Is It A Deal?

[MarkV]

Ok, so I was looking around for a spare car to have that is not a classic, because I now drive over 100 miles per day and would like to switch off using the cars, so, I happened across a 1988 Chevy Corsica with a little over 50,000 miles on it. The interior is flawless and it is owned by a 90 year old lady, fully loaded v-6 and runs very good. The cons are that she did some bump and go driving and it needs two new fenders, bumper and a hood to be perfect (about $100 at the local salvage yard) it sat for a while, but, everything looks good, It also has all of the maintenance records and a recent alternator and radiator but needs the ac recharged. They want $600 for it, because it has about $300-$400 back owed reg. Does it sound like a good deal?

[MarkV]

Forgot to mention that it is a beige interior and not a stain in sight

[R Walling]

Low

Retail Average

Retail High

Base Price $1,200 $1,675 $2,275

Options

6 Cylinder Engine -10% -10% -10%

Factory Air Conditioning 10% 10% 10%

TOTAL PRICE $1,200 $1,675 $2,275

'NADA Priceing'

[Guest bkazmer]

Excellent condition example of a pretty poor car. Condition can't fix the initial design/execution. May be a buy but have appropriate expectations.

I can't wait for the "I had one and it was great stories." Fire away

[Mssr. Bwatoe]

see ya

Edited August 5, 2010 by Mssr. Bwatoe
Just making this a little less personal...another forum rule (see edit history)

[MarkV]

They all run flawlessly, and I work on the older ones myself, you can put your finger on the block and not feel them run, they are very smooth. In fact, I pumped the old connie up to 80 mph. Mid 80's buicks are some of the best cars around, you see them regularly out here. JD Power ranked them high in quality for a few years. I was curious about the cimmaron, as for the Corsica my friend has one, it is a damn good car, he drives it 100 miles in a day, everyday. I was only drawn to this one, because of it's low mileage and good condition especially with the interior, or else I am not in the market for another one right now. And you cannot drive a 48 connie daily to grad school where car thefts are high in a very bad area. Nor in S. CA traffic, where the speed limit is between 65 and 90 if you read my posts you would find that the 89 buick saved my life. It was heartbreaking to loose the 89 I loved that car, it was safe and reliable hence I got the 91, which I am now putting 600 miles per week on, I wanted another car to share the burden partially

[DLynskey]

My daughter had three Corsicas back in the day. All had higher mileage than that when she bought them. The first was rearended by a drunk in a Cadillac while it was parked. The rear bumper wound up underneath the rear seat, but not a window was broken. The passenger compartment was practically intact. That was enough to sell her on the Corsica.

The second had an electrical gremlin that no one could find. I think the third was alright as well as I remember.

Don

[Reatta Man]

First, they are solid, dependable cars. The '88 lacks airbags, but should have ABS. For daily sit-on-the-freeway-and-wait-to-move-20-feet, it is fine. If you really were driving 65-80 MPH every day, I would recommend airbags and a newer car, but that is a personal preference.

One thing to keep in mind is that if the car has been sitting and then you start driving it 100 miles every day, you are going to wake up some gremlins, and there is no way to know where they are. Therefore, don't be surprised if you loose one or more of the forward gears or reverse in the transmission; this is common in a car that has been sitting a lot and has low mileage. But, you could get lucky and have no problems. A transmission flush by a shop using BG products may preserve the transmission.

Be prepared to do a radiator, just due to the age. Once again, not an expensive part; you can get them new from the box stores for about $100-150.

I would recommend getting the A/C converted to R-134a; an '88 model is still going to be using R-12.

For $600, it is hard to go wrong. You can spend $100 for the body parts, $150 for the transmission flush, $150 for a radiator, and $200-250 for the A/C conversion. You are still into the car for less than $1500, which usually won't even buy a beat-up junker in most markets.

Good luck!

Joe

[rick60]

Fuel injectors, ignition modules, ignition coils, ignition wires, ECMs, intake manifold leaks, crank sensors, fuel pumps, idle air control motors, steering gears and much more are parts that fail on Chevy based cars of that era. They usually fail one at a time, one after another. The car turns into a money pit.

