Hello,
Been looking at some C4's at various car dealers, I'm new to Corvettes and was wondering if y'all could tell me some things to look for that would be red flags or at least questionable items. I have walked away from three that were just rags or seriously overpriced for the condition of the car. So far I have found wet floorboards, cracks around the hood where it latches and cracks around the headlights. Of course there seems to be a lot of crap paint jobs out there too....good from 50 feet.

thanks in advance

 

Pricing will be all over the place. Like with most cars how much will depend on miles and options. I would suggest learning a bit more about the C4 (or any car) before you buy one. That way you can decide which options you have to have and which ones you can live without. Some options were only available on certain years so decide what you want first.

Good luck.

 

Look at it the same way you would look at any other used car. The fiberglass body, and independent rear are the only 2 things that make a vette different from a camaro, or other GM car.
All bonding seams on the body are underneath mouldings, so if you see cracking or telegraphing through the paint, it was repaired.

 

Prices have took a big hit on C4's. You are probably best looking at ones for sale from local clubs, this forum, or corvette shows rather than from Stealerships. The general rule is buy the newest, lowest mile C4 in your budget.

Once you find a particular year, then we can help you find the quirks for that car. There are some great values out there in ZR-1's Grand Sports and others!

 

avoid l98 cars,so that will narrow your search to 92 thru 96.avoid convertables theyre heavy,and unless you just dont care if you have a bad *** sports car thats slow as hell DO NOT get an automatic.auto cars came with rear gears that are more suited for grannys car,and the rear end themselves are much weaker than those in the manual cars.so lets summarize.92 or newer,6spd,no verts.follow this and you will have a nice start.expect to pay between 6 and 10k for a decent one,10 to 14k for low a
milage beauty.im sure this will bother some folks so sorry in advance.

 

things you mentioned are common in older C4s. They are not necessarily deal breakers, and could be used for price negotiation by you if you are not looking for a ready to go trailer queen.

 

At this point, I would seriously consider the "Seller" as part of the package.

I bought a 62k mile Garage queen from the original owner...."SHE" did keep it nice but she didn't drive it for 10 years.

When I bought it an pressed it into daily service, the paint fell off....the Dash cracked....the o-rings and gaskets all developed leaks....the whole car needed ONE of everything as the OE equipment was 25 years old and very very tired.

So yeah, I passed on a ton of well kept high mileage cars....that may have been a mistake in hindsight. Maybe $4500 on a 120K "well maintained labor of love" from an actual car enthusiast would have been better than $4500 62k mile garage queen that only got serviced at dealerships "when something broke"

Right now, I'm repairing the Power Steering.....reason?? Old houses, dried up leaky o-rings....the pump itself works fine....it just drops about 4 oz of fluid per night....and the under side of the car now has it's own home made "Undercarriage corrosion resistant protection plan"

Wanna see the oily underside?? I didn't think you would....

But seriously, I've rebuilt the entire drive train minus the "Motor" itself......that is the last "component" I need to rebuild at this point.

Understand, I didn't need to rebuild things.....they were just leaking fluids....so while I had the tranny out to change seals......I had them rebuilt just in case.

 

If it were me I'd look only consider looking at car with the best exterior (body/paint) and interior (seats/door panels/plastic) you can find....most likely the youngest C4. Make sure all the elctrical works properly and don't over pay for a mod molested car (try to get one as close to stock as possible). Most of the rest of the stuff you can attack with and FSM (Factory Service Manual) when you in weekend fix'er up project mode.

 

You might want to pick up something that will give you specs and Option Codes for each Year - like The Corvette Black Book or Corvette Specs C4 or find someone who knows what these cars looked like off the Line. Also, plenty of Autos came with a Performance - 3.23 - Axle. Most of the 20 plus year old cars I've seen need 10 to 15K of work to bring them back to what they once were (assuming you can find parts) so keep that in mind if you want it the way it once was. Unfortunately, even getting it back to "Factory" doesn't guarantee much better reliability than the way it left (perusing Service Bulletins will give you an idea of what was showing up the Dealerships) - and that wasn't that hot relative to anything new being sold today.

 

I purchased a 1993 40th earlier this year and looked for the usual cracked floors and repair jobs from accidents. I got mine with 50K and experienced the hardly ever driven, everything leaking syndrome. Its all good though. If you want ask me about mine, I may sell if you want to come up and drive it back. All repairs are done and tested. PM me. Bob.

