I have set up a test drive for friday. Do you think this is a good price? If not what would you offer him? What problem areas should i look for when i go to see this car?
Thanks for the help.
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...ce=&cardist=22

 

Looks like the rear speakers are missing...

Like any other car, look for the obious, Rust, Specifically around the rear wheel wells, they are difficult to fix and still keep the little ridge line... Also check the bottom of the doors for evidence rust... Also look for evidence of repainting, IE: Check the weather seals, inside the door jambs, around the windshield and just keep your eye open for repaint evidence...

The Hash marks have to go IMHO...

THe Shifter **** is sideways,

Paint looks like it might be original from what I can see, as it appears to be faded...

Good luck.

John

 

Thanks for the help! as far as the price, do you think that is a little much for a car that has 101K on it? I rarely see conv. 3rd gens. in my area and feel that the convertibles will only appreciate in value. What would you offer him granted if it is as solid as it looks?
He does say in the description that he has all the receipts, the orig. radio, shifter, and lists all the parts that were replaced since 2000.

 

As an original owner of an 88, I have the following observations:

Not stock:
Bowtie on front and on inside door trim
Steering wheel
Clutch/Break Pads

Stock:
Leather seats
carpet

While pictures don't tell the whole story, she looks very sweet.

CHECK THE CONVERTIBLE TOP FRAME CAREFULLY FOR OPERATION, MISSING PIECES, CRACKS (cast alum pcs).

Good luck!

 

Good call on the convertible top frame.....this is what it says in the description:
".....and all that is needed to bring it to excellence is a pillar repair that supports the new canvas roof ( it can be raised and lowered with no problem,, but driven only with the top down until it's fixed)."


Is this part that he is talking about, an easy part to aquire?

Thanks for the help.

 

Frankly, I feel a little "off" because I did not read the description.

What is a respray? Over-spray exiting paint?

As for the pillar, I don't know how the term relates to the frame. Look for your self and match it to the schematics (see stickys) and get backs with us. I do; however, have a suspicion that it is a very difficult part to locate and, from what I determined, dam near impossible to replicate. See the following post:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...tml?highlight=

 

Thanks for the informaton. im going to look at it on monday and i will get back to you. It seems like you are saying that its probably not in my best interest to get the car? I would hate to get the car and figure out that i could never get the top to latch properly due to the broken "pillar"

 

Don't be concerned with that. I have spare top parts if you need it. The parts that are really tough to find are some of the trim pieces such as the plastic trim on both the header and #1 bow of the top. If those are badly broken or missing it will be tough and expensive to replace them with good pieces. I've rescued 4 convertible frames to date from PAP yards and they all had this part bad or missing.

Lon

 

Id say you can deal the price down some more. This car is in my area and Ive seen it many times. Hes been tring to sell it for at least two years, origionally advertising it for something like 9k. I was up close to it at a show once and I noticed alot. It needs a paint job. The red is dull and theres alot of large chips that have been touched up all over the car. Its got those doofy lookin bowtie stickers all over it. I think i remember seeing some surface rust on the rear wheels wells but Ive looked at some many of these cars I could be mistaken. I noticed in the pics the door sills are out of a car with black interior. Plus, those fender stripes need to go, leave that to the vette guys. I cant speak for any of the mechanicals as I didnt talk with the owner. The pics on auto trader where taken at the show where I last saw the car, Moroso in guilford. In my opinion, its not worth 6k, maybe more like 4-4500.
Matt

 

Thanks Matt for the information. I now have some leverage knowing that he has been trying to sell it for 2 years. I don't think i will offer him anymore than 4500 dollars.

Can you tell me is he an older guy who owns it or is he young. Like younger than 21? that will also tell me a lot about how the car was treated.

 

Ive never actually met him. Ive seen the car in the parking lot of many of the shows I go to around here. Everytime its got a for sale sign on it and Its been listed on craigslist and auto trader numerous times. I can tell you that its the same person advertising it each time because the pictures are always the same. Id assume hes older than 21 but I cant really say for sure. The car looks to be an OK driver. Id say 4500 is fair for the cars condition. Where abouts in CT are you from?
Matt

 

Im from cromwell. I just dont want to get a basketcase. i dont mind putting some time and money in it. i wonder the reason it hasnt sold?

 

Id say it hasnt sold due to price, and more recently the economy.

 

Thats a pretty sweet convertible man. I dunno i don't think 6k is too bad but you could talk him down. If your looking to beef it up, don't get a convertible you'll twist the frame and body panels etc. if your running too much power. If you wanna check for rust bring a magnet with you and check around the common rust areas with it. If the magnet sticks, its good metal, if not its probably been bondoed and painted over. Either way you could replace the quarters, fenders for like 200$ and do the work yourself.

