Hey guys, I'm somewhat of a newb, and was wondering if you could give me some advice on getting my first Camaro. This is the car I'm looking at:

1997 Camaro Z28 Convertible

It's got 164k on it, and it's a rebuilt title, but I called the guy and he said it's been his daily driver for the last year and all he's done is change the oil. I definitely want to get it checked out by a mechanic, but I am still wondering about reliability. I am hoping for a car that lasts 3 years, and I'm ok with putting up to 5k into it in maintenance over that time. So what do you guys think, what are my chances that it lasts to 200k ish without me having to rebuild the whole thing? Thanks!!

 

Doesn't look like it was takin care of very well. I'd pass on that one. Really. There's plenty to choose from that HAVE been taken care of. There's a reason why its not selling.

 

I've owned a lot of these cars, some with a lot more miles than 164k. They were all nicer than that..you can do much better imho.

 

if your asking how reliable lt1 cars are, well..... they are. extremely. and parts are cheap. you can do better as said, but you can go ahead anyway if you choose, its a good deal and these cars are fun to work on. they are very cheap to fix if you do it yourself, and the only things that went wrong on my 97 owning it for more than 2 years despite overheating like 10 times on the test drive before my purchase was an optispark and water pump. i fixed a small oil leak behind the intake, and a clutch went out after my wife drove it and attempted to start the car in 5th gear ten times..... these are basically ALL the problems you'll encounter on an lt1 in my experience. everything else is bonehead, read the forum. o2 sensors every hundred thousand miles. clean this sensor, replace this very thin piece of plastic in your interior. people say a lot of lt1's are dogs, truth is even the dogs can be made gold with few dollars, can do attitude and of course... the forum guys! more examples of what ive been through just ask! btw dont be scared by the body work. i replaced my WHOLE front end after an accident for 550$... plastic body panels sir...... talk him down to a price that gives you room to play with repairs. read up on how to paint, good time to bond with a new car and learn. call a body shop. ask friends and auto parts stores if they know any cheap mechanics that can pull ur dent. check the steering on a drive, does it pull either direction? if not price out a few control arms and stuff, see what it needs. talk him down! then get cracking. once its finished you WONT be disappointed. not far from this price though, you can get an older one that will be in better condition. but imho this is a great cheap place to get into a newer camaro, and learn as much as you can about it. basically is it worth it??? yes. expect issues!!! talk him down, and have fun with your new "TOY"

 

oh and if you go look at it and its worse than you thought but you really love it. dont be afraid to walk away.... only two things happen. you say ill give 2750, he says no. you say ok, sorry and walk away. as your walking he stops you and sais, wait! how about 2850? you say sorry man, i need that money for repairs.... he sais hhhh... fine. two, you walk away and WAIT WAIT WAIT, a nice 95 pops up on cl thats taken care of very very well. t56 and all. 2900.... patience.... it sucks but it pays...

 

Great, thanks guys! I'll keep looking then.

 

let's just review the numbers and not even look at the condition

in 3 years you will replace the tires twice. The first time will be when you buy the car because it probably needs them ($700 mounted and balanced, tire disposal etc) Toss in another $69 for an alignment which you should do on any used car you purchase so you are close to $800 if you do an oil change. $4200 remaining. Do it again in 18 months so now you are down to $3400.

Can you do brakes yourself? (be honest). If not, most low priced used cars need them done so plan on $250 -$300 per axle because you'll end up needing rotors and pads (what shop ever turns rotors............) so now you are down to $2600 for the 3 years.

Anticipate that it needs the spark plugs changed and if you can't do that yourself, and it has stock exh manifolds, then $500 for a shop to do it. They will also charge you $100 for new wires so now you are down to $2,000 allowed for the next 3 years.

Amazing how quickly it goes isn't it and we haven't even addressed the leaky front seals it probably has.

Honestly, if you do not have the wherewithal to deal with a 15 year old vehicle then keep away from them. Of course there are exceptions like my 17 year old Z28. Like some others on this forum I would trust that car to go cross country and to run for years but I would not part with it for 3,4,5 or even $6,000 because I have too much into it to make it as reliable as it is and it has some mods. It would cost me well over $10,000 to find a vehicle as reliable thus why it isn't for sale.

 

Indeed.
Last Sept I paid 2100 for a 95 Z28 T56 with those miles. keep looking!

 

The fact it has a reconstructed title would not bother me if I had the details. If the car was totaled in 98 that would mean there was a lot of damage but at its current value the crease in the quarter is enough to total it. What you do have to do is take into account is that reconstructed effects the resale value. Anything that effects what you can sell the car for should effect what you pay for it. If the car is worth 3200 as it sits its worth $2500, tops, with the reconstructed title. IMO that is a project car.
Here is what I can tell you about the picture. The crease in the “rear fender” is not a fender it is a quarter panel and it is very costly to repair or replace in fact will cost more to repair right than I think the car is worth.

The rear window cannot be just be “glued” at least not according to any convertible top place(just call them). Could you buy a really good two part epoxy and get it to seal? Yea, maybe, but the original glue seal was done under high pressure in an oven and cannot be redone once the glue seal is broken. It also looks to me like the tops has shrunk. There should be at least a ½” overhang over the door seal. If the top has shrunk so much it is near even with the door seal the window will start leaking. Another symptom of a top shrinking to is they tend to pop the back window seal . Once a top shrinks so much it will split very easily.

If you really want the car then by all means take to a trusted mechanic but he does not have x-ray vision. He can only tell how the car is today and if it appears to have been maintained. It has been my history that people that let the outside of the car go like this one rarely maintains the inside a whole lot better.

If you really need a car to last you 3 years I suggest looking for a 3800/5speed that is in very good condition not because I think the 3800 is much better than a LT1 just you can get more car for the same money if you willing to get the V6. You can find pretty nice v6s for 3K. You could step back and maybe look towards a cavalier\sunfire. You can by a well kept 2.2 (non Z28/GT) 2004 with around 100K on the clock for under 3K. I bought a 98 Sunfire back in 06 for 3K with 91,000 miles on the clock. I drove it 3 year and let my daughter drive it for 3 years to collage gave it to her so she could trade it in, her husband decided to keep it as a second car it now has 211K on it. So far I have put a water pump and TP sensor on it. Of course I maintain it and have to replace normal wear items.

 

its all true, you should wait. it sucks but its worth it. tbh though it wouldn't half as bad as some say. on my bmw i had damage on the whole right side of the car three times bigger than that crease. it was fixed for 350$, then i painted the car myself with a single stage. problem with creases is the metal is going to shrink or stretch on the repair and never look good again unless you weld a new one in. which might be easier. regardless 165k is nothing on an lt1.... it will go another 5 years with little massive issues just thousands of annoyances! if you buy it, buy it as a project like i was saying and others are saying to. you could grab it using the above pointed out issues for like 2200 bucks. take your grand and go nuts. but its nicer to just buy one for really cheap that's already acceptable and be done with it...