Broken Speedo - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Broken Speedo - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Long-Term Road Test

Shortly after being repaired, sort-of, the speedometer in our 1966 Chevrolet Corvette broke again.

Read the full story here

kirkhilles1

I don't mean to be cruel, but this is why we're reading the blog. It needs to be FIXED, not worked around. If all it takes is a 25 cent clip to fix it, then great, but if it requires a $1,000 dash disassembly, then do it. Take pictures of everything and give us whatever details you can. It's just like the CL65 AMG. You KNEW it wasn't going to be cheap to do and the same goes for a 50 year old vehicle. Do whatever is necessary to get it functioning properly.

texases

$55k car with a broken speedo? Sure, what's wrong with that???

7driver

The speedo cable also drives the odometer. On the back of the pink slip there's a box marked "broken/inaccurate odometer" for transferring title. You think checking that box will affect resale value?

s197gt

thousand dollars??! no way i'd fix it.

i respectfully disagree kirkhilles1. i am sure their budget (like everyone's) is limited and i'd rather see them spend that on something else for the car.

speedo app for longer trips and be done.

texases

So the 'heapification' process is OK? Take a classic car, matching numbers, great overall shape, and let it slowly decay...

bankerdanny

Decide whether or not to fix it? If you aren't willing to fix stuff stop buying old cars. In the old car and motorcycle forums I belong to, people who would not fix important stuff or fix via "band aid" are referred to as DPO's or D*mn Prior Owners. Don't be a DPO.

Meanwhile I will add a reinforcing mental note to my prior mental note to never buy a Corvette from the guys you used.

Oh, and I don't see how you can justify adding totally superfluous side pipes for $2,500 then fail to fix the speedometer.

gslippy

Where are all the fanboys now, who applauded this purchase? I didn't, and commented accordingly.

Now you're stuck figuring out how to fix this gem appropriately. I say spend away, because that's what it takes to keep 50-year-old classic cars running as DAILY drivers. Normally, this car would come out only for Sunday car cruises.

desmolicious

From the original post;

".. Mershon's, a family-owned and -operated classic car dealer in Springfield, Ohio. Mershon's deals in Corvettes mostly and has a solid reputation."

Seeing the numbers of issues they did not disclose to you when you bought the car, they don't seem so solid to me.

cjasis

I was one of the folks who was very happy you bought this car. I am both disappointed that he supposedly reputable shop you bought this car from sold you a car with so many problems as well as disappointed in your approach to dealing with them.
The purchase of this car is useful as entertainment but much, much more if you approach this car like a normal buyer of a classic $50,000 car would. Fix the damn thing and treat it like it should be treated. That means proper maintenance, running it hard when it's warmed up, and finding out what it's really like living with.

texases

And fixing a speedo doesn't have to be rocket science. There are two gears in the tranny, a cable, the hookup to the speedometer, and the speedometer mechanism. Take stuff apart until you find out what's broken, and replace it. It's all available for this car, I'm sure.

kirkhilles1

s197gt said:

thousand dollars??! no way i'd fix it.

i respectfully disagree kirkhilles1. i am sure their budget (like everyone's) is limited and i'd rather see them spend that on something else for the car.

speedo app for longer trips and be done.

I'm sure Edmunds like's to keep their costs under control where possible, but again. Look through the AMG repair bills. Not cheap. Heck, they just spent $600 replacing 2 tires on the VW that only had 10,000 miles on it. It's not uncommon for an Oil Change and a Tire Rotation to cost them $150 (when its not complementary).

They've got the money and if this is going to be a useful blog, they need to fix it. The advantage of a 50 year old car is that you don't need to take it to the dealer. Find some shop that will do it cheap. I'm sure it's VERY straightforward, probably just a whole lot of screws. Now is the time to find that independent shop (just like you have your independent tire shop) that'll charge a decent hourly rate and is trustworthy.

I get it. You guys wanted a car that you could do those fancy photo shoots with, but again, unless this is just an art project that will sit around for 2 years, then fix it and move on. It won't be the last repair that you do on it, but hey, anyone could've told you that.

saulster

What they said!

Still not one word from Edmunds about the people at Mershons who sold you the car with this $1K to fix, obvious broken item. Why not? Have you called them to discuss / complain / ask for them to pay for the fix? What is the law about selling a car with a broken speedometer and odometer, isn't there some disclosure required? And, yes, as noted above, you will have to disclose when you sell this on that you don't really know the actual mileage because the odometer was out of service for an unknown period of time and miles. So sad........ Who is going to pay the big bucks like you paid Mershons with this kind of disclosure?

Sorry but the more we hear about how Edmunds handled this purchase, the less there is to like. At least fix the darn thing properly and move on as best you can.

zimtheinvader

gslippy said:

Where are all the fanboys now, who applauded this purchase? I didn't, and commented accordingly.

I'm still a fan of adding cars like this to the fleet but for all their resources the staff here seems to do a poor job of buying older cars. They get ones in questionable condition with not so great maintenance histories. Then they wimp out on making repairs after, as mentioned, spending $2,500 on side pipes. They really couldn't have sent someone to check out the car in person? When buying an old Corvette, an old Ferrari, an old MB 'supercar' or even an old Lexus what you start with is hugely important.

gslippy said:

Now you're stuck figuring out how to fix this gem appropriately. I say spend away, because that's what it takes to keep 50-year-old classic cars running as DAILY drivers. Normally, this car would come out only for Sunday car cruises.

This may be why the Japanese kicked our butts in cars for so long. My 240Z may be a couple years shy of being this old but I can flog it all week long for over 500 miles and on the weekend.... I wash it. Then it goes back into use the next week.

Like any individual shopping for a classic car they really need to settle on a plan for ownership. Is it going to be a daily driver? Or a weekend fun car? Are they going to try to keep (make) it as perfect as possible or ignore and bandage problems? Are they going to upgrade items like brakes and tires or just continually post about how bad they are? What is the purpose and plan for this car?

socal_eric

While an auto enthusiast spending their own money might take better care checking out and going over a car, some people have more money than automotive wrenching experience and will buy a car, spend money adding stuff, then maybe not plan and budget for costly repairs. These used cars added to the Edmunds fleet might not be the exact specimen most commenters here would buy but chances are someone out there would eventually buy the car. Even if you don't agree with their choice in car it's a nice way to see what a bad choice might cost you.

The most disturbing thing about this article/update is not that they bought a car that has and continues to have problems but they're deciding *if* they will fix it. The correct question should be *how* they plan to fix it (weekend project, independent mechanic, Corvette specialist, dealer, etc.). Since I don't own one of these cars with this specific issue I don't really care about what's involved to fix it yourself (as different repairs on different cars are likely going to require different effort, tool and skill level), but from the perspective of journalism providing consumer information it might make a good article to see quotes of what it would cost to repair using various options.

For example, this would be a good opportunity to show the differences between an independent shop and the dealer. Can a modern dealer even quote an accurate estimate on an older car? Are specialty shops that handle particular old makes and models going to be more expensive than an all-makes, all-model independent, etc.? The sample size might be small but it would add some generalizations and give consumers some food for thought when evaluating different options if they can't fix something themselves.

kyfdx

These guys fixed my speedometer on a '67 BMW, back in 1985. They are still in business... and, not that far away. You won't even have to ship it.

http://www.nhspeedometer.com/