Turns out the GTA i thought was gonna be a great deal wasn't. the guy wanted twice as much as it was actually worth. $6000 for a car with 145,000 miles??? YEAH RIGHT. he said "it was really clean." It wasn't that clean. Dirty carpet, ratty front seats, some broken parts. I've said it and ill say it again. BUYING A THIRD GEN SUCKS!

 

keep looking man, i just found a 89 Iroc that's sweet looking and running, just keep looking u will find one eventually

 

I think G*D is preventing me from buying a fast car..

 

just keep lookin man that's all i can say

hey btw where u from maybe i can help u out

 

I am near Atlanta GA. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

look in north carolina, lots up there, trust me i lived there for a while, just look around, even if u have to drive a little ways so what. i would gladly drive 100+ miles for a nice thirdgen, and u prbobaly fell like u would drive pretty far to find one

 

do you know of an area code in cental NC i could use to search with?

 

Here, this is clean for sure...:hail:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1855969331

 

nice, to bad its just outta my price range...

 

I hear you, I have been looking for a thirdgen for 8 months. I find that the people I try to buy them from don't know the stuff the is wrong with them. I fund stuff wrong they honestly don't know about. All I want is under 100k miles, t tops and a 5 speed. I could live without the 5 speed I guess as long as it isn't rusty. I will find one.

Some day

 

Take your time, you'll find the one you want.

 

use a 28017 zip code or 28152, 017 is boiling springs nc, 152 is shelby, towns are only about 10-15 miles apart....

area code 704

 

Use the following area codes in NC:

336, 919

Use the following zip codes:

27302, 27253, 27502

 

Hey trust me man, the time will come. After months, maybe more than a year i finally got my car. And i went through Autortrader.com, and u know what, distance started becoming less of a concern. I eventually just set it at 200 mile radius, so i found mine about 1 hour driving time away, IT WAS WORTH IT, believe me.

But bottom line is good cars come and go, just look at Ebay and Autotrader, they always have some nice rides there. Personally i need to see a pic of a car to even consider looking at it, thats why i ignored the local papers, i didnt care what the car was, or what shape, if i dont see a pic at least, i wont even bother.


Anyways good luck man, dont give up on 3rd gens yet.

Heres a few, take a look, i have no idea what u looking for, since u were going 6K, i went around there, and its around Atlanta.


1986 White Camaro here, 93K miles $6000
http://www.autotrader.com/findacar/v...&car_year=1986

1987 Red Trans Am, unknown miles. Modded, $5900
http://www.autotrader.com/findacar/v...&car_year=1987

1989 Nice GTA, 19K miles, manual, but auction ends in about a day , its a t $8,800 right now. Its also in OHIO
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1855486020

1988 GTA, 61K, grey, manual, $3,999, ends in about 4 days, its in Kansas.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1857274179

88 11sec monster Camaro, black, unkown miles, in Kentucky, wants $10K, its at $7K now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1857270105

88 Iroc-z, 53K miles, manual, 305, in New York, its at $4500 now, ends in 8 days.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1857363905

89 Iroc-z, 350, white, t-tops 73500 miles, its at $3850 now, ends in 6 days, in Wisconsin.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1856812128

Well those are just a few, some i know are pretty far, but hey, sometimes u have to the extra distance to get what u want u know.

Again, good luck.

 

Keep serching man, it took me 2 years before i found the one i bought. Its worth the wait not to get ripped off.

If ya wanna see her, check out the web site!

 

Take your time, and don't settle for anything less!!!!


I looked for a REAL long time. I almost settled with some ****ty cars cause I wanted a IROC so bad. I would really be kickin myself in the butt now. But my mom was always there encouraging me to wait for the perfect one I wanted. Thank *** she did

 

$6000 is a lot for a GTA with 145,000 miles. An almost mint 92 Z28 sold for $5000 at a local dealership. The engine had 63,000 miles on it. The owner of that GTA probably feels his car is special and is optimistic about the selling price. It will most likely be difficult to find an unmolested thirdgen in nice condition.

 

I know how it is dude, I know how it is. Still 2 3/4 years for me looking for that IROC-Z. And yes, its 1 of the most frustrating things there is. I've also had the seller BS before. Tell them what is what, don't let them get over unless you really plan to buy that car.

 

Why is it taking so long to find the car you want? I see them all the time. My search criteria was very low mileaged, original IROC. I found a few in short time. Do you look just locally? Look nationally and you'll find what you want.

I found an 89 IROC, black with red interior, ttops and the 350 with posi and 2900 original miles for $9000 a couple years ago. The jerk backed out on me at the last minute, but it was in Pennsylvania and I was in Minnesota. Over the past 4 years, I bought a Camaro from California, another from St. Louis, my 442 from PA and the IROC was found an hour from my house! You have to be willing to look outside your area and you'll find what you want.

