I've got both Japanese and Domestic in the driveway, oh and a German (Mini).

Anyway, Vette has the lowest mileage of them, 68,000 or thereabouts. What I'm wondering about is that the Corvette is the one with the most problems. I've learned to fix waterpump, sport seats, knocksensors, etc. All with help from this site.


Could it be that the car sat for too long (PO) and that has just screwed up a bunch of systems? Or is this normal? The only one that comes close to this PIA is the Dodge Ram 3500.

As a counterpoint, my Miata with 135,000 has no problems I didn't incur myself, my RX7 has 240,000 on the original Wankel engine which is unheard of without other issues and going strong.

What's going on here? Is it just this particular car?

I believe there is truth to that train of thought. Not driving them, letting them sit, babying them is not all that good on them.

Of course this is IMO.

Having a car sit isn't as great as people think. With this have any changes been made to the vette. When someone changes/modifies something is usually the cause for problems. Are the other cars as tip-top as the vette or do you let little items slide by.

Quote:

Sitting's not real good for anything.

Sport seats, a few problems yea.

A waterpump and knock sensors? That ain't much,IMO.

My Chevy Silverado - 2 cats and 2 EGR check valves in 140k
My Chevy Van - 250k before I started repairing things

My C4 - haven't put a wrench on it in 4 years excluding maintenance.

I absolutely refuse to "put a car away for the winter".

Anything on any car can break, otherwise BMW, Mazda, Mercedes, etc. dealerships wouldn't have service departments.

Well your car is getting on in car years. When the C4's were made a lot of the systems were new and did not have the built in durability that we now expect. As more and more our new cars become electronic marvels I see that as trouble 20 years down the road.

Mechanically, new cars can run 300K miles without a lot of trouble if maintained properly. Sensor or electronic fail is what gets you nowdays in my estimation. We fondly remember back when cars were simple but they always seemed to have something to work on also, but at least we could work on them ourselves. 100K miles and they were considered old and tired.

Japan came to prominance back in those days because they had the systems figured out and the cars just worked better. That forced the American car companies to get better and it is still happening. Just my 2 cents worth.

This car must have been sitting for a while. Only thing I can figure out.

Everything else gets driven regularly, that's why I'm surprised with the C4. Always something, i.e. just had the AC fixed last year and now its not working again. Plus that fan issue and fuel sensor. On the plus side, the more I use it, the more things are coming back.

I do my own maintenance so I don't have things slide by waiting for an appointment. Besides, that would be a last resort as I've only rarely found a place that is as meticulous as I want them to be or am myself.

That said, did an oilchange on the C4. Not the first time I've changed oil on this car!!!!! Crawl underneath, when I finally get it lifted high enough. Look at the oil pan and I'm thinking I don't remember that huge bolt sitting there on the side to remove to get the oil out...besides, what were they thinking putting it so high. Doesn't let all the oil out. And what's with that 30mm size???? So, after I get done unscrewing it, puzzled even more by what I pull out and why there's a wire attached I look to the back where the oil filter is. Hmmm, looks like a regular bolt to pull out to get the old oil out. Geez, what a senior moment which is far too early at my age. Won't make that mistake again.

That's the oil level... be gentle with it... they break.

As for atrophy... that's what it's called and its a killer on Vettes. Any car, really... But GM builds these cars to be driven.

You need to drive it at least 1000 miles a year, minimum, to avoid problems like this.

I had an 84" that I sold to a member on this site...I put bout 200k miles on it. I drove the heck outa this car and the only thing I had to do to it in 15 years is reg. maintenance, replace the radiator n alternator, trans. It sat for months at a time and gave me no trouble Was a darn good car...Now the new owner is dragging his feet and letting it rot

Well, it is a fun drive, no doubt.

My biggest fear is putting the mileage on. I'm not real crazy about all the wonderful things that can go wrong on these cars. That and of course devaluing it...for what that's worth in this economy!

I just had a new radiator, timing chain and tensioner, and brand new transmission put in my 2006 nissan xterra daily driver at 87,000 miles. Not due to abuse, but a factory defect. My wife's last toyota solara needed nothing but an O2 sensor and a battery. My old S10 was bullet proof. My old ranger went to 185,000 miles after I sold it with 140,000.

All cars have maintenance issues. I think not driving a car causes more harm then good, but what do I know. Then again, my vette sits in the heated garage all winter before I can take it out to play. But a modified car is no comparison, they always need work.

Matthew

This is the most telling, I think:

Spring, 1976, my Brother buys a new Plymouth Volarie (sp?) and my Dad buys a new Dodge Aspen. Both with 318 V8s, AC/PS/PB/AC/AM-FM. The Plymouth was a 4dr in silver, the Aspen light blue 2dr. The only differences that I was aware of, the Plymouth came with the cop suspension and cooling package, and power locks and drivers seat. The Aspen lived in Delaware, the Volarie, in Florida.

The Aspen was an absolute piece of shit. It never ran right from day one, never was reliable enough to trust to run right. After Dad died in 1977, Mom tried to drive it, but hated it. And it continued to run poorly. It was all the early emission gear that caused it. And the techs were not trained to fix it. A nice Edelbrock manifold with a Holley 550 4bbl would have so fixed that thing. Nice mild tune and leave the cat.

Mom trades it in the spring of 78 for another piece of shit, and Audi Fox. But that's another story. It had about 30k miles on it when Mom traded it in.

Paul keeps the Plymouth, drives it daily for 4+ years, keeps it as a 2nd car and company car for another 4 years and when it was finally sold, it had somewhere north of 225k miles on it.