Hello all. I'm currently saving up for a trans am or camaro. Leaning heavily towards ls1 after researching and lots of my friends advice. They basically said that ls1 is easier to work on, come underated from factory, and much mor potential.
so I'm currently paying on 2 economy cars. I have 3 years left on each. I'm giving my focus hatch to my daughter for her first car and I'm getting a daily driver toy. So ill have $5 to $6k to spend. In my area I can get ls1 equipped car in pretty good shape for this price. Probably will have 90k to 140k miles.
I've seen quiet a few cars here with ms3 cam. Seems to be popular in my area. And most have always CAI, exhaust, headers. I want to be able to play around a bit with newer cars of course.
so I would love some feedback. Anyone daily driving with a few bolt ons and ms3 cam or other cam? Would like to know about reliability as the miles pile on. I have a lot of debt (2 car payments, rent, etc) so I usually dont get into Modding. I am good at doing maintanence though. I figure maintanence comes before mods. So I would love to buy a camaro thats full bolt on out of the box. Will it be somewhat reliable if the previous owner kept up with maintanence? Any feed back greatly appreciated!

 

At 90-140k miles and 16+ years old, plenty of issues can pop up even with a stock example. Adding internal engine mods (and the usually associated aggressive operation of such a car) to the mix only adds a further component of concern. This could be fine for a toy, but it's not personally the route I would go if you're counting on this for basic daily transportation - especially if there is a tight budget and a lot of other debt already being managed. Reliability under these circumstances could range widely depending on the various specific details of the car in question.

 

so maybe I should be looking for one mostly stock? I know I can buy other economy cars that will be reliable lol but thats not what I want. I can afford to maintain a vehicle and fix things when they break. Just can't afford a straight out money pit. I love the sweet sound of a cammed ls1 though

 

I'd prefer stock if I were you, though I think a bolt on car would probably be okay. I'd avoid a cammed car because I'd be concerned with valve springs and other potential valvetrain issues.

My bolt on A4 has been my daily for 15 years and has 161k on it. Since 100k I've done the water pump, fuel pump, rear main seal, and radiator. Last fall a rocker arm spilled its guts, so I did all of them. No internal damage. About three weeks ago the alternator died and took the battery down with it. Although an accumulator hose blew once, my A/C is still blowing cold. But my compressor could give up the ghost at any time.

All of this to say that these are the kind of things you may expect to contend with. I must add though, until the alternator failed, this car had never left me stranded or failed to start and get me where I've needed to go. And I think the rocker failure may be related to all the dragstrip time the car saw over a period of 6-7 years.

A final point comes to mind. This car is driven about 8-9k a year, meaning all the above issues took place over a period of about 7 years, which equates to one or two repairs a year.

 

I got a WS6 TransAm 1998 with the LS1 with 38,000 miles mostly stock (the last owner had a Borla catback on it.) It cost about $13,000 and has been an amazing daily driver. At about 50,000 miles I had to replace the windows motors, and at about 70,000 miles, I've had to replace the fuel pump. It has been an amazing car to my (now late) wife and I. But RPM is right, if someone has been beating the hell out of them through all 100,000+ miles, the more problems you may find.

 

I'm going to inspect car myself and get carfax. I'm thinking a pre purchase inspection will be worth the money to. I also have the option to buy a 2006 cadillac cts v with 147k on body and 85k on engine. Its my coworkers car and he drives it daily. Downside is it has a rebuilt title. I think you guys are right about trying to buy an ls1 that is stock or only bolt ons. Appreciate everyone's feedback

 

Regarding reliability and repair costs of an LS1 4th Gen...here is a brief summary of my experience over 19 years...I think it will show what you could be getting into

I bought my 99 TA new in Feb of 1999. The car had five return trips to the dealer for warranty related repairs over three years and 32,xxx miles. Gauge cluster sweep, turn signal flasher, rear speakers, power window regulator, idler pulley replacement and squeaking brakes. That's a lot of minor annoying issues for a new car. My car has been maintained by the owners manual plus additional maintenance like extra cooling system flushes, rear end oil changes and manual transmission oil changes etc.

Tires prove to be an annoying expense that never ends typically $800 to $1200 depending on the type of rubber you want. Tires are most important.

1999 get excellent deal and buy TA, tax tag title out the door for $24,500

2001 - need and buy a set of tires

2002 - After warranty expired, my basic bolt on TA got a heads & cam package, LS6 intake, long tube Hooker headers, Mufflex Y pipe, cut out, tune and 4.10 gears. TA had 32,xxx miles cost $7,000

2003 needed another set of tires

​​​​​​2004 - power window motor failed,

2005 - need a set of tires

2007 - guess who need another set of tires

2008 - 2 O2 sensors had to be replaced, power window motor failed, 2 rear speakers blown had to be replaced, valve spring replacement due to cam, 95,000 miles

2009 - the front brake rotors and pads had to be replaced, sail panel bubbles, two attempt to repair at body shop equal hundreds of dollars spent and a marginal band aid repair. Shop owner refunds half of the money spent and says I have no idea how to fix that messed up panel as new ones are not available unless YOU pull a good one out of the junkyard
115,000 miles

2010 - more tires please!

