I sold my 1967 camaro 3 years ago at the insistence of my wife. Big mistake! I new I would regret it, but thought maybe 10-20 years down the road it would hit me. Needless to say I've got the itch to get another camaro. I am looking at a 1988 Iroc Z vert. I am not real familiar with this generation. I had a 1983 Berlineta as a kid. Any help would be very appreciated.

So, its a 1988 Iroc vert. Black, with red striping/decals. Red interior. 305 auto with TPT. Engine says 97,000, but its hard to say if this is correct. Fires right up and runs nice. New dual exhaust really rumbles. Auto seems to shift well. He says it does smoke a bit when first starting it at times, though when I drove it it did not.

The man selling it tells me it was in a front end collision when he bought it. He tells me it is not a salvage title. He is a body man. He said the frame was mildly bent, but corrected, he does not have documentation of this. He replaced front fenders, front clip and hood. Body appears straight, no rust, no dent, 3 year old repaint which shines. There seems to be a bit of a gap between the hood and front nose, not sure if this is by design or not fitting correct? Basically the body looks nice.

Interior is red, a bit faded, no rips, dash is solid no cracks. Some issues with the electrical. Fog light switch does not work and he did his own wiring to a new switch, which also doesnt work. Radio does not work. The vert top release on the back drivers side passenger is broken. He releases the top by unlocking it from directly underneath. Top is in great condition. Almost looks new. The electric release to open to the top works.

Original Iroc wheels look nice, tires okay.

The iroc decals on the door are towards the front and not to the back of the door as I believe is incorrect for the 88. Spoiler on the lid somewhat lines up crooked.

It is selling for $6500. I am interested. Have not made an offer. On the surface it looks real nice. I need to look at the RPO and make sure everything is what it is. The previous wreck concerns me. The fact that there is no way to document for sure how many miles are on this car.
I really want a nice IROC, but I don't want to jump into a bad car just because it looks so nice. Any thoughts on price, concerns, or other things to look for what be so very appreciated! Thanks!

 

IMO, 65 seems a bit high.

Both of the 3rd gens (both 91's) I have/had, had a slight gap between the nose and hood. My friends 91 also has some, but not as much as mine.

Look behind the headlights and pull the aircleaner lid and see if its cut below or look under the nose and see if its damaged. Anything much past the front core support I would question. Also see and make sure you can get an accurate front end alignment. Mine is on a clean title but yet carfax says it has had frame damage. I do get an accurate alignment.

The rear spoilers rarely line up on these cars. Even worse on a normal hatchback.

The handle to pop the top might be a bit of problem, you could try and contact "topdownsolutions" and see if he has something for you. Biggest thing is making sure all the vert parts are there and good! Check the two plastic panels where the top meats the windshield area. These are normally cracked and hard to find.

Inside the drivers door it should have a sticker that has "ASC" and some dates.

Good luck on the purchase, welcome to the boards if you do get it.

 

Thanks for the info, I will look into it. Any additional info is great. Any thoughts on a price I should offer?

 

$6,500 hundred is really high for a car that has been wrecked and has problems. At that price it should be cherry and exceptional quality. My '91 ragtop was about $1,300 and although it needs paint, shocks, etc, it is a daily driver without more than surface rust. Consider carefully what is being offered, look around, most ragtops in clean shape seem to sell around $3,000. Good luck...

 

FTR, I paid 2500 for mine. It needed a new rear bumper brace, left front fender, and has a tad bit of rust, plus previous mentioned problems.... New motor, new brakes, new top, reasonable tires and reasonable interior.

 

I appreciate all the replys. I am likely going to drive it again tomorrow. If the guy does not want to significantly come down on his price I plan to pass.

 

I know it's been 5 days (did you buy it?). They puff of smoke when starting is a common issue with almost all late '80's and very early '90's GM/Chevy vehicles. It was a problem with the valve stem seals. If that's all it is, and the engine runs fine and doesn't burn oil while running, your OK. That issue doesn't harm anything other than personal embarssement.
It's also not very hard or expensive to fix.

 

No, I have not bought it yet. Got price down to $5250. Not sure if this is too much to pay. It is a nice car, really the only possible problem I could possibly forsee is some engine work if something went bad.

 

http://images.craigslist.org/0102080...d34200d16b.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/0115020...022a00d3a6.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/0102000...0ca20050c7.jpg
I think you can link these pics

 

ya buy my red 90 iroc vert with 27k orignal miles asking 17k car is mint. radio is the only thing that doesnt work.