Hey all!

I'm pretty new here and was looking to hopefully get some advice from experienced corvette owners. My first car out of college was a '13 Mustang that I traded in for the truck I'm driving now. I definitely needed something more practical as a daily driver, but a couple of years ago I really started missing the joys of driving a sporty car. About a week ago I made the mistake of riding in my buddie's C7 and I've got the bug again. I'm in a position now where I know I'll be keeping whatever I get for the next three years with a relatively high potential of selling it after that time due to some changes in living situation that I'm expecting.

I've spent the entire week looking at available Corvettes and I think I've narrowed it down to a couple of options. I loved my buddie's C7 and truly think it's an amazing car, but the C8 is definitely the eventual goal for me. I could swing getting an earlier C7, but it would definitely be at the ragged edge of what I'm willing to financially put in to a second car right now. The C4 is the other option that I'm really interested in. My brother got me looking in to a C5z for the sheer performance and value, but the C5 and C6 styles really don't appeal to me. I could comfortably afford a C4 and I love the way the C4 looks, but my only reservation is that I don't necessarily want another hobby. I want a car that I can take care of and enjoy driving on the weekends with the occasional trip to work if it's really nice out, but I don't want something that I'm going to be concerned about breaking or spending a considerable amount of time with repairs / maintenance.

I guess really what I'm asking is how much can I realistically expect to spend on maintenance over three years in terms of both money and time investment for a C4 and what route would y'all recommend as the ones who have been around the block? I'm obviously going to spend some time soul searching myself, but would love the input!

-Linus

 

Welcome to the forum. Honestly a C4 might not give you the performance you want (unless it is a ZR1) cif your benchmarks are a C5Z06 and a C7. Don't get me wrong, the C4 is a great car but as someone recently stated the newest one out there is now 25 years old. These cars will still handle better than 80% of the cars on the road today, but most minivans can keep up with one in a drag race.

 

Haha, thanks for the heads up! I don't necessarily need something with the greatest performance or numbers. Not super concerned with my 1/4 mile times. I really just want to have a car that I can enjoy driving on curvy roads and take the top off to enjoy a nice day. One concern is that it will definitely be difficult for me to test drive any car before I buy it. I live in the middle of nowhere deep south at the moment and there isn't a C4, or C7 for that matter, with a manual for sale within a 4 hour drive. Let alone one that I would actually be interested in purchasing.

 

*Deleted double post*

 

Welcome to the Forum.

I strongly suggest you try out a few Vettes that you are considering. Sit in them, test drive and the like.

And don't worry about most minivans...trust me...

 

Service records! A garage queen will look pretty and shiny but most haven't had a lot of service/maintenance. A C4 that has been driven, has some normal wear and tear, and has paperwork to show that it was taken care of would be your better bet. Not to mention you'll be less likely to be concerned about where you're parking it...rain....mischievous youths...people who shouldn't be driving...etc.

 

A well maintained C4 is very reliable and can be bought for a reasonable price. I found my 86 with only 47k original miles, very well taken care of including all service records since new and Would drive it daily if I could. Winter sucks ! Lol

 

Just about any C4 would be ideal for that kind of driving, but I would never buy a car without a test drive, especially one 25+ years old. Maybe look in the FS section of the forum and/or post in the SE regional section to see if you can find anything closer. If you have to have a stick that will limit your choices, but if you are patient you will find what you are looking for.

 

You do that and you will find out how much different they drive with the top off. The C4's coupes flex a lot with the top off, that is why Tom Gaspar designed the targa top bars to bolt in place.

If you are talking about getting a convertible, they have an x-brace underneath to deal with the flex. You would need to make sure such has not been removed before buying the car.

They are great handling cars, but I don't take the top off mine and have done numerous mods to get rid of the flex.

The best thing you could do before buying a C4 is spend a couple evenings, well more than a couple, reading back through time on the forum here so that you walk in with eyes wide open,

In fact, that goes for any generation as each has problems that show up on cars that are being dumped. Now there are people that have to have the newest and bestest, but we all know the problem child goes down the road and there are some issues in the newer gens that are an issue.

 

Some good insights here. I think the tricky part for you is selling in 3 years. I suspect that someday the C4 will earn that elusive "classic" status, but today is not that day. My car is 27 years old bought with 52K, bone stock, great shape for 7.5K. I see them on-line all the time for 9-12K... but I'm seeing a lot of the same cars. So I suspect unless you get a crazy deal, you'll run a loss on the resale (which I doubt you would on a C3). Also, outside of Japanese alloy, I'm not sure you'll... find any 25+ year old American iron that isn't something of a "hobby." From what I've experienced here--and elsewhere-- C4 owners are attached to C4 for personal reasons, Indeed, I've owned one less than a year, but I've been a C4 "guy" since I graduated college.

None of that to dissuade you, but just another perspective

As for the car, in addition to all the good advice so far, I might add this: If you find a car you like, get someone from a club local to the car to test drive it for you. C4 people like driving C4s;-) And I strongly encourage you to sit in a C4, just because no other Vette drops you into a deep abyss quite like a C4--you may not like it. Took me some getting used too. Also, I might look for a car who's previous owner has held the car for many years--they like C4's, so they take care of their C4's. To some extent, any C4 with less than 200K has been something of a garage queen. A mere 10,000 miles a year puts the newest C4 at 250K, 5K yearly at 125K-- my car less than 2K a year... garage queen And as a last note, I've never looked at a C4 that wasn't weeping some oil. so take a little time/research to ID benign leaks from trouble-- and ask direct questions to the seller/test driver.

