I hear ya on not being a vert guy. I never cared for having nothing over my head, plus I feel like people are staring at me.

 

Ls1 ls1 ls1!!!!!

 

Well I went and looked at the 97 again, car is as close to mint as a 97 can be, interior is perfect, ext is close, 3 rims r perfect one ha about a 3 inch section with very little edge damage, no chunks, just a little rough, I'm gonna assume from a tire machine, definitly think the water pump is leaking other then that sounded great,

Its white and local, just couldn't say no, so i made a offer, pending I can drive it, little tight with the clutch for me, my offer will raise the difference to a almost even 4k, do you guys still think the ls is worth the extra cash with another 14k on the clock?

another side note on the ls1 car the trans/am bird emblem r gone on the filler panel, telling me shes been outside alot with only 32k on the clock

 

I still say ls1, it is all around worth the extra money, go drive one, and the bird is gone on my filler panel and it is garage stored winters and gets a garage spot in the summer, they just wear off after 12-16 years

 

jamin, the LT1 sounds pretty nice! If you like manual transmissions at all you'll love the T56. Good Luck with your descision.

 

so if i was to drive a ls1 car, 305 horse right? ws6 made it 325?? I think those were the numbers, the 97 WS6 should be 305, what am I gonna notice? never driven a ls1 yet, othe rthen the stupid optispark I can't believe there is so much difference, I have time he's going to ponder my offer and get back to me, so wheres the white ls1 cars?

 

All the cars Ive had Ive never had a manual, back in the day they were daily drivers in the summer so never bothered, now days my daily is my pickup, so i kinda want one because Ive never had one, then again I might hate it after the novelty wears off LOL

 

The LT1 is overrated and the LS1 is underrated. I'm telling you, night and day difference.

 

That and the best advice I have is just to go drive a Ls car before you make a decision, they just have a much better feel to the from top to bottom

 

well we will see what happens guys, I also found a 48k car that was in a wreck and put together, doesnt sound like it was hurt bad but bad enough to salvage it, price isnt to bad, I will say for a little less then 10g's i am not sure I can find a nicer fbody then the 97, I know I bought my 96 with 15k for 8500 and sold it for 11500, this one won't be quite as nice of a buy, but its a stick and on fresh rubber,

also i think the 98 Ws6 sold

 

I got my 98 WS6 for about 10K with 33,000 miles on it about 4 years ago.
I have since done a few motor upgrades when I had to check to make sure that there were no bearings floating around in it. At the time it was the best deal for $ and low mileage I could find. I live near Seattle and this car was at a collectors near Portland. I had seen some cars that looked like good deals but being on the other side of the country it would not have been practical and also more expensive to get it home in any way.

My car now has 57K on it. Driven way more than expected in the last two years. Just see that you like the differences between the 98 and 01. In general I think I like the wheels on the 98 better myself but no big deal. I like the few motor upgrades on the later version. I would for sure do a car fax on any I was serious about to make sure it had not been in an accident. Also will let you know how many owners and all that.

I have found the stock GM interiors to not hold up as well as I would like unless someone has been very careful. Leather seat seams seeming weak, scuffs on the door panels by what I would deem normal use. I wish I had never allowed passengers in my car and as much stuff to be hauled in the back. Nothing major is wrong but even scratches and scuffs on interior pieces are disappointing to see.

Those are also asking prices right? I don't know many people that would have their asking price be their bottom sale price. So the lower the miles and the better condition is the way to go. I could have got a few that looked fine and were running fine and were a bit more than half the price of what I got but am glad I paid a bit more and got the low mileage.

It would be very hard for me to even think about making a decision not having seen and driven all the cars I was interested in. In my case I took the train down to Portland and had my cousin that lived there drive me to see the car. Had it not been all it was supposed to be I would have only been out the cost of a train ticket. Unless these are immaculate they seem overpriced to me.

I also ended up paying about $1100 in taxes when I got it home so remember that cost of course. Also mine had new Goodyear GSD3's on it at the time which I figured in to the cost.

Good luck whatever your decision. Just my thoughts and possible regrets. Since mine is no longer bone stock I have decided to do mods as I can afford them. I think it would be worth more bone stock. Since I was going to have to spend the money taking it apart I decided to add a cam for more power to not feel quite as bad about spending all that loot.

My two cents worth is all.

