C4, C5's as a Corvettes as a daily driver?
Posted by Warm-Collection3411@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 44 comments
It might seem like a Captain Obvious statement, but why don't I see more Corvettes old or new(ish) on the road, especially not as daily drivers.
I'm thinking about getting a 20 year old Vette for a daily, is this a terrible idea?
Dangerous-Sock-3688@reddit
Plenty of people daily a Corvette. Buy a nice one, keep up on the maintenance. Corvettes are very solid cars.
SirFUBAR@reddit
My C5 was the biggest piece of shit car I've ever owned.. and I've had many.
ProJoe@reddit
Because theyre old.
Older cars take more work and effort to keep running. Nobody wants to daily a project car unless they choose to and all the low mile ones aren't driven regardless so they'll never be a daily.
Warm-Collection3411@reddit (OP)
I want to be irresponsible, I'm going through a midlife crisis, lol. But I also need a dependable vehicle
squats_and_sugars@reddit
Those cars can be reliable, but buying used is a gamble and may take a lot of work to get reliable. That said, I haven't met a Corvette I didn't have to roll out of. I feel like they aren't a daily as for many simply as they aren't comfortable to get into/out of (for many people).
corporaterebel@reddit
You want an NSX.
ProJoe@reddit
ah yes the mythical sub $20K NSX
come on man. come on.
corporaterebel@reddit
I didn't see a price constraint.
I did see "dependable sports car"
ProJoe@reddit
I mean bro if someone is looking at a C4/C5 they are nowhere near the price of even a near 40 year old NSX.
Grand_Accountant_159@reddit
I daily'd a jeep XJ for 10+ years, never left me stranded, you'll be just fine with a C5.
0peRightBehindYa@reddit
Dude, there are some amazing options out there for a mid-life crisis that are still practical. Look at the Pontiac G8 or Chevy SS (or even a Caprice). They're basically 4 door Camaros...same platform, much of the suspension swaps over, etc.
Dorsai56@reddit
Miata.
nixiebunny@reddit
My brother bought a 1962 as a basket case and assembled it into a sweet non-purist ride. He puts at least 10k miles a year on it. But he’s also a top notch old Chevy mechanic/builder.
ProJoe@reddit
As someone in their 40s I understand lol.
Sumocolt768@reddit
My dad had a base model 01 C5. That car was fuckin bulletproof on top of powerful. You can see why everyone wants an LS swap. However, if you live anywhere that snows, just forget about it unless you can another car to drive
AsmodeusMogart@reddit
Don’t get something that really belongs on a track or a road course for a daily.
Get something you can take to the drag strip. You don’t have to win. Just have fun.
Take driving courses.
Do anything but turn my commute into your dangerous race car fun run to work.
There are already too many doing that where I live. I can’t stand the corvette drivers even though I would love to have one too.
Rough_Cancel7265@reddit
Well realistically, the newest C5 is now going to be 21-22 years old. There's no backseat. No Bluetooth/Carplay/Android Auto stock. The automatic in them isn't the most refined thing ever. Big trunk? Sure. But ignoring all of that, there are three newer generations of that car out now.
UnderTheFrozenSky@reddit
I have several cars that I drive depending on the season and where I am going, but I have a manual 94 C4 that is my "it is summer, I'm going out for the day but don't need a truck" car. I live about 90 minutes away from the city and it makes the drive a ton of fun, mix of 80 MPH 2 lane highways with long vision lines and 60 MPH twisty mountain 1 lane highways. Fits a good amount of stuff in the back too. I even took it on a road + camping trip at a friends house that was 600 miles away. Haven't had a single mechanical issue in the 2 years I've been driving it.
SpeedyHAM79@reddit
C4's and C5's are pretty old cars at this point. The last C5 is 22 years old, so reliability is going to start being a problem no matter how much regular maintenance is done.
FailingComic@reddit
Specific to those cars is that they aren't prtactical. They sit low, get bad mpg etc. Outside of that though they are fine.
Those saying its because they are old is silly. I daily drove and doordashed a 94 corolla just last year that I bought for $2000. It had problems because it was cheap but, for instance, my dad dailys an 04 tundra even though he has an 18 silverado. Old cars are still reliable but it becomes a game of doing maintenance instead of just using it until maintenance comes up.
MotorcycleCar@reddit
What do you consider bad mpg?I ask becsuse cotvettes are well known for getting very good mpg on the highway,while newer I've read of c7 vettes getting 40 mpg.
FailingComic@reddit
Well typically with older corvettes, your rarely going to find them in stock form. They will be modified in some way and youll be lucky to hit 25mpg. With gas prices in my area now up close to 4.50 a gallon. Id consider that bad mileage.
C7 highway space estimate at the high end is 29mpg. I doubt anyone's getting 40 unless they are actively hypermiling it.
MotorcycleCar@reddit
This is not true at all most older corvettes are weekend cars left 100% stock and I am certain of this because I have SIGNIFICANT time researching facebook marketplace ads and craigslist ads across the usa as I'm willing to ship if I can find the right one.I'd say 1 out of every 30 are modified in some way in regards to the engine it is a very low rate much lower tham mustangs for example.I am certain on this I have many hours upon hours of research.
