Why not a cheap C4 Corvette DD?

I have resumed the search for a daily driver again, driving my lifted Jeep at 10 mpg city is getting old. Looking for something 2 door (preferably) rear drive or awd, manual transmission that won't embarrass itself autocrossing, and gets decent mileage for around $3,000 (not a Miata). Having recently sold the 944 Turbo, I definitely want to go American or Japanese. Porsche parts and service are way overpriced.

C4 Corvettes are getting way cheap, there are a few on craigslist for $2500, mid '80s TPI models. The gas mileage isn't great but parts are cheap, it should be fun to drive, easy to work on, and autocross-able.

Any reason not to buy a $3000 Corvette?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/825368811.html

negatives are 80's gm electronics in a sub 3k car. You will be having problems. Specific parts such as dash, bose radio's, auto a/c controllers etc can be expensive to repair/replace, but may be fixed with a little knowledge, and aren't that vital. If your not scared of a parts interchange book you can find the same parts for less $$ on many items.

In my opinion I would suggest a 6 speed car, tpi is good for mileage and AX, lt1 is nice, but probably not for 3k.

window seals can rot/be bad and leak, probably about $500 in parts, need to be fixed so wiring doesn't rot. Tires and wheel bearings are expensive, autocrossing will eat both.

The history of repairs/upkeep should let you decide if its an ok dd, my 89 strangely enough has become my "reliable" car now.. The GM multronic (grey) fuel injectors tend to be a problem on all tpi's, easily replaced w/ford injectors. Other than that, its a 350. I'm working on modifying the ecm concerning what is a "lean burn" mode disabled in production but the code is still there. (I'm not responsible for it, its been done, I just mean I'm working on enabling it on my vette) Essentially under certain parameters it will lean out the mixture and advance the ignition to return better mileage at a sacrifice for pollutants (a hypothesized reason its not enabled). Right now with no modifications other than exhaust I average19-20 mpg in town and have got a tank of 30mpg on a road trip, usually average 25-26 on the highway. Its also easy to average 10 around town and do 180's with the gas and clutch b/c the turning radius is so big. Premium is important depending on setup, I get ALLOT of spark knock on 87 w/stock tune.

Clutch hydraulics are considered weak and problematic.

If your worried about the crossfire or tpi, think about an lt1 intake conversion, easy and cheap if you find a lt1 or even l99 in a j-yard (think Buick/caprice) To a large degree if you ignore the reverse coolant flow of the lt1 the L98 heads don't flow too differently, and have comparable results with the lt1. its still a 350.

Or if its that bad, carb intake, drop all electronics, fab up some gauges and loose some weight. It is still a galvenized steel frame with fancy 4wheel independent suspension, big brakes which are easily upgradeable (abs problems can be expensive however) and a "fiberglass or plastic" body. Ride is pretty rough on rough roads, cabin is "cozy" bottoms out on everything but I think it rides great if you have decent roads.

You most likely wont just get in and have a dd c4 for 3k, but it shouldn't be that hard to keep it a dd w/little $$. Even if you get beat by slammed hondas, the ladies generally prefer the 'vette.

daytonaer wrote: negatives are 80's gm electronics in a sub 3k car. You will be having problems. Specific parts such as dash, bose radio's, auto a/c controllers etc can be expensive to repair/replace, but may be fixed with a little knowledge, and aren't that vital. If your not scared of a parts interchange book you can find the same parts for less $$ on many items.

I bought a C4 Corvette for $3,500 and used it as a daily driver for a year. Daytonaer was right on the money for what went wrong with mine - it had a bunch of electrical glitches that I just got sick of for an everyday car. The other thing is that some chassis parts like wheel bearings are a bit pricey.

It will get double the mileage of your Jeep, though, and it's incredibly fun in an autocross. The drivetrain itself was pretty much bulletproof, although it did give me a scare when the wiring to the main cooling fan burnt out. The iron-headed L98 survived some scary temperatures without blowing a gasket, though.

I owned one for 3 yrs as a daily driver. It is a fun car, the power is great, the handling is great, and its easy to live with comfort-wise. You also get alot of attention. People question how you got rich and can afford such a supercar...

EVERYTHING was falling apart on mine. One piece right after another. In those three years I only got to race it 3 times. Twice to autocross and once to drag. Every other free weekend i had i was wrenching on the 'vette, or babying the vette while i saved up money for parts....

Finally there's the "Slow car + fast = Fun; Fast car + slow = Not so much Fun" factor. My favorite roads really weren't all that much fun anymore because the 'vette is just breezing through them. The limit is so high, that you'd be mad to try to approach them on the twistys.

So, as you can see my vette wasn't anywhere near my favorite car to own. My supercharged Miata was TONS more fun and more reliable.

Good luck if you get one. Hope your exp. is better than mine. btw, mine was a '94 got it w/ 72k mi and sold it w/ 120k.

Thanks for all the good advice, good things to consider. One thing I am not well versed in is chasing down electrical gremlins. Perhaps if a really cherry car comes along it would be worth considering, but sounds like you get what you pay for. Funny how that works.

I may set my sights on a fox body 5.0 Mustang as an alternative.

so far in the 91 for the summer i'm at a nice comfortable 22.9mpg average.

dead reliable, it's a small block/700r4 auto which are both hard to kill(not so for the early overdrives but the 88+ ones had some very nice updates, i've taken them over 210k no problem)