 

i drove 10 hours round trip for mine

 

You know you're a third-gen owner if: more than half your mileage was used solely for the car itself. :sillylol: When those deals come along, they're always at least an hour or two away. I got a custom sub box with two infinitys for 200 bucks and a 2 hour drive. Trust me, the wait is worth it.

 

I can't stress enough to BE CAREFUL and don't jump on the first local "good deal" you see.

I got screwed.

I paid $1700 for my red Formula with 182-ish k miles. The next morning the heater core went out and left me with a huge puddle of Ecto-cooler in my passenger side footwell. Shortly after that my power brake booster went out. Almost killed me and my prom date on prom night. Then what was left of the exhaust pretty much went. Then four of the 8 injectors went bad. I finally got pissed off and sold the car to a buddy of mine for a grand (I said $950 but he said let's just make it an even grand, so I was like....ok) Anyhow, he did a bunch of work to the car (injectors, power brake booster, heater core, radiator flush/fill, plugs and wires, brakes, wires, rotor/distributor, etc. etc.) and I ended up buying it back from him a week or two ago after a month or two, for the original grand plus the parts he put into it (he just wanted the experience). So I got free labor and bought the car back for the price I bought it for originally, and he's taking payments on it to boot! So I couldn't really pass it up. But, the moral of the story, don't rush! My car still needs some work but I'm trying. But the thing about buying a car that's far away is that if you go to look at it and go such a long distance you almost feel obligated to buy it. Be reasonable and don't buy something just because you went through so much trouble to see it.

 

Look around dude its not that hard to find a nice 3rd gen. Heck a few weeks ago there was a nice (what ever that dark red color on the firbirds is called) formula 5.0 with 100k for 3000 just down the road (and if you don't think i was kicking my self after just plopping 2500 down for my rs, oh well **** happens.). Just look around and realize that you may have to do abit of clean up and fix up to get something really nice in your price range.

 

might have to travel a long ways, thats ok. i drove quite awhile to get my motor, it was worth it.

 

I got mine by chance one day while at an auction for something totaly different. The car was just sitting there with a for sale sign on it. Went back the next day and drove it home. Interior was shot, paint was shot, engine was shot but all that has been fixed

 

Be patient man, you'll find one.

 

I really don't know. Its like the car wasn't made (LOL) or no1 wants to sell them. I look locally and nationally from the NJ area. I'd rather not travel that far, but even when I look, there arent any for sale anyway. I want your 87 IROC-Z28 pretty much exactly except I want it in bright red and the grey cloth Custom interior. It can have more miles (no more than 80,000 hopefully) and even cost a good amount, and some mods are OK I guess, but I still can't find 1. I'm thinking about getting a different year or whatever in the meantime because the RS and the 2.8 is a pretty nice car, but its not really what I like or want and I've had it for a while, more than I thought I would. I'm a Z28 V8 dude. Thats what I like.

 

I just want T top, no rust, and A 5 SPEED!!!! Almost makes me want a rustang. No, they are too ugly and I can't have T tops.

 

Look for one in Florida....

No winter.......and alot cheaper....

 

I am from Marietta, GA there are plenty of f-bodies in atlanta and some! PM me and i'll be more that happy to help you out. You just have to go out there and look, and BE PATIENT. Don't make the same mistake a lot of us here on the board have done. I jumped on the second one I saw, granted I ended up getting the car for $1000 but the car sat in my garage for a year before I got it on the road. And here I am now with over $12,000 in my car!

 

I know how you feel bro. It took me 6 MONTHS of doing nothing but looking and looking and looking for a Camaro. Finally I found one, it was awesome, good price too. I had for 4 months, then on one fatefull day, I got into accident. All that time put in for nothing. Now I wish I never cared about having Camaro as first car, and worried more about my school work and colleges, I would be much more financially sound too. Well ya can buy my car that was in an accident off me, it'll be a good project or parts car, but I'm sellin it as a whole. Take a look...


*Only advice I can give you is don't give up, keep looking until you find the right one. However don't let it consume your life! Thats what it did to me. Now I'm tryin to live up my LIFE as best as I can, then try to make myself look cool IROC-Zeesss (even though it was fun). Good Luck!

 

FlyinLow has a good response. Florida is a good place to look and so is Tennessee where I live. Hardly any snow, and the prices are just cheaper around here. I'm not sure exactly why, I guess people think that Tennessee Hillbilly's don't know much about sports cars. A friend of mine just recently got a 92 RS for with under 100,000 miles for $3500. And that was on a dealer lot. Like everyone else said, DON'T give up.

