It’s too often that something that could be serviced for continued use gets tossed in favor of something totally new. That definitely applies to the car world, where the latest and greatest often gets shoved to the front, while everything else is shipped off to the junkyard. Luckily, not everyone has that sort of mentality, including the owner of this 1994 Chevy Corvette. As it turns out, this C4 Corvette is still running strong after an astounding 429,000 miles, as featured here in a segment we like to call GM Authority Readers’ Rides.
This C4 Chevy Corvette was sent to us from GM Authority reader Dan T., who serves as President at Corvettes of Auburn in Auburn, Washington. According to Dan, this C4 Corvette belongs to Corvettes of Auburn customer Carol F., who has been bringing her sports car to the shop for service for the last two decades.
Dan and Corvettes of Auburn have attended National Corvette Restores Society (NCRS) events, as well as Bloomington Gold events, so suffice to say, they’ve seen some pretty sweet rides in their time. Still, there’s something to be said about a C4 daily driver on its way to half a million miles on the clock.
According to Dan, Carol drives her 1994 Corvette every day, covering roughly 40 miles each way to work and back home again, and critically, the car is still equipped with its original LT1 V8 engine and automatic transmission. The engine has had about seven OPTI sparks, and many, many oil changes. The transmission has been rebuilt three times. As evidenced by the photos the paint is peeling a little bit, but remains original.
While not exactly in concours condition, we love seeing a Chevy Corvette that’s used and enjoyed on a daily basis. While there are certainly faster Corvettes out there, Carol’s C4 has a unique story all its own.
Want to see your ride featured on GM Authority? Send it our way! And remember to subscribe to GM Authority for more Readers’ Rides, more Chevy Corvette news, Chevy news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Dave McLellan would be proud.
It’s the old adage,you take of it it will take care of you 😀
Too bad you are wrong.
Absolutely love it. Mad respect for Carol, the owner, with hopes she cracks that half million soon and gets on her way to a million miles total.
The C4 is a reminder of how new Corvettes have grown out of touch with the common guy and gal; those smooth and sleek lines paying homage to it’s C3 ancestor, while this new mid engined generation is more out of the Speed Racer school of Insectoid…..over the top, ridiculous.
The model it replaced (I think C7) looks WAY better then the mid-engine one which looks to be cast rated European version. Ain’t that funny?
I much prefer the previous model. Now there’s a BEEFY looking all male Corvette.
I have a 2011 Silverado 5.3 with 380,000 miles on it, new cam and lifters at 355,000 and a transmission at 287,000 is all I have done to it.
Alan: Send me your contact info and I’ll e mail scan to you my service history record that is maintained in the dealer – factory service information system. At 554,000+ miles on 6.5 turbo diesel made in 1998, the engine has never been opened up. Still showing 40 psi oil pressure on the dash gauge. Fuel pumps made by Norden have been replaced as well as a few starting motors and two alternators.
I own a 1999 suburban K1500 original engine just replaced distributor original transmission…I oil it ,rust prevention N H salt. 301000 miles does not use oil doesn’t smoke, G M can’t sell new ones if they last AND CAN be built too great truck
I am in awe that people can drive so many miles in their vehicles! They must live in their vehicles, or really live many miles from work place to home and back! I know that some vehicles are used for work, whether on a farm or ranch, or they have an amazingly long commute every day of their lives! Here in Southern California, we commute and travel an average of over 15 to 20 thousand miles a year, and of course mostly in heavy traffic (the most popular “405 Freeway” has a true meaning, it’s 4 to 5 hours to get anywhere using this crowded freeway!) which leads me to believe that a lot of people basically spend more time in their vehicles than at home! Amazing isn’t it? This C4 has traveled almost half a million miles! Jeeze Louise, and I’m sure that I’ve read about a C5 Corvette that has travelled over 7 hundred thousand miles and is still running, still commuting and also that this Corvette could be given to the Corvette Museum as a display!
