hove102

Hi everyone! I figured I might as well have my first post on here be a "help me decide if this is a good purchase" post.

I've already gone and looked at this '99 SS M6 in Pewter Metallic (one of my favorite GM colors, especially on a 4th gen) but I think the next time I look at it, I may be driving home in it. Real SS car with a factory-installed SLP exhaust, but other than that is totally stock. Original owner owned it until 2015 and the current guy has only driven it on weekends as he has a commuter for work. 135K original miles, squeaky clean Carfax with service records from day 1 on there, and the car drives pretty well for something with 135K on it. He's even got the original window sticker! Only big downsides I can see are the tires, which have good tread but a 2012 date code, and the interior. Driver's seat has a big hole through the leather and the steering wheel and shift **** are pretty beat. He's asking $8900 but I'm pretty sure he's got no one as interested as me and the car's been for sale for about a month. I asked a buddy of mine for advice and he said to come in closer to $7K and try have him meet me around $8K. What say you guys? I plan on driving this thing like it should be driven and putting plenty more miles on it should it fall into my care.

hove102

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

Kelly Blue Book would probably put the valve around $4000 to $5000 or so private party sale. We know that's low for what a good condition SS Camaro will typically sale for to a motivated buyer.

135,000 miles or so seems low but the car is 20 years old so probably about 6,000 to 7,000 miles a year. That's good because the car has been a driver. It also means they car has enough mileage that no sort of low mile premium will ever apply.

Good Carfax = ++
No paper maintenance records = - - - in my book, that means the car needs every fluid changed, probably brake pads, maybe rotors. Budget $1000 for this.
Needs tires = - $900 for tires and alignment
Driver seat = - $250 for cloth to $500 for a set of leather seats, might be fixable for less.
Original shocks? Probably due to rep

We don't know if the AC, power windows and everything works as it should so $0 to $1500 for miscellaneous repairs.

Does the car have any leaks? The pinion seal in the rear end is notorious for leaking. I would check and see if it leaks if you didn't already. Budget $150 to repair if it does.

M6? It may need a clutch soon. Many will wrongly assume at by 135,000 miles the clutch has been replaced. My stock clutch went 155,000 and most of that was with 400+ whp. I'd plan for a clutch eventually.

What's the sail panel behind the ttops look like? Most of these cars eventually get bubbles in the panel in that area.

It's probably worth $6,500 and $7,500 might buy it.
​​​​​​
I'd probably keep looking as the weather gets colder it's more of a buyers market and less of a sellers markwt.

Of course I bought an 02 Z28 a few months ago for $4500 with 239,000 miles on it but it had 13 years of dealer maintenance records and good tires. Interior was near perfect. Everything worked as it should. No leaks. I've spent right at a $1000 on making sure the maintenance is where I want it. After 245,000 miles it's proved an excellent driver.

Of course if you really like the car and want it $8000 is liveable provide that leaves funds in pocket to take car of issues that always come up with 20 year old cars.

hove102

Thank you! That's the kind of knowledge I was looking for.

I'm taking another set of eyes this weekend to catch anything I might have missed, but the car is cleaner than it looks in the photos. Thanks for the note about the pinion seal; I'll take a flashlight and crawl under there to see what it looks like.

Keep in mind that I live in Southern California so "cold" is relative and our used car market doesn't see the wild swings that affect markets with big temperature fluctuations. The other issue is that clean, unmolested SS's are not a commodity out here so ones like this tend to command some sort of owner-imposed premium.

I'd love to pick it up for closer to 7 because that would give me money to take care of some service items right off the bat. That being said, I don't think this guy is going below 8 since he's "pretty firm" on the price.

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

Didn't see the SoCal location on my cellphone. Yes, I would imagine the mild winter would favor the sellers with less swing in pricing.

Sounds like year round TTop weather

Objectively by the book, I over paid for my high mile Z28 but with all the records and condition of the car I was happy.

