Hey guys, so I'm in the process of buying my first camaro (i want a z28 4th gen with an ls1 so 98-02). I was just wondering where everyone bought their camaro? Obviously i know the pros and cons to buying from a dealer compared to a private party such as someone off craigslist, but if you wouldnt mind telling me which you did and any problems you came across, advice for me, ect. I do not know many sites that i could potentially find my dream car so even dropping a name would be cool! Again, any little word of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

 

I found mine on Craigslist from a private seller. When I was looking, I used autotrader.com and searchtempest.com. Searchtempest searches Craigslist within whatever distance from a zip code that you specify. It is pretty neat. Be patient and do your homework on any car you plan to buy.

 

i gotta check that site out. But thanks man, i definitely will. I'm trying to not battle my excitement and not rush into anything!

 

I also found mine on craigslist from a private seller; middle-aged female, one owner car.

I also searched on autotrader, cars.com, ebay classifieds, autoferret, yahoo autos, bargainnews

 

I got mine from a friend of my dads. You know asked around the garage and found mine. But I did use cragslist to search around alot.

 

damn a women driver and no accidents? ;] just kidding. but yeah craigslist seems to be the popular vote

 

I found mine on eBay, but did the deal via private party (I am the third owner). Ran a Carfax on it, liked what it said, found out where it was originally purchased (by a service receipt) and called the dealership's shop. Turned out the original owner had all her work done at the dealership. And I mean all service by the book intervals. The shop sent me a listing of what was done and when. That covered the first 75,000 miles of the car. Second owner put less than 8,000 miles on it in the eight years they owned it.

Other than needing a complete tuneup (opti, plugs, wires, all fluids, etc) haven't had a problem with it in the 2 1/2 years I've owned it.

If the seller won't spring for a Carfax report (or at least go halvsies with you on one), walk away from the car. They either know, or suspect something will show up there that they don't want you to know about.

 

I got my '02 from a dealership- traded my old Cobalt for it. It's not likely 'cause they usually don't keep cars older than about 7 years, but worth a look.

 

Smaller, independent dealers would have the older cars. But then you really run the risk of having "Larry the used car salesman" spin the tale of only driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday's.

To the OP - Where are you located? There may be a couple of members here who are nearby, who may be able to shed some light on local dealers or cars for you.

 

That would be great! I live in PA right outside philly. And I wouldnt mind driving a little distance to find the car that best fits