 

Twist the frame???
I think as long as you do not shoot for the 13's in the quarter the frame is fine on a convertible to take the torque of the engine... I have a Formula 350 convertible... no problems... Granted its a High 14 sec car but the point remains...

Granted it all boils down to the car and if you forget to close the doors all the way before pounding on it... If you leave the doors slightly ajar then you will twist something as much of the structural rigitiy goes thrugh the doors being closed... Also the condition of the chasis etc will determine how much torque you can put to it before twisting something....

John

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with my questions on this car. I'm going to see it today after work today, and I will let you know how it goes and if there will be an addition to the third gen owners community.

Thanks again.

 

Well no go on the Camaro. The guy is diluted on how nice the Camaro is. The car needs a lot of work to be up to my standards, and he would not budge past 5500. I offered him 4500 which I think is too high for that car. As far as the "broken pillar" that he is talking about, its basically the frame of the conv. top was broken in half.

 

I knew somethin had to have been up for that car to be on the market for so long. Every time I say it it had the top down. Seeing that Id be suprised if it even goes up. I had a feeling the guy thought the car was better than it is, seeing as it hasnt sold in two years. Are you lookin for a vert or will a ttop/hardtod car do. I know of quite a few in the area.

 

Well the top did go up but im not sure how safe it would be to drive like that. I have always been a t-top guy, but i jumped at this car because its rare. Im in the market for a 5spd, v8, t-top car. if you know anyone who is selling something like that let me know.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Well well....

I just thought I might respond to the ongoing saga of my car - the buyer
came to see it today. I didn't even know that you all had been talking about
it until he mentioned it today.<p>

Seems that overall, a lot of good advice came from the forum on how to approach
the purchase of this car. The buyer, however, decided to focus on the one response
that met his needs, and that was Matt's (camaro430sut). After seeing the car at
pretty much the best it's going to look, Matt recommended 4500 was "fair" for an offer.
The buyer offered 4250 and said I should take it. But was he right? <p>

It's true that the car needs some attention, but as advertised and observed - the car
makes for a nice driver- no doubt. The buyer declared his intention to treat this car as
a restoration candidate, and I then pointed out 5 thousand dollars in shortcomings that
would need to be addressed if he was to place the car properly in show condition.
The things that were observed here as incorrect were aesthetic changes that were made to
the car ten years ago when there were a few more of the around. Don't like the Bowtie
door emblems? Just peel them off. Don't like the lockguards with the little bowties?
Peel them off. They keep the door paint from getting scratched by errant keystrokes.
The fender stripes (hash marks) are decals too. And the Hurst Pistol grip is
made to grab from the side. And again, I have the original baseball shifter as mentioned
in the ad.<p>

Having seen people focus more on their individual tastes, I thought I'd look at the bigger picture.
While Matt has the best hands on-close up look at the car in Guilford, what about other
sentiments? <p>


"While pictures don't tell the whole story, she looks very sweet. " - Gatorcola <p>

" Thats a pretty sweet convertible man. I dunno i don't think 6k is too bad " - 86rsconvertible<p>

On the top and possible repair worries - even this proves that people can
manage with some adversity:<p>

"Don't be concerned with that. I have spare top parts if you need it."<p>
"I've rescued 4 convertible frames to date... " - lonsal <p>

Let's see: Matt has a Camaro already, and he lives near us in the land of VERY few IROC-Z
Convertibles. He said so himself...a hardtop or a T if you want one. If he didn't have one, like the buyer here, maybe he'd pay ten percent more
than his estimate to get a nice rare 5 speed convertible driver? If he thinks 4500 is "fair", why would
five and change be "diluted" (!) as the buyer said? And Matt's car is all tricked out -
he didn't restore his car to original as the buyer plans to. Any car can be used for a hot-rod app,
but if you're going for original/restoration - isn't it worth 10 percent more to get
the highly optioned limited edition convertible in great mechanical condition? <P>

Overall, it saddens me that our buyer came here today ignoring most of your good advice.
No magnet for bondo. No knowledge of the options and rarity of them. Not even a GLANCE at the
receipts for all the maintenance. All he came here with was an offer and no flexibility. He got
a number in his head before he came here and no matter what he saw...that was going to be the offer.
And because of that, he missed out on owning a real solid restoration candidate that is a blast to
drive on nice sunny days.<P>

dave r
madison ct

PS Look around the car mags...you'll see cars that have been in there for a LONG time. This car was out on the Post Road at our garage for seven weeks and got no offers. People just aren't spending a lot of money on toys today.

 

“the car makes for a nice driver- no doubt. The buyer declared his intention to treat this car as a restoration candidate, and I then pointed out 5 thousand dollars in shortcomings that would need to be addressed if he was to place the car properly in show condition. The things that were observed here as incorrect were aesthetic changes that were made to the car ten years ago when there were a few more of the around.”

