C4 crap box kick around...

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j par

j par

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Started looking out for my 93 trans am again or something similar but can't find it. Thought about the Camaro which is close. Then I thought hey I've never had a Corvette and as a little kid always wanted one. Which seems to be the same of everybody I've ever talked to that hasn't had one LOL and of course everybody says it hard to get in and out of. Just looking for something I can kick around and drive daily leave out in the driveway and not worry about. Something with a decent driving experience. Something that won't break the bank. That's why I was thinking c4...
NO mustang...
My mopars are sunny day drivers and I'm putting to many miles on my wife's new car.. I'm ok with my ram 2500, but lots of times I just want to jump in a car and split...
Anyways looking for people's experience..
Thank you...
 
Father of a buddy of mine in college had a C4. We tooled around in it a lot. Great little cruiser. They don't accelerate hard, but they handle decent. Easy to overheat the brakes and then the dash lights up like a christmas tree and starts throwing errors and warnings - still drove fine though, even with the nannies going nuts. His was an auto trans, probably why it felt neutered - but in it's day, nothing else really pulled hard either. My shitbox 2.2 turbo'd Charger would hold it's own from a roll until about 95mph, then the 'vette would pull about a car length ahead as we reached ~130. Biggest pain in the *** is that every kid in a subaru wanted to race it, and every old-man-in-shorts wants to talk your ear off about the one he's about to buy (but never does).

I don't think they're hard to get in and out of. That rep comes from their target demographic: achy old men who need pills to get it up. They're no tougher to enter/exit than any other 80/90s car. The seat sits just a bit lower, but I'm missing a bunch of 'stuff' from my knee joints and still had no issues getting in and out. Another buddy had a '98 mustang and that thing was tougher to get in and out of due to the size of the door opening, and had less room once I was in it. The mustang seat sat a little higher than the 'vette', but the thicker seats put my head closer to the sill.

If I had to list downsides, they'd be: little to no storage space (mustang had more trunk). Two backpacks pretty much fill the 'trunk' area. Tires are expensive and short-lived. The rear bumper always fades at a different rate than the rest of the body and makes it look dated/aged in a hurry. I'd take one over a slow-maro any day though. The 'vette might not light anyone's hair on fire, but the camaros are far worse. Those smogger 305s made a Camry fun to drive in comparison.
 
I test drove several c3 and c4's before I bought my 73 Satellite in 2012, because- "just so I can say I've owned one".

The c3 is a much sexier car, even from behind the wheel, but- the c4 is a much better car from an engineering standpoint.

Back then the best deal I found was a black 93 lt-1 six speed manual without traction control (which I understood was desirable) for $5,500.
I saw several nice c4's under 5K, and nice c3's were 4K, the nicest being a black '75 at a Dodge dealership of all places, or a 73 vert needing reassembled after paint for $3500! I also saw a manual trans c3 "Pace car" with nice paint and interior for 7K, and an '85 convertible manual trans (4+1) for 5K. I learned I don't care for the 85 MPH "Knight Rider" dash.

I did find the c4 way more difficult to get into and out of vs the c3.
The c3 is just low, but the c4 has a very high sill and the door is more rearward with respect to the seat and footwell.
Fans call it "fall in, climb out" and that's exactly what it feels like.
Once inside, the c4 had slightly more headroom, but my head did hit the roll bar under acceleration.

Prices have ticked up in the last 2 years and a "**** box" c4 now starts about $6500.
There is an 87 auto down the street with paint that is starting to go, and a trashed interior.
It was listed at $6500, but 3 months ago they jacked it up to $7900. This is a buy here lot, though, but it's what I'm seeing CL ads similar to.
The best c3 deal I see today is a 77 with no engine and faded paint but looks solid (say it with me- ls swap) for 3K.
 
Any Corvette in the condition described as above is can be expensive to restore or at least get into proper mechanical condition. The early eighties Corvettes are the least expensive, desirable and the Crossfire engine could be problematic.
Corvette prices are all over the map and condition and records mean everything
Id personally stay away from any beat low priced Corvette as well as used Corvette's on dealership lots
There are enough adult owned C4 and C5 Corvettes that were pampered and always garaged, good clean low milage cars available
That being said those C4 and C5 Corvettes are a great car for the money if in good condition
 
One of the guys at work had a Vette, not sure what kind. He was not a car guy, seemed like he was dropping a grand for maintanance every month. He never even drove it hard. Good luck.
 
@j par

I can get you a good deal on an 82 or 83 (I can't read the month on the door sticker) firebird ici convertible conversion with a factory V8 and factory 4 speed.

If it's an 82, it's first year of that body style.

Kinda odd that it's a v8 and a four speed, but it's not a trans am.
 
YY1 said:
I test drove several c3 and c4's before I bought my 73 Satellite in 2012, because- "just so I can say I've owned one".

The c3 is a much sexier car, even from behind the wheel, but- the c4 is a much better car from an engineering standpoint.

