Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

I have a '00 Trans Am that I don't want to be driving this winter. I've been looking around for cheap cars/trucks to get that I can drive around in. I live in Indiana so I don't have much in the way of a whole lot of snow or hills or anything, I just don't want to be driving my good car around in it when there is some. I was over at my girlfriend's apartment the other day and I looked across the parking lot and saw an older camaro for sale. I walked over and took a look. It was an 89 RS with the 5.0 in it. It says $600 obo. Today I saw the guy start it and drive it over to his truck, which needed jump starting. The car started up just fine and drove over, sounded pretty good and didn't sputter or anything, so I went over to talk to the guy. This car isn't pretty by any means, but I don't need it to be, just get me around. The paint isn't so great looking and it has one moderate sized dent(maybe 5 inches in diameter) on the front edge of the pass. side wheel well. He had the hood open to jump start his truck so i got a look inside there. He said he doesn't think that its running on all cylinders right now, but it does run good. He said he thinks maybe a spark plug wire melted or something? But anyway, as I was standing there I could hear a ticking noise that sounded just like when one of my spark plug wires in my TA got unplugged when it was running after we installed my LT's, so I think it is something to do with the sparkplug. Anyway, what do you think? Should I get it? I know its not is good condition, but its really cheap and thats what I was looking for. All I need it to do is get me from place to place, and no driving on the highway. Plus I like the idea of it being a camaro for some reason . Do you think it's worth getting and trying to fix? It still runs just fine anyway, just not right.

The odometer isn't working anymore so I have no idea how many miles it has on it. I would guess a lot. Not that I really care, thats all I can get with what I'm willing to spend. It said about 60000, so it was probably at like 160,000 or 260,000 when it stopped working, but I don't even know when it stopped working, so it doesn't really matter.

Oh yeah, and it's a hardtop, no t-tops, which is actually nice cause at least then I don't have to worry about them leaking cause its so old.

a couple more questions. I went over there to take a closer look at it and tried to talk to the guy, but he wasn't home(his phone isn't working right now either), and there were a couple things that would need fixing. A few that would need to be fixed for sure and a few that would just because they are annoyances.

The main thing is the steering wheel is very loose. Dangerous maybe even. It looks to me like someone put a late 80's or early 90's chevy truck steering wheel in there, and maybe they just didn't do a good job, but the wheel is sitting about a half an inch off of the end of the steering column, and has that much play in it. The wheel will actually tilt left or right or up and down until the edge of the wheel touches the top of the steering column, which means the outside edge of the steering wheel will move in any direction about 1-2 inches. It also has some play turning left to right, but that might just be because the car was off, I'm not sure. Anyway, it seems dangerous even to drive it with the steering wheel like that, is it easy to fix? Is there just something I need to tighten down?

And a couple other things that would just be annoying but don't need absolutely to be fixed are the door handles on the outside and the armrests on the door on the inside. The handles are really loose and wiggly. lol. The door still works but it feels really flimsy and I don't know how much longer I would trust those handles to hold them shut. Then the armrests on the inside of the door are actually coming off. Like falling off. I puched down a little on one of them and it made a little bit of a ripping sound and started to go down a little more. How hard would it be to fix those things?

So, how hard do you think it would be to fix that stuff, or how expensive would it be if I don't do it? Thanks very much for the help!

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Personally I think you could do better for a winter car. A 3rd gen Camaro is just not a good choice for specific winter duty.

The only F-body I've ever driven in the snow was my old '89 Formula 350. If you get some snow tires and put some weight in the truck it can be done, but there are far better choices out there in terms of winter beater type cars than another F-body.

I'd say to look for something else. Maybe something FWD or 4WD, or at least a heavier RWD car. Also, the 5.0L V8 in that Camaro (which is probably a TBI 305, doubt an '89 RS would have a TPI 305) will make little power but suck a decent amount of gas. You'd be making more power and get better gas mileage with something like a Series I or II 3.8L V6 in a mid-sized FWD sedan like an H or W body car from the early to mid-'90s. These cars can be had pretty cheap; and they run forever and are very comfortable. Hence the reason I keep my Bonneville around.

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

How cheap is pretty cheap? Cause this guy is only asking $600. I wouldn't end up giving him that much probably either. Thats my biggest + for this car. And I wouldnt only be driving it in the winter. I live 10 miles from town so I don't like driving the TA around all the time, I got it with 15k miles and I'd like to keep it pretty low, but when it takes at least 20 miles per trip to town it adds up fast, so I would be driving the other car probably about half the time normally.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Well, back in '98 is when I decided that I wasn't going to be daily driving my F-bodies anymore (I still had that '89 Formula 350 at the time). I found an '88 Buick Skylark Limited Coupe with 120K miles on it for $800. Granted, it wasn't the 3.8L V6 (it had a 3.0L V6), but it was still a decent car for daily duty. Not just winter either, I drove it to work every day for a year before I got rid of it. Only put about $800 into repairs and maintenance during that year as well, so total it cost me about $1600 to own the car for a year. Insurance was dirt cheap, gas mileage was great, never got stuck even in heavy snow on really shitty tires, and actually power wasn't as bad as you might think. The car was very comfortable too; had all the power options and working AC.

