dustinb015

im buying an 83 camaro z28. its the L69, 305 4bbl h.o. with 5 speed. only 41000 original miles. i know this is the original miles because it was my grandmothers car that i am buying it from. and has not turned over. its been sitting for about 18 years. not perfect but runs great. everything is original but the fuel pump, fuel fliter, tires, and radio. still going to replace a lot of stuff thro. to me its price less. but im paying $5000.00. if u could let me know what you think. thanks

chazman

iTrader: (4)

$5K would be fine for that if it were running and pampered instead of sitting and rotting for 18 years. Buy it and fix it, but grandma needs to make you a better deal. Tell her I said so.

dustinb015

it is running. its my daily driver. runs a1. the hood the worst main thing that is rusted out. some rust on the body but just surface rust.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

if you are planning on treating the rust, it's going to need a full repaint, and maybe a new hood. it could also have hidden rust, like the floor boards. personally, I would rather have a rust free car with 4 times the miles, than low millage car with rust

Tell granny you would love to have it, but for what it would cost to treat the rust before it eats the car like cancer, you just can't justify putting $5000 into it. $3000 tops, and that's only because you know the history of the car


by the way, not a good place on the forum to put this post, maybe a moderator can move it to a more appropriate spot

Impaqt

iTrader: (1)

5k is crazy high for that car.

Look underneath it. Check the floor pans. With that kind of rust on the hood and behind the doors... I'd be afraid of what you might find underneath.

Thats a 2-3k car.... tops. if the floorpans and strut towers are solid.

Aaron_SK

iTrader: (1)

Your Grandma ripped you off hardcore, dude. Don't know prices back East but out here that car is worth $1500 on the best day.

dustinb015

some rust wear the doors hinges r at. rest of the car is solid besides the hood. under side is good no rust strut towers good. do plan on gettin paint job. when i have the money. the rust behind the door is not that bad yet. i really appreciate everybodys opinion. goin to try and talk her down. plan on gettin new hood to this one is to far gone

58mark

iTrader: (3)

any car that has rust that has destroyed the hood has GOT to have rust in the under carraige. You might not be able to see it unless you pull back the carpet. just be careful

dustinb015

k thanks man. its been sitting and when we had it on the lift everything looked good but will look under the carpet. it dose have a knockin sound when it is cold out but it comes and goes and can only here inside the car. thought it might be a rode but i would think it would do it all the time if it was a rode. also gets louder when u rev the car up. but u can not hear it outside the car. has 5w30 oil in it.

Touareg

Way to high for that car. It is rare but its got rust and rust is a cancer that can't be stopped. I paid $4800 for my Trans am with less miles and in much better shape.

camarosrock1989

iTrader: (1)

I understand it has some sentimental value being your Grandmothers. That is very low mileage. Hey if you love the car and are willing to drop some money in it thats your deal. Yes the car is over priced, but a long lasting family car. I do have a question, why did she let it sit so long if it run so good? If she is charging you that price because she needs the money, do what you feel you should. Or maybe she is trying to teach you a valuble lesson. All said and done, it is a nice ride! Is it your first car?

dustinb015

they were getting to old to get in and out it and got other cars to drive. and never tried to sell it. i like the car and if i want it i got to pay for it. its not my first car. the white gmc truck in one of the pic behind the camaro is my first car it still run great to goin to use it for winter time. but shes just money hungry. and she talked to a guy out here in indy at a car show and she told him about it and he said she could get $6000 the way it sits just because the miliage on it. but that was like 2 years ago. but i never see the L69. i always see the lu5 and the lg4

Impaqt

iTrader: (1)

6k huh? I'm sure she mentioned it was sitting out in the weather for 16+ years at the time right?

Sorry, the low miles mean nothing if the car was abused.

Tell her to try to sell it for 5500-6k and when she comes back down to reality, buy it for $2500

chazman

iTrader: (4)

That sounds like a good plan.....

Aaron_SK

iTrader: (1)

^ This.

It may just be the west-coaster in me talking, but that much rust is death. It's worth scrap plus parts unless you think the shell can be welded up.

ROCFATHER

Damn dude your grandma must hate you...did u **** her off as a baby?? 5K is way too much man. I would stay away from any rust period. Offer her 2K and mow the lawn a few times, that should cover it. Good luck.

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

I agree with everyone else... In Northern California, I probably wouldn't pay $1500 for that car. You can find TPI cars all day here rust free for around 2k.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

The good:

--L69
--Low miles
--Original paint and body
--Known history

The bad:

--Doesn't appear to have LS Conteur interior
--Has sat for 18 years (negates odometer reading for the most part)
--Visible rust, meaning too many surprises where you can't see
--Too high of a price for that; would be a good price for a clean L69 car in good mechanical shape

$2k tops, but honestly closer to $1500. That said, IF you have plenty of money to throw at it, and it's just sentimentally priceless to you, I'd go $3k, as long as I realized I had plenty of money to sink into it that I'd never get back and realized I was willingly getting screwed at $3k. I can show you any number of better cars for less than that.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Are you sure you're not adopted? Or perhaps a red-headed step child? No offense, but Grandma is taking advantage of you. See, here's the thing... You describe the car and it sounds like, well maybe it's a $5-6k car. But then you see the pics and wow. The pics aren't representative of a 40k mile car. Most people have the foresight to park a car for 18 years under some kind of shelter, or indoors. What you've got there is a 0-$1,000 car. $5 or $6k would be a fair price with that mileage and no problems, not in need of a paint job, etc. If it's not too late, I'd say forget that car and shop around for one with ZERO rust. If you can see ANY rust, there's rust you can't see that's typically much worse. The mileage is meaningless when the car is weathered and rusty.

