Found this forum doing some research on the vehicle I am to see in person tomorrow. I've owned 2 '68's and an '89 IROC 5.7 T-top camaro in the past, never a 4th generation. This seemed like a pretty good bargain to have as a 3rd vehicle from the following ad description and talking to the owner for over an hour on the phone:
"This is my 1996 Camaro SS. It is No. 1132 out of only 2300 made in the world. The car came from the factory with K&N ram air and filters, Bilstien suspension, and Hurst short throw shifter among other great goodies. I am the second owner and have owned it since 1999. This T-top car has 127,000 miles and does have normal wear and tear for such. It has a brand new engine that is only 1,000 miles old. The car runs great, a/c blows cold and leather upholstery is in great condition. Additionally, because I put in the new engine I went ahead and changed out the clutch, resurfaced the flywheel and serviced the transmission. In summary I have put over $7,000 into the car in the last 12 months. My intentions where to keep it forever, but I have changed jobs and my business needs have changed.
I am asking 5,500 for this car"

My question is anything specific that I should watch for that maybe I wouldn't know about not owning this body before.
Problems, I've discovered from the phone call
1. driver window shift s little front to rear, not much, enough to cause a little wind noise.
2. check engine light is on. Says it coded to be a vacuum hose leak.
3. crack on dash
front noise was replaced once years ago by dealer after a light fender bender, says it's impossible to detect.
4. says 2 injectors where replaced that didn't look good while the motor was out.
5. The motor is the same block with piston 3 sleeved, everything else is new original spec GM parts internally. (everything on this car is stock other than an MSD ignition)

Anything that would be a deal breaker thing to look for. Obviously it's a daily driver condition now and I expect it to show and at this price.


Very sorry for the wordiness, thanks so much in advance!

 

check for water in the oil. sleave could mess with the head gasket seal.

 

So I'm checking the car out and notice a service receipt from the local chevy dealer. It shows the car being checked in as an RS
vin 2G1FP22P1T2148746
is there a way to make sure this is not a clone car?
I'm not sure if it left the plant as an RS and SLP made it an SS

 

Check the RPO codes either inside the door or in the glove box. R7T is the SS option if I recall correctly

And 5500 sounds high for the mileage but I know LT1s, if serviced correctly, will run forever lol. Hell our work truck has 425k miles on the original engine lol

 

I did find a very faded decal in the passenger door jamb you can just make out SLP but the rest is faded white
no decal in drivers door jamb or glovebox.
Yeah, the motor was just rebuilt, have not made my offer on it yet. Checking it at the local Firestone now

 

Sold for $4350! I'm the owner of a SS. Let the emptying of the wallet begin! Lol, thanks for the input here and the threads here I studied. Will keep the progress and updates coming.

 

Sounds like a good deal to me. I would love to get a ss that cheap.

 

Congrats! Have fun with it

 

It was used as an executive's commute car for it's life. It needs the usual dash, front leather skins and some minor cleaning and detail inside. Completely stock, even the worn out stock Bilsteins are in it. Probably $3-4k to have it back in very good condition with some subtle tweaks.

 

I know I am a week late, but I ran a Carfax on your SS...it shows it being manufactured as a Z28...and it was in an accident in 2006. I am guessing in 96 all the SS were manufactured as Z's and then sent off to SS school.