Hello all,
New to the forum and soon to be a new Camaro owner...
I am in the process of buying a 1999 z28. It will be my daily driver/fun commuter car.
I am buying the car aight unseen, which scares me a bit, i am from maine, the car is from va. 44k miles, has a clean autocheck, and from photos looks beautiful inside and out...

I will get it shipped up to maine in a week or so, any suggestions or advice?

I plan to bring it to my local repair guy and do a transmission fluid change - its an automatic. Any other suggestions?

I am 51 and have always enjoyed this style car and have had a fair amount of camaro/firebirds over the years...

A 69. Backin 1983
An 84 firebird (v6). Back in 1986
An 86 z28 back in 1990 (great car but a piece of junk)
1990 firebird back in 1999, which i kept for about 10 years and got 249k miles out of. Great great car! Ive missed my old 'chicken'.



I know it might be a bad idea to buy a car over the internet,but i cant get down to va. to see it in person. I was considering finding a local service shop and asking them to give it a once over. Ebay has an inspection service, but i dont
Know if thats a waste of time or good service...

 

Welcome and I wish you all the luck in the world but I would NEVER buy a used car without checking it out first. I have been around the car business for almost 30 years and I have seen car with 40K on them that where just all used up. If you car comes from a urban area like DC there is a very good chance it could have low miles and very high hours.

A 10 mile commute in a urban area could take 45 minutes, where I am at I drive 32 miles in about 35 minutes. The 10 miles urban commute can mean dozens of starts and stops where high way is just 2100 RPMs and glide along.

Also you have the was if "dogged" I have seen cars that where low miles car but turned over to a kid for last 12 months so on paper the car seemed great but after 100 or so runs on a 1/4 mile track she was tired.

I know there on honest people out there but I trust no one when it comes to used cars and I assume issues with used sports cars regardless of the miles.

 

Thanks Gorn,
Since i am not nearby the cars locale and do not know anyone nearby, do you think just calling a local mechanic and paying them to go through the car is enough? Or recommended to do at the very least? I wish i knew someone nearby but do not.

 

I've bought one car in the past sight-unseen, and would never do it again. The car was perfectly fine and as presented, but due to the sellers fault, I had issues with the paperwork (title) that took a while to get cleared up. There are many stories you can find on the internet from unhappy buyers where the sellers "perfect" car was far far from perfect. Nothing beats test driving and getting your eyes & ears on a car you're looking to buy. If nothing else, find a shop near the seller (not one he recommends) that can check the car over for you. If the seller has nothing to hide, he should have no complaints about getting it checked out. Good luck.

 

Thanks guys,
I am rethinking things and have contacted a local service station to inspect the car. I agree and am concerned about not being there to take the car once the money is paid too.