I sold it to a friend that drove it for another year without any problems before selling it again.

Only reason I sold it was to get a nicer daily driver as my income increased.

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

Did you buy that from an individual or from a used car dealer? The cheapest car around here I have been able to find that isn't already a complete piece of junk is a '95 Grand Am with 195k miles on it... $1495 though. Other than the miles, cause I have no idea what the camaro has, it is in MUCH nicer shape than that one, but I don't know if it's in $1000 nicer shape. Thats from a dealer too, I haven't found much of anything in the classifieds yet.

heymoej

iTrader: (67)

i have a green 93 dakota 4x4 auto with 145600 miles that ran good last year when parked but wont start now??? more than likely just a dead battery???$1000 & its yours,john

SmokinHot98

iTrader: (20)

Dude definite look @ something better than an f-body for a winter car. A small truck or something. im sure there is something else that you can find for cheap and get good gas mileage and do good in the winter

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Private seller, they were asking $1000; I offered $800 and they took it.

That '95 Grand Am would probably be a better choice, but still I think you could do better. 195K is a lot of miles, and unless some stuff has already been replaced it's probably gonna need a good deal of work in the near future.

I think you could find something comparable from a private seller with half the miles for a similar price.

CashMoney

iTrader: (2)

Look for something else. I picked up a 91 geo tracker 4x4 for 500 bucks. 4 wheel drive plus 30mpg in the city great winter beater and now a daily driver.

JD1969

iTrader: (2)

I'll sell you my daily beater, it's a 91 Topaz with 97k miles, everything works (including the ac) and being a 4 cyl it gets good milage plus it's fwd so it's good in the snow. I need to get $900. The only reason I am selling is because I really need a bigger car of some kind because we have a baby due in a few months.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

See, there ya go.

Cheap, much lower miles, great MPG, good in the snow.

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

Hey CashMoney, what apartments do you live in? I've been reading your other threads about the stuff thats happened to your cars and I hope I don't live in the same place. I live in Lafayette and just got a new apartment and have a '00 WS6, so all that stuff thats happened to yours makes me a little worried.

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

Ok, well I think I my have found a car that I want to get. My local Cadillac/Buick dealer has a 1994 Sunbird with 160k on it in the used car lot. It has the 3.1 v6 and the a3 in it. Everything looks to be in very good condition, inside and out, just dirty on the outside, needs a good wash and it will be fine. The price they have on the windshield is $1295. I'm going to try going for a test drive tomorrow and if all goes well I'm going to try to lure them into $1000 cash and see if they take it. Anyone think that it isn't a good idea?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Sounds pretty good, assuming the car drives ok.

lovin myls1

iTrader: (4)

I think I would rather trust a guy on this thread who says his topaz has no problems over a dealer trying to sell his used car.Just me,maybe I'm too trusting a soul.

tCTech

iTrader: (2)

A used dealer at that. No way in hell would I ever buy from a "used" dealer. I'ld take the topaz, seriously. Of course, I'm in the lines for a project car, it's too bad I'm not in the states right now or I'ld come around for that $600 Comaro and haul it off on a trailer.

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

A couple things. It is a used car dealer, but it's from a GM dealer, not some junky on the street corner type dealer, and I doubt they would even take a trade in like that that wasn't ok mechanically too, but I guess I'll find out. Another thing is that it's only 10 minutes from me, rather than having to drive almost 6 hours round trip. And he didn't say that the topaz was in good shape or anything, he just said everything worked. I've looked at a lot of cars in the last few days that had stuff working, but were junk that I wouldn't want(not saying his car is, I'm just saying it's possible. He did call it his daily beater, and I definitely wouldn't call this other car a beater). I think everything should work in this too, if not then I will have to re-think it, but the condition that it looks to be in suggests everything will be working. The car doesn't look too far off from new on the inside, and even has a new stereo/cd player deck in it too. I can probably get this one close to the same price as that one, and its under blue book. The kbb retail value for this one is about $2400, private party ranging from about $900 to $1500 with regards to condition(and this would be near excellent). So unless its in nasty shape it's a good deal supposedly, and it is in very good shape. The topaz on the other hand, its kbb values range anywhere from $475 to $1000 depending on the trim and condition.

I don't mean to sound mean, but I'm sure that did now that I read over it again, so sorry. I forgot to add, the car has a "GM certified vehicle" lisence plate on it, but I thought only newer cars could even be that? Any idea on whats going on with that?

Speedmonster185

iTrader: (1)

Oh I also forgot, there is a Land Rover Discovery for sale for $2500. It's a 96 with 140k on it. Any thoughts? I think I would still prefer that car actually myself.

lovin myls1

iTrader: (4)

Six hours is far too much to drive for a 900.00$ car for sure!You should shop nearer home.Certified sounds good but I'm sure only the dealer can tell you EXACTLY what that means.Good luck though,hope you find something.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I don't see how a '94 Sunbird could be GM certified. Right now, the oldest car GM will certify is a 2001.

They must mean something else, or it's a mistake.

www.gmcertified.com