Hi,

Been looking for a car a couple years now. Almost bought a Blue 89 5.7 Iroc last year, but didn't work out. I regret letting that one slip through my fingers. It had something like 79k miles and had the rear window louvers which I love immensely!

So this car on the surface appears to be a good deal. 92 Z28, 104K, 5.7, G92 option and power everything, hardtop. He's asking $6500. This car is 7 hrs away from me, so I can't exactly hop on over there to look closer.

I was pretty eager to close on it, until he showed me pictures of some rust on the driver door where the center length wise trim is. Is this spot a recurring issue among the 3rd gens? This is honestly the first time I've seen one with rust in that spot. It appears very dark and comes out the other side of the trim, which leads me to believe it is pretty bad, as in needing some metal repair. What tips are there to find out if this is surface rust or serious rust?

What do you guys think? Ask for a lower price or is this door gonna end up costing me an arm and a leg?

 

 

KInda looks like its had a rough life. Not terrible, but certainly not great. I dunno man, I think there are better deals out there. You're not gonna get a perfect car for that price, but overall I feel the car should be pretty clean. Maybe a few blemishes here and there, but overall the car should be pretty nice. That one looks a little rough all around. -plus I'm always suspect of the owner who doesn't take the time to get it ready to sell.

 

Well, I like the car. But that rust...IMO, it's going to be hard to match that color, and bring the rest of the paint up to match the shine and gloss of the new paint. It can be done, but you'll need a good body shop. And, good body shops cost money. So figure that into your price.

 

I'd guess at our shop that door would be about a $600 to $700 fix. I would try to do a color blend on the door if posible....but the rust spot is plenty close to the front of the door. Bit then the entire door would be cleared, so it would shine more than the rest of the car. On a newer car that isnt really an issue...but its hard to say how well the fender and quarter would buff up to match the shine of the newly painted door.

I would worry about what the bottom of the door looks like once the ground effect is taken off. Might be opening up a can of worms......but might not, too

 

I say, make sure it's the one you want, unless your just looking for a cheap driver. Why?
It's just a door. Many of them to be found for reasonable price if that one is too gone. I wouldn't put much money in it, since you could find another that would just need to be painted to match. It really comes down to what your plans for the entire car is. I do agree that is alot of money if the rest of the car is in the shape we are seeing-(interior? mechanicals?) How nice do want it and how much are you planning/willing to put in it? Now add that to the purchase price...is it worth it to YOU? You will never be ahead on what the end result will be unless you can do everything, and do it cheap, with minimal investment from the get go, maybe. These aren't as cheap to fix up as they use to be, and going big on them is expensive! PS-That was a slick 3rd gen in it's day!

 

ill sell you mine for $6500 has no rust haha. its on the for sale section. 83z28 from Rochester ny

 

ha, I was looking strictly at 87-92 z28/irocs.

I can't believe I forgot to mention this. This is a theft recovery vehicle.

This is what happens when you get too excited, you brain tries to push out bad data...

He is down to 5800 now, but now I'm worried about reselling on my end 10 - 15 years from now. Can a "salvage" title be fixed? or is it going to be a permanent thing?

 

That's a hefty amount to pay for a car with a salvage title. Especially one that has an odd amount of rust on the door considering the rest of the car looks solid. It may be just poor quality pics, but it also looks like that car hasn't been driven in a whiiiile which typically means you're going to immediately start spending money on getting it running and driving right. I'm not sure what kind of market you're in but I feel like that's a 5k car tops IF it had a clean title, I think there are better examples to buy

 

 

Technically, it's a rebuilt title, not salvage anymore. Based on his input, it was given the designation early in its life, around 1996 or so. But, you guys may be right. I might've jumped the gun. It totally slipped my mind while I was asking for all the pics and info. Believe me, I pestered him for a couple days. We never officially agreed, close, but came to a rough price point, when I realized, oh crap I forgot about the title... Now to back out, it feels like I'm stabbing him in the back, but as you guys have said, 5-6k with a clean title. I think I would still buy it, but it'd have to be at half price and I don't see him doing that. I have a soft spot for the imperfect cars... I take in the stray cars lol...

 

Tarta, I looked and found your sale ad. Wow, nice car. Can't believe you've had to lower the price so much and for over a year, yet still no fish! I know how that feels... If it weren't for the carb... I think a lot of people just don't want to mess with carbs anymore. I got one on my bike and that's enough of a pain in my butt lol

 

Any title issue kills the resale value. I'd say subtract 50% from the value of a similar car with a clean title. Personally I'd scratch it off the list and keep looking.