I started as an Olds mechanic in 1977. This was nearing the end of the "real" V-8 rear drive Oldsmobile. By 1988 we had the Buick based Olds and the Chevy based Olds. The Chevy based product gave the mechanics fits. They were plagued with constant intermittent problems. They were very hard to diagnose and repair. Our established Oldsmobile customers were extremely disappointed with their Chevy based Oldsmobiles. I'm sure some of these cars were reliable for their owners. I only saw the bad ones. But even today, the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I am near one of these cars. I enjoyed going to work prior to working on these cars. Chevy did improve. Cars built in later years are almost bullet proof.

[Dave@Moon]

I can't wait for the "I had one and it was great stories." Fire away

My brother bought a new one in 1989. He almost never drove it after the warranty expired, because it broke down so frequently it became more expensive to keep it running than to run it. It was a nightmare of nickel and dime repairs (only because he worked on it himself, otherwise the nickels would be quarters), and totally unsuitable as an only car (which is why he used an old Subaru as a back-up soon after buying it.

Literally the day he paid it off it was traded on a year-old Mazda 626. It was a major step up in all respects.

BTW, ABS was not standard on the Corsica/Beretta until 1992. I don't think it was even available until 1/2 way through the 1988 model year, when there's a change in master cylinder application for the car. As an option on such an inexpensive car, I doubt there were many sold with ABS. The car actually got standard air bags before it got standard ABS.

Oh yeah, the Corsica also probably had the worst factory paint jobs in U.S. history, bar none.

See: Chevrolet Corsica | The Center for Autosafety

[MarkV]

Interesting, I think it is worth the risk, I got the guy down to $500 I am still thinking about it, but, I think it is worth the risk. If anything, Pick a Part pays $500 for cars so if anything the only thing I can loose is the reg $ any other ideas?

[Reatta Man]

Just remember, it is not the ONLY $500 car out there....

Joe

[Shop Rat]

To me it speaks well that all of the maintenance records are there. Bill and I keep detailed records on the vehicles we own also, including a small spiral binder that contains the date, brand, amount of gallons, fill/not filled and milage when we put fuel in. Also any maintenance is noted including oil/oil filter changes and other work. It has always been a selling point whether we traded them in or sold them outright. Those records go into an envelope for the new owner.

Have you driven the car yet?

Another thing, when we go look at antique vehicles for others, or a used modern vehicle, as a pre-purchase one of the first things Bill does is see of the owner has started the vehicle before we got there so that it will start easily. He would rather that they don't as that can hide issues.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Shop Rat (see edit history)

[Jim Rohn]

that sound like one heck of a deal

buy it and drive it

[bhclark]

buy it and drive it.....The total cost is basically 1 new car payment!

What could go wrong? worse case, the engine blows, you part a few pieces, scrap the rest and make some money.

[Dave@Moon]

What could go wrong? worse case, the engine blows, you part a few pieces, scrap the rest and make some money.

....after a 9 hour walk to an area with phone reception in the desert.

[bhclark]

....after a 9 hour walk to an area with phone reception in the desert.

That's what AAA is for Dave!

You know, we're only about 10 miles apart....we should get together for a drink sometime.

[Rusty_OToole]

I don't know what prices are like in California but I would pass on that one. I'm sure you can do better.

Yesterday I bought a 2000 Ford Windstar minivan for $600. It is a clean one owner vehicle. Only 125,000 KM or less than 80,000 miles.

The reason the owner is selling is that there are rust holes in the rocker panels and it needs rear brakes. He also thinks the transmission is going but it isn't.

This is a cheap price, the same van on a car lot would be $4995 or more.

I already fixed the brakes, tomorrow I am taking it to a friend who does bodywork in his home garage. When he is done it will be as good as new, his work is the equal of any regular body shop.

Total cost with everything done and on the road, right around $1000.

I put this here not to brag but to point out that deals are around if you look for them.

The best deals seem to be from well off people who bought the car new, and once it gets to be 7 to 10 years old, and has something wrong like a muffler, tires or brakes they think it is time for a new car.

In this case the owner was a retired airline executive. He wanted $2395 for the van to start with, I asked him to have his mechanic check it over, when he saw what all was wrong with it he was shocked and wanted to send it to the junkyard. I had to talk him into selling it to me. The price of $600 was $500 for the van and $100 for the mechanic's inspection.

Personally if I needed a reliable car to cover 100 miles per day without fail, I would be looking for a newer car namely one 5 to 7 years old, certainly no more than 10. There are too many things that deteriorate with age.

In fact I would take a high mile, 5 year old car over a low mile 10 year old car.

The Windstar is not going to be my only transportation. I want it for a hack to haul parts, go to flea markets, etc.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)