I know I will sound like a broken record but take to a mechanic! If your family has a trusted mechanic that would work, you need professional that knows car and is not blinded by wanting it, not a friend the really “knows” cars. You want someone that looks at cars 8-10 hours every day. Ask him for just a quick check to see if it been maintained. 174K would not scare me too bad IF the car has been well maintained.

Dealerships clean cars up really well, I have seen before and after cars you would not believe. It is a lot harder to hide bad maintenance from a mechanic. Broken clips matted layers of goop from non-repaired oil leaks even stuff added to the oil.

When you show up at the dealer make sure the car is cold when you start. Try first and second gear before it warms up, you want to see how it goes in and out of gear. Trans work is not a big deal. The hydraulic system on the 6 speed is only good for about 100K. It may have needed a clutch but either way it is not a surprise.

The car is priced according to miles, Most dealerships will not put a lot of effort in a high miles car. It could be a very well maintains high miles car. I would to put too much worry into way the last owner sold it. I have known guys to go thru 4-5 cars a year. A lot of guys like the idea of a 300 HP 6 speed but when it comes down to it they end up back in there automatics.

Good luck

 

Hi Gorn - thank you for your advice/opinion. The guy told me the car use to belong to one of their mechanics and he traded it in this year for a big pickup truck. He said the mechanic still works at the dealership and he took real good care of the car.

 

Since some people we saying the miles are too high, I happen to look for another Camaro and found this one.

2000 Z28 123K

Let me know what you think.

Here is the description for the car:

"We have a gorgeous Camaro for sale here at Prestige. This is the Z28 with the 5.7 liter V8 engine and an automatic transmission. This car is in excellent condition inside and out and is guaranteed to turn some heads! It has T-Tops, alloy wheels with 4 brand new tires, rear spoiler, power windows, locks, mirrors, tilt wheel, power seats, leather interior, CD player, AC, and dual air bags. It runs great with no problems to worry about and it only has 123k miles on it! Come out today to check it out!"

It is at a smaller mom and pop dealer. I called and spoke to the lady about the car. She said they bought it from an auction and her husband drove it for a while. They are asking $5500, but she would take %5100 + tax. It has a small rip on the driver seat (which you can see in the pictures).

 

ahh, the excitement of shopping (said TIG with tongue in cheek)

back up there one moment junior. Take off of the table the type of car it is as that is irrelevant.

What do you expect from the purchase? I do not mean "hey, i want a v8 etc"

do you want good paint which is good for another 4+ years or will you accept needing paint next year? (expensive if you can't do it yourself)

do you want a pristine interior (expensive to replace if it's not)

do you expect 2k, 10k, 20k, 40k of trouble free miles other than normal stuff like brakes, tires,oil, plugs

what are you willing to compromise on and what are you not?

You then will know if your wallet matches your expectations.

as much as we all want trouble free mechanical and big honking power; the exterior and interior would cost you much more to restore than the engine or tranny.

If you want it all and want it in an LS1 car then expect to pay north of $7,000 and more for a six speed. Again, that is if you want new(ish) paint, great interior and excellent mechanicals. If you must also have low miles then open your wallet even wider.

FWIW, I would not part with the 95Z for $6,000. It's just not worth it to try and sell given the work I have into it and how it runs. We just repainted it this summer so that's at least $1500 we saved any prospective buyer.

You need to either find a distress sale, be prepared to toss money and work into the car or pay dearly for a really nice car.

Again, it comes down to your expectations and also your wallet.

 

Well, I went to test drive the 1998 Camaro tonight. First impression, she was beautiful. Condition of the exterior and interior is really great.

Exterior

There are rust spots on the car (shown in pictures) – in the engine, underneath, door hinges, and others. By all means I would not say the car is rusty…it looks damn good for the age. There are some scratches on the car. One major one is on the mirror (check pictures).

Interior

This is the best interior I have seen. The dash, head liner, seats, floor, doors, etc are immaculate. However, the console that files up is kind-of-broke.

Driving

The car drove well – no noises. However, let me makes sure this is known as it may be USER error (me). I have never driven a six-speed before. I have owned several five-speeds, but never a six. With that said, after I started the car I was going to back up out of the parking spot. I had the clutch to the floor and the shifter would not go in R – the gear started to grind. I wanted a second, put the shifter back into neutral and attempted to put the shifter in R-same thing. I said, “screw it”, put the car in first and drove off. While driving, everything seemed smooth….EXCEPT…a few times it grinded into 3rd and 4th. When I would go to slow down, the shifter would fight with me to go into 3rd or 2nd. I pulled into a parking lot and attempted to try reverse again. I had the clutch to the floor and rammed it into R and it finally went it. After that, I took the car back to the dealer and left. I am not sure why some gears gave me trouble – I had the clutch to the floor! Again, it maybe be my lack of experience with a six-speed. Does a six-speed require me to be at a certain speed before you shift into 3, 4, 5, or shift down to 4, 3, 2 (of course you don’t want to go from 60 MPH into 2nd, that is common sense)?

Overall, from what I experienced, I probably will not buy this car. If the shifter did not give me trouble going into gears, I would have walked out with a smile on my face!