Back then the best deal I found was a black 93 lt-1 six speed manual without traction control (which I understood was desirable) for $5,500.
I saw several nice c4's under 5K, and nice c3's were 4K, the nicest being a black '75 at a Dodge dealership of all places, or a 73 vert needing reassembled after paint for $3500! I also saw a manual trans c3 "Pace car" with nice paint and interior for 7K, and an '85 convertible manual trans (4+1) for 5K. I learned I don't care for the 85 MPH "Knight Rider" dash.

I did find the c4 way more difficult to get into and out of vs the c3.
The c3 is just low, but the c4 has a very high sill and the door is more rearward with respect to the seat and footwell.
Fans call it "fall in, climb out" and that's exactly what it feels like.
Once inside, the c4 had slightly more headroom, but my head did hit the roll bar under acceleration.

Prices have ticked up in the last 2 years and a "**** box" c4 now starts about $6500.
There is an 87 auto down the street with paint that is starting to go, and a trashed interior.
It was listed at $6500, but 3 months ago they jacked it up to $7900. This is a buy here lot, though, but it's what I'm seeing CL ads similar to.
The best c3 deal I see today is a 77 with no engine and faded paint but looks solid (say it with me- ls swap) for 3K.
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I gave the the one in post number two is kind of an example but I do want to stay away from the crossfire injection. I had that on my 305 in my 82 firebird and it was slow as slow could get. But it was very reliable I drove across the United States with that car with no problems whatsoever.
I'm kind of dancing between the l98 with a distributor and the LT1 with the optispark. Again my 93 trans am had the Optus spark and I never had any problems with it. I have heard some good things on the Internet lol about the 89 6 speed?
I'm 100% convinced that I want to Coop not a convertible I would like that little bit of extra room in the back. Besides I'm just going to keep it outside anyways... As long as the AC is working which is going to either way or I would like to kind of have a black one as it seems a little bit more incognito on the road than a bright red one. Definitely not getting yellow whatever I do. I'm still on the fence between a stick shift and an automatic though..
 
Get one. Preferrably 92-96 with the LT1. I have a 95. Love it for a fun driver. Rattles alot like all plastic cars over bumps. Mid 20's mpg all day long. When you first start driving one they are unimpressive until you start working them. The harder you drive it the better it gets. Clover leafs = YEE HAW! Roundabout P.B. is 40mph, thought I was going to get the curb on that one....
 
I would also consider the 93 to 96 Trans Am or Formula Firebirds. Years ago my neighbor had a 95 Formula convertible with the LT1 and a 6 speed, he had a Paxton installed on it, damn that thing was quick, and fun to drive! Probably still has it, but family and kids meant that it was parked some time ago. He wasn't a car guy, but he had very deep pockets and liked to go fast.
 
I can tell you, they really aren't good daily drivers. You can't haul nothing or nobody. They are terrible in the rain, wide tires and light back ends. You sit on the ground with your legs straight out. Also, many of them aren't trouble free cars either, many having electrical issues. Just my humble opinion from my experiences. Your experience may be quite different :)
 
missing linc said:
Personally I would go with a C5, much better car overall than the C4, and still reasonably priced. Just my 02.
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Yes I would like the C five but it starts to just put me on the elevator ride of just a little better and just a little better and just a little better until I just spent too much on something I just want to leave outside and kick around...
 
missing linc said:
I would also consider the 93 to 96 Trans Am or Formula Firebirds. Years ago my neighbor had a 95 Formula convertible with the LT1 and a 6 speed, he had a Paxton installed on it, damn that thing was quick, and fun to drive! Probably still has it, but family and kids meant that it was parked some time ago. He wasn't a car guy, but he had very deep pockets and liked to go fast.
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Again this started out with a search for a 93 and up trans am but just can't find one around here. One just popped up in Idaho but good Lord I go up there and it's a piece of crap...
 
As an old man in shorts I don't use pills as . . .
I'll stick with ny 95 LT1 Roadmaster, 88 K5, 61 D100 Utilne, 64 Dart.
However always on the prowl.
 
318willrun said:
I can tell you, they really aren't good daily drivers. You can't haul nothing or nobody. They are terrible in the rain, wide tires and light back ends. You sit on the ground with your legs straight out. Also, many of them aren't trouble free cars either, many having electrical issues. Just my humble opinion from my experiences. Your experience may be quite different :)
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I appreciate that.. it's never more than one extra person in my car my wife. And I definitely want the coop so I have that little back area if I need to throw something back there. What are my two little dogs could fit back there pretty easily...
I have a vast amount of vehicles if I need to carry something but I will be driving this in the rain so that is a consideration. But I'm pretty good at driving in the rain considering where I live...
 
Looking for a c four makes this easy... You can't swing a cat around here without hitting a c4 Corvette....
 
My friend said the same thing about tires being expensive, but I don't see them as being expensive??
 
I think you can do a bit better than 10K.

That first one is a c5.
 
Honestly.. don't get a C4.. get a C5, it's a MASSIVE difference in performance, dependability and ease to work on (they are soo easy to work on it's ridiculous, the c4's suck) you can get a nice c5 in the 10k range and have a MUCH better car.
My old C5 is one of my favorite cars i ever owned.
 
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