Buying an 84

[arizona_drifter]

Well first, let me introduce myself. im new to these boards.
im in the processing of purchasing an 84 corvette from a dealer that
sells all kinds of old and new ones. (mostly used) a few things i wanted
to get some information or opinions on here before i pay the other half.


[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The car is a Light Bronze over Dark Bronze removable top coupe with 129,000 miles. 350ci Crossfire Injected Automatic, a/c, full power, tilt & telescopic, cruise, Bose am-fm-cassette. Dark Bronze cloth drivers power seat interior. Factory alloy wheels with Michelin radials.

the dealer is having some work on it, needed some new weather stripping
on the driver-side door. he said a part wasnt leaking yet, but was starting
to show signs of "seapage" and is getting that replaced. and that he wasnt sure how much fluids it had in it. so for that reason
he didnt want me to test drive it until that was fixed. seemed a little
shady to have a car on dealers lot that they didnt want test driven but
im not familiar with protocol of a dealer.

i did ask him to start it up for me, and he did. i was standing by the driver
door when he did and i noticed a fuel-like smell. it was a very rainy day
so im not sure if thats normal for a c4 or not. the car's engine vibrated
quite a bit when it was running- he stepped on the gas a few times up to
16 mph from what i saw on the digital dash. in idle it still vibrated quite
aggressively. is that normal for a 1984 vette? i dont know how quiet and
soft she should be at idles or when revving the engine.

what do you think about the situation? is $6995 a good deal?
the body seems to be in very good shape. the paint is a 7 out of 10,
and will look good with a wax.

thanks for your time, i apperciate it. it will be my first vette.
[/font]

 

[74bigblock]

Sounds like a POS to me.

 

[JEFNLSA]

Are you buying from Cn'V by chance? I'm from Phx and that is where I purchased mine.
Also, welcome to CAC!!!!

 

[1stiff84]

Well first, let me introduce myself. im new to these boards.
im in the processing of purchasing an 84 corvette from a dealer that
sells all kinds of old and new ones. (mostly used) a few things i wanted
to get some information or opinions on here before i pay the other half.


[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The car is a Light Bronze over Dark Bronze removable top coupe with 129,000 miles. 350ci Crossfire Injected Automatic, a/c, full power, tilt & telescopic, cruise, Bose am-fm-cassette. Dark Bronze cloth drivers power seat interior. Factory alloy wheels with Michelin radials.

the dealer is having some work on it, needed some new weather stripping
on the driver-side door. he said a part wasnt leaking yet, but was starting
to show signs of "seapage" and is getting that replaced. and that he wasnt sure how much fluids it had in it. so for that reason
he didnt want me to test drive it until that was fixed. seemed a little
shady to have a car on dealers lot that they didnt want test driven but
im not familiar with protocol of a dealer.

i did ask him to start it up for me, and he did. i was standing by the driver
door when he did and i noticed a fuel-like smell. it was a very rainy day
so im not sure if thats normal for a c4 or not. the car's engine vibrated
quite a bit when it was running- he stepped on the gas a few times up to
16 mph from what i saw on the digital dash. in idle it still vibrated quite
aggressively. is that normal for a 1984 vette? i dont know how quiet and
soft she should be at idles or when revving the engine.

what do you think about the situation? is $6995 a good deal?
the body seems to be in very good shape. the paint is a 7 out of 10,
and will look good with a wax.

thanks for your time, i apperciate it. it will be my first vette.
[/font]

Price is high for a car w/129k on the clock.

Neither "aggressive vibration," nor a "fuel like smell" is normal at idle.

 

[RISKMGR]

He Should Be Paying You For Removing That Junk From His Lot! 84's Are Notorious Dogs! Beware Or You Will Get Bitten.

 

[WhalePirot]

Welcome to the forum and good-on-ya for asking, first.

Firstly, know that these cars are expensive to fix and few shops really do it right.

I agree that the price seems high, but have seen dealers who put cars 'out' before all the work is completed. I'd prefer to buy from a private party and size the owner up as much as the car, to ascertain how the car was treated. Use the search feature, above, to get more tips on buying.

The '84 used two throttle bodies as did the '82 (no '83 was sold); the only two years of it. That makes them 'weirder' in Vette parts and repair circles, but as other vehicles used this setup, it is not exactly rare.

Where did the fuel smell come from, as an indication of the problem? The TBIs can leak thru the butterfly shaft holes, which can be drilled and bushed, but are a bit tricky to properly rebuild and tune.

Wax will only temporarily doll-up dried paint. Most new cars are painted with a very thin, not-so-shiny color coat, which is covered with a shiny clearcoat. Years of waxing with polishing-type waxes can wear through this clear and begin to expose the undercoat, especially on edges.

For that kind of money, I would look for a nice '86 or later from a private, older, owner. You could also contact a PHX Corvette club for referrals to a good shop for a pre-purchase evaluation of any car.

 

[jet4rs]

Don't forget to drive any car that your going to buy. It's your money. You should be able to take it to a mechanic for him to put up on a lift.

By the way, My 84 runs nice and smooth with 154K on the clock. Dog? Not. Faster than an 91? No. Fun to drive? You bet.

