1971corvette

one what ? these incomplete sentences sure waste peoples time. 8K I'm sure that buys a dependable whatever it is.

Pale Roader

SOMEONE gets it. It doesn't cost THAT much to go through all the systems that can strand you and replace what needs replacing... with QUALITY parts, either upgrading or just sourcing good stuff. Once those parts are on the car, barring doing weekly Duke boys impersonations, the thing should be reliable. Its just an old car. They were reliable in the 60's and 70's, were they not? My 70 Buicks (i owned many) were always stone-axe reliable, my $600 68 Cadillac was incredible, as were my (other brand i wont mention again). I was not a wealthy man when i drove those, and only my last old car, my 72 Charger had every system gone through. I honestly had more issues with my 2008 Honda Si than that old roach. It NEVER let me down in 5 years. I hated that car for other reasons... but i would hop in that thing and drive it across Canada in a heartbeat (if someone else was paying for gas...).

I'm STILL getting the 'Corvettes are less reliable than other cars ov that era' vibe here. I personally cannot comment, becuase i have yet to drive one, but again, i have driven many many other old cars... no issues. I'm HOPING the Corvettes are not just a bad design, and maybe the people complaining here are buying shitty Chinese parts. Parts as a whole have lost quality in the last 20 years. Were people complaining about reliability 20 years ago? Thats an honest question. What i do know is that EVERY tech i know has quit the industry in the past 10 years because they are sick ov being blamed for shitty repairs because the new Chinese parts they install only last 4 months. This IS a new problem. Again, maybe thats the issue here?

The parts issue aside, i've combed over my 73 pretty well now. I see... an old car. I see an engine, transmission, rearend, brakes, suspension, fuel, cooling, electrical... etc. Aside from some impressively complicated looking wiring inside the car (that i'll be vastly simplifying), and some vacuum voodoo (that i'll be replacing with anything not vacuum), i just see an old car. They should be EASIER to make reliable than a newer car... once they're running well, there is FAR less to go wrong. The only thing it wont have over a new car is better built powertrain (which you can address), and a computer which tunes itself (also something you can add). I honestly just dont see why they have to be so problematic.

Maybe i'll have to learn the hard way that they are. If i cant sort it out, i'll go back to (grrrr).

Pale Roader

I haven't driven it because ov our WONDERFUL provincial red-tape. My journey with this car is well-documented here. No need to get into it. The issues that need fixing ARE mostly maintenance related. I bought someone else's project, so they're my problems now. It really is all just little stuff. My plan is to go through everything... so once that is done, it should be reliable.

You guys really gotta get off that 150mph bit. Seriously. Its a GOAL. Took my over two years messing with my Charger to feel safe at max speeds, and i never quite got there, because ov a nemesene driveline vibration, which i would have fixed... had i not hated that car. But i sold it instead.



Actually, i'd wager the restored cars that sit all year long are the unreliable ones. Maybe thats where this comes from? Cars dont like to sit... period. Worst thing for a good running car... is to sit. Inside or out. Think about it. Most old cars get parked for other reasons than breaking down. People park perfectly good running cars all the time... and then along we come, buy them, and try to drive them. NOW we have issues. Fix those sitting issues, and off you go.

So... if you replace all that old stuff... it should be reliable. Yes? All that stuff can go bad on new cars too...

Pale Roader

I see rubber bumper cars, automatics, in the same condition as mine, selling for considerably more than i paid for my 73. Jesus... these guys are advertising those cars for well over double. If the earlier car is worth even 2-3K more, all things equal, i'd say i'm close. Its crazy. Its only been two years. Plus, i got a nice deal on mine. I'm paying for that in red tape in grief and time... but the final outlay to own and drive it will be way low. No need to nitpick.

And since you insist on being silly, lets make it 170mph... We got some faaaaaast cars around here...

Torqued Off

I totally agree...........you can pay someone to fix all the problems. Doesn't change the fact the problem will arise. I would add that finding good, honest qualified individuals,.....for ANYTHING today is much harder than it used to be. I have found a few people who I trust working on some of the components of my car.....and most of them are pretty old. When they are gone.....??

