Feedback on a 92 Corvette Hatch back coupe?

[Sigarms]

here in BC, a 17 yr old guy buying a Corvette ... might as well be neutered, as insurance would be outrageous.

Because he's on our policy, it's actually not that bad. After he graduates high school, I suspect he would sell it. His grandfather has a "cool car" he can drive (under our policy as well), but in the end, I think he wants something that he can say is "his" as he bought it with his own money. I can respect that for his age (although the older side of me says to just keep saving).

In some aspects, if the car became a money pit, it would be a worthwhile learning experience IMO that he hasn't been through before.

 

[jaxs]

here in BC, a 17 yr old guy buying a Corvette ... might as well be neutered, as insurance would be outrageous.

When I was 17 I might have agreed to a 50% neuter in exchange for a Vette. Now at 79 I might swap both for a new Prevost.

 

[DGZRT]

Cool car ! I would look for a Mustang GT and a Saturn SL1 for a daily driver . Best of both worlds The Mustang should be cheaper and if I was a 17 year old with a hot car I would need a back seat . The Saturn will get up to 41 mpg with a stick .

 

[MossRoad]

Cool car ! I would look for a Mustang GT and a Saturn SL1 for a daily driver . Best of both worlds The Mustang should be cheaper and if I was a 17 year old with a hot car I would need a back seat . The Saturn will get up to 41 mpg with a stick .

Never give a teenager a car with a back seat. Not the *** reason, either. The more seats, the more friends. The more friends, the more distractions. I had a VW van. Man I could fit a lot of distractions in there.

 

[scaredychicken]

Because he's on our policy, it's actually not that bad. After he graduates high school, I suspect he would sell it. His grandfather has a "cool car" he can drive (under our policy as well), but in the end, I think he wants something that he can say is "his" as he bought it with his own money. I can respect that for his age (although the older side of me says to just keep saving).

In some aspects, if the car became a money pit, it would be a worthwhile learning experience IMO that he hasn't been through before.

way better than how ICBC does insurance over here ... a total gouging for $.
all the best - I commend you - letting him go through this process offers lessons and experience for sure, plus it's a cool car

 

[Praff990]

Never give a teenager a car with a back seat. Not the *** reason, either. The more seats, the more friends. The more friends, the more distractions. I had a VW van. Man I could fit a lot of distractions in there.

I agree, you cannot haul too many extra people in a two seater.

I had a 95 Camaro for a few years, while I never had an issue with the optispark it had plenty of other problems. Window motors, starter, fuel pump, tumbler not recognizing the key resistor. I spent 6 months dealing with intermittent starting problems, turned out to be the clutch safety switch only sometimes working. After a few years of what seemed to be constantly fixing something or getting towed (maybe get him AAA for Christmas) I got rid of it.

 

[Sigarms]

way better than how ICBC does insurance over here ... a total gouging for $.
all the best - I commend you - letting him go through this process offers lessons and experience for sure, plus it's a cool car

Let's just say I was 90% on board after we stopped by to see the car. Local sale, reasoning for sale seemed legit and the woman selling the car seemed genuine.

Reality set in my mind last night and after reading up on the omnispark issue between 92-94, added I didn't hear about the "service due soon" light being on and the reasoning by the seller kind of left me scratching my head about "old gas". The mechanic who checked out the car told me they don't remember the car, and their comment was in the service notes were "checked over, little seepage on the drivers valve cover, everything else looks great" really seems like a quick simple look over being that they only charged $11.

Need to find a good local "vette" mechanic to call today. I may see if the woman will drive the car to a mechanic of my choice (reason why I like local sales).

Point being, talking with my son last night when he came home, I conveyed to him that I wasn't as positive about the sale after the "thrill" of looking at the car wore off after he took it for a test drive. What's he going to do about driving in bad weather? He actually feels comfortable driving that car to school when school starts in a couple of months? Where is he going to "store it" other than the driveway with the hot NC sun beating down on it? End of the day, it's not a very practical car, however, I told him even after not being so positive at the end of the day, it's his money, and told him worse case scenario he buys the car, it becomes a money pit, he gets stuck driving the "family" 4 door 2001 accord and all his hard earn money gets wasted (my wife was laughing when I told him we'd then rent him the 01 Honda if the vette had issues and couldn't drive LOL as I was being a little facetious). Basically just explained that if I didn't point out all the potential negatives to be aware of, I wouldn't be doing him justice allowing to make this kind of decision.

