I am considering getting a 94-96 or so convertible as an around-town car to keep my other two cars in better shape. How is the reliability/durability of these years? Any issues I should look for?

Thanks!

 

A nice 95-96 vert with low miles (under 50k miles) will run you about 18k or so now.....so you might want to go down a few years if it's just going to be a daily driver to take abuse off of a ford lightning....

by the time the 95 and 96 cars came out these cars were just about as good as the c4 was gonna get.

sheeh still can't get over the fact your going to use a convertible vette to keep a ford truck in better shape but GL on your search.

 

Reliability and durability is often a product of the care or abuse the car has seen. So look carefully at your selections and pick a winner. Some of these C4's are getting up in their years and miles and will need occasional tweeking but you can come here for most all the answers.

All and all I'd say the l98 and lt1's are rock solid engines. Since your looking at the 94-96 that would be an lt1 unless it has a package (zr1 ect).

One things for sure, if you pick a good one you will most likely be hooked because you will love it. Good luck on your search.

 

Buy a Corvette because you want to be driving a Corvette, not because you want a reliable daily driver. Yes, some of these cars can be reliable drivers but they're generally fairly maintenance intensive. If you're willing to put up with the occasional (or frequent, as the case may be!) problems and issues for the sake of driving a Corvette, then go for it. If your main concern is reliable transportation with a little style, then you might reconsider.

My '92 is my only car. The basic engine/drivetrain has been fairly reliable, but I've spent a TON of time and money repairing little things and maintaining the car. Bottom line: if it wasn't a Corvette I would have sold it a long time ago, but I love driving a Corvette.

 

Sounds like you need a daily driver. I'd use the Lightning or the Mustang and save the daily wear and tear on my Vette. That being said my 96 has been very reliable.

 

Don't listen to these people, late C4's make awesome daily drivers.

I bought my '95 with 57,000 miles, it now has 127,000. Buying this car saved my truck(It had 191,000).

Actually bottom line, don't just drive one car all the time and the others occasionally, you will destroy them if you neglect them and not driving is the biggest and harshest form of neglect there is.

I rotate between my '95 and my '03 truck, but my '93 only gets driven on Saturday's, mainly due to the fact that it's awful hard to drive in the rain on drag radials and also my wheels are slated for race only, don't want the cops to have another reason.

That being said, any car you drive daily is going to need maintainence and at shorter intervals than those you don't drive.

Buying a '95 or '96 is a real good idea, they were just about perfect since the engineers were given the task in 1992 to make the C4 the best it could be while the C5 was being developed.

 

I enjoy driving my 96 as a daily driver. Good luck with your search

 

 

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like a mixed bag. I figured I would get a couple wise guy comments on this board, but that's part of why I've been on it so long. My reasoning is as such:

The Saleen, being one of the few 351's built, is extremely rare (especially compared to the tens of thousands of C4's built) and that car is my baby. It's also quite finicky and would not make a good daily even if I didn't care about keeping it in fantastic shape (which would be a damn shame with a rare beast like that). The Lightning I have also had since new and is in perfect shape, without a scratch or dent, but I am now looking for something I can park in crowded parking lots without a concern.

I figured an older Vette (I used to have an '86 L98 with alum heads) would be a good choice. It prolly already has some scratches and the like, it can't be dented because of the fiberglass and hopefully I wouldn't be as **** about a used car with some wear as I am with the Saleen and the SVT. That's also the reason I'm looking for a C4 instead of a C5.

So basically, I have narrowed the search down to a C4 or a brand new Mazdaspeed Miata. As terribly fun as the Miata was to drive, I'm just having trouble getting past the fact that it's still a Miata. I just wanted to see if I am going to have a lot of maintenence woes with the late model C4, as I had a lot with the 86.

Hope that clears it up a bit. I am a high-performance car enthusiast, not just a vette enthusiast, or SVT or what-have-you like many out there are. I like em all.

