Hi Im thinking about buying 1995 with 54995 miles on it.
here is what happened.
Last week, I was this close to close the deal on red 2007 C6. I test drove the car, inspected the car, convinced the wife I needed this car, I had loan approval, and all I had to do was to sign it.
But at the very last min at the finance managers office, I backed out.

I just couldn't. With 2 young kids, mortgage and 2 car payments, I just couldn't not commit myself to pay $412/mo for 72months.
It was at upper limit of where I can afford, and if anything happened, Id been screwed.

So I went to look at this 95 instead. priced almost 1/4 of what C6 would have cost me, and monthly payment is less than half. I could confortably commit myself for 36 months payments.

So I had chance to look at it today from top to bottom.
I had the dealer lift it up in the air, and I test drove it on highway, city driving, hard braking, spirited take off and so on.

So here are few things Ive noticed.
Mechanically, I think this car is great shape. it drove straight. and it stop straight. It shift smooth(Automatic), kick down accordingly.
No odd noise or anything like that.
Ride was smooth enough(as far as 23y/o Corvette with original shocks goes).
all switches work
both windows work(Although, I don't know if there should be an express down on passenger side?)
all lights work
leather seats are decent condition with no rip/tear
Exterior paint is ok condition. Its no show car. one spot where clear coat is worn down, and one spot right behind the drivers door looks like may have been painted at one time.

So here are few negatives.
Oil leak - Looks like front main seal. possibly rear main too, but can't tell(No big deal as since I plan to replace opti spark anyway, I;; replace te front main then).
Output shaft seal on A/T is leaking(easy enough to replace. Looks like I have to replace the senter section of exhaust).
rear passenger side leaf spring bushing(Im not sure if that's what it called. its the rubber bushing on bottom of leaf spring in pic below that I found on internet) is crushed/ripped/destroyed. but I believe that's chea enough fix

Heater do not work. fan works, But when I set the temp to 90, and set it to Auto, it blew cold air even after engine temp was up(this could be as simple as needing to bleed the cooling system/flush the sludge out of heater core. Could be something else).
driver side door handle plate is broken(Discontinued from manufacture, but found it on e-bay for very cheap).
steering wheel is warped(again, found nice used steering wheel on ebay cheap)
dash pod by the center defrost vent is warped(again, I hound the entire dash pod for less than $200. But it says it only fit 1090~1993. I need to find out if dash was changed from 93 to 94...)
transparent roof panel is not all that transparent any more(I have found few on ebay, but they aren't cheap) its also missing the latchet to remove it. So I couldn't remove it today)
some water leak on passenger side(Presumably from window/targa top seal as they are BAD shape(will need to replace these before I wash the car)

Here are couple of pics. I was all sorts of excited that I forgot to take interior pics




So all this for $7295.
Car is sold as is. But dealer agreed with me to let me take it to my mechanic on Friday all day so that my mechanic can go through it with fine toothed comb until Im totally satisfied.
My main concern right now is no heat and water leak. Rest, I can replace/repair as I go.

what you guys think? Sorry for the long rant...

 

At that price, you should be getting a better car that needs far less done to it. That dealer couldn't even make sure the wheels are on the right side of the car.

I'd walk away from this one, and continue shopping. Excellent C4s exist, and they are the best bang for the buck you'll find. But patience is required when shopping.

Given your family and financial situation, you were wise to walk away from that expensive C6. Suggest you consider saving up the cash, so you can buy a superb C4 free-and-clear. Who needs a payment on a toy car?

BTW, I would not replace a functioning opti. The replacements that are presently available are a real crap-shoot.

Live well,

SJW

 

Where do you live?

 

I agree with this 100%, especially on a 95 model that has the vented cap.

A few thoughts about the rear suspension pic:

• First, it has an aftermarket VB&P rear spring. The rate is written on it: 330lb/in. I wonder if it also has a VBP front spring, too? This is not necessarily good or bad, but it looks like it has spring rates similar to the Challenge package on C4 race cars. Also, the rear ride height can be lowered on those bolts if you want to do that.
• The front spring is most likely not adjustable (although VBP did make an Xtreme front spring that adjusted for ride height with jackscrews, like a C5), but the front ride height could be lowered by trimming the rubber pads where they sit in the A-arms.
• The bushings for those rear spring bolts are probably only available in urethane. Again, that is not necessarily good or bad. They are not expensive at all.
• Finally, the lower camber arm link in that pic appears to be an aftermarket piece with rod ends in place of rubber bushings. That is generally a good thing. The stock piece adjusted camber with a cam washer held tight by a nut, but it tends to slip and change the camber setting no matter how tight you crank down on that nut. The rod ends will positively set camber and not move (as long as the jam nuts stay tight). The only issue with these is that the rod ends wear over time. They are not expensive to replace, though, and not too difficult to replace either.
• All of the above gives me the impression that someone put some effort into generally improving the handling of this car over the very soft base springs that came on the final years of C4s. I'd want to go over the car and look for other mods that were done, to try to make sure they were done right.

 

 

No heat? Water on passenger floor? I would almost say the heater core is leaking.