As I said to you Dave, the car is a good driver, and as stated to my GF last night the body was in decent shape and mechanically it was probably 85% which is really good for a 20 year old car. Yes my intentions were that the car was going to be an original restoration for me. As far as the 5 thousand that it would take to bring it to show car condition, having done many restoration in my day I can tell you that it would cost A LOT more than 5 grand to get the car up to those standards. You got to remember that in the 80’s Chevy did not make many convertibles and the parts would be very difficult to find, replicate, or restore, and if you could find one it would be really expensive.


As far as the aesthetic things on the car such as the bow ties and the hatch marks on the fenders, I didn’t even mention those when I saw the car, they didn’t bother me because the car needs a paint job.

" Thats a pretty sweet convertible man. I dunno i don't think 6k is too bad " - 86rsconvertible<p>
I thought it was a sweet convertible in the pictures too. Then I saw it in person and just like ever other camaro I have gone to see you see things in person that the pictures don’t show. The pictures made it look like a 6g car.

"Don't be concerned with that. I have spare top parts if you need it."<p>
"I've rescued 4 convertible frames to date... " - lonsal <p>
If the spare top parts are so easy to come buy, why would the owner not get it fixed. That is my biggest pet-peeve, on my Civic I had to do some work on it which required me to take off my bumper and resulted in me breaking 2 of those plastic push in clips. I went to the Honda dealership and purchased the parts for a total of 8 dollars on clips that probably cost 1 dollar to produce a 100 of them. I got those clips and put them on to hold on the trim piece because if something breaks, you fix it. I am wondering the reason you would not want to fix the top, and don’t say because it’s a convertible. If the cars intention was to be driven with the top down all times, Chevy would not have put in a convertible top. We have a convertible at home, and there are times I like to put the top up even in the garage so that you don’t get the interior dirty, and keeps moisture out.

“Overall, it saddens me that our buyer came here today ignoring most of your good advice.
No magnet for bondo. No knowledge of the options and rarity of them. Not even a GLANCE at the
receipts for all the maintenance. All he came here with was an offer and no flexibility. He got
a number in his head before he came here and no matter what he saw...that was going to be the offer.
And because of that, he missed out on owning a real solid restoration candidate that is a blast to
drive on nice sunny days.”

In my defense, as I said above the body was in good shape, and having done a ton of bodywork in my days I have a pretty good eye on weather the car had been bondoed and if the seller was trying to hide something. I did have a magnet in my pocket, but the body was not my biggest concern, the convertible top problem first thing on my mind. That is what broke the sale for me, and also someone who seems to love his car the way you do, why wouldn’t they take care of a few things that would make the difference between a 4250 car and 6000 dollar car.

Finally, just a little advice dave, on a sale don’t say that you fly to Mohegan Sun at 95MPH the whole way, don’t stereotype that all 22YO want to speed and break the law or even abuse their car that way. To some people, they like camaros just to cruise down the street and look cool in it. I can care less if the car is fast or not, which in comparison to some cars I have driven the 3rd gen camaros are not fast. If I want to accelerate and go fast, I will hop on my bike, that more than satisfies my need for speed. Also it’s not smart to tell a perspective buyer that the previous owner before you didn’t take care of the car at all, and left it outside all the time.

I didn’t not have a set number in my head before I saw the car; it was a collection of many thing that I saw in person.

I do hope that you get what you want for the car.

Best of luck
Matt

Dave, if I have offended you in any way I apologize, that was not my intent, just as you thought you had to defend your car (which I would have done the same), I felt I should defend the reason I think it is high priced. If the price comes down let me know.

 

All well and good Matt,

But remember: The car was restored by the previous owner. It was the
owner before him that didn't garage it. I feel I have to disclose those
things to people. It is, after all, the history of the car.
.
The car needs a paint job to win a show. It looks very good compared to everyday driving traffic. Does one normally find a car with a show winning paint job for 5 thousand dollars? The paint work alone could eat that up.

I think you're right though...a little work here and there would make the difference in a higher sale price. I had already decided to leave that up to
the new owner. Perhaps I'll reconsider.

You're a pretty knowledgable guy, Matt, and I'm sure that you'll get your moneys worth when you decide on your next car.

Thanks for coming b, and best of luck again,

dave

 

I don't normally stock the broken part in question. It's not as if it is an aftermarket or reproduction part that I can just re-order or make. It just so happens I have some frames so that part is currently available. Otherwise I wouldn't have written not to worry about that. FYI, I charge $225 for that frame piece. If someone revives this post from the dead in six years they may be SOL. Keep in mind they haven't made these convertibles for more than a few years. It will get harder to find good examples if someone is serious about buying a 87-92 convertible. If you're just looking for a convertible F-Body the 93+ are and will always be more plentiful. If you're holding out thinking the prices will go lower, I wouldn't count on it especially for the really nice examples.

Lon