Hi All,

It's been a while since my last post on this forum. I pursued an '84 Vette back in September that had a blown head gasket. Decided to pass and wait until spring. Here I am again!

I'm looking at what's available and trying to figure out how to establish a fair purchase price on early C4 Vettes. For newer cars, I would look at MSRP, invoice price, KBB, etc. to work out a fair range. On older cars - especially Corvettes - I'm having trouble. Everyone seems to think their neglected 30 year old C4 with cracked leather seats is a collector's item...

I researched earlier C4's heavily since I first started looking and I've learned they can be troublesome mechanically. Even browsing the forum here I see a lot of discouraged C4 owners. Articles on Google call them the worst Vettes to own for several reasons (mechanicals, power, looks [subjective], comfort, build quality).

I've also noticed that some C4's have been for sale for a long time.... A LONG TIME.... Some have not sold since I started looking last September. I understand my region just made it through winter, but the days on market for used C4's is worrisome to me. I doubt I'll keep this car forever.. I want to use the days on market as leverage to buy one cheaply (just like my clients would expect when buying homes).

Ranges in my area seem to be ~$3k for a total fixer to ~$7k for good running condition. Great condition $10k-18k. I want to pay $4-5k for a good running one.

Thoughts??

 

KBB only goes to 92. Sooo..... Problem with looking at all the asking prices is like you said, because it has a Corvette emblem, owner thinks it is a one of a kind collector item and prices accordingly. I would say you might have to look over the "completed items" in eBay to get an idea what it sold for. Doesn't matter what you ask, what was paid for it.

 

Wow.. I'm surprised anyone would pay for a car online via Ebay. Seems to be plenty of listings though. I didn't know Ebay had a "completed" bid section. Majority of the cars I'm seeing there say "reserve not met" with ending bids in the mid-$3,000s. Interesting.

 

Why not? I can pay a downpayment and the full sum later. IF it isn't what you said it was, I can get my money back that I paid for the downpayment.

 

welcome to the corvette world even guys with new ones are telling themselves their car is collectible.
Think you could find an early one for that range thats half decent
kind of depends where you live, if they are slim pickins may have to pay more..los angleles you can get one for spit nobody wants one

5k should get you a good sound running vette;now if a stellar one is a thou or 2 more just pay it.
May or may not need a thing or two...wont be a hooptie but may not be perfect.
You will have to be patient and wait, sometimes posting in the regional section for a member to look at one for you is a good option to have as buying sight unseen can be downright scary. Took a chance and did it once worked out would never do it again..Buddy just bought a car for 25k on ebay got ripped off to high heaven

I look at it like this, how much is a running25-30 yr old car worth?
that 1 of xx very rare crap means nothing when it comes to these cars or if santa clause passed by it in 2001. like anything its condition
Imo that mainly applies to the 72-older vettes

There are some that are so nice and well maintained sure you will pay more in the long run its worth it.

for instance, theres an 81 auto :puke: here that is SO nice...and nothing Id normally consider that if I had 12k Id pay it in a hot second

 

People will either tell you the cars are worth a fortune, or the cars are worthless. Right now the guys that say they're worthless talk the most.

A lot of corvettes stay listed for a long time because owners don't "have" to sell them. They have a price and if someone won't pay it, they won't sell it. Most guys looking to buy off season are looking for a super underpriced car, so they want to pay pennies on the dollar.

VetteDNA is probably one of the better resources out there. If your budget is 4 to 5k, expect to get something that needs some work. And it will be an A4, probably an L98 as well.

 

Here is a thought. Buy it cheaper, fix it up and you can decide what to put in. The "good" ones are low mileage but many things age without mileage.

 

The best-driving C4 I've experienced so far had a lot of miles on it, so I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that low mileage Vettes are *better* Cars are meant to be driven.. not parked.. Too many garage queens that are touted as being in such good condition (body-wise yes) but are mechanically lacking.

I understand Vettes are usually an extra car and therefore nobody "has" to sell them. But, just like the seller doesn't have to sell, I don't have to buy. I already own a nice, modern car. It's a moot point. They do want to sell, clearly, or else they wouldn't bother with listing/dealing with buyers/etc.

I reckon I'll go middle of the road for my market. One that drives well-enough but maybe isn't the best one on the lot. If I had the money I'd obviously plop down $10k+ and buy a really nice '91 or newer but that's not in the cards. And I'm not gonna wait until I'm an "old man" to buy my first Vette

I'll check out VetteDNA to see what that's all about. There is a family dealership near me that specializes in Corvettes and has a bunch in stock. I will probably drive an hour out there to test out a few and see which one speaks to me. There's no way in hell I'd buy one online. Seems like a major hassle and a nightmare to get reversed if the car doesn't live up to its advertisement.

 

My thought is that because "don't fix it if it ain't broke" is the mentality that we have this issue. So just because you bought a set of tires and sat it in the garage for 10 years and 0 miles doesn't mean it is worth a warm bucket of spit. The brake hose is rubber. I wouldn't trust it just because it looks clean and unused. The other hoses? See above. Shocks? Same thing. 0 miles, 30 years old? Trashcan.

Not always. Sometimes if the hubby dies and the wife has 2 modern cars and his C4, she might be willing to dump it. Divorce or death. Double Ds. Another thing is this. IF I didn't mod mine to the point that I will take a bath on a sale, I'd sell it to get a C5 or C6. The sale is coming through and every day it sits, it costs me money. So.....

