Hello! I just wanted to say that I am a new buyer, and looking into buying a C4 Corvette. I am currently 18 years of age, and a resident of the state of Minnesota. I am but a young man looking for some advice on whether this is something I could possibly do. I am attending high school as of right now but soon will be going off to college. I have enough money to safely purchase the car, and have been wanting to have my own car to be proud of. When I go off to college, I will be around Duluth Minnesota. How practical would it be to drive a C4 in the winter in a city. I've heard with the right tires it can be used. I'm in a tough position being thrust out into the world so fast and I would love to get the last out of my summer before I start having to worry about these bills. Would it be smart to buy it before I go off to school? I'd like to hear anything you guys would have to say, and any thoughts would make a difference. Thank you guys for any help, and any advice from people who know about these cars would be valuable to me.

 

I bought my 1994 in a similar age / transition period to you, I have driven it through 2 winters and if it was my only car I probably couldn't do it. Luckily I was able to borrow a family members truck when it snowed hard, and I know Minnesota probably snows more than it does here. The Corvette is low, and has very wide rear tires neither of which are good for snow. Before my Corvette I drove a mustang in the snow and it is preferable. I would look into Camaros/Mustang or something of the like that is a little higher and doesn't have quite as thick rear tires. Going into college I bet those back seats could come in handy for a variety of circumstances as well. At the end of the day if you could avoid the worse of days I am sure it could be done however.

 

If you want to do it, then just do it. People drove way less practical cars around for years before old guys on the internet were around to tell them they couldn't.

Whether it's smart or not, I can't say. I'd say it's smarter than using student loan debt to buy a car, which many, many people do. It's smarter than not having a car and graduating without work experience. It's smarter than a lot of stuff, so I say go for it. Insure it well and give her hell.

 

Go for it. There will be obstacles that you will have to overcome. I bought a 86 with the 4+3 when I was 18 and drove it all the way through collage. I drove it year round, even in snow. Of course it probably snows more in Duluth, Minnesota than it does in Stillwater, Oklahoma. If you end up not liking it, sell it and get something else.

 

I really appreciate all the replies, it definitely helps a lot. I just have a small question though. Do you guys at all regret the purchase? Prices here can range from 4 to 10 thousand, 3 if you get lucky.

 

I bought my c4 because it was cheap enough to throw away if I stuffed it into a wall on track. It costs less to throw away a c4 than to repair track damage on a c6.

So no, I don't regret it at all. That said, if you aren't the diy type, I wouldn't buy one. If you're willing to work on your car or to learn to, then you'll enjoy the car. If you blow your budget on it and expect to have no issues and pay someone to fix it if you have some... You won't enjoy it.

Now from another perspective with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had bought an e46 M3. I ended up using this as a track car much less than intended, and an e46 would have gained a bunch of value despite being slower and worse. But there's a lot of cars that gained a lot of value that I foolishly bought other cars instead of. I don't think there is anything that's a better value for the money now than the c4, especially with a stick shift. Automatics, a really beat to crap $9k c5 does have a case for itself if you're going to restore it.

That said, I went through most of college with an SUV. It was convenient for me, but I was pretty much moved out, had my own apartment that was my home vs just a dorm, etc. I would have loved a sports car, but it'd have been tough a few times. I could have rented an suv or something like that, but for me moving around a lot then, an suv was great.

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Keep in mind, anything that cheap, corvette or not, will cost you several thousand more in repairs and upkeep. It's just how stuff goes.

 

I bought a reliable car when I went off to College that could deal with New England winters and paid my way through college...personally last thing I would want to worry about was depending on a car in which the newest model is a quarter of a century old!

 

Sorry, I'm going to be the one that asks you to reconsider this idea.

1. Depending on the year, you may not be ble to find the correct size snow tire for your model. And if you do, it will be very expensive

2. A huge percentage of owners do not drive in snow. NEVER! There is a reason. It's easy to spin out on a wet road let along a slippery icy one if not careful

3. It will break, often a lot especially if you buy a budget vette to begin with. Can you fix it? It will be a huge expense if you can't

4. Have you checked on the insurance cost. Sit down

 

Ummmm - IMHO - I would NOT recommend diving a C4 in the snow - PERIOD!!!

Yes - the later C4's have traction control - but traction control does NOTHING to improve traction - it just reduces power when it senses wheelspin - which will be quite regularly with even a little snow on the ground. I have seen C4's sitting on level ground spinning the tires and not moving with a couple of inches of snow on the ground. If you have 4" of snow - your C4 has just become a snowplow - and you aren't going to be going anywhere (if you have questions about this try getting even a low profile floor jack under a C4.).

If you are willing to do your own work, and aren't afraid to own (and fix) a 25 year old car - AND if you can drive something else in the winter (or don't need to drive in the snow) - the C4 is a decent choice. But - if you need to drive when there is snow on the roads - there are far better choices.

Ask yourself - how many Vettes do you see out driving around in the Dec - Mar timeframe.... There is probably a good reason for that...

 

Also, from experience of owning/driving C4s for 16 years, it is an expensive automobile to maintain. Mine were relative new when I owned them.
Now, about 25+ years later, many components are subject to fail. If you have some money now, you will have less owning a C4.

 

Living where you do I would rather go with the mustang, Camaro or a challenger. The Vette sits way to low for the snow. JMO. Good luck 👍

 

Don't buy a C4 for a daily driver in a climate where it's going to be difficult at best and fighting having a car breaking down occasionally anyway until you replace almost everything that is going to fail.

 

I would think a cheap mpg car with room to move stuff around and maybe a girl or two should fit.

 

Being a former New Englander... Back in the day If I could have afforded a nice car it would have been a closet queen in the winter and I'd have driven a less attractive 4x4 Toyota pickup or something. Even Corvettes rust. I always had to drive a junk back then. So if you can afford a nicer Corvette I would probably lean to not driving a Corvette in snow and salt...Just saying

 

It may sound good and the cars are cool, and I'm sure you'd get plenty of comments about the car, good and bad, But most of all in my opinion they are really not designed for all four seasons, everybody here knows it, all but a very few hardcore guys park there cars for the winter. I'll tell you what I told both my sons, get dependable transportation for school, do well, Graduate, make money, buy your toys then.

Good luck