I'm planning on getting a 4th gen Camaro in the next few months and was talking to my dad about it. He said it might not be such a good idea to buy one because since a majority of the drivers are 16-25, the cars going to be beat on by their previous owners. I agree with him and don't want to accidently buy a car that someone was not taking good care of. So basically my question is, is there anyway of telling if the previous owner beat on the car? Even if the extior and interior look ok?

 

Try to find one with only one owner, or very low owners and not at a dealer. One owner, adult owned fbodies are out there, mine was one of them, just need to look hard.

Were you looking at picking up a v8 or v6? if you are going for the v8, listen to the rear end. They are weak to start off with and if the car was abused through its life, the rear end will definately go out first. Any loud howling, rubbing or pulsating coming from there is a good sign to stay away.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking just so I could talk to the guy who last had it and see how he treated it.

Not really sure about v6 or v8. I would like a v8 but I think it will make insurance go up for a 16 year old.

 

It will, but V8 will have typically better resale value. As long as it's taken care of.

 

i would recommend the 96 97 years of the lt style and if your as young as you sound i would recommend the 3.8. if you like the ls style the 98 to 02 are very much the same. the forth gen is the same as most other cars, if there beat or poorly maintained they dont last as long and will have issues on a constant basis. sooo if the owner will allow, having a qualified mechanic do some basic tests on it like compression test and a diagnostic analysis would be a good idea. that way if there are not any problem areas or trouble codes stored you will at least know the basic parts of the car are reliable.

 

Look here:
Vehicles for Sale - Camaro Forums - Chevy Camaro Enthusiast Forum

 

Define "beat on"

seriously.........

why would a 16 year old be looking for a camaro if it wasn't to experience the accelleration? If spirited driving is what you call "beat on" then stear clear of V8 Camaros

To me, beat on is

If I see the car has balding tires then the owner puts off repairs

If it needs brakes, again, the owner puts off repairs

If the interior is tired, or the seats are ripped and not repaired, again, lack of money and or concern displayed by the owner

what you won't know

how frequent were oil changes
how frequent was the cooling system flushed
Did they run cheap gas vs premium to save a couple bucks per week?
Does it have a bottle of liquid sludge poured in it to quiet it down?

You will be purchasing a vehicle "as is" with no implied warranty.

with respect to insurance, it's the liability that is going to cost mom and dad a lot of money regardless of what vehicle you drive. If they are employed, own their home or have any savings, then they need to load up on liability as lawsuits are frequent in down economies and it is them who will be sued should you get into an accident.

When i was looking to get junior a car, I priced insurance if he was in a Toyota pickup vs a Z28. The difference was hardly anything and the agent informed me that it's the liability for an under 25 male with no experience which is the determining factor, not the vehicle.

 

I got mine as the third owner. The original owner always took the car back to the dealer for all service. How do I know? I found a receipt for an oil change at the dealer in 1994, so I gave them a call and they were nice enough to send me a printout of the service performed over the years. For the the first 75K miles, I have complete maintenance records. The second owner only put about 7K miles on it in eight years, so I was willing to pass on skimpy service records from them.

What I am saying is really try to find a car with detailed maintenance records. If someone doesn't even bother to write down when they changed the oil, then guess on how well the rest of the car was maintained. Don't trust someone who tells you that they changed the oil even 3000 miles. Without some form of proof, I don't believe that the maintenance happened.

Carfax can be your friend when looking at used cars. It is very useful to check on how many owners, if the car was ever a rental, any insurance claims against the car, and most importantly - mileage irregularities.

Look around, and when you find one that you are interested in, talk to the owner about doing a carfax search. If they balk at it, then walk away - they are afraid something is there that they don't want you to know about.

 

Just make sure the car has had few previous owners and that it hasn't been neglected. The LT1 and LS1 engines are very durable and can take abuse. Brush up on your car tech and quiz the previous owner about the car's history and any preventative maintenance. You want a car that has been pampered.

 

Thanks for the answers. I'll just have to look around a little for a car that was taken care of. Also, I asked this question on another thread but it didn't get answered so I'll ask it again here, how much would it cost to put leather seats in a 4th gen?