Possible Chevy Purchase

[Tom Schindler]

A possible "opportunity" may have opened up for me. A 1995 Chevy Camaro Z28 is for sale from a family aquaintance. It has a 6 speed tranny with 50,000 miles. Been garaged most of its life.



The guy said, he wanted "a couple thousand for it". Going to look at it tomorrow afternoon.



He said it needs brake work, tires, plugs, wires, etc. Essentially something I do when I buy a used car.



Book value is closer to 5 grand. If we can buy it, put brakes, tires, etc. into it, I could dump it for 4 g's and make a smooth grand in a week. If the body is in really good shape, I may even drive it for a couple of weeks.



Anyone with any experience with this vehicle and anything I need to look out for. I know Fords. I don't know much about Chevys except the annoying things like the fuel filter, difficult plug replacment, etc.





Tom

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Go for it Tom. Sorry I couldn't hook up with you last month (saw that you called), too much going on in Akron that weekend! Next time... BC

 

[Ed C]

That sounds like a good deal to me. :haveabeer:If nothing else, good fun. Sorry, I don't know much about Chevy either.

 

[Mike Dziubina]

good cars. TONS of parts. go for it.

 

[Kevin Lang]

Good luck. Haven't had a GM car from 1992-2005 which didn't have massive issues. (Don't have any GM post-2005 because of this).



I'm sure it'll be fun, but that's the same price range for a used mustang...

 

[user 64972]

Had all new GM cars until the '07 ST and had great luck with them all. Good V-6 power, great mileage and excellent reliability. Drove them most till 150,000 miles and sold them as beaters. Folks I sold them to were real happy and got many more miles out of them. None, until my current 2003 Monte Carlo SS, used any notable oil. The SS uses maybe a quart in 5-6000 miles. Nothing wrong with GM cars IMO!



:driving:

 

[Tom Schindler]

KL,



This is not a vehicle for me to drive or to own for any length of time. If I can grab this vehicle for 2K, put 1K into it and flip it for 5K, I walk away with a 2K profit.





Tom

 

[Les]

Nice little hotrod...

 

[Todd Z]

Did the 95 have the steering box frame cracking and the cat converter issues ???



Todd Z

 

[gary s]

i had a 2000 & 2002 SS for a short time.

i had them a few weeks prior to lease turn in. they were company vehicles before i tightened up the fleet choice.

i took the 2000 to the track and ran 13.2 with just an exhaust. i also removed the air filter completely before the run. (a big no no !!!)

they are great out of the box and i believe the 95 is an LT-1.

downside, they handle horribly and it doesn't take much for the ass to kick out. very uncomfy and cheap interior.

it sounds like a good deal. you can easily roll it after you do the fix.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Well, we looked at it today. It needs tires and a muffler for sure. The mastercylinder is empty, so that tells me the brake lines are shot.



The owner did a little more research and wanted 4g's for it. I told him I would only go for 2G. He then said, 3500, the rock bottom I would go. I responded back with 2G. Dropped to 3G, still I said 2G and the absolute max is 2500 and I am not even comfortable with that price. He wouldn't go any lower.



He thinks is a high performance sports car in super high demand. It was also a 1994 and NOT a 1995.



I will call him in a few days and tell him that the max I will still go is 2500, take it or leave it.



The body is fair, but paint is faded in some areas and the clean coat is peeling in some areas.



It has been sitting since 1997.





Tom

 

[Kevin Lang]

downside, they handle horribly and it doesn't take much for the ass to kick out. very uncomfy and cheap interior.

it sounds like a good deal. you can easily roll it after you do the fix.

lol, when I first read this, I thought you meant "roll" as in roll over, like flip...took me a second to figure "roll" = "resell for a profit".



You might see where I was coming from...

It has been sitting since 1997.

I had a 92 lesabre that was sitting idle for far less and had far more problems. Mildly indicative. BTW, I thought your motto was to drive cars that were regularly driven, regardless of mileage, and pass on that which sits. Not criticizing, but bad things have been known to happens when one changes his MO.

He thinks is a high performance sports car in super high demand.

Could you lend me a hand, cause I fell on the ground I was laughing so hard, and I can't get up...it's too funny.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I like cars with lots of miles. I want cars that are driven non-stop, but that is a car for me to own for many years.



This is a car I would fix some crap on it and then flip it. (sell it at a profit in a short period of time)





Tom

 

[Jimmy Lavoie]

It has been sitting since 1997.

Back in the day, I bought a 69 Caddy from an Estate sale. It was literally driven by an old lady back and forth to church ONLY!



Paid $300 for it and what a beauty! Garaged and sat for 10 years when I bought it. Had tons of problems with dried out gaskets and tires.



That would be my only concern - after sitting so long.

 

[Les]

Doesn't sound like a deal, too much wrong and sitting too long, I would pass...

 

[Richard L]

Faded paint and peeling clear coat does not sound like a car that was "Garaged most of it's life". It sounds more like a car that was run hard and put up wet....with little or no maintenance. I suspect that something major broke at 50K miles and it was much more than just plugs and wires, and they did not have the money or want to spend the money to fix it.



Nobody parks a 3 year old car for 13 years without a reason. They are obviously not collectors since the car was not properly prepped for long term storage, so my only guess is that it broke and they could not fix it. Also the fact that the paint is faded and the clear coat is peeling on a car that was supposed to have been garaged most of it's life tells me that the car was never really cared for, so I would suspect that there are a lot more issues than just plugs and wires. Just getting the paint job back to respectability will cost about $1000 or more if it has to be completely repainted.



...Rich

 

[Todd Z]

Wanna buy my malibu ??? LOL



Todd Z

 

[TomT]

Only 50K and has that many problems? That's why I would never own a chevy.

 

[Les]

Only 50K and has that many problems? That's why I would never own a chevy.

Has nothing to do with being a Chevy. A mis-treated vehicle by any manufacturer will be crap, if treated like crap.

 

[Richard L]

Prior to buying my 2001 Job-1 Sport Trac I prefered GM vehicles but I was not fond of Chevy's. I owned two new ones, a 1971 Vega (enough said) and a 1982 Camaro. The Vega started buring oil like a diesel and the Camaro was just junk falling apart. In the first year I owned the Camero it needed AC repairs, rear differencial rgears eplaced, speedometer cable broke every 6 monthss or so, one bad shock, bad alternator....not to mention crappy General Tires. I got rid of it after 3 years and the warranty ran out when the dash cracked and even the gear shift knob started cracking.



I have owned several Pontiacts and a Buick which I liked and they held up well, but Chevy's...not so much.



Since 1990 I have only bought one GM car...a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix. Everything else has been either a Ford or a foreign-made vehicle (2 Sport Tracs, one Honda, one Toyota and one Mercedes)



...Rich