What do you all think?

 

I found this 1998 Trans Am for sale with several modifications. I spoke to the guy and he purchased it from someone a few months ago to fix up and then resell. He told me the engine and transmission has been rebuilt - 140K on the body and about 40k on the engine and transmission. Unfortunately, he does not have the papers on the transmission or engine rebuilt. I also asked if the transmission, engine, or t-tops leak and to his knowledge they do not.


Here is the post for the car:
"1998 Pontiac Trans Am, 5.7 LS1, A/T, long tube headers with y pipe and aftermarket exhaust, slp lid, egr tube has been shortened, transmission has been rebuilt with a shift kit and has a B&M shift plus controller with 3 settings, rear gear has been changed to a 3:55 gear ratio with posi trac, graphite metallic corvette wheels, t-tops, nice leather interior, seats are soft with no rips or tears, sony CD player with i pod/mp3/usb flash drive ports, ram air hood, car has new black paint less than 1 month old, car runs and drives great, i drive it almost everyday, have clear Ohio title in hand, $5700 or make offer"

Alright,I went to see the car and it is beautiful. Boy does she sound good as well! The paint job looks really good, but I did notice white substance in between the cracks/crevices of the of the quarter panels (you can see in the pictures). Not sure if it is from the primer or what not. He said when he painted the car he just taped off what he needed. He used a base coat and then clear coat. I asked him if he removed the handles form the door and he said no, he just painted it with them attached.

Before I test drove the car, I did a complete inspection. He said the car has sat since lunchtime and when we started it up it, the oil pressure was around 40. We let the car idle for about 15 minutes as I walked around it and asked him questions. While driving the car for about 25 minutes or so the oil pressure was around 35.

The car sounded good when I drove it. The headers and exhaust sound really good. There is no noise when you put it in reverse to go slow or driving forward. There is no whining noise when you're going at a high-speed. However, there is a vibration that you can feel in the foot pedal when you give it gas. There is also a dinging/banging noise up front. He said it's the long tube headers and they are hitting the engine/body because it's in a very tight space. Also, in the back you can hear the exhaust rattle some. I did not hear any rear-end noise.

I asked him about the oil pump and he does not know if the oil pump was replaced with an LS6 oil
pump. He traded a Chevy pickup truck for this car, and the gentleman who had the car, mentioned the guy before him was the one who had the engine and transmission rebuilt. Again, there is no paperwork. He mentioned he didn't like that there's no paperwork and if I don't believe him that's fine, but he has no way to prove it. However, I think the car drove really well for the 140K on the body and approximately 40,000 on the engine and transmission.

The original seats that were in the car were hard and ripped. He replaced it with
Camaro seats from a 2002 Camaro that was totaled. Also, he took the headliner from the Camaro to put in the Trans Am because there was not one. The car is missing the driver and passenger side visors, but there are holes for them. In addition, the seal on the outside of the bottom window looks like someone re-glued (or tried to fix it) it back together - you'll be able to see what I'm talking about in the pictures.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see the underneath of the car on a lift. He works at his parent’s auto shop and all the lifts were taken or he would have put it up for me. From what I was able to see by my looking underneath the car it looks decent. The driver side long tube header looks rusted, but the passenger side header underneath looks nice and shiny. You can see it in the pictures.

I took some pictures of the headers from the top of the engine and there is rust on both sides (which you can see in the pictures). Also, the wire that is running around the back intake is for the shifter. He said there is a three stage controller installed (he showed it to me). Middle is for stock, while up and down is for two different stages.

The engine light is on, but that is because the car has not been tuned for not having the back cats or O2 sensors. Also, the security light is on, but he does not know why.
I asked him if he was flexible on the price and he said yes. I asked him what is he looking to get out of it and he said he would like to get $5300 out of it.

Overall, the car seemed really well, but the only thing I'm not 100% sure about, is why the long tube header is moving (hitting the engine/body), as well as the exhaust rattling. Also, I am not too thrilled about the amount of rust on the bottom of the car, but more so the headers.

What do you guys think? What do you think about the pictures? Is it worth $5300 or no?

 

Here is more pictures:

 

Last ones:

 

Again, I want to thank everyone who has given me their advice/opinion. I really appreciate it, as I am new to this.

 

Hi,
I must say I like your diligence in finding the right car. From the cars I have seen you post, I like the T/A best myself. I like the LS engine quite a bit. I own a 2002 Z06 with an LS6 and its a great engine.

Now, on the T/A, the headers shouldnt be "hitting" anything. Im not exactly sure why but I would maybe suspect motor mounts or a bad trans mount perhaps... It looks like one header is rusted badly, but the other is not at all... am I seeing that correctly?

If you have the money I would stick with looking for an LS car. The 3rd generation SBC engine is a great power plant and responds well to modifications. If you get serious about a particular car, take the next step and pay a few bucks to have a mechanics inspection done where you can get the car up on a lift and give it some closer scrutiny.

At any rate, be patient, there are literally hundreds of F bodys for sale and you will eventually find the "right" car for the "right" money.

Good Luck to You!!