nssane

iTrader: (8)

i am buying a z28 that is in the northeast, and i am a little concerned about the whole snow/salt factor. i grew up in south texas, live in a damn desert now, and don't have a whole lot of experience with salt on the roads, rust and what not. the car is $6500. its a 98 z-28 with 101,000 miles. looks pretty clean, and truthfully i don't expect it to be perfect, i just want to know what i can do to remedy any problems that salt might cause, if there is anything. my bro. is the manager at a chevy dealer so i get parts at cost, so i don't mind replacing things, but i don't know what to expect. any ideas or comments would be appreciated...
p.s. y'all are probably thinking that i can get a similar car closer to here, or maybe even a better deal, but the car is bpm, and there are only 95 ls1 z28 coupes in that color, its one that i have been looking for quite a few years, i love the color, so i AM buying the car.

nssane

iTrader: (8)

anyone??

2001BlkWS6

I live in NC not super northeast but kind of. As long as the car has been taken well care of it should be alright. Most experience with that is if its washed off soon it will be fine. Id ask for some pics of the underside of the car before i made any purchase.

FastB

iTrader: (11)

Did you ask for pictures of the under carriage?

Arc00TA

iTrader: (17)

Yeah it may look a little rusty but it should not be a problem. What state is it from? A lot of states in the NE don't use salt any more as it contaminates the water supply. Mostly just sand. I've lived upstate New York for most of my life and its not really as bad as you might think. Older cars yeah, but anything newer than 1990ish should be fine. It wont LOOK like a desert car underneath but that doesn't mean its rotted out and going to fall apart. It was funny when I moved to san diego and traded my car in that I drove here, the guy freaked out he had never seen anything under a car rust before. Also, the rubber bushings might be in better shape, not so dry

ErikElvis

iTrader: (1)

My car was a garage kept 25,000 mile car from jersey. Its still rusty on the k member and front LCA's. The rear axle is a lil rusty but otherwise no probs. Im thinking anout just swapping the k member or doin a nice coat of Por-15. we'll see.

nssane

iTrader: (8)

thanks guys. the seller is sending me some pix of the under carriage tomorrow, so maybe i will post them up. the car is in rhode island, but was originally bought in connecticut, and those are the only states that show up on the car fax report. maybe i am wrong, but i would imagine that most people wouldn't be driving 300hp rwd cars in the dead of winter anyway, right? maybe they do, idk, i've never lived in an area like that.

FastB

iTrader: (11)

Well some do. My ex brother in law used to live in Denver and while they don't get the snow like they do in the NE he drove his mustang every day. They had a blizzard and he had a hell of a time getting out of his apartment. It had a graduale incline to get out.

Arc00TA

iTrader: (17)

Its not hard to drive one in the winter, I far prefer it over fwd. At least its predictable. RI salts, CT does not last I knew. Make sure to ask him how it rides because RI roads suck a big one.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

My 98 was a cleveland car for awhile and there is just a little bit of surface rust on the undercarriage, nothing bad at all.

nssane

iTrader: (8)

hmm. that's dissappointing cuz if i remember from the car fax, the majority of the miles are from after being registered in rhode island. but, like i said, i AM buying the car, and if i have to replace some stuff, i replace it, whatever. i just don't want it to fall apart, but i know that that isn't too likely (other than the typical gm craftsmanship )

4150

iTrader: (13)

Wouldn't happen to be purple would it? I found a purple '98 Z with low miles right after I bought my SS...another one missed but I'm happy with the SS.

Anyway I really wouldn't worry too much, you may have a bit of surface rust on the undercarriage but that's really easy to take care of. My SS was bought out of Wisconsin(they love salt in the winter) with 45K on it and even though it wasn't driven during the winter according to the prior owner it still had some surface rust on the K-member, LCA's, rear axle...etc. After spending about a few days up on jack stands and taking care of the surface rust and painting everything it looks great.

CAMAROZ28SS

iTrader: (5)

i wouldnt worry. my car was bought it ohio. the undersides in good shape. somehow the car made it to Miami. not sure how long it was in ohio

slw ls1

iTrader: (6)

It just depends on how the car was maintained. I worked on an 05 Lexus GX470(big suv) with 19.4k on it today that was from IA and was drivin in the winter. This car had more undercarragie rust than 90% of the missouri cars I work on with 100k+.

About 5 months ago I also worked on an 04 gto with 9k on it. It was also an IA car and everything under it was rusty. My camaro has no rust what so ever on the undercarriage. My car was orginally bought in PA and some how made its way accross the country to MO. So my car started in a heavy salt use state and is still in awsome condition.

Like I said, it all depends on how it was maintained.

nssane

iTrader: (8)

yea it is purple, one of 95 z28 coupes. i was actually in the process of buying a 2000 trans am with an sts rear mount turbo on it when i found this and decided to back out of that deal to pick this up. this is a color that i have wanted for so long, and who knows when another one will come up, ya know? from what i am hearing, anything that might be rusty can be repaired or replaced, so i don't think i am going to fret too much.

Camaroz

iTrader: (2)

Don't worry about it.. My 98 Z28 has 137K and lived it's whole life in MA the only thing rusty on the car is the 10 bolt and a very small soft spot on the drivers backseat floor pan but it looks more like water was able to sit in there. Hey, If you want to see bad look at the undercarriage of my 95 Z28 It's owner lived next to the ocean and beach.

This is true also.

1meantransam

iTrader: (8)

i'll be going through same problem as you, but i think i'm parking my car in the winters. bring her out maybe on those days that there is no snow. i'm either getting a beater and a nice bike, or a nice Duramax diesel, which will hit low 12s or high 11s with what i'm doing to it so at least i won't miss power!

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you're looking for a garage queen. Obviously, it sounds as if you're not so just buy it!

Those of us that live in the rust belt would probably look at the car and not even bat an eye. I'm sure it looks normal to us.

Greggy

A little axle, contol arm and exhaust rust never hurt anybody. I'm ready for another NE winter w/ the ol' F-body and snow tires.

Bring It On!!

nssane

iTrader: (8)

right on guys thanks. i'm giving the guy a deposit on monday, so yea. 1meantransam- what kind of bike are you thinkin about getting? part of the reason that i am buying this camaro and not the turbo trans am is that it is cheap enough that i can keep my 07 cbr 600rr
y2k_ta- yea it is definitely not a garage queen, that spot is reserved for the 09 camaro. i do want to do a few mods though, ss hood, and spoiler, intake, cam, exhaust, maybe 3.73's and black c6 z06 rims, so i am going to put a little money into it over the next year.