mild83

Found a local 99 TA, ttops, with unknown long tube headers, magnaflow exhaust, 115k, no issues (per the owner), clean/clear title, stock chrome 5 star OEM wheels. Has two dents on the hood that are not creased, about the size of a tennis ball. What is a fair offer? The interior is in pretty good shape, there is a slight tear in the driver seat bolster, about 5".

What say you, LS1Tech?

jamin

5500-7000

mild83

He's firm at $6850, which is very aggressively priced in our area, everything works, and he said no leaks or issues. Some guy was supposed to pick it up today, but is dicking around. I'm second in line, but I may be paying full price to take it home.

jamin

sounds in line then

mild83

Would you worry about zero records except for the exhaust work he had done? I think he's the 4th owner, per carfax.

NC01TA

That $6,850 seems to be about right provided no serious issues once you get to see the car. It allows for some repairs or needs without going overboard. The dents should be able to be removed for a few hundred dollars by one of those special body guys. One thing you didn't mention was tires. Would you need them right off the bat? If so, you are now talking an extra $600+ along with your purchase price. I would use that as a negotiating tool to get the seller lower. The 5" rip in the seat would bother me too and I would be negotiating that angle as well. 4 owners isn't that great either.
Also, you are not likely to be 2nd in line to buy the car. That is 90% of the time.

mild83

Tires (at least the fronts) didn't look too worn, didn't see the rears. The dents appear to be possibly taken out from PDR. I was hoping I might be able to get it stitched, maybe.

As for the other guy, it's CL, so I know the game. The "other guy" was driving 2 hours each way, cash in hand to buy it if it was as described. I actually was calling the owner to set up a time to look at it when he was talking to the other guy. Well, the owner called me last night and said the other guy never showed, but would know by this morning. blah blah blah. I just said I've got cash and transportation, but no looking to waste my time.

Thanks for the help all. Only other LS powered car I've owned was my GTO, which had to replace the rear end literally 300 miles after purchase. Looking to avoid a similar situation. Any advice on the piston slap or lifter issues? Should I be wanting to hear the car from a cold start? Or is it a non-issue as long as it drives OK?

Edit: Car is black/tan interior if that makes any difference, although, I'd imagine that is a VERY common color combo.

mild83

Actually, it looks like it had 6 prior owners. Hmmm. Current owner has had it for 18 mos, only driven 2-3k miles. He said the rear tires are good, the fronts are ok, but definitely not a performance tire. He said that he keeps it in the garage, there are no leaks/spills and he isn't aware of any issues. Said that he works 2 miles from his farm and only lives 5 miles from town. Selling because he doesn't drive it enough.

The mileage thing I get, I only drove my GTO 3k in the last 18 mos I had it. Dunno, just a lot of prior owners.

Carfax also decoded it to a formula, but I"m guessing that's just the V8 default for carfax. Autocheck noted formula/Trans am.

NC01TA

Wow, 6 owners is alarming to me for a 14 year old car, like 'what is wrong with this car that nobody wants to keep it more than 2+ years??'
Your prior bad experience with the GTO is possibly going to re-occur with any car with 100,000+ miles on the odometer. Many of these F-bodies are beaten or not maintained well. I'm sure there are some nice 100K miles cars, with just 2 owners or so, with all records kept, but those are tough to find. If this price range is all you can afford, then so be it, but there is a better than 50-50 chance of a car having issues. even decent low mileage rides can have problems. Let's face it, these cars are getting old, with the newest one now 11 + years old. Hard to believe. Best of luck with this T/A, or if your search continues.

mild83

It's odd, the first owner had it for 9 years, then it bounced around quite a bit, but shows a brake service in 2011. Current owner is listed for the past 12 mos. Dunno. It has headers on it, but they were on there when he bought it, so he doesn't know the brand. He did say that he had to put catalytic converters back on it for emissions. Interior looks to be in pretty solid shape, outside of the tear in the seat, I think for a car that age, it should say something about how it's been treated.

If the car hasn't been tuned, anything to look for while driving it? Or will the ECU be able to make the adjustments for headers-only without affecting it's driveability?

mild83

Well, lets just say the ad and pics sent to me were a bit less forthcoming. He said two soft dents on the hood, but it had a nice amount of hail, scuffs, and chips in the paint. Interior bits were missing. ALOT of noise, a ticking noise on acceleration that I never heard in my gto. It's the first fbody I've actually driven....maybe I should've kept my goat, lol.

NC01TA

No, that's just your average abused F-body with 6 figures on the odometer. Most are going to have issues. It's really that simple. Are there exceptions? Sure there are, but few and far between. That's why I always stress on this site to never overpay for high mileage F-bodies. The ownership experience can be just miserable and expensive. I hate to see anyone hurt by sellers that don't have a clue.
A lot of these sellers (owners) would be stunned to ride in a low mileage 'stock' example, and see how nice they actually are.