sirusboy

I'm very interested in this car... I'm most likely going to buy one from a car auction, seeing as how they are significantly cheaper there and I know a number of people with access to auctions.

Anyway, after how many miles would you not buy one of these beauties for a daily driver? I plan on keeping it for a long time... My plans with it are relatively small. I just want to put exhaust on it and do some minor appearance mods after that.

And yes, I tried the search... Didn't really come up with much.

Thanks guys.

razorclaw99

iTrader: (7)

id say dont go over 100 but 100 isnt bad.. just make sure it wasnt beat on and it was never in an accident..Also who the previous owner was.

I bought my lt1 with 88,000 and its fine

Bird Man

iTrader: (1)

Try to get one with 40 or less.

530transam

iTrader: (2)

mine, as razorclaw found out, has about 130,000 miles and never a single problem. you can beat these engines to death and theyll keep on goin

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

id stay under 100, or 70-80 if possible. but like everyone else said, as long as it was maintained, not beat to ****, and if you keep up the work and not race it constantly, you can easily get 200k+ miles out of a daily driver LS1. years ago 100k was the magic number for cars. now, every single car off the lot is expect to get 100k+, and keep going.

Wolfgang427

iTrader: (48)

I seen cars with 10K that are beat to hell and I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. Then I seen cars with 150K that are so well maintained they look like 30K. I would put more value on condition then mileage. Be careful for salvage, flood, and other title problems as this affects a cars sale ability big time.

N3V3RL8T

iTrader: (2)

I bought mine used with 60k. It now has 113k and runs better than when I bought it with 60k. as long as it was mantained an ls1 bird will go a long ways.

One thing I would check it the condition of the coolant. if it looks like mud I would walk away. If this was overlooked, think of the other things that where also overlooked

NC01TA

Everyone is right on the money. It depends who owned it. Beaten and abused equals NO SALE no matter how much mileage. There are probably some 80k cars that have been highway driven, well maintained, and babied. That's the key, not the mileage. I'm sure you have seen posts where owners have over 150k with no major repairs ever! Good luck!

XalanGR

i just bought one with 73000 miles, and i daily drive it. No problems so far, and i've put about 3000 miles on it. the car is solid, i would say anything under 100k is fine, maybe even more as long as its in good shape. Check it out closely, problems can sometimes be easily covered up.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

Moving to General LSX Automobile Discussion (from Pontiac Firebird Forum)...

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I think some people here might have missed this detail of your post.

Considering you're buying from a auction, you're not going to get a chance to meet the previous owner and/or get a good feel for what sort of care the car has received over it's lifetime.

In that case, your best bet would be to pick a lower mileage car. Granted, some high mileage cars are very well cared for and some low mileage cars have been beat. But odds are that a 40-50K mile car will have less stuff you'll need to deal with fixing than a 100-110K mile car. Again, being at an auction means you won't get much info compared to buying directly from a private seller.

sirusboy

Thank you.

If it has 50k or more, should I just walk away? Or should it be a bit more? That's the number I'm looking for. I understand what everyone in this thread is referring to... The condition of the car is more important than the miles.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

It's really hard to pick an exact mileage.....I mean, there's really no magic number or anything. But if it were me, and I was buying a car at auction where I couldn't talk to the previous owner, and couldn't get any service records or history on the car, then I'd feel better about buying something with less than ~60K miles I'd say.

It's not that LS1s have known issues above 60k, just that if maintenance/care was less than good for the life of the car, you're better off with lesser miles. A 50K mile car with fair-to-poor maintenance/care will run a lot better than a 100k mile car with fair-to-poor maintenance/care. That's true with any motor, not just an LS1.

BLKWS.6

I personally will never again buy a car that has to be driven and expect reliability out of unless it is UNDER WARRENTY!

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

you just said it yourself.......condition, not miles. if youre buying from an auction, then i would do everything i can to check it out personally, if you can. i dont know how they work, but if there is a chance, go over every inch of it, bring a friend or mechanic along with you, let anyone you can help. start it up, at least hear it run if you cant drive it. fluids, cleanliness, tires, brakes, rust, take note of the rear if its a stick. 10 bolts are the weakest link. see if you can spot any signs of a repaint or repaired damage. like you said, condition. id take a well maintained, clean 100k car over a used and abused 40k car with squeaks, rattles, clunks, whining rear, etc.

BLKWS.6

Warrenty is the only guarantee. You can buy a car in mint condition and ahve a dozen mechanics pronounce it so and it turn out to be a lemon. If the car needs to be reliable for more than just weekend cruising, GET A WARRENTY!

CJDZ24_Z28

iTrader: (75)

I daily drove a 99 Z28 with 120k last week and brought a Trans Am with 133,000 miles that im going to daily drive. I only take my SS out when i feel like it LS1's are the **** I had a 97 Cavalier Z24 that i daily drove to keep miles off my F-Bodies but i said **** it and sold it and started to daily drive my F-Cars. Good Luck just make sure you find a clean one!

Swang

iTrader: (3)

miles really don't matter. its how the miles went. if it was beat on and never given any repairs or tune ups or fluids were never changed, thatd be my worry versus "oh my god, it has xx,xxx miles on it." there are cars ive seen with 130k that i would own over some with 60k. i'd go with the car if it has maintainence records. miles arent as important as how it was treated through those miles.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I don't think there's going to be any way to verify maintenance records at the auction though.....

Swang

iTrader: (3)

true, didn't read it all the way. thanks. I think you're playing russian roulette at an auction, could be great, could be a time bomb, no way to tell.