Should I buy? Advice

[belleaudb]

I'm considering buying a 90 auto convertible.
The car is steel blue with black leather interior.
Window sticker was over $44,000.
The car has many options, including the hardtop, adjustable damping, Delco Bose CD/Cassette, auto climate control, performance gear ratio, both seats are the sport seats.

The exterior looks pretty good, I'd say 8 out of 10, top is in good condition, starts and runs fine. All lights functional, windows and locks functional.

The bad:
Seats are shot, drive seat "rocks" indicating a seat adjuster issue. Carpet is worn and tatty in places, stereo is dead, speedomer sometimes drops to zero while driving, tires are about 40%. Climate control is non functional, appears dead. Aluminum wheels are corroded, curb rash and missing lug nut covers. Pretty filthy under the hood. It's been a Michigan car all it's life. Exhaust is quiet, but the exhaust tips look like it's been backed into a curb.

I've not driven the car yet, plan to do so this afternoon.

It's got almost 156,000 miles, 2nd owner 4 years.

The car has been for sale for over 2 months with no buyers.
He wants $5800 for it. Edmunds and Kelly say it's worth no more than 4 grand.

This is in Southeast Michigan, with a bad economy and $4+ per gallon gas.

I'm wondering what it is really worth?

Asking the advice of all you enthusiasts.

Thanks!

 

[Toms007]

I'd have to say you can probably find something nicer, requiring less work if you look around for a bit. There are lots of C4's out there, however if you have your heart set on this one looked at it this way. New seats (foam and leather), $1200-1500; Radio repair $150-$400; Carpet, $500; Tires, $500-1000; other items Climate control, refinishing wheels, etc another $1000

At the low end you'll likely have another $3000-4000 in it (probably more), so be prepared for that going in.

I have a friend who has a really nice 55k miles 90 auto vert yellow/blk/blk (no hardtop) and is wanting $11.5k. So you might base your decision comparing it to that.

No with all the running around the bush, I'd say that a fair price would be in the $4000-4200 range. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[GS Diva]

I'll tell you what I tell all new buyers...do your homework and don't fall in love with the first Corvette that comes along! There are thousands of them for sale, and there will be one that needs much less work and will have a lot less miles. You're looking at thousands of dollars in known repairs alone for this one. Keep looking!

Elaine

 

[vett boy]

Tom94 has it right. I myself ,i'd pass .You'll end up spending way more than you could on a real decent car.Right now the market is your candy store.

 

[jrzvette]

About the only thing that car has in it's favor is the color. Steel Blue Metalic was relativly rare, about 800 cars out of 16,000.

 

[G Winter]

At $3000 I would think real hard about buying that car.
Sounds like total neglect, there might not be anything on that car that doesn't need fixing.

Glenn

 

[Newton]

This car sounds like trouble. Even $3000 could be a bad deal.

It's never about the car you buy but rather about all the bad ones you walk away from.

You have to walk away from a lot of Corvettes before you finally get a good one.

Even with a good C4 you could end up spending several thousand dollars in the first 6 months. Remember, these are old cars.

Richard Newton

101 Projects for Your Corvette 1984-1996

Ultimate Garage Handbook