However, finding a nice C4 and understanding/eyes open to what's been said in this thread-- I think you'll really have a blast in this car. In my admittedly limited opinion, it's the last Vette that feels like a muscle car (all that's good AND frame-flex bad about that).

Enjoy,

Ronn

 

Hey Linus, glad you are looking into getting a C4. If you are looking for a cheap performance car you really can’t get a lower price for the same or better performance. While I do really like some of the earlier C4s, when shopping I limited my search to 1992 or later. If reliability is your worry I would search for later C4s as well, the newer the less likely for problems was my theory. However, maybe some guys on here will tell you that an 80s C4 is equally reliable despite its age, I am not sure. Also by the end of the C4’s run GM was able to create a car with less bugs than before making a car that is easier to own. I too wanted something cheap but not something I had to dump time and money into fixing. I settled on the ‘95-‘96 because it had an upgraded version of the commonly faulty “opti-spark distributor” that was found on the LT-1 engine cars that started in 1992. I felt that a mix between fixes like this and the car being newer would be best for reliability. I ended up not choosing the ‘96 because in 1996 OBD II was started on cars meaning ‘96 cars would not be able to share some major parts such as transmissions with other C4s. That being said I wanted parts to be cheap if something had to go. I got my 1995 a couple months ago and I love it. It was very well taken care of and had less than 40k miles. I drive it as much as I can and I so far only needed to do brakes. I will end with saying that I disagree with what one of the other responders said. He said that most minivans can keep up with a C4 in a drag race. That is entirely false. LT-1 C4s have 0-60 times around 5 seconds which was extremely competitive for the 90s but still a ton of fun today. You will have a great time in one of these cars and they still feel pretty quick. Maybe not in comparison to a C5z or a C7 but I have a feeling you will be proud to own one. Feel free to contact me with any more questions about your search.

 

Thanks everyone for the help! This has definitely helped me narrow down what I’m looking for / a plan forward. I think, bottom line, I’m going to have to wait for one to show up near me to at least go test drive. That, or make a weekend of it and head up
to Nashville as I’ve found a few up there.

I wasn’t aware of the flex on the coupes with the top off! I’m not sure if that’s enough to swing me towards and vert, but definitely good to know. I’m
also definitely looking in to a later model C4. For a few reasons, but you guys have definitely helped me confirm that.

 

I will say the resale has me concerned. Like I mentioned, I’ll be changing jobs / location in three years and would definitely like the ability to get the car to someone else that can take care of it and enjoy it if I can’t. I’ve been seeing a lot of C4s that look really nice for sale for months. Is this just a factor of the used market appearing to be really inflated at the moment and people asking for too much, or are C4s pretty hard to sell?

 

Since you are DeepSouth and thinking of going to Nashville, I'm 1.5 hours before there. Feel free to talk about stopping in and driving my 96 coupe. But, it's an auto, so...

 

Thanks for the offer! I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Would really love to drive everything I can to get an idea of what I want.

 

Use Advil for the corvette fever....be objective!

 

Everything in the "too old for a loan but too nice to be super cheap" zone is hard to sell. People don't have cash for anything, let alone a used sports car, in general.

The chassis flex isn't as big as people make it sound. If you're comparing it to a mustang, you won't notice a difference. If you compare it to a c6 or C7, sure.

I'd buy the best kept, cleanest looking, most records stick shift LT car you can find. Bonus points for a 96 lt4 car. Dont get dragged down into the weeds with what the really ratty and cheap cars are priced at, that's the plague that keeps people from buying a vette... Assuming looking good on Facebook means it's super clean in reality and that what they think they saw is representative of the market.

 

I knew I would catch some flak for the minivan comment, but it is not far from the truth. It is not so much that a C4 is a slow car, but a testament to how fast everyday transportation is today. There are several minivans running 6 second 0-60/14second 1/4 miles. While a new C4 (especially a later LT1 powered car) could beat those times, how many still can in their current state ? Once again, not a knock of the Cr at all, but time marches on.

 

I have an 89 convertible with the X brace and the cowl shake is still very pronounced. I will say that when I have the hardtop installed the car is much tighter, but then you loose the experience of open air driving.

 

Hi Linus,

Having owned both the 80's C4 and the later 90's car, my opinion is I loved them both. they both have somewhat of the same feel, yet different. Both cars had the 6 speed manual, one was an L-98 car, one is a LT-4 car. I chose the 89 convertible because I liked the ZF 6spd, that car had over 100k miles on it, cost me 5 grand, i drove it for 6 years, very little maintenance, I replaced injectors , brakes, and other small items, the car ran very good, and i sold the car for 6 grand., I recently bought another Convertible 6spd, a 96 LT-4 car, this car has 21k on it, probably as new looking as your going to see for a 25 yr old car, picked it up and drove it over 200 miles home without so much as one hiccup. this car was a bit pricey, but with 6 grand down the difference was only 8k...Given these cars have a one year only motor, the LT-4 engine, basically A LT-1 slightly modified, they do tend to sell for more. Im not guessing how the market will go for these cars, but i doubt i'll lose any money on it.. Certain C-4 cars in the price ranges i mentioned, convertible cars with manual transmissions are fairly easy to sell if priced right. My suggestion is get the car you want, dont settle. if you want a convertible car with a manual, your probably going to pay a premium, Get the nicest car you can for the money your willing to spend.

As far as performance, ive read this forum for years, ive joined it twice, and have heard all the noise about performance, 0-60 times, 1/4 mile times, and all of that, thats ok, if thats what your after, and i dont have any issue with it. but there is something quite unique about these cars, and except for the C-1, and the C-8, ive driven them all. These cars may not be the fastest, but they "feel" fast, and the experience you feel driving the car is well worth the price of admission, no matter what year C-4 you buy.

Chris