Hey guys! I'm brand new to the forum and this is my very first post. Allow me to explain my situation. I absolutely love the '80s, I'm looking for my first car, I've saved up a decent amount of cash and naturally, I want a third-gen Camaro. Now I've found an '88 IROC-Z clone (I'll give some specs farther down in the post) and I'm just not sure if this (or any third-gen) is a viable daily driver. So I have a ton of questions to see if a third-gen will fit the criteria. (Any help is GREATLY appreciated.)
-How are the reliability on these things?
-How safe are they?
-Do they rust easily? (I live in an area where snow can at times be abundant.)
-Speaking of which, how do these things handle in the snow?
-How is the all-around cost of ownership? (Mind you I'm a teenager with a close to minimum wage job and it'd be nice to not have to spend every last penny on my car.)
-Do they require a ton of maintenance and are they cheap to maintain?
-Most importantly, would this be a true possibility as a year-round daily driver?
If I can think of any other questions, I'll ask, but I realize I've given you guys a lot to think about already. Onto the specs of this particular vehicle:
(I believe it was originally a base coupe but the owner upgraded it to an IROC-Z clone.) Body has 61,050 miles. Engine has 30,000 miles. IROC-Z hood and body kit. High compression world products cylinder heads. Mildly aggressive camshaft. Edelbrock Torker II intake. Edelbrock 650 cfm carb with electric choke. Headmen full-length headers. Y-pipe to high-flow muffler that splits to two for dual exhaust. .373 gear in rear-end. 3,000 miles on TH-350 turbo transmission with shift kit. Hurst Pro-Matic II ratchet shifter. Front tires P225/50R15. Back tires Cooper Cobra P265/50R15. Cool extras: Nice Pioneer stereo, power leather seats (not my preference but whatever), 15 inch Cragar sawblade-style rims, and Viper alarm system. And this is all for the (what I believe to be fair) price of $3,250 OBO. I know I've given you guys A TON to think about, but like I said, ANY help is appreciated. From what I've read, you guys are very helpful and I hope to continue posting on here. Thanks so much to everyone in advance.

 

I drive an '87 Trans Am or IROC everyday, and I have no problems with either of them. I trust them just as much as any other car. They are pretty damn safe too, especially for the time period. When they came out, they were rated pretty well in that area.

However, if you live in an area where snow is something to worry about, I highly recommend getting something different, or another car in supplement. These cars are sketchy enough in the rain, and they won't move at all if caught in more than 2" of snow. The quarter panels rust around the wheel well, and floor pans tend to rust pretty easy on these cars as well. I have a Grand Marquis for winter driving myself.

 

That's unfortunate. So even if I got a set of nice winter tires it'd be a bad idea?

 

Tires are not the problem, it;s that the cars are so low. They don't have the ground clearance for deep snow.

 

I'd look into to a beater or something like that, coming from someone who got their license not to long ago. What you described really isn't the ideal all year round car. I drive my Firebird in the spring,fall,summer, and drive a Regal GS or F-350 in the snow. Plus don't forget about the idiots on the road in bad weather, I got rear ended in my Regal GS and of course it hardly hurt it, but if it were my Firebird that got hit it would have been crumpled up.

 

The car sounds like a good deal for sure, but I don't think it would be a good idea for you as a daily driver. I live in Wisconsin where we get a quite a bit of snow and my 84 was terrible in the winter. I only needed to move it a couple blocks every once in awhile in the winter and even that was very difficult. When temps got below 10 degrees it would never start. I had another car for winter driving.

Neither of the the trans ams I've owned have been very reliable. I expect something to go wrong every 2 or 3 months. Nothing too major but it adds up eventually. It depends on the car and the mileage of course, there are a lot better 3rd gens than mine on the road.

 

Beside the getting around in the snow part, I see alot of other issues for that car being a daily driver.

1) That intake is a single plane and not very good for low rpm driving( every day traffic driving). It's more for a high rpm racing.

2) Those cool heads are great, but with the high compression, you are going to need high octane gas, 93 octane min, maybe 104 octane or better.

3) With the TH350 trans, which is a 3 spd and the 3.73 gears in the rear, you are going to need LOTS and LOTS of the high dollar gas. the car might get 7-8 miles per gallon.

4) It's hard to say Bubba built the car right and it's not rigged and hacked together, you being a young driver and this being your first car, you can't afford to fix a bunch of crap, just to get the car right and and safe to drive.

IMHO, I would buy the nicest, as close to stock V8 car you can find and afford. If you get a fuel injected car(TBI RS or TPI Z28/Iroc) and drive like you got sense, you should get close to 20 mile per gallon and you don't have to run the premium gas. You can always add the good stuff later. Post your location, maybe another member might know of a good car close to you or are willing to help check for Bubba's riggin's and fixin's.

Good luck with your search.

 

Try to buy a real IROC. No sense in buying a tribute car when you can get the real thing for close to the same money. And I second what most others have said. These cars suck in the snow! Get a truck or front wheel drive car for winter driving. This Cali boy spent three years in central Oregon and I would have never driven a camaro in that weather.

 

My 89 GTA with the 5.7l tpi and 700r4 on the highway gets 25-27 mpg but dallas and fort wort city traffic might get 8 mpg on a good day. Once I sat in traffic for 1 1/2 hours, went 2 miles and went from 3/4 of a tank of gas to empty in that time. As far as reliability goes the only trouble ive ever had I blew up the transmission one night racing it.