 

Tom that would be a good deal today on your car, sounds like a nice score, all the prices Ive mentioned Ive negotiated, the 01 wanted 13.5, were at 12.5 on it, I keep trying for an even 12, its also in Maine, so I would be taking a shot on going up there, the 97 wanted big money but Ive gotten him down to pretty close to where I think it should be, it is very clean, not many left like this for sure, its not quite as clean as my 96 was but its very close,

Ive been working on a 35k Red WS6 in Fl for a while, its immaculate with only a added corsa exhaust, it also has the rare camel interior and is a M6, he stuck on 15, I was shooting for 13 and my butt would have been there bye now, but everyone has there reasons and number, I'm 99.9% sure I'm the only guy who has been bugging him thou, not even listed anymore I drop the occasional email but just small talk

 

Well I think you will find yours. Like I said I went for the low mile one but also that was not so far being only a few hours away. Actually how I found mine was after about a year of looking and frustrations of either people having high miles on their cars or those with low miles wanting way too much I put in a reverse ad on CL. A "Wanted 98-02 WS6 with low miles good condition good price". I got a reply from the son of the owners of the one I bought as it was not even listed for sale. It was the wife's cars. Emissions results from every year which let me know that it had been driven an even 3-4K a year. Car Fax was all good. Car was really nice and stock and like I said I had thought I would have wanted those tires and new they would have been over $300 each which I got included so it just all worked out. Maybe a reverse ad like I did might be worth a try for you, it is free at least.
The amount I paid was literally all the cash I had saved so I could not have gone any higher and been able to license it. Having money makes all the difference. I think you will find something you are happy with in the end. Good luck!

 

U mean like this?

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/cto/4341354277.html

LMAO

 

Pretty much, only I put in the WS6 and a few details and maybe I just got lucky but hey it worked. I was getting REALLY tired of looking but as it was all the money I had saved and thought the WS6 was my best bang for the buck spending that money was a big deal for me. One guy up here had a red WS6 that seemed nice in about every way but had over 125K on the car. He was asking $6950 and offering to lower it. I held out for the lower mileage one but when the response to the unadvertised one came about I took the train down within a few days and would have passed if anything was not kosher but all way including records. Since my car had way more miles than I had planned on putting on it and it is still under 60K miles I am sure I made the deal that was best for me. If you look at my sig you will see really the only thing I have done so far for more power and performance was the cam. The other parts I am hoping will make the motor stronger and last longer. $ will tell where I go next. I am now looking for wheels for it. Two have some curb rash now and I am deciding if I want two new matching ones or if some OEM Vette wheels would be good etc.. I don't think I can lower it as it already scrapes a lot but don't like the gap in the rear. I just put in a thread asking if anyone has C5 magnesium Vette wheels on their black WS6 to see if I would like those. The sticky that has a ton of cars and the wheel and tire combos have helped me a bunch with figuring out if I would like certain sizes and wheels on mine. I have not noticed these those and won't buy something I have not at least seen on a car similar to mine. So I am in another situation yet again with $ vs available decisions!

There are enough of these around though that I sincerely think you will find the one that matches you. Be sure to post it once you do!

 

seems like you got ur mind set on the 97 so go ahead and get it.
you will regret not getting the ls1 car. I promise you that.
ive had 2 lt1 cars and 1 ls1 car big difference between them.
id never buy a lt1 over a ls1 now that Ive had both.

 

no I know the lS1 is better, maybe one will pop up shortly, we will see, none the less I just can't believe that the difference is so great people would choose a car with double the miles over the other, and more money, again I won't be modding anything so the "platform" idea is void, thanks again everyone for the great conversation, for the mean time I'm still shopping and focused on a 98+ car but the 97 is at the top until I find something better

 

Pffffff lmao . On the top end and under heavy acceleration you can feel a slight difference. Down low the LT1's have always felt more torquey and fast to me while in the driver's seat.

We're talking the difference between a mid 13 second car and a high 13 second car, don't get carried away guys lol.

I guess let OP be the judge.

 

If the only 3 cars on earth were the ones listed in post #1, I would buy the 97 WS6 M6. Since this will be a weekend car, manual transmission is a must. No worries, the novelty will never wear off. Of course the LS1 engine is superior in all aspects, but an automatic transmission will leave you with some driving enjoyment unrealized.

You already have an offer pending, but I would check the car in more detail. Verify that it's a real WS6. I'm not sure exactly what the verification process is, but first thing I would check is if the VIN matches the SPID sticker that shows WS6. Since the car is located near Buffalo, MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE it isn't rusted. At that mileage it's probably legit, but it's still worth your trouble to get it up the air for an inspection. Also, as with any used car, make sure it hasn't been hit.

But after all that, those aren't the only 3 cars in the world. The key to buying a toy car is patience. The exact right one will always show up, and if you are in a panic, it will be listed for sale right AFTER you buy the compromise that you didn't want. Personally, I would hold out for an LS1 with a 6 speed. They really aren't that rare, 1/3 of the LS1 cars were built with the manual trans.

Good luck!

 

I agree. 1/4 mile times will be about a second off, so that's not a huge difference for someone who isn't going to be racing it. The only reason I wouldn't get an LT1 is because of the Opti-Spark. But in this instance with an 01 being $1k more, I'd spend the money and get the 01.