 

[quote] So basically, I have narrowed the search down to a C4 or a brand new Mazdaspeed Miata. As terribly fun as the Miata was to drive, I'm just having trouble getting past the fact that it's still a Miata. [quote]

Funny as it sounds, I have a 2002 Miata for my daily driver and keep my 1993 ZR-1 for the weekends. The Miata is a blast to drive and handles like its on rails around corners, I love it almost as much as my ZR-1...

 

Overall these cars make fine daily drivers. The engine is rock solid with a few things to watch for (opti, LT1 water pump, etc); you may get the little nuisances like interior rattles, power window motors, etc. But the major stuff is reliable.

 

Had mine for a year and a half and putting almost 15k on it (miles). I only put a water pump on, which was common and like the Forum said, was right at 60k on the odometer. Nothing else to report, great daily driver!

 

please get the mazda.all corvettes deserve better than to be treated as a grocery getter.
it makes me ill when i see a vette owner pull in to wal-mart parking lot and squeeze in between 2 beater pickups and then hop out to go in and save a few pennies on a loaf of bread.
i always think "someone should save that poor car,that person does not deserve to own it"
the c4 will pull your "daily driver" duty fine if you ask it to,but its not the useage the car was designed to be subjected to.
this message was brought to you by the save a vette foundation.
"wont you help?"

 

Come on, come on you don't have to let your vette become a garage queen inorder to keep it nice and in good running order. (no dis on anyone who is keeping it as a GQ for investment or show purposes). These cars were manufactured to be driven.

I purchased new and put over 100K of year round miles on all of the following and you know what? They ALL looked real nice and drove real nice the entire time. And while it's true that some had more mechanical issues than others .... all of them enjoyed being driven every day!!

73 Vega GT 110+
82 Buick Regal 160+
91 Maxima SE 180+ (son now driving it)
96 GMC Yukon 130

Soon I will be the proud owner of a well maintained 96 LT1 CE with 50K and I will add more than 100K to it as a daily driver.

You don't need to keep your vette in a garage to keep it alive. Drive it and maintain it and it will last and last. RUST kills cars not driving them.

There are only 4 rules that you need to follow:
1) Change oil & filter every 3K
2) Never NEVER allow engine to overheat
3) Do not exceed red line (I know this one can be difficult)
4) Hand wash one a week.

My only regret is that I gave my Vega to my B-i-L in 82.

Drive/enjoy/look

Oh btw .... you're going to look better in a vet than in either of your other two vehicles

 

In that year range choose a 95-96 over the 94 for reliability due to the vented optispark.

As a daily driver I'd take a miata over the vette any day. Rides better, more comfortable seats, more luggage space, cheaper insurance, cheaper maintenance and repairs, better gas mileage.

Esp. now that I see you're in MI. Vettes are no fun on crappy northern roads. Even as a weekend toy, I'd take a miata over the vette around here. Since I moved to PA from CA a few months ago I've been thinking I should have sold the vette before I moved and bought a miata.

 

No offence to any miata owners here but I'd rather drive a Corvette in any state, any roads, any weather, any conditions (except off a cliff or crash up derby) than a miata. Sorry, thats just me. I'm ALL

 

[QUOTE=There are only 4 rules that you need to follow:
1) Change oil & filter every 3K
2) Never NEVER allow engine to overheat
3) Do not exceed red line (I know this one can be difficult)
4) Hand wash one a week.[/QUOTE]
5) You forgot the waive!

 

Sorry, I live in CA now. I guess I havn't updated my profile in the past 2 years! Thanks for the heads up.

Tough call between the two. I love Vette's, but the Miata really surprised me at how fun it was to drive. A ZR1 and a miata, interesting garage indeed!

I consider the Miata American enough, since it's owned by an american company. The same american company I happen to work for as well, netting me a nice discount.

 

[QUOTE=C4VetteLT1]

Touche~

 

Vettes are relatively reliable. If you compare them to a 70s era Ferrari or Alfa, then they are bulletproof.
In the end, get whatever car makes you happy. If you somehow end up with the wrong choice, sell what you got and buy something else. Simple, really. Good luck.