So I was just curious today and decided to run my VIN through NADA's Vehicle History Report (same as CARFAX).

When I bought my car, it was my understanding that I was buying it from the second owner with 88,000 miles on it. It was a pretty clean 83 z28 camaro with good interior and a smooth running v8...

According to the VHR, it was first titled in 1992 (it sat on the lot that long) and I am the current fifth owner. When it went for emissions in Portland in 1996, it had 140,000 miles on it and in 2001 at the same place, it had 176,000. No serious incidents, just a lot of changing hands.

What perplexes me is that it's a cfi car with almost 200k on it and it runs LIKE A TOP. Absolutely runs perfect, idles at ~600 consistently and averages 17mpg. Leaks almost no oil except a little bit in front of the timing cover and a puff of smoke from valve seals.

I don't love my car any less because I found out its very high miles (I actually kind of love it more for being such a trooper) but do you guys think there's a good chance the drive train has been overhauled? The tranny shifts smooths (slips sometimes at WOT, but I never do that) and the engine runs perfect.

 

that is great, i checked there and had 27 reports on my iroc, not wanting to spend cash to find out stuff i dont want to know.

 

Very nice looking car! I think if it runs good and you like the car it really does not matter about miles. I have been wanting to do the same thing on my 89 camaro.
Was told by the person I bought it from that the 46,000 was original. That I was the third owner. So were you satisfied with the report as a whole? Was it worth the $29.00 bucks?

 

I've got 29, glad someone else is up here with me lol. I'm kind of wanting to pay to see my report since there are numerous signs that my car was totaled and rebuilt...curved doors, crinkled chassis, etc.

 

wohoo im not the only one!, mine has a clean title, yet most of the car has been rebuilt/ reinforced. im almost tempted.

 

One thing on my car that would prove my theory of it being totaled and rebuilt would be my VIN on my engine, but I don't know if the engine was replaced because the frame looks a drives straight...it's just that I have a nearly brand new front end (bumper to accessories for sure is new).

 

These CARFAX type reports are notorious for recording the wrong mileage on older cars with 99k odometers.

When they roll in to emissions or whatever, the moron punching in the information will generally just assume that the car has rolled the odometer once already.

Judging by the fact that there are no recorded instances of your car having less than 140k miles, I would say that there is a strong possibility that this is what happened. Couple this with the fact that if it was indeed not titled until 1992, that would mean that whoever bought it took a mint camaro and then drove it roughly 3 times the average annual mileage for 4 years straight. 35,000 miles a year would be insane. I used to commute 110 miles a day and travel long distances for work and I didn't reach that amount. The car would be completely worn looking with that kind of use.

Cars with 200 k generally show significant wear on the human touch points in the interior. The brake pedal cover will be worn, possibly through the rubber in the corner, the seat will be worn where people place their hands to brace themselves where they enter and exit. The carpet/floor mat will have a wear spot where the heel of your shoe rests as you drive.

Considering these factors, I would say it's highly unlikely your car actually has 188k

 

huh maybe I overreacted. I can barely remember the condition of my car when I got it because I've done so much work to it and it looks practically brand new.

I do kind of feel better after spending the money on the report though.

 

I agree with Pablo. Cars with almost 200k are almost always beaten all to hell. And with that many owners, not all of them would have taken great care of the car. More than likely that report is all jacked up.

 

When I finally registered my car is FL, I took it to the police station for VIN verification and mileage statement. I had somewhere near 12k miles on the car, it looks like it and the dumb cop wrote 112k on the forms. I told him to change that and he was perplexed that a brand new looking car that was 18 years old at the time was not a restored car and still original. I had to prove it to him before he would change it.

Also, your car was registered before 1992. That's why you cannot rely on carfax or any of these reports. They only have access to whatever info they were given.

 

so it really could have more than five owners

 

Not necessarly. The Carfax on the one owner car I recently purchased showed a title change about 8 years ago. Divorce settlement.

 

those carfax reports arent accurate back in those years, my car had possible mileage roll back due to me changing to a 145 mph speedo, a few years later it was all clear ...

 

I just looked at your albums, and your car looks great. Nice job bringing it back to life. I love the black-on-charcoal with the red Z28 emblems and no stripes--exactly like my 1983 Z28 looked when it was stolen in 1986.

I've done VIN searches for mine, and there's no public record that it ever existed; only GM's records verify its VIN. But mine was an HO/5-speed, and yours is a CFI/auto, so I'd doubt its entire drivetrain would've been changed. Also, mine's mileage wasn't accurate at the time it was stolen(I was the original owner, so I know why...).

I can't attest to the accuracy or inaccuracy of Car Fax, and such, but cars having been stolen might explain the lack of, or confusing information on early history and odd mileage records. After all, these cars were the most stolen in the country at that time, so there are probably some people today who are unwittingly driving formerly-stolen thirdgens, maybe even some who know they are. So threads like this where a search of an early thirdgen Z28's VIN and mileage show very strange and inconsistent results always interest me. My car was probably still out there for awhile... might still be... One of these days lol...

 

CarFax and Autocheck are only as reliable as the humans inputting the information. My 89 Convertible shows a jump from 5000 to 50,000 miles and back to 5100 miles something like that within 30 days... It is bizarre, then I realized that whoever inputted the information into the computer included the .1 digit of the Odometer...