Torqued Off

Sometimes we just need to agree to disagree. Maybe my points are not well stated enough,.....but I think they are. And sometimes in the counterpoints I find people actually saying the same thing as me, in different words. Thats communication ......always a problem. The OP wants to buy a C3......and he expects to buy one, and just drive it every day, without any problems or need for maintenance. I will say it one more time.....NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. If you disagree.....just try it. Get back wih me when you change your mind.....it won't take long. The tech forum is alive and well here every single day with new posters.....that tells you something...or it should. And I am not saying a C3 Corvette is worse than any other 50 year old car...........I am talking about ALL 50 year old cars. Now if you go out and buy an old car that someone has properly rebuilt......well yes, you will have a chance a reliability......like mine.....but it would take over $50,000 to buy my car, and nobody is going to pay that.,,,,instead what is believed to be smarter is buy a $15,000 car, and say you got a better deal....only to subsequently having continuous problems, one failure after the other, $500 at a time,.....till finally, most people just give up, putt it in a barn for 20 years. As I said....sitting in a barn or garage counts for nothing, it means nothing about reliability.....but its where MOST old cars are found.....sitting. The OP asked about a daily driver....not the same thing.

Edit.......One more thing.....these prized posessions like million dollar L88 cars, or any other "rare" or special car.....like a Pace car with 3000 miles.......they are even worse. You can't let a car sit for 50 years....or in fact, almost any kind of machinery,...cars, motorcycles, airplanes.....and expect them to just be started up one day, and driven. Try it....you'll see. Again.....for the vast majority of old car owners....they cars sit month after month, year after year.......driven to some local parking lot twice a month on a Sunday. Those cars are not an example of reliability.....even if a guy manages to do that for a year or two. Driving every day,....or every other day....as the OP and Pale Roader want to do......different story.

Bottlejunkie

it was in reference to a thread I started here about a barn'ish find I stumbled upon last weekend.

wmstumme

For me, I decided it was unrealistic. The c3 was THE car of time of my youth and remains in my mind as what a Corvette is. When I finally got to a point in my life where I could seriously think about getting one, I looked long and hard at them. But they are a 40+ year old car even if you buy the very latest of that generation.

I have very limited mechanical skills and really just wanted a Corvette to enjoy (drive). Not a daily driver, but every nice weekend day we get and to many more places than the local cars and coffee.

I ended up with a ridiculously low mileage (7k) 2002 c5. And have almost doubled the mileage on it in the 18 months I've owned it. (Don't know why so many are being kept unused for their future owners to enjoy.)

I still drool over every C3 I see and wish I had the resources (time, money, skill) to have one. You just have to know and be realistic about your own limitations.

SEVNT6

And you would be correct sir!..
I have over 47 years of owning my '76 behind me now and 78k on the clock.
At no point in time have I ever been dogged with repairs. I've never had one single major problem.
Little things...sure. All cars need repairs at some point. But my C3 has been one of the most trouble free cars I've ever owned.

In fact, like the OP I also own a '97 Camry. And I've pumped a lot more money into it lately than the Vette....

Torqued Off

Dan

You know I love your story, and your car.......and your experience is absolutely valid, and says alot about long term ownership and probably good maintenance and upkeep. But, 78,000 miles divided by 47 years comes to about 1700 miles a year average. The OP wants a daily driver........and most people daily driving cars put 10,000 plus miles a year on a car or more. I think that would be a different situation as the miles racked up at a much faster rate.....PLUS....you have taken care of your car. Many old cars available today have been ignored, abused, and treated badly....which also takes its toll.

I am not discrediting your experience,....and I am glad it has worked that way for you. But I honestly don't believe that is a typical story.

Pale Roader

Yeah... text is a corrupt form ov communication these days. So much gets lost. I also think that people skim mostly, anxious to make their point. Oh well. Until you can get and keep all the experts in one place, it'll have to do. Fascistbook is even worse. Everyone is gravitating there, and THAT place is sick and corrupt.

One detail about fixing up and trying to make a car reliable, is that most ov us (including me) buy a car that needs... stuff... and then upgrade as needed. Buy the car, modify the stuff you want up front. Drive it, alternator goes. Fix that, drive it with no more charging issues. Brakes go. Fix those... okay no more brake issues for a while. Clutch goes, fix that, yeah, really should replace those rubber seals. Anyways... over the course ov years, driving this car, you've gone through everything... but now the first mods you did are getting old. Cycle repeats. Now... if you can fix EVERYTHING that can go at once, and if you can get good parts, then it should be decent. But few have the money to do this. It wont last forever, but neither will that 10 year old Honda. Its just that we fix as we go...and yeah, in that case something always comes up.

