I,ve been looking for a 1987-89 IROC-Z in fair shape for more than half a year now. In that time I've looked at thousands of cars on line and have a fairly good idea of what the going prices for various models are depending on condition. Unfortunately, most of the cars I've seen for sale in my area have been ether trashed out or modified beyond recognition, or priced way out of my budget.
I recently found one outside of Ft Worth TX, which is at the extreme range of the distance I'm willing to drive to take a look at the car if its close to what I want, but I,m not sure the seller will come down anywhere close to what I think it's worth.
The car in question is a 1987 IROC-Z, 100K miles on it, T-tops, 5.7L TPI, 700R4, factory yellow/black interior. Seller claims it's a southern car, no body rust, no dents or major dings, paint "a little faded" interior in good shap other than the headliner. Runs and shifts good, A/C working but car overheats when it's on. Brakes and suspension drive-able but may need work soon.The tags and inspection have just run out, which makes it a big pain in the butt for me trying to get it back to Austin if I were to buy it. He's asking $4500 for it, I'm thinking it's worth $3300-$3500 based similar cars I've seen for sale. Is the fading yellow worth an additional $1000? Take a look at the photos, comments and suggestions welcome.

 

A few more photos.

 

FYI, those are '88 and up seats.

 

hey, I saw that car yesterday. Ask him about his other yellow iroc. If I had to choose between the two, I would take the other one

 

If you like the car and the color, It's worth what your willing to pay. That being said, With what you described as to what all could be wrong, it seems to be mechanically sound, but with a car that's 24 yrs. old, your going to be working on it to improve drivability and reliability, so it will cost you more money. I personally paid to much for my '87, but then thats the one i wanted.

 

Pay that much for a car that needs paint, suspension work and god knows what else thats crazy. Keep looking.

 

Yea, I saw the other one in the background of the photo too. Is it for sale, did he give you any details about it?

 

Yes its for sale. the paint was much better, but its a 305 tpi intead of a 350, because the car is an 85. To my eyes, it looked like a better deal, unless you HAVE to have a 350.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

I decided a while back I'm not going to pay retail book prices even if it's what I'm looking for unless it pretty close to perfect. With my current IROC budget, I know I can't afford a car that won't have some issues. Brakes, suspension, steering, water and P/S pumps, speedo cables, P/W off the regulator, headliner, a lot of the usual worn out bits and pieces are things I expect and many of them I can fix myself. But major engine, transmission, electrical problems are things I can't deal with myself and don't have the money to get it done unless I can get the car for next to nothing.

Basically, I'm looking for one with say 100~125K miles or less on it, no rust or major body damage, engine and transmission in good shape, everything else at least in good enough shape to get it through state inspection and emission test. If I can drive it a little and enjoy it while I'm working on the rest, that would be great. I actually enjoy working on the old cars, it's the best way to learn about them. It also allows me to do things when I get the time and the money. Maybe a lot of PBJ sandwitches at lunch to save up money for parts!

I would like to have a yellow IROC, but I think this one is about $1300 more than it's worth to me. Then there's the issue of getting it home, probably would have to get it transported, another $300~$400.

 

or you could pay for the car and we could drive it down to you at the roundup. I'm sure there's somebody who would do that for you