My current 2001 C5 has almost 70K on it and to me that is a lot of miles, but doing the math, it’s only about 3500 miles a year…damn near pathetic compared to the mileage that others put on there vehicles! Of course it is a “weekend driver”, I never bought it to “burn up the highways across America”, although it has travelled across this country a few times, and has done it flawlessly, never once needing a tow truck, just the normal required maintenance as per the owners manual.
Anyway, kudo’s to all of you who drive the crap out of your vehicles and keep ’em running, you obviously know that proper care and maintenance is the key to longevity. Being a Sunday morning here in SoCal, means another early morning trek to someplace using the Corvette as intended, it’s gassed up and ready to hit the road…but first I have to check the traffic cause sometimes, there just ain’t no way to “get from here to there” when everyone else, all four million of us SoCal drivers decide to hit the same road at the same time! Happy and Safe Motoring to every one of you, and enjoy the ride!
Love to see shares like this. A motor vehicle maintained and driven properly should last you ad infinitum. I purchased new in 1998 a GMC Suburban 2500 with a 6.5 diesel. I use Mobil One 10W 40 High Mileage Synthetic engine oil and change every 10K miles. Have original engine. Flush radiator every 50K miles. Change transmission, transfer case and rear differential fluids every 50K miles. The vehicle currently has 554,000+ miles on the meter. One time transmission rebuild. Replaced rubber lines and belts. A couple of starters, air conditioning compressor, and three fuel pumps in 25 years. Currently averages 27 miles per gallon. This is what sustainability is all about. Not flipping a vehicle every five years or so and feeding the scrap and waste pipelines with glass and plastic.
My only qualm is that my local GM dealer in Durango, Colorado, Morehart Murphy Motors, will not work on a GM vehicle that is 10 or more years old. I like servicing at GM dealers for warranty and genuine parts usage. Other dealers like Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix will work on my 1998 Suburban, of which they recently replaced 25 year old original vacuum hoses.
With the cost of a new Suburban over $100K+ you expect the vehicle to last 10 plus years. Suggest that GM put a metric on it’s dealers to provide service and parts support for GM vehicles 10 or more years old. This is what conservation and sustainability is all about instead of enlarging landfills. Enough said here. Don’t let me get into my rant about trillions of plastic water bottles. Colorado banned plastic shopping bags, but the stores have aisles and shelves full of water in plastic bottles. ??? Half measures avail us nothing. Enjoy your rides.
I have a 2013 Cadillac cts coupe with a 3.6 liter motor with a 136000 miles on it. everything on the car is original except just replaced the brake pads and a button to open the driver side door. I also have a 2008 corvette with a 118000 miles motor and transmission original. The motor doesn’t burn a drop of oil and I change every 7000 miles and it still runs like a raped ape…
Alan Gordon: Practicing sustainability is what it’s all about in this age of inflation and insane pricing. Over $5.00+ bucks for a 1/4 pound burger at McDonalds. Crazy. New vehicle prices with all the factory automation and efficiencies. Crazy. BTW: All these new electric vehicles have about half the parts of IC vehicles. Simple units consisting of a battery tray, one or two electric propel motors, black box controllers. Automated production. Should be priced much less than current IC vehicles.
VINFAST is going to build an EV model priced at blockbuster pricing, like Musk in his City Car. Stay tuned for the EV pricing wars like anything electric that’s initially new and then gets less expensive as it matures like electronic calculators, tv’s, cameras, laptops, desktops, cell phones, etc.
Thank You all for the kind replies and encouragement ! The red Beast and I have been together since 2001 (I’m 2nd owner) when I saw it on my favorite car lot Gamblin Motors in Enumclaw, and had just been traded in by somebody who left it in storage much of it’s life. Beast only had 19k miles on it at 7 years old and I needed something more comfortable to drive after recent back surgery, that did not involve 6 gears to work through. LoL ! This is the perfect car for my long commutes, playing with on days off and running to Montana and places inbetween on a moments notice. We’ve trekked through snow, and it handles really good as long as it is under 2 feet to plow through, and the traction controll still works on ice and wet roads. The MOST FUN I ever had was going out and spinning brodies in an icy parking lot alongside the locals and their 4x4s about ten years ago. Pure fun….that’s what these cars are for. This little car just proves out my dads theory that you can’t kill a 350 motor unless you starve it of oil. My Oil gets changed about every 5 to 6 weeks right around the 3,000 mile mark and she gets a tuneup every 50k or 60k depending on how harsh the drives have been with Seattle afternoon commuting traffic. So…411,000 miles divided by an average of 3k between oil changes…137 LOF Services, not bad!
