Question for Vanakin or any corvette owners - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 12-03-2002, 09:46 PM

I am thinking about buying a used corvette to have in addtion to my ML for some fun summer driving...do you like yours or is it a money pit

suginami · #2 12-03-2002, 11:25 PM

Check with Larry Bible. He has one and could provide some insight.

G-Benz · #3 12-04-2002, 10:15 AM

If you are looking at vintage, I can shed some light.

My dad bought a '69 t-top when I was in college. My job was to keep it running and looking good for the car shows.

Very reliable, consisting of few electronics, and the 350 ci with auto trans.

Radio REALLY sucked, but when the engine fired up, you didn't care!

Chassis with the pre-85 models was more like a pickup truck, and the ride quality was just as bad! But you could keep it running with a 1/2" wrench and household items!

Some owners of the early models drove in all sorts of inclement weather, lulled with the rust-free fiberglass bodies, and never paid much attention to the metal underneath, so beware!

Purist cars are the best looking, but not cheap, especially if all the numbers match. Driver cars exist, and can be had for much less money.

Stay away from the fuel injected models and the big blocks if you are looking for bargains.

#4 12-04-2002, 01:42 PM

The Corvette is my first and only domestic car and it was a pleasant surprise, it's very reliable and definitely not a money pit.
I was skeptical at first about an American car bcuz I was used to japanese and german cars but the Corvette made me lose my disdain for american cars.

I like it a lot, it's just a big toy made for having fun while driving just like you want, but you can also drive it everyday if you want to. I've racked up 70k miles on mine with no problem at all except the steering lock column problem, I'm serious, no problems at all,
I've driven it in traffic and used it for long distance out of town high speed cruising with no breakdown or engine problems.

I wish the handling was a lot stiffer than it is but this might be because I'm used to driving the old benzes, even my E420 is not stiff enough, you can always adjust this if you want to anyway.

My late father in law had a 1997 Corvette that had a transmission problem, it wouldn't go in reverse, dealer fixed this under warranty and it was fine after that, I've never ran across another Corvette owner with this problem so I think it was a one time thing, mine never had this problem.

The 1997 Corvettes are known for having a steering lock problem that requires the replacement of a chip, most corvettes will have had this problem already so I doubt you will find one that needs the chip, it costs about $500 to fix this problem.

The only other money issue depends on your driving style, if you like to peel off, you'll be buying rear tires every two months, the cheapest I've found them is $250 for each one, I'm looking for tires now so you might have seen me whining about them all over the forum and of course you probably already know that a leadfoot will lead to regular gas fillups.

I also like the fact that the car gives you a lot of info, you can even find out the transmission fluid temp from the computer in the dashboard, I've never seen this feature on any other cars although I'm sure there are some that have them, makes you feel like you're a racer, it has a nice bose sound system although I hate the look of the radio. This is a personal choice but I like the coupe with the removable glass top.

In my opinion the C5--1997 to present--- corvette is the best corvette to buy. Make sure you get records and an extended warranty.

Five years ago I would have thought it was crazy to buy a Corvette if you could buy a used SL but I don't think so anymore. The interior won't hold up as good as the SL but the maintenance costs are a lot cheaper.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

#5 12-04-2002, 01:46 PM

Just in case, needing tires every two months might be a bit of an exaggeration, I never really counted but I would guess every 6000 miles

#6 12-04-2002, 06:01 PM

I saw a 69 Stingray today at a shop and he is in the process of restoring it. He said it should be ready in about a month, at that time I will bring it to my mechanic to have him check it out. I may spend about $14,000... Ideally I would like a newer one but can't afford to pay $20000 so I thought a 69 is pretty classy....What do you think

#7 12-04-2002, 06:22 PM

It's hard to find a decent C5 for less than $23k so the Stingray might be the way to go, especially if it's very clean. The C4s are not so bad either, you can find a good bargain if you look.

The only bad things I've heard about the Stingrays is that they are uncomfortable and tight but this depends on your body size. I don't know much about their mechanical durability or if they are money pits.

You probably already know this but make sure the mechanic you take to look at the car is skilled in Corvette stingrays.

Also at the shop where the Stingray is being restored, were there any other corvettes that you could look at, ask him to show you Corvettes that he has restored previously so you can see how good he is and it might be a good idea to talk to the owner to see if they were satisfied with the restoral.

You also have a month to look around at other models.

suginami · #8 12-04-2002, 07:31 PM

The '69 is a good choice.

My dad had a '68 Stingray that my mom sold after he died. It was virtually all original with only 60,000 original miles and she sold it for about $15,000 about 4 years ago.

The '68's might be worth more that a '69 because it was the first year of the model change. However, it was a terrible year for quality. There were tons of things that were changed for '69. Part supply is also a problem for '68's because there are a lot of '68 only parts.