Another point that is rarely mentioned in these reliability posts, is that new cars break too. The shops are literally full ov them. I've only owned 5 'new' cars (3 96 Fords, a 2000 and a 2008 import) and all ov them save the 2000 Toyota gave me some grief. Both Mustangs blew the heater core (BIG mess), one lunched the fuel pump, the other lunched the engine not long after i sold it, they both went through brakes like gas, and they both had other non-reliability issues. Even the Honda, an expensive 'halo' 2008 model broke in several places, though only the clutch actually took it off the road.

At least when the C3 craps out, the average person can diagnose and fix it themselves. There is a far better chance ov figuring out a way to limp it home too. And you dont need a fully-ticketed tech and a million dollar computerized shop to fix it.

SEVNT6

And I could not agree more...
Except for alignments and the time my tilt broke in the full upright bread truck position and needed to be rebuilt, I'm the only person who's ever worked on my car. Oil changes, tune ups, brakes, vc gaskets....just me. Which means this..
.
NO BUBBA!.. How many C3 problems on the forum were created by past idiots...not engineers?

Personally I would never want any C3 as a DD myself. It would take away that special feeling I get from the occasional drive..

corvettekent

[QUOTE=Vanilla;1606733520.
I drive a 1997 Toyota Camry if i could get it as good of a ride as that i would be happy. .[/QUOTE]

Corvettes are sports cars and tend to ride rougher than the ride of a Toyota Camry. I can tell that you have never ridden in an older Corvette. You should go to some cars and coffee events and talk to Corvette owners and ask if they will take you for a ride.

wwiiavfan

The term daily driver gets a little blurred too. Daily driver compared to the Kia that takes you to work every day, or daily driver compared to the concours unicorn that only peeks out of the garage 6 times a year for local shows within a 10 mile radius?
I consider mine a daily driver because it is on the road 4-5 times a week from April-November. And I won’t say how reliable it’s been because I don’t want to jinx myself. Lol.

Pale Roader

To me, a 'daily driver' is the car you commute to work in, and do everything in, chores, etc.

HAH!!! The TRUE key to reliability!

With my Charger, once i created a 'Mopar box' (a little cardboard box full ov all the dumb **** that old Mopars go through: ballast resistors, a few plugs, a couple wires (i had headers), ballast resistors, a coil, an ECU (an old, tested one), ballast resistors, a battery to headlight clip wire, a cap and rotor, dimmer switch, and a ballast resistor, etc.) i never had another problem again. It was an 8"x12"x8" box, took up no space. I also carried two liters ov oil (non Mopars can get away with one), some ATF, and some gas (8mpg). Murphy's Law seems the true enemy ov old cars, in my experience... so i nip that bullshit in the bud. I'll have a 'Corvette box' too i'm sure... i just dont know yet what to put in it (aside from a dimmer switch).

I also carry a small toolbox with essentials as well.

Bikespace

OP:

No one will argue that it won't benefit you to save money. Invest it in yourself, or let it grow. 5 years from now, you may end up with a pile of money to do something with, and lots of ways to spend it. If you still want a C3, buy one and enjoy it. A $10K C3 and a $40K repair budget should net you a daily driver for many years, if you don't want to learn how to wrench.

sahhas

have you driven a c3? i would really recommend going out and looking at a few, drive them. they are like no other car in my opinion. crazy fun, and unique.
a ‘97 toyota isn’t a very new car anymore.
i currently drive an’05 honda CRV… also not new, but it needs maintenance to keep it going.
a few years ago we used to have an ‘99 mercedes e320 wagon- it was the most comfy car i’ve ever driven, the 230hp engine was also pretty fast, was going down the hwy once, and looked to see i was driving 90 mph, and it felt like i was going 50! it was comfy, fast, and expensive to repair!!!
i say test drive cars to see what you like/dislike.
the one car i wish i would have bought was an ‘85 vette that had a 600 hp engine in it, it was scary fun to drive! the guy selling it daily drove it to his work every day.
i owned a ‘00 vette a few years ago, fun , fast, had problems… you just deal with them. the funny experience for me was thinking of the radio/ cd player, when you are on the highway going 70 mph, you cannot hear it at all, i think it must be the inside joke to the engineers when they build these!
it sounds like you are planning on 10k a yr saving… my advice would be look for an $8-$10 k car and get it and see what you think. life is too short. you might not be here in 5 yrs…. i say this b/c a neighbor kid near us just passed away , she would he 8 at the end of this month… just sad, my heart aches for her parents. good luck!
ps- btw, i test drove a ‘75 last fall that had a 383 stroker engine in it- i honestly can’t stop thinking of that car still!!!