hey everybody ill be hopefully buying my first vette tommorrow afternoon and just had a question of what to look for as far as bad stuff to look for on this vette.its a 88 targa top,auto,with 117,000 miles on it.thanks

 

Congrats and welcome. Lots of good guys here to help you along

 

Not to hurt anyone's pride, but weatherstripping is probably shot so it would need replacing.

I'd check the power accessories such as the windows, locks, mirrors, radio, A/C/heater, etc...

Make sure tires match and are ok and not dry rotted or worn.

Engine bay - Look for anything obviously amiss, e.g. coolant hoses, condition of the intake, oil on the valve covers/exhaust manifolds, coolant and oil condition.

Test drive it and listen carefully to the engine and keep your ears open for anything.

How does it start up? Easy cold start or annoying hard starts (keeps on turning over)

Does or is the Check Engine or Service Engine Soon light come on during driving? If so, I'd investigate it a little more or leave.

Is it firing on all 8 cylinders? If not, you'll probably feel/hear it sound running roughly on acceleration

How are the brakes? If you hear a hiss and/or if the brake pedal is hard to press, the booster is bad.

Well that is all I can think off right now, but good luck on what you do. Post pics of the car if possible.

 

I bought my '88 with 110K on the clock back in 2001. The two items that came to mind as far as being at the end of its' life time on my car turned out to be the tranny and fuel pump.

Ask for all the work receipts to see what has been done to the car

 

You should take the car somewhere a get it up on a hoist,check all the wheels for slop and check u-joints,bad oil leaks or underbody damage,check rear diff.Next I would check every electrical item including dash on the car to see if they work,look for added wires under the hood or repairs,open the oil filler and look inside,it should be clean no gunk,check trans for burnt fluid(smells like burnt bacon) next I would check for body damage and panel fitment,next is weatherstripingand & interior both are $$$$$,also tires and wheels are $$$ along with anything else you may have to replace.

 

Check for intake manifold leaks and also see if the timing chain has ever been replaced. At that milage there might be a leaker injector or 2. If it cranks a bit to start when warm or you smell gas fumes after starting, there's probably an injector leaking.

 

117,000 miles is not much. I bought my 1988 several years ago with 100,000 and it ran fine through 180,000. Mine is exactly the same model as yours (auto/targa top). I recently (last month) changed engines but for mucho more power rather than any wearing out issues. The stocker was still running fine at the time.

When I bought mine, it had very little driving done for several years. As a result all the coolant gaskets had hardened and so when I turned it into my daily driver, they eventually all softened and blew out under pressure. So that was a big repair bill. The second thing was both headlight motors went south within 6-months and they are pricey repairs too.

Frankly, I don't know how you can check for those two things. The car is now 18-years old, so you just have to be prepared for mechanicals to be worn. I'd check all the obvious stuff: oil pressure, oil leaks, all accessories work (especially the headlights!). I'd also do a leakdown and compression test. Those are not expensive and will tell you if the rings/valves are okay. Oh, on our L98 heads, the valve seals wear and you can get a puff of blue smoke when you first start the engine. It only lasts for a second or two, but that will tell you oil is dribbling into the combustion chamber, so you might need some valve work soon. Not a big deal, but it is annoying.

Last thing is to drive it through a car wash. Both my windows leaked like the Exxon Valdez when I got to the first rainy season. This is a genuine pisser. Just be prepared to fix a lot of little things that will turn up. Be ready for a $ thou or more in various things as you drive it the first year. But no matter what, you will feel great in your first Vette. And you will never get over it!

 

The 88 is a very good year to buy right now given the depressed prices of the C4. Many of the things mentioned to check for can be repaired fairly cheaply on the 88 if you ask here in the Forum before going to a dealer.

For instance, if the headlights are not working at all, it could be the motors or the solid-state headlight relay, both of which are expensive to replace. Usually though, the headlights turn some but not enough or they stick part way open/closed. This is due to the internal bushings which you can replace yourself for under $10 per headlight.

The 88s all came with a 9th injector known as the Cold Start Valve (CSV). If this special injector is leaky or malfunctioning it will affect cold startup and possibly warm starts as well. You want to see the car started cold and ensure that it starts up and idles smoothly right away. After driving it to warm it up, stop and let it set for 10~20 minutes while you look over the rest of the car. Then restart the car and see how it starts when in pre-warmed up condition. It should fire up and idle smoothly immediatly. If not, it has an injector or fuel pressure regulator or fuel pump issue. Most of these issues are easily fixed and generally under $100. If it has a CSV problem you can pull the injector and have it serviced for under $25. The CSV controlling switch is about $50. For $75 the the 88 auto owner can use a CSV block-off plate and upgrade to the 89 auto ECM mem-cal chip. This eliminates the CSV system completely and the 89 auto chip is programmed slightly better than the 88.

Test EVERY switch and light and electrical component.

Definitely get the car on a lift and check for wear in the u-joints and wheel bearings. C4 wheel bearings are expensive.

Assume that you will spend about $500 in the next 3~6 months on all kinds of little things. You should be able to do most all of the work yourself and save $$ over going to a dealer. The 88 C4 is generally an easy car to work on.

 

Check the digi-dash operation, too. That thing ain't cheap to repair, either.

 

Make sure the rear hatch open with all three witches. Check the targa top for any leaks (seal broken off that create air leak while driving)

 

fixed for ya!

 

 

Pre-congrats on your possible purchase, if it happens you mite have a lot of fun

 

thanks everyone for all the replies,i bought the car and runs great. the guy i bought it from took real good care of it and replaced alot of the things that was wrong with it from when he bought it.its got all new weatherstriping,digital dash and top pad is new,etc lots of stuff and gave me the new parts he hasnt put on yet.the only thing it will need eventually is paint cause the clear is coming off and the seats will need to be redone,but other than that its great.picked it up for $5,000. i thought it was a good deal.

 

Good year!