I've been looking for a fourth generation Camaro for a couple of months now. Several have had one issue or another.
I've run across what is a reasonable mileage '98 Camaro coupe (62,000 miles) and basically very clean, however, it is
from Ohio and has rust.

On the older ones, rust is a problem, I know.

On a Corvette, I would know exactly how much is bad or good or too much. But on Camaros, I have to ask you,
how bad is this?

Right side rear rail


Left rear rail


Trunk and muffler - muffler has a couple of holes rusted in it.




Left front of door


Left front of door towards engine and transmission






Passenger side of floor



Trunk and muffler - you can see the holes in the muffler


Lousy picture of front suspension, but you can see the rust on the spoiler bolts.


Sometimes I hate these auto focus cameras. Front suspension rust.


Oxidation on the aluminum of the engine and rust on the spring mounts. It doesn't show well, but the bolts were pretty rusted. The metal seems solid though.



Same on this side. The spring mount bolts are pretty rusted and the metal is pitted and flaked some, but tapping on it feels solid, like the rust occurred from salt/snow/water getting on the top and not eating from below.

 

MY car is an 01 with 80k on the body and it has no rust. I would pass on that unless you get it cheap and it's going to be a beater.

 

Thanks, the price is low. They are down to $4800 for a '98 with t-tops. Like I said, the car is very clean other than this. One of the cleaner interiors and bodies I have seen. Doesn't appear to have body issues like wrecks. I can't find evidence of repaint, and it is silver which usually shows touching up, and the paint is good enough that I was looking hard to find the repaint.

It isn't for the long term, "keep this forever" but rather the daily driver for the next year or so. I was looking for a Z originally, but with it going to be a commuter and gas now at $3.15/3.25/3.45 here, I figure the Z28 will cost me about $40 a week more in gas than the V6.

Longevity falls in here, as most V6 3.8 cars I have seen seem to be on second engines slightly over 120,000 miles. So I figured that this would give me 60,000 miles without issues or thinking about replacing an engine.

But some of that rust does look rough. The problem of a car coming from Ohio.

 

mine had alot of oxidation on engine, but no rust what so ever, cept one dime sized spot on driver side running board, from dorr rubbing it, and it was not bad at all. i mean it had rust on some of the engine bolts(that hold the hose clamps and that). but anyway, it was a 96 with 126kmi when i bought, for 2800, and i sold with 136kmi for 3400... you can do better than that one. the engine itself does look good tho, no oil or anything.

 

Damn that's a lot of rust.

 

I agree that it is alot of rust.. but honestly most of it looks like surface rust which is really not that big of a deal... although that exaust definetely has to go, looks like its rusted all the way through (but I'm sure you knew that). Anyway, mine is a 98 and I picked it up for $4700 with no rust at all so I agree you can probably do better than that... unless they're really hard to find in your area. Good luck in your search.

 

If your planning on keeping it a while imho i would fine another car, rust is like cancer, once it starts it doesnt stop and your lucky it hasnt been in an accident because it would probably snap like a celery stick. I would low ball tha h*** out of them if you want it!!!

 

You can definitely do much better. I bought a '95 Z-28 that was rust free for 2800 and I live in northern Indiana. About gas mileage: I've actually been able to get up to 25 MPG with my Camaro because of the tall gearing (I usually average about 20).

 

Thanks, everyone. The guy called back and asked if I wanted it. I told him no. Then he wanted to know if it were cheaper and I said a whole lot cheaper. He suggested $4000. I said it would have to be below that and he hasn't called back.

I think for a year or two, it would be fine but it would be a bit tough to sell to the next guy.

 

well i tell everybody this but search www.autotrader.comif you havent already. its how i found mine. alot of the listings come w/ carfax reports and everything