I'm currently in the market for a Camaro, and have a few picked out that I want to go look at this weekend. All of them are 2002 Z28's, all are around the same price range (about $13k, give or take a grand), and all have similar miles on them (60-68k).

Before I go look at them, I was wondering if there are any areas of the car I should pay special attention to, i.e. high rust/mechanical/cosmetic problem areas. With any car they exist, unfortunately, I don't know where to look for them on these cars yet.

I'm defiantly looking forward to picking up a new car, if none of these work out, at least I'll be able to beat up some high(er) hp cars for a day yes, I beat the hell out of cars on test drives, if something is gonna break, i wanna know about it before i drop my money on it

 

With those cars with those miles, about the only thing you'll be able to tell if it's been beat, and even then it might be hard to tell for sure. Look for smoke of course, oil leaks, any sign of recent repairs, etc... I really doubt you'll find any rust on them for the most part. Of course there'll be surface rust on the under carriage probably.

 

I'm with GA on this one. A 2002 with 60-70K miles on it isn't going to show much wear. They're going to have some surface rust, but it shouldn't be anything too serious. You can check for the obvious problems, ask the owner about oil changes, if they had to add oil, general maintenance things. Other than that you can pay attention to how clean the car is (inside and out, check the door seals and the inside of the trunk by the seal) to see if they're clean, these areas often go uncleaned by an owner who doesn't care for their car. Good luck!

 

Thanks, ill go to town on the cleanliness of the car... another thing i wanted to ask about... any noises i should listen for engine, interior, suspension, that may throw up a red flag that it might be a costly repair?

 

ticking noises, clicking, knocking, the obvious noises a car should make, whineing, stuff like that, scraping noises. ect it should run very smoothly, also check, if it's a standard, the clutch if it grabs nicely, if the tranny goes into gear properly, check the oil pressure, stuff like that, but with a 2002 you really shouldn't see too much wrong with the car, it should be in good condition, assumeing they took care of the car, make sure the heat and air works well, look for any little thing you can possibly think of that will cost you money. then you should be fine, and good luck!