Hey guys for a long time this has been bothering me. I'm always looking around for 3rd gens 4 sale, just in case u know?! lol And I always find some IDIOT claiming that his beat up pile of crap has only 50,000 original miles! HAHAHA Are you freaking kidding me? Man I wish are speedos read over 100K so these clueless people would stop lying. My car says 57K right now and I could pass it off as original miles ,cause my paint and interior are really good but I dont! Believe me they're are a alot out there with "low miles". I know most people are just trying to sell there cars and they want the most cash, but some actually believe there own lies!!!

1990+ Camaro odometers have the extra digit so they do read over 100k. Don't know about the 'Birds.

I wouldn't let the low mileage thing be a big sell to ya. Most 25 year old cars with "low mileage" tend to be more problematic than the ones with 150k (in my experience) because they have been sitting in one spot for years at a time. I have now three 80s GMs rocking with 150k+ on original drivetrains, they all run great.

I've heard that argument before but I've always bought older cars with low miles and always had good luck with them. I know what you mean though. If they just put in the garage and never start them or drive it or do any maintaince on them there will be problems for sure. When I bought my 87 camaro 5 years ago it only had 13,000 miles and it's been a great car. No problems at all. Still had the original gatorback tires on it.

Well some older 3rdgens do have the extra digit as well like my 82. Its possible that these beat to crap cars do have low miles just take a look at any construction fleet filled with new beat trucks lol. My car is an 82 I got it 01 with 82k on the odo now she has a few more miles of course but still 82 under 100k is low mileage to me.

I got to test drive a 1991 or 1992 camaro with somewhere around 5k miles on it back in 06. Another board member was looking at buying it (and did).

Quite a joy to see a car that old, that nice. Let alone a semi rare option one.

The digital Camaro dashes read way beyond 100k. As a matter of fact the digital ones actually read "ERROR" then the mileage when they roll over at 1 million miles!

if you dont like what you see-dont buy it.

Who went to what trouble to discover this?

I just wish they did so I knew how many miles my poor old hooptie actually had on it

Dan

I don't think mileage is near as important as it's present condition and the care it's had!!!!

Friend recently bought a 91 with low miles--65,---. It's junk... Doesn't look like the seats and carpet were ever vacuumed, all the fluids were black other then the anti-freeze which was solid rust. E-brake cables frozen, hood latch broke, dents, dings, and scratches all over the body. I got my '82 in project form from a guy who had to go away to fulfill some "obligations" to the judicial system....it had 100,000++ on it. Seats and most of the interior were mint, gave the original engine and tranny to a guy who worked for me at the time, he's still running it in his S-10... I'm doing a ton of body mods on it but it had been going back together stock, it would have needed a new rear bumper cover then a simple scuff and shoot......

Mileage is lowest on my priorities when I go look at a project to build....

On the other side, age doesn't have the same effect as miles when considering things like the rear axle innards, the steering box, the transmission and engine or the ball joints. These are typically unaffected by age alone, though things like seals can deteriorate. Even so, replacing seals is much cheaper than replacing the entire unit. To me, this is something of a non-issue, because I'd rather get a good price for a 180,000-mile whatever than a 200 mile LO3 that I'm just going to remove anyway. When you're able to evaluate the car before you, without spending hours sitting running the costs both ways, then you're in good shape to determine the value versus the asking price.

Hey man great advice! No Shi*!!! My point is just people out there selling junky 3rd gens and claiming there low miles cause there odometer exceeded 100K and it now reads 50,000. i didnt know that some actually read over the 100k mark so thats cool.

its called carfax.

I feal your pain, but Anytime you buy a used car you are "Rollin the dice"
Carfax helps and I was ready to drop 500bucks to do ALL the basics to my BIRD when I bought her>>> (breaks, bearings, oil change, plugs, rotor, sensors.... ect... ect.... If you want a car that doesn't need work buy a 5TH GEN. Camaro and bring it over and I will test it out for you.........

when i had first gotten my car, a dude at chevron was like nice car man.. They were like, wow and it only has 8,000 miles on it. ahah. 108,000 dude.

Well i actually have an 85 with the digital dash and unfortunately blew. I replaced it with a junk yard piece and when i got it it read "ERROR" then 15k. After reading through the factory manual for the car to try and figure out what the deal was I discovered thats what it reads when the odometer rolls over 1 million.

Well actualy by letting a car sit you are allowing water to condense in the crankcase (and other bits like the trans and diff) and that causes the oil to turn acidic and start to destroy bearings and machined surfaces.

Getting the car on the road and getting it hot for extended periods really helps, or the owner can go through the trouble of changing the oil every 3 months regardless of milage and the other fluids at regular intervals as well.

And given that the owner maintained the car and didnt abuse it theres no reason to think that a car with 150K or more shouldnt be (mechanicaly) almost perfect.

Thi dosnt allways hold true with older cars that had spotty quality with OE components but most domectics from the late 80's and on are on par with imports in that area and the older 'premium" brands like BOP's and such usualy had great quality castings that should last forever if maintained well.

it's the early corporate era cars that really dropped in quality and that includes a big portion of the 3rd gen production run. Porus castings,bad core shift and verry poor tolorance control (due to a briliant plan to reduce costs by eliminating preventative maintenance on the production lines) lead to many cars aging badly and becoming the beaters most people think of when they think GM.

The condensation thing is entirely correct, which is why you change the oil before starting any engine that has sat for more than 2 months.

would the white smoke at the first startup everyday be a leaking head gasket, it smokes for second. right after it fires. everymorning. but doesnt smoke any other time during the day.

hmmm, well "white" smoke does indicate coolant being burned. but usually IF there is a blown head gasket, the coolant leak would be constant, in turn it would be burning white smoke all through out a drive. I know the laws of thermal expansion and that the coolant may slip in the combustion chamber over night (cold engine), then seal back up from the metal expanding when it gets hot. but thats HIGHLY unlikely. you sure its not "blue" smoke?? or have a bluish tint? because its extremely common for these engines to have leaking valve stem seals, or worn vavle guides, which would cause the EXACT symptom you are describing. My camaro does it, and its a 305 tpi as well...

hey i have a ?ion do u know where i can find a 350 chep my 2.8 multiport is going bad and i need a motor and possoble tranny email me back if u have any thing
matt

craigslist.org

I bought my 86 IROC with 54,000 miles on it and I didnt believe it til I saw the carfax. But it had been parked for awhile, when I bought it, it had a wasp nest behind each mirror and the dead wasps tend to fly out when I am driving on the highway lol

haha mine says 66780.. too bad its 266,780!