FirstTimeBuyer

Title says it all. The car seems to be in good shape and was reportedly garage kept until this most recent winter. The car only has 35,000 miles on it. There is a small leak in the roof that has allowed water to get inside, but the mechanics have been taking the water-vac to it every so often. When I checked it out, the car started after 2 attempts and sounded great. The guy showing me the car said he was hesitant to depress the gas pedal, as the throttle might get stuck open (or something like that, I'm not much of a car linguist).

Anyway, what do you guys think? Is this a fair price for such a car? Will I be throwing money at this thing constantly to keep it running?

It has only been sitting for around a year.

64Scout

How long has it been stored?

cv67

Youll throw some $ at it. A 3 yr old car with 35k maybe this is much older
You need to drive it test all electronics. Not a bad price depending or starting price anyways.
The manual is a plus but dont let the seller tell you its some rare collectible guys are knocking down his door to get
Its a C4.....a cheap fun sports car.

The fact hes afraid to touch the throttle big red flag. Could be something simple like a return spring, or stuck throttle body piece of cake. I always budget a grand or 2 when buying a used car to get it up to snuff.

Brooks94Z07

You can find a '90 and up in good shape for $5-6 grand

mic575

If the information that they gave you is true and accurate then it is a good buy at that price with a little room for negotiation. You will have a fun car. It will need work and you will have a learning curve to know all the early C4 trouble spots. If that sounds fun to you, go for it. You will more than likely need new tires, you can check costs on that sitting at your computer. Like cuisinart said, you will probably put 1-2k in to it. Depending on tires, my guess would be 1-2.5k and after that you'll have a good runner that will need normal old car maintenance each year.

pacoW

can you work on cars yourself or if it needs some minor repairs will you have to bring it to a shop?

vader86

I would buy that, but expect to spend another 4-5K getting it up to snuff over the next few years.

FirstTimeBuyer

I couldn't say exactly how long it's been stored. I'm willing to bet that it's been a few years.

FirstTimeBuyer

I hope to learn how to do general maintenance as I go with this car. My brother in law owns a mechanic shop, so I'll have decent guidance.

FirstTimeBuyer

As for the throttle, he did say that it would just have to be cleaned before driven. I don't think it was a big issue.

FirstTimeBuyer

Would I be better off buying a higher mileage but newer c4?

Edit:

Also what price do you guys think is fair for this car? I'm going to check it out again later today, so hopefully I'll be posting more in-depth photos shortly.

VikingTrad3r

Drive it and check the functionality of everything.

bottom line is you have to see if that 4+3 portion of the trans is functioning properly and it should be but you need to verify this.

If you cannot drive it, offer the seller 2K and take your chances.

FAUEE

It's a fair price.

That said, if you're not very good at repairing and diagnosing cars, I would say spending a bit more for a car with a more miles that is driven consistently would be a better option.

vader86

Price seems fair to me, but I'd check out the 4+3 in normal driving and all the electricals. Make sure the SES light comes on when you turn the ignition to run to make sure they havent disabled it.

65Z01

The "water leak" and "don't depress throttle" are flags to me.

Check out condition, outside, inside, under hood as well as proper operation of every feature.
Check oil pressure/temp cold and warmed up.

Happy hunting.

Mr. Peabody

I think that $4,500 MIGHT be a fair price but you will never know unless you can take it out for a nice hour long drive and test every switch and button and make a list of what works and what does not. After you drive it, get it put up on a lift .... see what leaks.

If you are a first time C4 buyer I would do three things:

(1) Invest $20.00 and buy yourself a copy of Mike Antonick's "Corvette Black Book". It contains two pages for each year of Corvette. This book makes it very easy to see during the 12 years of C4 production how things changed from year to year, what options were available each year and what items that were once options became standard equipment as time went on.

(2) Once you decide on what year C4 you really like ....... go out and drive a half dozen of them before buying. Learn the difference in "feeling" of driving one that has been maintained vs. one that has not.

(3) You may not be old enough to remember this song but ....google "Shop Around" by the Miracles" ...... play it and listen......

confab

This ^

Even though it is low miles, it's all so old there will be issues. Corvettes are expensive hobbies, even the C4, which is one of the cheaper ones to own. Turning your own wrenches helps immensely.

Having said that, I like the early models and you don't see many on the street now in decent shape. The later cars are much faster, but "fast" is all relative now that everything is fast and we have pickups with 300+ horsepower.

I don't think the price is unfair at all. If you like the 85 model, it is probably as good as you can do for that amount of money.

FirstTimeBuyer

Welp. The interior looks like it needs some serious work.

Now what do I do? I was thinking maybe $2,500?

vette196

walk away.....water damage, turns to mold

if you like the look, target a newer one(95/96)

confab

Seat covers are common, as the bolster wears. Weatherstripping is common. Carpet is common. The weatherstrip is almost a must, as water leakage will damage the seats and carpet if you replace them.

You can price them, add them up and figure that into your calculations?

Mine had to have all that stuff. Seat covers from Rock Auto are decent. I got the carpet from there also, mass back, and is it nice. Wilcox for weatherstrip kit.