But even if you get that nice one, what have you gotten? A car which is like "new" but isn't? Guy was like what they say. Not banging your GF because you are trying to keep her fresh for the next guy.

I'm kinda curious about Vettedna from the standpoint that they say they are enthusiasts, etc, etc. Great, you know the options and what they do. That said, where do you get your pricing from? If it is a "pie in the sky" value, WGAS? OTOH, if it is from what it sold for, I'd be interested.

You bid based on pictures. You put a deposit. It doesn't live up to the description, eBay will do a refund if you put it on a CC. Where is the issue? I buy stuff with Amex. They are SUPER COOPERATIVE when it comes to yanking a charge. I have declined charges many times when things went south for other issues.

 

Supposedly VetteDNA gets data from transactions. And since they likely not getting data on stolen cars bought from method heads on craigslist, they probably hit the decent car market best of anyone.

I already have a c6, but I sure as hell wouldn't buy a wretched c6 or c5 over a nice c4. Just cuz they're newer doesn't make them better. As a guy who has a C4 and a C6, the C4 is the best drivers car generation. C3s and earlier were too muscle car, c5 and later are too digital. C4 is the sweet spot. Part of me wishes I had gotten a 96 GS over my 12 CE GS, but I wouldn't want to drive the 96 due to low mile and collector status.

 

Don't know. They didn't say hence my curiousity.

Well, you try get tuning and parts for a C4 and tell me if newer is better. It is. "Oh we don't tune that old a car" or "No Longer Available" or "Obsolete" gets old very quickly.

 

I guess the issue for me in buying online is that it can be really hard to tell the condition of something based on pictures. I see it all the time in real estate... A listing will look really good in photos (even to a trained eye like mine) but we arrive at the house and all of a sudden you see the scuffed up baseboards, dinged up walls, the doors are hard to open & close.... etc.

I would expect the same disappointment when purchasing a car based on the photos online. Nicks in the paint I couldn't tell were there, stains in carpet I wasn't aware of, other things that just don't look right... I want to see, feel, hear, inspect every inch that I can before purchasing. Just to know & judge the condition with my own eyes.

That said - seems like online pricing on ebay, etc. is lower than what I'm seeing at the family dealer near me.... so that makes it mildly tempting.

 

And what do you do then? For me, the answer is simple. I have already factored that in like everything else. If it goes below what I consider acceptable for the price, either I lower the price or walk.

Agreed. Here is a deposit of $500. Rest payable when I accept car. If your lying *** tried to rip me off, worst case scenario I am out the trip cost. Risk of doing business. If you were good, lunch is on me and the money will be in your bank.

I would assume the cost is lower to do business and we reach a wider audience hence the difference.

 

​​​​​​​Agree 100%. And a 4 to 5k auto car will be rough. Very true about the "guys that say worthless are the ones talking the most"

 

I disagree. The ones that think they are worth their weight in gold aren't too far behind.

 

Not all $5k Corvettes are rough. I paid $4300 for my '84 last spring. Nothing rough about it. Came with new tires and battery. 35k miles, only needed the front coolant sensor. I'm the 3rd owner. Previous owner was in his 70's and had the car for close to 15 years. Only drove it a couple hundred miles a year and just found it to difficult to get in and out. I have probably put more miles on it in the last year than it was driven in the previous 10 years.

There are deals out there, just have to shop around and many times it is all about who you know.

Not sure about the reluctance to buy online. I have bought and sold several cars on eBay. I have never asked a buyer for money up front.

Show up at my house with your CASH and take it away. I tell winning bidders up front that if they believe I misrepresented the vehicle we can shake hands, call off the deal and part as friends. So far have never had that occur.

 

What tuning parts are you looking for? It's a small block Chevy, there is every part you could ever want available for them...

 

Check around yourself. Places that tune your chip aren't that fond of working on your old C4. Unlike a C3, it is harder to "guess a setting". Parts for the engine, to a point. In case you haven't checked, the people supporting the C4 are gaining a larger share of a shrinking market. I have 2 or 3 hoses that are sourced from 2 vendors for power steering. No guarantees they will fit. Try it on and see. Let us know if they don't and we'll see what we can do.

 

Plenty of places that will tune the LT1 around me... if you're willing to wait. If not they make plug and play kits to run the lt1 off a mega or microsquirt.

Hoses and things like that... get the right fittings and bend your own. Not a huge deal. Those typically don't need replaced, I did the hi h n pressure power steering kine in my car with a DRM one for road course use and it fit without issue (well, more than moral issue for a hose that has no real access points).

 

Around me, many places would tune the LS engines but hesitate with the LT1 and definitely L98. Can I get it done? Absolutely. Which is easier for me to find? A place to tune C4 or C6? One has more choices, the other, not so many.

And that is my point. You can't just go to GM and get stuff. More and more is salvage stuff or self built. My ebrake system, thanks to the PO was FUBAR. Brackets to hold the cables had to be scrounged from dismantlers. I have gone as far as to put a totally different transmission in my Merkur XR4Ti and have to fabricate a bracket through trial and error so I am not a stranger to that world. That said, I'm good with the car not functioning for a while because I am trying to make more power and that is the price I have to pay. OTOH, when I have to scrounge for parts and cobble my own parts and there is NO performance gain and just maintenance, that, IMO, gets kinda old fast.