Admin, could you please point me to the correct forum to post a car for sale to get member's input on? I can't seem to find the right message board to use. Thanks

 

Well since this hasn't been moved, I'll ask it here. I'm thinking of buying this car.

http://www.autogallerychicago.com/we...nois/15133156/

What do you guys think of the price?

 

I'd have to see the car to pass judgment on that.

Keeping in mind that it's an antique (almost 30 yrs old now), the things I'd be looking at are:

Interior. Is it clean? Not sun-bleached? Plastic parts not all cracked around the screw holes? (since the "big" part of what we see, can be perfectly fine, but if the screw holes are cracked, it won't stay attached to the car)

Exterior. RUST. Being in Chicago, salt damage is KEY. There's basically NO WAY to fix a rust bomb. There's no such thing as "a little" rust in that part of the world (yes I grew up there, lived in an orphanage in Glenwood) if it has ANY rust AT ALL, it's toast.

Engine. Is it original? unmolested? well taken care of? I don't care about "maintenance records", so much as, is it clean? no evidence of leakage? everything there, hooked up, operating? everything (*cough* AC *cough*) work? Check Engine light come on when you turn on the key, and go out when the motor starts?

Drive it. When you close the driver's door, does it go "thoook" like a refrigerator, or does it go "clang {clatter rattle rattle rattle clink}" like a Mustang? Does it feel like all the rubber parts are turning to dust? Funny noises? How does the transmission work?

What does it need RIGHT NOW? Can you see the air through the sidewalls of the tires?

Do you have about $3000 you can dump into it RIGHT THIS MINUTE, beyond whatever it takes to buy it, for all the stuff that's crumbling to dust; tires, hoses, suspension parts, shocks, brakes? Don't even BEGIN TO HALLUCINATE that you're going to buy some "time capsule" car and start gearheading it on the street on the way home from its 30-yr resting place; do that, and you'll see a $10000 car turn into a $1000 car in ONE SINGLE AFTERNOON.

Tell us what you see when you go look at it in person.

 

The car has 28,900 miles and the rims have been refinished and repainted and the stripe is incorrect for an 85 IROC-Z. Color me suspicious.

The wheels and stripes should look exactly like this:
http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/...ont_resize.jpg
http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/...ear_resize.jpg

The stripe on a black car was the same as on any other 85-87 IROC with the black and silver stripes, which makes the silver look like it's "hovering" sort of. On a red car:
http://www.camarocarplace.com/wp-con...c-Z28-V8-2.jpg

 

Things I see from the start...The car was repainted. The headlight buckets should be satin black, not gloss, so that tells me repaint. The stripes are incorrect as stated. The rims have been refinished and repainted. They are not original looking, so paying extra for repainted rims should throw up some flags. The headliner is beginning to drop. This will cost a couple hundred to get fixed. Just be aware of that. The interior is clean, but the stereo is aftermarket and so is the speedometer. That would raise a flag in my mind to the car's real mileage. Also, the exhaust is not original. Why? Also, something as simple as the lighter is wrong.

It looks like someone "fixed" what needed fixing to sell the car. Is it worth the asking price? Only you can decide that after you see it in person. There could be very valid reasons for the repaint, muffler/radio swap. If you feel comfortable with those reasons, then you can decide what to offer. Be prepared though for additional repairs once you get it home.

 

And what he said lol.

I didn't have alot of time to examine as closely earlier, now I did and he's 100% right on all points. At the very least the front bumper has been repainted and someone put in that mileage on that switched speedometer. The shift **** is not on correctly, the stitching on each side should be facing the driver and passenger doors. The floormats are also not original and it looks like the rug might have faded spots. In total, way too many things are off for 29,000 miles. This seems more like a well kept just under 100,000 mile car. I'd be very cautious and probably skip over this one if a stock/original car is what you're looking for.

 

Yeah I didn't notice those minor things. I'm torn between finding a "survivor" and paying more or finding a really nice driver and paying less like this.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=331272981765

Chevrolet : Camaro RS

I know survivors are rare but they do exist. Just not sure they are worth the money.

 

I figured it was too good to be true. Why do you say the speedometer was changed? I've seen the same speedometer on other 1985's for sale.

 

1985's Used A 85MPH Speedo,Should Look Like This.

 

Weird. I had an '84 Z28 with that speedo. I assumed that in '85 with the iroc they upgraded and changed them.

Apparently they did not! Thanks for all the pointers. I'll stay away from this one for sure.

 

The 140 speedo with the Z28 logo was an over the counter parts department piece. It is correct GM, but it was not a factory offered part. The 145 speedo was introduced in late 1986.

Survivors are not rare. If you want a semi low mile, original car, you can find them almost daily. If you are looking for a daily driver, then I suggest that you consider a low mile car so you can get more out of it. With that, when was the last time you saw such a good looking NEW car for around $15-$18k? I considered getting a low mile example as a daily driver for my son. They are still tight, clean and will need only minor maintenance until some of the old parts start to break.