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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
My odometer says 27,xxx miles and I'm not sure if it's 27,xxx original miles or 127,xxx miles. I can infer from looking at it, it won't go past 100k, so my question is did they not expect cars to go past that, and if it did is there some way to tell that it has. My car is original paint and tbh for a 30 year old paint job actually dosent look bad.
No, in fact, they did not... until relatively recently, 100k miles was considered pretty much the design lifetime of a car. Even though, once they improved a few things like brakes and gasket materials, cars started lasting quite a bit longer. But even then, the factories didn't care; after all, what difference does it make to them whether mileage indication goes any higher? What incentive do they have for equipping cars with the extra digit?
That was also before odometer-tampering laws, mileage disclosure requirements at time of sale, penalties for lying about that, etc. If you weren't the 1st owner of a car, what that thing read just didn't matter, back in the day. They were completely unreliable.
No unfortunately, not many ways to figure out how many times it has rolled over, with any degree of accuracy.
My odometer says 27,xxx miles and I'm not sure if it's 27,xxx original miles or 127,xxx miles. I can infer from looking at it, it won't go past 100k, so my question is did they not expect cars to go past that, and if it did is there some way to tell that it has. My car is original paint and tbh for a 30 year old paint job actually dosent look bad.
Unless your interior has been replaced, the condition of it if well cared for can give a good indication of whether your car has 27k or 127k. A clean unmolested engine bay is another good sign of a low mileage car, again if things are original. If your car is truly at 27k it should most likely still be original but the 88-90 IROC wheels on your car could be a sign that things may have been changed. Post some good up close pics of your interior, engine bay and undercarriage for us to look at.. Documentation is another way to help establish the mileage of your car. In the end it's still just a crap shoot, no absolute concrete way to establish the mileage.
Last edited by GASPEDDLER; Aug 6, 2015 at 11:36 AM.
do a Carfax vin check on the car. It will give you some idea on the last odometer reading listing and dates. Then go from there.
I did one on a a 85TA I bought and traced it back to find out the original mileage was in fact 56K. Its worth the money.
Good idea Bob, I ran a carfax on my car and it goes back to 8/7/1989 when the original title was issued (5/89 build date) and the car had 8 miles on it at the time. It also documented routine maintenance, emission testing and even the electric antenna being replaced by a chevy dealer in 2006. It shows the mileage with dates throughout its 26 year life, definately money well spent.
Good idea Bob, I ran a carfax on my car and it goes back to 8/7/1989 when the original title was issued (5/89 build date) and the car had 8 miles on it at the time. It also documented routine maintenance, emission testing and even the electric antenna being replaced by a chevy dealer in 2006. It shows the mileage with dates throughout its 26 year life, definately money well spent.
Exactly! I found out my car was bought new in my hometown in PA. !!! What a cowinkiedink!
Ok so i bought a car report from NMVTIS and carfax, carfax had the more detailed report.
Basically 05/20/1993 the car had 125,715 looks like I'm the second owner and from the looks of it from 1993-09/21/2014 the car was not in use, makes sense cuz i bought it from some 70 year old dude who said it's been sitting at least 15 years
The guy I bought it from said he had put a new chevy 350 crate engine in. When I got it I rebuilt the Trans, and put some suspension upgrades on it. He had a receipt to prove purchase of the crate engine and that was actually kinda new purchased in 2012 . As for the interior the only thing that HAD to be changed was the t tops head board that was starting to peal and I changed the door panels to a different color and the radio has been changed nothing else has
Ok so i bought a car report from NMVTIS and carfax, carfax had the more detailed report.
Basically 05/20/1993 the car had 125,715 looks like I'm the second owner and from the looks of it from 1993-09/21/2014 the car was not in use, makes sense cuz i bought it from some 70 year old dude who said it's been sitting at least 15 years
The guy I bought it from said he had put a new chevy 350 crate engine in. When I got it I rebuilt the Trans, and put some suspension upgrades on it. He had a receipt to prove purchase of the crate engine and that was actually kinda new purchased in 2012 . As for the interior the only thing that HAD to be changed was the t tops head board that was starting to peal and I changed the door panels to a different color and the radio has been changed nothing else has
Yup, no way that car has 27k on it based on those pics. Still a great car enjoy it!
Last edited by GASPEDDLER; Aug 6, 2015 at 01:07 PM.
Good idea Bob, I ran a carfax on my car and it goes back to 8/7/1989 when the original title was issued (5/89 build date) and the car had 8 miles on it at the time. It also documented routine maintenance, emission testing and even the electric antenna being replaced by a chevy dealer in 2006. It shows the mileage with dates throughout its 26 year life, definately money well spent.
Mine was built 5/89, as well. Maybe they've spent some time together?
Since the subject of VIN#s came up that are close to each other here is one for you. I own a 1988 V6 sport coupe that is white and a 1988 IROC Convertible that is white and they were purchased about 15 years apart and there is 1 number that separates the VIN#s. There was either a Firebird or another Camaro built between them that got the other VIN# or they were one after the other on the assembly line of white Camaros that day back in 1988!!!!
Since the subject of VIN#s came up that are close to each other here is one for you. I own a 1988 V6 sport coupe that is white and a 1988 IROC Convertible that is white and they were purchased about 15 years apart and there is 1 number that separates the VIN#s. There was either a Firebird or another Camaro built between them that got the other VIN# or they were one after the other on the assembly line of white Camaros that day back in 1988!!!!
1989 Camaro production: 110,739, which means they had to crank out 303 a day assuming the production year is 365 days long, which I am guessing it isn't due to things like model year change overs.
Closed in 87 