 

 

http://www.corvettebuyers.com/c4vettes/prepurchase.htm

This is a good plan to start with. It helped me just to keep a list of things to look at instead of getting into the "I am buying a Corvette" dream mode when I looked at a few.

 

I have owned Corvettes since the 60s. This current one and my favorite so far is a C4. It has enough performance and comfort to suit my daily driver needs. I frequently drive it 500 miles in a day on family visits and such. My suggestion is that you fit comfortably in the car and can stand the Corvette ride, other than that it's your preference. Get exactly what you want. I looked at dealers, Ebay, Craigs List (wach for scams), and Auto Trder. I ended up buying through Auto Trader. I narrowed my search by year, color, style, and transmission. Got exacly what I wanted from a reputable dealer eleven hundred miles from home. I couldn't be more pleased. Personally I like a convertible, six speed, and the L98. It may not be the fastest car on the road, but that L98 is rock solid dependable. This particular car has over 100,000 miles on it and was well maintained.

 

Suggest you define what you really want (original/modified, basic/accessories, painted/clear top, color, wheels, sound system). Options add complexity and may or may not be worthwhile for you. Anything that varies from your "perfect" car increases expense and decreases satisfaction. And don't rush!

Will be interested to learn what you end up with...

 

Don't knock the L98. Mine runs GREAT, now that I've had the head gaskets replaced!!!

 

hoswalte is full of himself...........All c4's are great cars if they have been taken care of.
Some require more or less maintenance depending on the care and use.

 

hoswalte, Yikes that's not good advice.

coupeguy is right with how it boils down.

I'd sugest too, call private owners and go look at their cars, they're more honest than car dealers are.

Check the car out, you'll know if something doesn't look right. Make sure everything works, headlights go up and down, windows. etc. If it's an 84 to 89 make sure the dash works. Have the owner take you for a test drive. You can concentrate better in the passenger seat without you driving it. Then wherever you end up, now you drive it back to his or her house feeling the brakes, steering and what not.

Buying a Corvette is like buying anyother used car.

 

Good info at that link.

Buying a Corvette is like buying any other car so check everything you would normally check and add a few other items.

First, you need to decide what you want so you can narrow down your search.

Do you prefer automatics or manuals? My wife and I both prefer manual transmissions so we went with a 6 speed. Nothing wrong with the automatics if that's what you prefer.

Is this going to be used for road trips and vacations? C4 convertibles are very limited on luggage space. That's the only reason my C4 is a coupe. My 71 was rarely road tripped so luggage space wasn't a big deal then. My C5 vert has a trunk.

If you plan to seriously race the car keep in mind the rules are more stringent for convertibles than coupes.

Which body style do you prefer? I liked the look of the later model C4s and the HP increase from 91 to 92 was a bonus so we looked for 92 and up.

Keep in mind that for their age these cars are fairly advanced with gadgets and gizmos for their age. The VATS system, ARS and ABS can all be tricky (and expensive) to repair. Not to mention the Opti spark on the LT1/LT4 cars.

Keep the Corvette tax in mind and check the operation of ARS and ABS, check the the condition of weatherstripping, interior parts like seats and door panels. Seat covers and foam can be very pricey.

Look carefully under the hood for hack jobs on wiring and hoses or other lines that don't look right.

 

i love all c-4s seriously.i was 16 when they were the "new" vette and owning one is a dream come true for me.but i am all about the performance.i hope to have 450rwhp with a stock appearing motor so for me that pretty much excludes the l98 and the cross fire.i built a L98 once.they are plenty for most people and the one i built for a 87 iroc was a mustang killing ****............but again i didnt like seeing it fall on its face at 5500 rpms.im not full of myself i just like what i like.and right now its ultra high performance with all stock looks.

 

Thanks for all the information guys, Pappy...thats a great link you provided and I've printed it out. Right now I've found one in South Carolina and two in California I'll be going to look at. All are 95-96 coupes with automatic, only one is at a dealer. With any luck I'll be driving home in a new toy before long.....we'll see. Lowest mileage car is 59k highest is 96k but after talking with the owner of the 96k car he is as persnickity as I am about my rolling stock.

thanks again,