2012 - PCV hoses had to be replaced, both front turn signal sockets - 135,000 mile

Less than $600 spent on repairs out my pocket since buying the TA new.

2015 - AC compressor, evaporator and so forth had to be replaces, $900 car had ~ 142,000 miles
also two turn signal sockets replaced
Yes! 4 more tires please!

2016 - New fuel pump install $500 replaced old one as preventive maintenance 155,000 miles
Car due for valve springs, rear end howls like a banshee, transmissiontires t shifting as well as it used to and the TA smokes like a train on acceleration, pinion seal has started to leak. Clutch is OK but doesn't hold as well as before.

Note for a modified heads and cam car the TA had been inexpensive on repairs. However, the TA reached that point it was time to sell or spend thousands of dollars doing repairs. Often this is the point a which an LS1 4th Gen's get put up for sale. Four people approach me about buying the TA. I explained honestly condition and needs of the car.

Obviously the car didn't sell to one of my ideal buyers...and I wasn't willing to sell the car to someone that I didn't think could take care of the TA.

2017 being attached to the TA, I made the mistake of keeping the car...
valve springs & associated hardware are replaced - $700

Now we find out what was lurking in the shadows and why you should NEVER buy a modified car even if it's been taken care of and maintained properly. Things just wear out and the higher hp levels are harder on parts.

headers & Y pipe are almost rusted out after 15 years. Replacement estimate cost $800 to $3000 depending on budget exhaust vs Kook's

a damages valve guide needs replaced, heads willing have to be pulled etc - estimated repair $1200-$1800 assuming the heads aren't cracked. This include lifters and trays

Rear end repair estimate, needs new gears to get rid of whine, bearings bad, axle bearings also bad, needs axles $1500

Clutch needs replaced, the pilot bearing is shot and I've worn the synchorizers out thanks to the bad pilot bearing.
Clutch install quote is $1300
T56 rebuild estimateis $2300

That's the basic list of what was needed for my 99 TA at 155,000 miles

I decided not to repair any of the items, differential, transmission or engine.

Hawk's 8.8 rear end with 4.10's, new Bilstein shocks, installed $3800
RPM Magnum T56, carbon fiber drive shaft & McCloud RXT twin disc clutch installed $8,100
New exhaust system Kook's headers, custom Blackhart with excellent ground clearance - $2300
416 LS w / Reher Morrison heads, ported LSXR, NW TB, LPE MAF etc etc $18,000 installed

2018 -TBD

 

And you still own the car...that is love.

 

Wow. It's like you bought the car all over again. I did that with a used Montana minivan. Bought it for $4000, and it went for 60k with a fair amount of repairs. After that, I spent the purchase price all over again in repairs, but it's still going with family members getting a total of 93k out of it so far.

As for 4th gen FB's, power window motors, headlamp motors, rear subwoofers, turn signal sockets, and probably a few other items should be considered maintenance items. They are guaranteed to fail and will need to be replaced - much like tires.

Right now most everything on my A4 Formula is working well at 161k. But I don't want to wait for the next big thing to fail, or to buy the car all over again. So, as I do about every three-four years, I'm thinking about selling it. I just haven't been able to part with it so far.

 

The simple fix for this particular item, in my experience, is to just disable the DRLs. Unless the issue you're having is due to water intrusion, which I think is more common on the Pontiac blinker housings. But deleting the DRLs on my Camaros seems to have prevented any of the sockets from ever failing/melting - even into the 6-digit mileage range.

 

Water intrusion is an issue on the standard Firebird/Formula setup, as opposed to T/A's, which ride up higher. That being said, how does one disable the DRL's? I know it has a dedicated module, but ... I guess I could search.

 

Here's a link to the process I've used on all of my LS1 4th gens since the very early 2000s. It works perfectly, with zero side-effects (and eliminating the extra heat generated by the DRLs seems to prevent the sockets from melting...or at least it has for me):

https://xse.com/leres/ss/drl.html

 

Keep the hatch, let the kids work and purchase there own car. Find a clean Fbody, forget mileage, Look for a crash free, good body and interior vehicle as cheap as possible. Remove engine, build a 383, get the best cylinder heads you can afford remove trans and have rebuilt and modded, install 4k converter, then install 12 bolt or 9" and gears. When your done you'll be in it 10k to 15k, run 10s and it'll be a mean street/strip car. Dont waste your time trying to save 160,000 mile parts, in the end you'll be better off just rebuilding the car, cheaper in the long run.