 

yeah dont give up. i found my iroc when the guy my brother was buyin his 98 ss from i jokingly asked him how much and he told me 2100 and i came back the next day with a check. but just dont give up. i dunno how far u want to go but were i live there are all kinds of third gens. most are nasty mexican cars with spraypaint flames and such but plenty of nice ones too. just keep lookin and ur dream car will show up.

 

I bought mine tonight. take delivery on Friday. Autotrader/dealer. Had a chance to look at it on the rack.

1990 iroc red and black conv in NJ 56k miles.

very very pretty.

I have looked at 2 other red/black conv's both 1990. within 1 hour in the last 8 months.

Keep trying. Have your money in your hand to get the best deal. This one had a line of people ready to go..

 

I don't know though guys, isn't traveling like that kinda crazy?!

 

Where in Atlanta are you looking that you can't find one??? They're everywhere, and fairly cheap here, too. Is there a specific model you want? Between my two F-body clubs and all my friends with F-bodies, I feel pretty sure I could help you find just about anything.

You shouldn't have to travel further than 100 miles, unless you want something really unusual.

 

Not trying to convince you to buy a Mustang or anything, but they did have T-tops available til 87 or 88.

 

Tep, took me 1 year to fing my GTA and another 2 years to find my RS.

My GTA was probably a 7 out of a possoble 10 but my RS was a 10 when I found it, I swear it was showroom new. It's hard keeping it that way though. I spend alot of money trying to keep it up. Keep looking and your car will turn up.

 

im selling my car..
and I think is a damn good deal
I actually had a complement on my car yesterday,
they asked what year it was.. I told them 88..
they said the car was in really good shape for an 88..
The car needs some body work.

 

i am going to look at another GTA on friday. i hope it goes better than the one i looked at last weekend. this one is an 87 flame red metallic, 350 auto. 88,000 miles rebuilt trans and engine. new paint, and new exaust. and i know he wants no more than 4,000. wish me luck!

 

He doesn't want MORE than 4000? Hell I would take the highest price of anything I was selling.

Sounds like a damn good F-Body, I'd buy based on how ya described it.. but remember to TEST DRIVE, very important.

 

I hope you get something that you will and can be happy with. That's what I'm searching for.

 

Just take your time until you find the one you wanted. Then again, the right car might pop up right in front of you:

Case and point, I already had my '86 bird when the FOR SALE sign went up on the '89 TA across the STREET The thing had been sitting over there since 1990 or so. It didn't move very far, just to MY driveway

 

IwantanFbody
,
there is a 91 Z28 in my local newspaper (Birmingham News), thats been in there for a good while
its gotta LT1, and a bunch more other stuff
i dont remember if it said he swapped a 6speed in there too..forgot
and i think he wants $6500
if ya want i can PM all the info straight from the paper......Bham aint too far of a drive from Atlanta

 

speaking of tennessee, i picked up a 1988 formula L98 (originally LB9) with a 5speed, 9 bolt, WS6, 22k miles on motor, new interior, t-tops, 6 grand in reciepts, only drawback was a dented fender, but that is easily fixed. i paid 3 grand it for and he threw in a set of rims, a steering wheel, valve covers. i looked for about 2 months and looked at about 10 F-bodies. i had my heart set on an IROC, but i fell in love with a firebird!! good things take time, great things happen all at once!! good luck man!!

 

you could always come look at mine,,I'm not real far away,,near Bristol Tn.
here it is,, https://www.thirdgen.org/classifieds....tgo?adid=7017
A few more miles on it than you are wanting though.

 

I live in NC.

I found a ride - definitely needs work, 150k miles, but the interior was clean, had everything where it was supposed to be, and it ran, and for $500 - I couldn't complain. And besides ... now I have a hobby AND an excuse for cruising these boards!

It's a 90 RS, 305 TBI, Auto. I had to get shocks, tranny mount, motor mount, and cat-back to make road-legal. Every day something needs fixed/replaced, but such is life.

As far as NC goes ... check eastern NC - that's where I got mine. Alot of cars in this area for cheap. Folks in this area do alot of trading, swapping, and whatever needed to just sustain daily life - and almost everything is cheaper here simply 'cause of the lifestyle.

TWO THINGS....

1) 2 years ago Hurricane Floyd flooded everything east of Raleigh (state capital) - so if/when you find something in this neck of woods, check VIN with a service that shows everything about a car (like $14.95 for 3 months subscription) - that way you'll know up front if a potential is a flood victim.

2) Nothing east of Raleigh requires emmissions, so be aware that anything here may not pass up front.

I also bought a parts ride (85 Z28) in eastern NC for $200, so the project has begun.

Now I spend my afternoons covered in grease/dirt, and my nights cruising these boards. I have very little to spend, and b/c of that I work very slowly - but let me tell you.....

I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!!