Being due to replace tires soon in some ways is a good thing. You get to pick exactly what sort of tires suits your driving style.

If the car checks out, fits the overall budget and you really like the car what's $500 to $1,000 premium really to get a car your happy with? I say that from experience. Found a 91 RS Camaro convertible, one owner, all maintenance records, clean carfax. He was high on price but the car was triple black exactly what I wanted so I paid a slight premium to get it.

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

If the car is all original equipment with 135K easy commuter highway miles, hmhm BS! Then at $4000-$5000 range I feel its priced to sell. I know if it where mine the price would be for at least half of what I've got invested so that puts the car around $30G. Of course nobody would be willing to pay that amount and if somebody was I don't think I could let it go! Been there before and I'm not doing it again!

hove102

Firebrian

Too many other cars out there with a lot less miles which are better values. This at $8K is not a deal unless it needed zero maintenance and tires were fresh. Pass unless you can get it for $6500-$7000. While you may love Pewter, the majority of buyers don't. It's probably the least sought after color on an SS.

I think you can find cars with 40K-60K miles for $9K. And save yourself 80,000 miles. I value every 10K miles lower at approx $600. So right there is $5,000. While clean M6's can be hard to find at times, they show up.

Fwiw, my 1999 SS M6 which I bought from the orig owner in 2012 with 12K miles now has 19,000 miles....basically bone stock. I'd sell if for $12,000 if I were in the market. No comparison in my mind to an $8K car with 135,000 miles and one at $12K with 20,000 miles. A lot of things can go wrong by 125K-150k miles....AC, electrical, window motors, clutch/trans/ rear end, suspension, exhaust, brakes, radio speakers, radiator, PS pump/cooler, steering rack, etc. That's a lot of items than can run you $1,000's over the next few years. On my car I put in $650 on AC work when the compressor started leaking.

For this car to work, I'd want to be able to question the original owner on their maintenance and driving habits. A detailed service history can be just fluid changes for the most part....doesn't address how the car was driven. Yeah, a clutch is probably in your near future if not done already. Since the trans has to be dropped to do that....it's a $1,000+ job if you can't do it yourself. The rear ends on these are weak if the first owner hammered on it. Figure $1500-$2000 for a rear end rebuild.

Firebrian

Not a fan of a beat up steering wheel and shifter ****. That potentially suggests a lot of hard driving and shifting. When I sold my 1998 Z28 with 117K miles the steering wheel wasn't the least bit worn...and neither was the driver's seat. Someone a death grip on the steering wheel and shifter. Holding the shifter **** much of the time can lead early wear in the transmission. When I shift my M6 I do it with an open palm forward, and a couple fingers to pull back...no full fisted death grip to "bang" the gears. A strut tower brace is also not something I expect to see on "nicely" driven original cars. Those usually are on cars that are driven aggressively by owners looking for more performance. If the original "sloppy" shifter is still in the car, I'd have to wonder why that wasn't changed out, yet a strut tower bar was added. A hole in the seat cover (especially if flattened too) is a sign of heavy driver. I once saw a 31K mile WS6 that had a flattened seat with holes in the seat cover and driver's carpet....from an apparently very heavy and abusive driver. That car was a mess.

Chameleonaire

I have to disagree with you. The drivers seat, especially the driver side bolster is super common to be worn at those miles. My shifter show some wear on the leather which is pretty normal for 18 years of use. I doubt it shows wear from abuse. The steering wheel is probably worn from the car sitting outside. I have a strut tower brace on my car and still have the original hurst shifter because my buddy traded me it for detailing his car. My seat was slightly flattened and the driver side bolster was ripped when I bought it at 137k. When I finally met the original owner, it turns out he's a guy in his 60's so it makes perfect sense. I bet the original owner of my car had fun with it over the 16 years that he owned it, as did every owner, but I'd rather have him owning it than an 18 year old out hooning in it every chance they get. Just my thoughts.