Personally I wouldn't consider 25 mpg bad in any universe as I don't think most people would.Gas is stupidly high where you're at then because the highest I've seen in my area since covid is $3.89.
TurkishSwag@reddit
For some reason Corvettes never get driven compared to other vehicles in their class. I just personally don’t get the point of keeping a $60k MSRP car as a garage queen, especially since the LS platform was good for several hundred thousand miles.
Really no reason not to daily one if you don’t mind the poor ride or need backseats. It’ll be more reliable than a lot of cars from the early 2000s.
Lower_Kick268@reddit
C5 maybe, C4 no way because it's so old and unsafe.
Most-Description4665@reddit
Unless you have a family you need to haul around or live in a winter climate, there's no reason not to. I daily drive a 600 horse (with nitrous) 86 camaro during the summer. It's not practical at all, in any way, but I don't care about practicality. I enjoy driving it and the looks I get. Good or bad, your hatred fuels my love for this car. I say do it OP. Find a decent C5 and embrace your midlife crisis.
El_mochilero@reddit
1) they’re old. The number still in good working condition is dwindling
2) they aren’t as desired as they used to be
3) Corvettes are very often somebody’s second car. They also suck to drive in any kind of bad weather. I own a Corvette (C6) as my second car. I may only drive mine 2-3 days a week in the summer and 3-5 days a month in the winter.
AUGA3@reddit
If you can diy most stuff it's fine. Are you comfortable with changing hoses, water pumps, etc?
cdabc123@reddit
Most people do not understand cars at all. So all they acquire is a newish pos they have payments on. There are plenty of old cars that are absolutely reliable enough to dd however, owning a old car you have to be able to fix issues when they come up. That can be a problem when you need your car and it has issues.
The trick is to have two(or more) cars. A c5 corvette is a pretty decent idea. a 97 v6 camry to go with it is a pretty fine idea as well.
mista-666@reddit
My friend's band was called 97 Camry, they were pretty good
salvage814@reddit
No just know you might want to know how to fix it as well.
imnota_cop@reddit
I just got a C6. It’s pretty sick, replaced the head unit with back up camera, fixed a couple of things on it. Plenty of creature comforts and I daily it from time to time. Mostly got it for my dad, it was his dream car. He’s been borrowing it for the last month. But it’s honestly a great platform. And aside from being scary fast, I love it.
overheightexit@reddit
r/Unnecessaryapostrophe
english_mike69@reddit
C5 yes. Stylish and tough as old boots. Great design, easy to work on. Stick shift box will run forever.
C4 no. Harder to work on than fixing your old boots and typical temperament to electrical issues as most 80’s V8 cars.
Carstuff392@reddit
A friend of mine had a 96 LT4 car and I loved that car, I drove it on an 8 hour trip and it got almost 30MPG and I was moving well above the posted speed when possible. When I was 25 it was easy to get in and out of. I'm 47 now and I might look at that part way different. I see C5s as daily drivers on a regular basis. They get good highway MPG and they are easier to get in and out of than a C4.
Successful_Ad_9707@reddit
Because they're impractical, not good in all weather, and get crappy fuel economy. Not many can make a 2 seater work for a daily.
Doublestack00@reddit
Vettes are actually decent on fuel at highway speed.
Successful_Ad_9707@reddit
Fair enough. But my other points are valid lol
MichiganKarter@reddit
I drove my C5 as an only car for four years. It was probably more reliable driven that way than as a weekend only car.
It was also 10 to 14 years old at the time.
I would not hesitate to drive a late C6 or early C7 daily.
C5s are 25 years old now. Old rubber cracks, old plastic crumbles, old metal has lots of fatigue cycles on it.
DoctorSquibb420@reddit
You can't put anything in them, you can't see out of them, and vehicles that old can be tempermental at best.
Good_Split_3749@reddit
I think it’s because they don’t impress people like newer Vettes do. low to the ground, c4 pretty slow , and not very practical. Me personally I’d love to daily a c4 but I have driven a truck for 20 years and I know I’d destroy the corvette accidentally. not because of speed, but silly shit like speed bumps and parking barriers.
shuanm@reddit
I daily an 86 Z28, but it's pretty expensive, so I just bought an 86 Fiero GT. The repairs will be expensive, but I don't think it will drink as much fuel. It took me forever to get the Z reliable enough to drive all the time, but after you replace EVERYTHING,,,TPI 350s are actually, fairly reliable.
04limited@reddit
I daily drove my 91 C4 for one summer about 5 years ago it was a pain in the ass to get in and out of. Plus the car was old so it was just issue after issue. One part that really screwed me over was the turn signal pivot switch breaking on me. Discontinued part and specific to the 91. Never left me stranded but always had to keep my eye on it.
C5 would’ve been better, but I can think of way more practical/comfortable cars to daily for $15-20k which is what it takes to buy a nice C5 these days. Nice C4s are 10-15k. Sub $10k vettes you start getting into rougher examples the cheaper it is the worse it gets
MotorcycleCar@reddit
They are not bought by most to be daily driven but as a weekend car and there aren't as many left around these days plain and simple.I mean foxbodys are extremely rare to see on roads these days heck even new edge mustangs and later f body camaros and firebirds are rare these days I've seen exactly 1 4th gen camaro and 1 foxbody in the past year aand 0 firebirds.