Highway Man
Well-known member
Every now and then someone will put forth the question about buying a used vette-what to look for and what to avoid. I don't know if this will be of any interest to anyone but I will share with those who are what I do/did before I bought my 92 blk/blk coupe. This is what I do whenever I get ready to buy any car or about anything for that matter. I will decide what I would like to have and whether it will suit my needs/desires. I do my research. I get on the internet and I look at any articles both good and bad regarding a particular model. Lets face it some models just have more bugs than others and unless a person has the mechanical expertise to do the work themselves or the money to pay someone else to do it some models are best avoided. Then again one of my beliefs is that anything mass produced is going to have some good ones and some bad ones if nothing else because of the human error factor. When I feel like I have armed myself with enough information I go shopping. Before I bought my 92 I couldn't tell you how many vettes I looked at and I mean I went through a bunch of them. When I first saw this car I wasn't drawn to it. It seemed okay but I have learned not to make a heat of the moment purchase. The more I did my research though and talked to sellers and asked questions I began to get a "feel" of not only the condition of the car but the character of the person selling the car and whether they struck me as someone who took care of the car or someone who neglected even simple maintenance because they didn't want to be bothered. I talked to someone who let their dog sleep in their vette. I have nothing against dogs for all you dog lovers but I don't want to buy a car that's been used as a doghouse. My philosophy is that if small items that needed repair have been neglected then how can you be sure that the big items have been addresed? Unless of course the seller can provide you with documentation. After talking with the owner of the 92 I bought and spending some time talking about the car and evaluating just what type of person I was dealing with it was time for a drive. Oh by the way. Look at the condition of the shop/garage where the car has been kept. That will speak volumes about the seller. This is not always true but it can be an indicator. This sellers shop was swept and clean. There was not a lot of junk laying all around and he was working on his bass boat which was also in very good condition. He was doing some maintenance on it. The moment I got in the car fired her up and did a test drive I knew that this was the one. My wife was with me and she felt the same way. Now some of you may say "you bought a 92?" Don't you know about the opti-spark and the water pump? Which seems to be the main issue on this car. Yeah I know but I have decided to make replacing the water pump a regular maintenance item on this car and not wait until it goes out and takes the opti-spark with it. No more than I drive it will be awhile before I need to replace tha water pump again. I agree with those who say buy the newest model you can afford if you can afford it but also buy what you like. I like the style of the C4 and the dash layout has a lot to do with whether or not I like a car. After owning this car for three weeks I can say that there have been no "surprises" but the car has performed very well and has met all of my expectations. Now I get to have the fun of tweaking the car even more and making a good car even better. Am I having fun? You bet your sweet bippy I am and it all begins by not getting in too big a hurry and doing the work to find the "right one". Happy trails!