I'm curious to which direction he's going to go.

 

[Sigarms]

(maybe get him AAA for Christmas)

My dad got me AAA after I left the house as a Christmas present. Honestly, that card has saved me a lot of hassle over my travels with moving around over the decades (getting towed at 0200 in Maryland while moving to WV will always stick in my mind). Both boys got the same card when they started driving couple of years ago

 

[Dftodd]

Never give a teenager a car with a back seat. Not the *** reason, either. The more seats, the more friends. The more friends, the more distractions. I had a VW van. Man I could fit a lot of distractions in there.

First car was a 65 Belair. Packed 9 people in it on a regular basis It was quite cozy

 

[MossRoad]

First car was a 65 Belair. Packed 9 people in it on a regular basis It was quite cozy

How many in the trunk?

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

You guys reminded me of the good ole days cramming 6 people into a '65 VW bug. We had a blast!.... couldn't move much, but it sure was fun!

 

[NoTrespassing]

If my 17 year old son came to me asking to buy the 92 Corvette I would encourage him to keep saving and keep shopping if he could wait. Example;

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1997/chevrolet/camaro/101732691

$8,000
97 Camaro
63,000 miles
V6

 

[dmccarty]

The other expense to consider is TIRES.

I saved up and bought a new sports car in my 20's. Tires lasted 20,000 miles, maybe 25,000 miles, before needing a new set.

Insurance was expensive but I was living in South Florida where over half the drivers did not have coverage. Tires were a big expense as well.

Later,
Dan

 

[Dftodd]

How many in the trunk?

3 or 4 more I used to make a killing with that car during exam week at school. Would give people a ride home during lunch if they didn't have an afternoon exam that day.

Actually I did alright with that. Guys cost them $5. $10 if they were jerks. Girls rode for free More times then I can count that car left the parking lot packed full of girls and I was eating the gas

 

[polo1665]

The other expense to consider is TIRES.

I saved up and bought a new sports car in my 20's. Tires lasted 20,000 miles, maybe 25,000 miles, before needing a new set.

Insurance was expensive but I was living in South Florida where over half the drivers did not have coverage. Tires were a big expense as well.

Later,
Dan

Good point on the tires. Corvettes usually sport run-flat tires, but you wouldn't necessarily need them, especially if you had AAA. There is no spare though, so that's something to think about.

 

[Buggs67]

At least he has an open minded involved father. He will get the benefit of your experience and also his own.

My father refused to approve of me buying my first car (at 18) and so he would not be involved. So I fell in love with a car and bought it. It was a POS and a money pit. He sold it out from under me while I was at college.

IMO the Corvette is a bad idea. All downside except for being Cool. And except for HS kids, it's not really a cool car. I hope common sense and economics win the day.

 

[MossRoad]

3 or 4 more I used to make a killing with that car during exam week at school. Would give people a ride home during lunch if they didn't have an afternoon exam that day.

Actually I did alright with that. Guys cost them $5. $10 if they were jerks. Girls rode for free More times then I can count that car left the parking lot packed full of girls and I was eating the gas

NICE!!!

 

[MossRoad]

I had 4 older sisters that grew up in the 60's that broke my parents' will to discipline before I came along.

"If you get arrested, don't call. Well, call so we know you're in jail, but we aren't coming to get you."

They always let me use their cars for free. In return, I had to put in gas, tires, clutch, and all others maintenance plus pay for my own insurance, plus do all the yard work and any assistance they might need. Fair enough. I bought a Yamaha DT250 Enduro right out of high school. A year later I bought my RD400. I didn't buy my own car (a 1971 FJ40) until I was 24.

 

[JasperFrank]

You are looking at 14k a year in insurance...

 

[dodge man]

We bought both are kids there first two cars. Spoiled rotten I know. They sort of helped with expenses. My sons second one, after high school, was a 2004 GTO. He was reasonably good with it, as much as any 19 year old would be.

I don’t know a lot about C4 Corvettes but they seem under priced to me, they just haven’t caught on with the Corvette guys. It will be awful in the snow. It will be mediocre on gas. Tires will be expensive. If I was 17 I’d want that car though.