High mileage cars are always mildly entertaining because they show what’s possible when a vehicle is maintained somewhat consistently. It used to be years ago owners were shocked if they reached 100,000 miles before trading a car in; now, that’s considered the minimum miles a car should travel without significant repairs, and from that point thereafter still be largely reliable, even if it has the occasional mechanical need. This 1985 Chevrolet Corvette blows some of the norms out of the water, as it’s approaching 300,000 miles and isn’t exactly the kind of vehicle you use for logging huge odometer readings. Find it here on eBay with bidding just over $2K with no reserve.
I know the C4 era wasn’t exactly a bright spot for Corvette, but we still see an awful lot of them come up for sale – so they couldn’t have been that bad. Or perhaps it was more a case of the car itself being a disappointment performance-wise and this sentiment having a spill-over effect which indicated the entire platform was undesirable. I believe the opposite, that the C4 was effectively a decent car, especially considering the headwinds the company was up against in terms of demonstrating a commitment to improving fuel economy. The quality may have been questionable at first, but the C4 platform ended up spawning desirable models like the ZR1, which remains a formidable performer to this day.
This early C4 is perhaps the least desirable configuration, given it has the automatic transmission. But there has to be something worth buying here, as not many cars from this era reach this sort of mileage, and even fewer owners are committed to paying for the maintenance needed to ensure that it does. The seller notes the interior is “complete”, but those cheap-looking seat covers could be hiding some ugly secrets about the original sport buckets. All of the interior power features are said to still work as designed, but the seller still recommends a deep clean of the cockpit. Fortunately, the vulnerable body and frame are said to be rock solid with no cracks or rust.
According to a previous owner, the engine was rebuilt – but it doesn’t sound like a paper trail exists. A rebuild does seem likely given the mileage on display here. The engine bay may look tired, but with this kind of mileage, keeping an engine bay pretty is likely pretty low on the listing of priorities. The tires will need to be replaced, as they’ve started to crack. The seller notes that the engine feels healthy with plenty of power, and that the Corvette starts / stops / runs without any issue. The seller does mention a reserve price in the listing, but that’s obviously already been cleared and it must have been fairly low, as promised in the description. How much will this “cheap” Corvette sell for?
My least favorite Corvette, but there is nothing like a quarter million mile engine!
It’s not the least desirable combination. That honor would go to the 1984 Missfire Fuel Injection with the awful 4 + 3 transmission. For 1985, I would argue you would want the automatic, because you would have gotten the 4+3 if you ordered a manual.
The C4 is one of the least desirable performance cars ever built. Even mint low mile cars often do not fetch five figures. Why that is, I’m not really sure. Performance-wise they’re pretty quick, even the maligned 1984, and the handling is good.
Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the styling, both inside and out. It’s very much of its time, and that’s not complementary. It just looks really dated. 1991+ cars of improved on the styling a little bit, but the design screams 1980s.
Not sure if there are 2000 bucks in parts here by the time you invest your time into buying this heap and pulling and marketing what you have. Sorry that I am a cynical old man. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays one and all!
this heap is not worth 2000 bucks, even in parts, by the time you buy this thing, recondition and market the parts
When you do the math, that’s only 7,000 a year. A well enjoyed ‘Vette! It’ s not this way now, but as a high school kid, I would have loved this car!
High mileage, right price , its a driver ,or part out but have fun with it
If the motor and trans are rebuilt and right, It could be worth a couple grand to the right person.
Play with it awhile and put the chassis under a 50’s pickup! At least this is a tuned port injection, lots of low end but not much above 4,000 unless you do some work to it.
Still couldn’t beat a Grand National. but my 86 tune port did average 29 mpg at 70 mph. Great every day beaters but I preferred my ’84 and ’87 G.N.’s for performance.
Now it’s up to almost $3,500. You can buy these all day long with half the miles for this price.
We bought a new 1985 Z-51 that we really loved, I know that it wouldn’t keep up with our C-7 but I thought that it was pretty fast for what it was. The only reason we sold it was that we wanted to go on the Corvette Caravan so we thought a new Corvette was in order
Ride like a buck board and you need a can opener to get out. In 20 years you will be amazed at what the prices may be. One of the worst Corvettes ever.
Auto Auction Rebuilds has been playing with a couple of these on YouTube. He should buy it.
SOLD for $3,850.
If you want a high mileage C4 for 3K, look no further than your local Craig’s List ads, or Facebook Marketplace. The country is littered with these things.
I have a 85 with 192,000 miles on it. The motor was replace at 162,000 with a new long block, transmission at 136,000, injectors and radiator were replace also. Everything else is original.