjustments

 

Just because I cannot dine at the Y doesn't mean I can't sniff at the items on the menu.

Rebuilt is about $100, IIRC. But why? I don't know the full difference between the Delco shocks and the Bilstein but I do know the rebuilt OE shocks carry a 90 day warranty and the aftermarket Bilstein shocks are lifetime. So if you are keeping the car long enough, the shocks will need replacement.

For me, I'd pass on the head turning. Nodding is better.

 

Yes, I think the center console kinda is in the way

 

If rebuilding is $100/pop so 400 for all then yeah I'd go brand new for $800.

And I'd agree w/ you on the nodding but here in socal no one wants to give you those kind of kudos even if you're in a 100k+ car so I'm aight w/ the head turning! haha