grasshoppertym

price out some other camaros in the area and show her the prices and go from there
up her these cars are all over the price range from $1000 right to $8 000 for a real nice one with some minor upgrades and fresh paint. a new hood and paint alone is going to run you 3k or more. but if you really want the car negoitiate a price on your birthday to get the price down

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Granny knocked his thing in the dirt, let's be honest here! To put it into perspective, a mint '89 L98 with 28k on the clock just went for 9.5k on ebay. So 1LEs excluded, there's your benchmark for the best of the 3rd Gen. The '83-84 L69s, while rare and neat, aren't up at that level. I say this is a 7k car in mint shape. So walking backwards from that, I say we have a 1,500 car here. Paint and rust repair alone is probably 4k, and engine work 2k. That alone will put you above the top value of the car.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

no more than 1500 or your getting ripped of big time. low miles and sat for 18 years sorta nuetralizes each other

navy02ws6

Geeze, what'd you do to your grandmother to make her hate you? Looks like a $1,500 car, and that's me being really generous for the miles. Sorry man, but you asked...

88gta3508

Grandma... What big teeth you have.. 5G that will put you in a LT1 vette..

redneckjoe

gonna need tires too. id go for the vette. honestly, i wouldnt pay a grand for that car. sorry.

OSS

You sure it's an 83? 82-83 Z's had fiberglass hoods, whereas in 84, they changed the hood to metal. L69 cars were all 5 speed aswell.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

i thought fiberglass was optioned

coolram62

iTrader: (2)

Not all '82-83 Z28s came with the SMC lightweight hood. The only Z28 that it came standard on was LU5 equipped cars. I don't know how Chevy determined what cars came with them or not (was there an actual RPO you could check off when ordering). Then there was the recall that affected late '82 - early '83 cars equiped with the SMC hood because of delamenating (separating). The repair as far as I found was replacing the SMC hood with a steel version. The '83 L69 cars may have included the hood as part of the package but that's not a given (unless someone may know otherwise). And all '83 L69 equipped cars were 5 speeds but in '84 you could order the 700R4 also but went back to just manual in '85 (with B4Z IROC pkg only) before it was cancelled mid-year.

OSS

Interesting, I did a bit of research on these facts, and it turns out that L69 was available in auto for '84 Thanks for the correction
" L69 now available was with BOTH 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmissions."

I didn't know this at all! I'll see if I can dig up any info about the SMC/stamped steel hoods for our general knowledge

-OSS

IROC#1

That is the "west-coaster" in you talking! lol! I agree with your post! I would never buy a rusty car but thats probably because they are so rare out here...If I came across one I would know its from the east coast and move on...
In regards to paying $5000 for that car...Ummm, DONT DO IT! That car is worth $1500 MAX.

IROC#1

You are fricking HILARIOUS!!! I really laughed at this comment!! Good one!

dustinb015

i take it as im not goin to get the car from her unless i pay up for it, great car to me runs perfect. i love it. she has a copy of the original title. its an 83. it is a 5 speed manual trans. and it is the same hood that came on the car when she bought it form the dealer in 83

58mark

iTrader: (3)

none of that justifies the price she is asking. For what it would cost to get the rust fixed on that car, replace the hood, and have a full repaint, you will be 10K into the car.

look around at what that 10K can buy you in the thirdgen world, and you'll see what the rest of us are talking about

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

yeah shes on crack. 10k in the thirdgen world is alot, and thats not a good car to start with when your paying that much for it

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

It may be worth 1500 as stated, but when you can get a rust free car for just a little bit more, it's still stupid to pay that much for it.

All that low mileage, original, factory, known history stuff is great when the car is still in great condition. This has been said before, but I wanted to reiterate it for emphasis.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

adding off of infernalvortex i got my 92 camaro for 200 bucks without an engine or trans, all the wiring was there good interior paint and all that. now i couldve gotten an engine off craigslist for really cheap refreshened it and still amde the 1500 mark and known it didnt need anything else. whereas if you got the car for 1500 im willing to bet theres gonna be some gremlins youll have to take care of and it will add up

Awesome-X

Is granny trying to retire in Florida in the next couple months?? Honestly man there are WAY better deals in Indianapolis and I would not EVER give more than $600 for something like that. I live just south of you and I just bought this 2 weeks ago in Indianapolis for $900. Yeah, it looks a little rough but it's complete (side skirts in garage as the car is being prepped for paint) and its a t top 305 5 speed....

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

And just for reference, it's certainly not a Z28, but I daily drove it for years in this state - was very reliable - great car. This is what my $1500 1992 Camaro looked like the day I bought it:



No rust anywhere except on that stupid metal frame around the hatch glass.

Jason E

Given the low miles and L69 status, I would say its worth $3,000 tops...

I paid $3,000 for my 86 with 30k on it with less rust, but needing a full repaint, which its received. I know people on here love to complain that low mileage doesn't mean anything, but I 100% disagree. I had a 120k RS stored indoors from day one, and this 30k Trans Am that sat outside for roughly 5-7 years. The TA is 10x the car the RS was. Far tighter, smoother, better overall car. I had some surface rust on the hood and roof. Chemical strippers and DA sanders took care of that Granted, mine was barely even rust, but it was there.

It sounds like a nice car...for $3,000. Don't underestimate the value of low mileage when it comes to a car with a chassis as tight as a wet noodle

58mark

iTrader: (3)

i think 1500 is too low too, but it would be a nice family discount...

I said 3K in post number four of this thread, and I stick to that