BIG Kudos to Dan and the whole gang at Corvettes of Auburn who take excellent care of us and it feels like family when I’m there. For anyone who is curious, I’ve had her up to 140 mph and that’s fast enough for both of us- the nose wants to go up and she don’t have wings. When the company I work for comes up with wings for the vettes, we will fly… it’s on my bucket list. BTW- I would love to hear from anyone who has ‘wrapped’ their car for a new look just for fun. I am interested.
I wish everyone awesome rides with their favorite cars, lots of happy miles and happy smiles each and every day. We will let you know when we cross that 500k mark. Stay Safe and go have some fun!
Wonderful share, Carol, thank you so much. I can’t imagine how someone (just one as of my reading your post) gave you a thumbs down!
Anyway, keep enjoying your great car and save the wave.
Have 2002 Impala LS I bought new, 3.8 v6, soon to hit 180K and get its regular 3000 mile Havoline 10W-40 oil change, ( my late great Grandfather Chevy salesman told me change at this interval with this oil and your vehicle will last forever). Now refer to it as my mobile musical center as it has a cassette/cd player and has my approximate 150 cd collection from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. Don’t know what I will do if it dies, as no cd players in newer GM cars. Rock On!
We just sold a 2011 Camaro with a 3.6 l.
I drove it 300,000 km.
The only repair we ever did was one front wheel bearing.
We saved it for the new buyer. It passed a safety with the original brakes.
What an AWESOME car. Just loved it.
😁🇨🇦👍
Amazing, original brakes at 300,000 km.
Well in Canada there are places you can drive for hours and never touch the brakes.
My neighbor got 180K out of his brakes on his Blazer. Lots of highway driving and easy on the pedal.
Engine must have been assembled on a Wednesday. Good for him. Trany was rebuild 3x, so that must have been built ever on the Monday or Friday.
But hey, they say the carbon footprint in manufacturing a car is about as much as it will use in gas for the lifetime of the vehicle, so the longer the vehicle stays on the road and used, the better for the environment in the long run.
Awesome
I have a 1992 Ford F-250 Lariat Super Cab. Still runs. Replaced the usual, transmission, brake pedal, several brake jobs, batteries, etc., recently had fuel switch problem but Ford don’t make the duel fuel tank switch anymore and the Chinese ones aren’t worth a crap.
Watched a Youtubid video on how to fix the duel fuel switch including drilling out the rivets but I could not repair it and assembled everything back on twice to realized that but put it in front tank mode only and run it from the front tank but it still runs beautifooly. Lots of power, quick starts, that too but I mean starting the engine, hot or cold.
It is true what they say. A diesel breaks in at 60,000 and 120,000 and both times I notice a surge in power.
It has only a 125,000 miles on but I only use it once a week for the past several years. At that rate it should easily last me another 20 years.
I have a 1998 C/k 1500 Silverado with 5.7L. It has 239K on it with original transmission and engine. New ones will have issues going that long with all the technology in them. Get rid of the AFM/DFM and they should be fine with proper maintenance.
I have a 1994 also. Bought it in 2001 wit 80000 miles it now has 212000 miles and still strong. I bought it to enjoy driving it not store it.
If Dan’s been maintaining it for a good portion of its life this doesn’t surprise me! Congratulations to both the owner and to Dan and his business!
That’s great. Hope mine goes that far.
However it’s not a 94 it looks more like 84
ben here in fl have a 2002 chevy suburan 4×4 just turned 30000 did brakes ac fan and trans and have had 6 years and wouldnt trade it for anything fully loaded
Ben in Florida: Totally agree with you.