StarStorm

Hey Guys, great forum here. Long story short, I am looking into 00-02 WS6 Firebirds. Up to now I have been very comfortable driving manuals, but have never driven a car with nearly this much power. My experience is almost exclusively in 4 cyl FWD.
After waiting around and looking at several different models, I found a private seller close to me. He is selling a 00 Formula Firebird WS6. I went to look around the car and test drive it today. Everything aesthetically checked out nicely, but I suddenly realized when starting the test drive I was anxious as hell because I have not driven a manual in nearly a year and never a car with 300+ HP and RWD.
I have a few questions as to things I need to look further into on the car as well as tips for going on a second test drive to really evaluate the way the car feels. I don’t think I broke 40 MPH on this run.
The car has 3 owners including him, and 72k miles. He is asking $12k. He has added an SLP lip and smooth bellow, KN air filter, and Flowmaster 80 Series exhaust (already read these are rather unliked in the community).
He said the car has been on one road trip, and admitted to pushing the engine a little bit in races – but has never taken it on a track. All oil changes were performed himself and he has older filters. He noted the check engine light came on right before the last change and seemed to try to blame that on the oil needing changed. He said it has very occasionally been driven in rain. Then he also said he had removed one of the louvres from the RamAir hood as it has 2, to let the engine breath better. This sounded highly suspect to me. He also said he recently changed the 02 sensors when the car produced a code for 02 sensors. During a previous oil change he also noticed very light underbody rust, which was removed and sealed.

Are any of these things red flags, and if so to what degree? Thanks! I tried to find as many answers as I could searching google and perusing the forums.

garygnu

way too much .

Sickness7

That's a very high price but it seems like the guy is being very honest so that you know every little detail about the car.

7beast

iTrader: (30)

Price is pretty steep man but post pics of the car

big_g

I recently looked at a 99 T/A with 42K miles, LTs, straight 3" exhaust, SLP lid, nice exterior, and immaculate interior...for $8900.
I just bought a 99 T/A with 64K miles, with 9/10 interior and exterior with 4 brand new tires and sick american racing wheels, never once raced, for $7900.

$12K is way high. Mileage isn't bad, but the car is still 13 years old... And I personally would never buy a car with a check engine light on unless I knew 100% for sure what it was about.

I want to see some pics of the car too!

StarStorm

Noted everything so far. If it is such a high price, why does it fall reasonably within most other listing on used car search engines?
KBB puts it at 10k, while Edmunds dropped a measly 5.5k.
I will keep everyone updated as I find out more!

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

Seems a bit high maybe try offering him 10K and see what he says. At least he is honest about running the engine a little hard in races. LOL. Car is 13 going on 14 yrs old now. It won't be perfect but use reasonable judgment when offering a price. Also my check engine light comes on when i need to change oil. I then proceed to change and it goes off so that part seems okay.

Good luck!!~

big_g

To compare, here are a couple in my area for sale:

http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/3770288908.html

http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/3811211136.html

http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/3785559975.html

I attached a pic of my T/A. (I paid $7900)

"MAC"

iTrader: (1)

Id get it up over 40mph honestly a friend of mine bought a car and drove it up to 40 mph and on the way home he couldnt get it over 40mph bc of the transmission. so try and get it up to 70mph and take it to a local auto zone and let them read the code and tell you whats wrong with it if it is a simple fix then tell him to fix it if he doesnt tell him you got 10k cash and youll fix it.

NC01TA

Remember, his price is an asking price, as is everyone else's car for sale. If KBB says $10,000 'Private party' in your zip code, don't pay more than that. Paying more than KBB pricing is reserved for ultra low mileage cars with one or two owners. This car is not one of those. Don't overpay!

StarStorm

I really appreciate how many replies there are right now. I applied for the Auto Loan today so we will see how it goes and begin negotiations from there.

He also mentioned he had just washed the engine and it was clear he dropped water straight on top of it - does this pose a risk to the motor at all? I am going to test drive a second time on the highway, watch him drive it, and carffax/have am mechanic review it before completing a purchase once negotiations complete.

I am going to shoot for 9k, I doubt he will go that low but might as well see.

Here are some pictures as requested! http://imgur.com/a/c9Pd7#0

"MAC"

iTrader: (1)

That is pretty much stock and i wouldnt pay more than 9k your right on the money there. First of all tell him the check engine light is on and heres 9k cash take it or leave it. he will go for it he is over pricing it to try and get some money. it has an LS1 intake on it and you need to upgrade that if you get the car I have the same lid as probably most of us do on here with these cars. you said its a 6sp so youll need to drill a hole in the shifter linkage to bypass the gas saving crap. (IDK the exact name for it) However you wont beable to shift into 3rd if you are at low RPMs if im not mistaking. My friend had one and thats what he did.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

^^^are you referring to the skip shift eliminator? There is no drilling anything. It's just a plug and play

"MAC"

iTrader: (1)

I knew it was something like that thanks man

78QuickSilverTruck

Anybody notice this question? who throws water on there engines? risk getting it cracked unless the engine is cooled off..

big_g

$9K is a little more like it. Sounds like he's an honest guy who knows how to push a gas pedal all the way down, but doesn't know a lot about how to take good care of a car. Again, make sure you know what the code is all about.