The 84 is a lot cheeper to fix than a 91.

Good Luck.

 

[1stiff84]

For that kind of money, I would look for a nice '86 or later.

I agree.

 

[1stiff84]

By the way, My 84 runs nice and smooth with 154K on the clock. Dog? Not. Faster than an 91? No. Fun to drive? You bet.

The 84 is a lot cheeper to fix than a 91.

Good Luck.

Our '84 was also a great car. Wife wishes we kept it.

 

[arizona_drifter]

Are you buying from Cn'V by chance? I'm from Phx and that is where I purchased mine.
Also, welcome to CAC!!!!

yes, it is Cn'V. They have been very nice but are pretty stiff on the
price and i always thought when paying in cash that they were flexible.

 

[hzl6cm]

A guy I work with has an '84 for sale with the same paint color scheme. The car runs great and when I've ridden in it, it exhibited none of the sympoms you describe. He was asking $5k a while back, he may even go as low as $4k by now - I don't know. Your price sounds high - I paid $3,100 for my '86 a few months back (rebuilt motor - some assembly required on the body and interior).

Kevin
'86 Z51 Coupe
'70 350 Hp 4-speed convertible

 

[JEFNLSA]

They were "pretty stiff on the price" w/ me as well but I really wanted the low mileage (21k) LT4 in black and they had it. I dealt w/ Phil. From what I hear/heard they have a good reputation but, word of warning, the service mgr is a complete a$$!!!!!! In fact, I bought an extended warranty w/ the car but because of him I will not go back there for service. I had a couple of small issues w/ it about a week after purchase and after dealing w/ "him", I almost returned it! If it weren't for Phil I probably would have strangled the guy!

All I can say is their "100pt inspection" left alot to be desired....be careful

 

[arizona_drifter]

They were "pretty stiff on the price" w/ me as well

did you work them down on the price any?

 

[JEFNLSA]

I financed the car which made negotiating a bit more difficult. I managed to grind them down a bit and I did have them put new chrome ZR1 wheels and new tread on it as well. All things considered, I am not unhappy w/ the price I paid for it and I knew ahead of time what to expect to pay for a clean, low mileage LT4.

Remember....they're salesmen and they are out to make a buck but they also want to move those cars so PLAY THE GAME!

 

[arizona_drifter]

thanks for all the advice.

ill get it checked by a mechanic that doesnt work for them and see what
he thinks. hopefully i can get them to pay for that. and come down on the
price as much as possible.

i just want a daily driving corvette for under 7,000!!!

 

[JEFNLSA]

Good luck bro....I just don't know if Cn'V is the place to find that. I think you might have better luck through a private party. I paid damn near 3x that for mine (it is a daily driver) and I'm still trying to get it 100% right. See ya

 

[I_R_DA_ONE]

This is the first year of the new body style and assembly plant..Keep tha in mind..
me persolnaly I would not pay that much for that car....Maybe $4000 bu not more
Hope I didn't burst yur bubble...I just had to be honest whit you ...dont let that dealer take advanage of you..
Mike

 

[Rufus1050]

If I were you, I'd continue my shopping for my daily driver...sounds like the car you've been eyeing may turn into a money pit just to get it where you can drive it everyday. I agree with a number of earlier replies...you definitely can get a better car for under 7 thou...you probably need to walk...good luck with your search & hey, welcome aboard.

Rufus1050 from the bayou state...

 

[MoeJr]

I bought my 84 with 79k on it for 4900 and it just needed some small TLC. The rough idle and fuel smell is probably the Throttle bodies being slightly out of adjustment. The Cross Fire cars are great to drive and have fun with and are not doggy at all. My 84 ran a best of 14.84 1/4 mile at the track bone stock with only a gutted cat as a mod. Despite what some misinformed person said in an earlier post the 84 C4 can be had very reasonable and provide you many smiles per gallon .

http://www.swko.com/~lionsden/crossfire.htm

http://home.houston.rr.com/ken73/CFI.htm

These 2 sites have some good info about the Cross Fire Injection. 6995 sounds high for the car you described. In any event I would keep looking as early c4's can be had in your price range and in better shape.

riskmgr this is a Corvette help site not a corvette bashing site. Don't come on here putting any year Corvette down as they are all good including 84's! ad

 

[Robert]

I too have an 84. A very fun Vette for $4000.00. To be honest, I did not want to buy an 84 after I heard a few tell me what junk they were. I did my homework and searched the Net for anything on the 84 and the cross-fire injection. I found no proof that it was NOT a great car and a good buy for $4000.00.

I really can't believe that some have such a problem with the 84's. Yes, the TBI was only a 2 year fling with Corvette. GM put it on many other vehicles....Camaro, Firebird, trucks. They also put it on 53,000+ Corvettes.

Mine runs fantastic!!! I have had nothing but praise for the cross-fire since I got it. Any mechanic worth anything should be able to figure out a throttle body injection unit.

That having been said.....the price you are being asked to pay is too much!! Maybe $3500.00...maybe. Then you do a little fixing and you have a car that is worth more than you paid.


Long live the 84 Corvette!!!!!!!!!


Robert