That is why I passed on a $100 set of cores for rebuilding. Wasn't worth it even if it was free.

True fortunately for me, I bought the car for me so it doesn't matter. In fact, I'm kinda glad it DOES NOT turn heads here. The few comments I have bothered to respond to were from a bunch of people that really knew nothing about cars so they didn't have anything important to say and were wasting my time and politeness.

 

If you want a reliable set of wheels then its the Toyota. Wife has a pair of del Sol's (honda) and loves them. They are very similar to the MR2. She has over 400,000 miles on them (combined) and loves them. However they are emotionless vehicles with no personality whatsoever. The only people who even notice them is other del Sol owners and kids who can only dream of owning a Corvette. My Corvettes, 73 and 95 bring joy to my soul just knowing they are in my garage. With the Vette my drives are not to a destination but in a direction. Taking the long way isnt' a waste of gas, its cheap thrills. I guess you can tell which one I recommend.

 

I'm buying the vette at 9am tomorrow morning.

Needless to say, I won't be getting any sleep tonight...

 

Right on. Hopefully all goes well.

Theres one part of buying the Vette thats priceless: You become a Corvette owner.

 

 

 

Nobody's mentioned it yet, but check the steering column. In each of its lockable positions (up and down) there shouldn't be any play. If there is it means the adjuster bracket down in the column is possibly broken. This happens by people hanging off the wheel or using it to lever themselves in and out.

If yours is ok, start as you mean to go on and let go the wheel when your not actually driving the car, especially when your getting in and out. Its the first thing kids hang on to when they want to sit in the drivers seat!

The car will still drive and steer ok, but fixing it is a pita. I had to buy a whole column to get the part for mine.

As its 100K mile car, get it on a ramp and check the state of the fuel pipes where they come over the rear axle and down along the offside (UK) sill. Also, check the brake pipe bundle on the other side. There is a bundle of five pipes running along the nearside sill and they rust where the bundle is clamped at various points.

In the middle of the bundle, is another pipe which runs from the tank outlet to the charcoal can in the front nearside well. if you get a 'whoosh' when you open the gas cap, then your pipe is blocked. No big deal as they all block. I dumped all my evap system in favour of a 'roll over valve' off the tank so it can breathe, but shut off if I'm upside down but the rules in the US may forbid this.

Anyhow, enjoy the car, its a great choice and you won't regret it. Yes, they need a bit of tinkering now and again, but most of it is easy and they won't break your heart or your bank either!

If I can run and maintain a C4 in the Scottish highlands and use it every day, where fuel is $1.60 per litre and suffer the exorbitant import charges and taxes for parts, anyone can..

 

I bought my 94 last October 2015 a base C4 with 107k on it. From the start I expected to spend 2k-4k to make it my liking. I paid 3500 for it and I expect to never to fully recover all the money but this is my 1st Vette and I darn well love it, there are a lot of little things that I have fixed on it since getting it and I am a preventive maintenance freak so I replace worn parts to keep the car happy and me off the side of the road. Mine with now 109k on it still has a lot of ***** when I let it loose.
Good luck on your C4, you will love it and expect spending some money on it to keep it happy.

 

Well.. I see I'm late to the party. My story may not have much relevance now since you've made your decision but here goes ...

I just sold my fully restored 1991 MR2 Turbo, manual last summer. Had people bidding for it. It was better than new when done and I had a lot of money into it. It was a car that was popular when I was in college, and always thought it looked like a mini Ferrari. I was, and still am, very proud of that build. Here are the pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nh9kaegih60bbhg/AABBLC6Ug4jmQlq5I14pT1WRa?dl=0

During ownership of the MR2, I bought a low mileage 1994 Corvette torch red coupe with black interior. I paid much more than you paid for yours and still I put a some money into it. That said It's been well worth it as it's been a fantastic car so far.

The MR2 and the Corvette are different as night and day. The MR2 being smaller was much better in the corners. Being a 4 cylinder with a manual transmission it didn't have the low-end torque pull like the Corvette has.

MR2 was a total blast higher in the RPM range when the turbocharger kicked in. With a bit of turbo lag (which I liked) it would surprise the hell out of you and throw you back into the seat while you smiled from ear-to-ear.

I got tired of shifting in my commute in traffic so that's one reason why I was looking for an automatic. Plus it appeared that the enthusiast crowdexit the MR2 was waning and I wanted to sell it before steep depreciation set in.

The Corvette with its V8 and low-end torque is a blast to drive just from stop light to stop light. My Corvette is way more comfortable on the road than the MR2 ever was. My MR2 got about 30 miles per gallon on the highway and the Corvette gets very close to that as well. Not a bad trade-off.

There's just something about owning a Corvette that makes me feel real special - More so than when I had my MR2. The Corvette is America's sports car with a long heritage, and respect.

It really doesn't matter what car you buy, but if you get a lemon and it needs a lot of work and it's a headache it may disappoint you.

Like someone mentioned you may have to put another 5,000 into it but by then you should have any issues or upgrades done.

Best of luck, and congratulations.