Need purchase advice
 

I am looking to pick up a 1994 Vette and I found 2 cars in my price range.

One car has been garaged and is driver ~ 2500/ yr. and has 68,000 miles

The other has 130,000 miles, has been used more as a daily driver and appears from the specs to have a lot of maintence done to the car;

" New OptiSpark (distributor), Alternator, Batt, WaterPump, New carpet, Tinted Windows, Carbon-fiber top, Brand new OEM rims/run-flat GoodYear tires with barley no miles on them"

So the question is, should I go for either or is one better than the other?

Thanks an advance.

Jeff G

Welcome to the forum.

Since you left out the price of each one, it's hard to say without actually looking at them. You might want to get someone who is very familiar with the C4 vintage to take a look at them also.

I agree with 73shark, if you don't know much about the cars have a skilled person look it over.


From my personal experience I will always shy away from a low mile "never driven" car unless you plan on parking it to look at. The low mileage queens are the ones that need the most maintenance. I bought a low mileage '87 Porsche 924S (paid a premium price for low miles and quality) and put more the purchase price into maintenance and upgrades just to be able to drive it. The rubber parts, belts, hoses and even seals rot when not worked all the time. I would rather buy a car that I can take out and enjoy any day of the year, and not worry if it gets dirty.
(sorry if I offended anyone, just my personal thoughts)

Choices
 

Welcome to the forum.
I wouldn't rule out either one yet. The lower mileage one is attractive for just that reason, more expected life. If the miles were added at a regular interval vs one big run a year, it could be attractive.
Biggest thing IMO is the maintence done on the vehicle and was it routinely maintained. If things like oil changes, antifreeze maintenance, brake fluid changes were done on a time basis vs mileage, I'd feel better on that.
Thing is some things will 'age' out over time even if not worn out. Check things like the date codes on the tires, condition of brake hoses & pads, condition of brake fluid and antifreeze and whether it looks good or not.
Remember these are 20 yr old cars so some things will naturally expire whether driven or not.
Another thing is where the cars are located. If in snow or cold regions of the country, they typically aren't driven during the winter months vs regions where they can be driven all year around. If a vehicle is even just started every month or so and allowed to get to operating temperature along with moving it will help keep things like seals wet and working vs if it's only run a month or two a year.

If all looks good, then see about having a knowledgable mechanic give it a once over.

Personally I bought a 86 convertible in 2013 with under 80K on the odometer. I got a carfax on it (plus some other info I found on it) and from the entries I found going back over 20 years, though it is considered low mileage it had maintenance activity recorded on it every few months so I know though it wasn't driven alot it was driven on a regular basis.

Good luck and hope this helps. Let us know what you decide.

you will eventually need to replace parts like on the higher mileage car. I did, including a smog pump, half shaft universals.