im not sure if this is the right board to ask this on... but i cant find any kind of board that would be a place to ask about buying a car, condition, etc.. but people are here that can help so ill give it a shot

i found an 88 sport coupe camaro a few blocks away from me, its grey with light grey interior, center caps on the wheels are rusted, needs front brakes, no rust on the body as far as i know, ok paint, some chips and stuff. its got a 305 automatic, 150,000 miles, interior is ripped up, cracked dash, no options, pretty stripped down, catback looks like its rusted bad... i looked on kbb.com but i wanted some tips or stuff on what i should expect to pay, since these cars arent in too high of a demand around here, he's asking 2500.. but i know he wont get anything near that, probably closer to 1000? any help appreciated.. thanks

 

$1000-1200 is the highest I would go, assuming there is no rust.

 

if its well taken care of, is 150,000 miles too much to deal with? i would want to swap in a vortec 350 in a year or two, but drive it as is for now, but my dad hates this car and says its a piece of crap since theres 150,000 miles and macco paint no matter what price... lol

 

I'd agree with your dad... it is dung, and overpriced. Keep looking. There's better ones out there.

 

If it were a convertible like mine than definetly, but just a regular coupe $2,500 is WAY too much. Out of here you can a 92 RS with custom exhaust, headers, and maybe a cam for that price. (My buddy did)

James

 

no no no im definately not paying 2500 for this thing, but my dad asked about this car a while ago... and the guys wife sed hes not firm on the price, so im sure we could talk him down to like 1000ish when we point out to him wats wrong and wat needs to be done, im just wondering now if this car is even worth that much, cuz my dad sed any car with 150,000 miles is junk at any price.

 

BAAA-HAHAHAHA!!! Tell him to stuff it... offer him 1200 and say take it or leave it. 2500 is astronimical for a car like that if the body is crappy and the iterior is shredded. I paid 1800 for mine but the only thing wrong with my interior is a set of poniac seats (comfy, but they look out of place) and the head liner is ripped. Had 120,000 on the clock when i got it and the paint was f'd up but its rust free.

 

Well, not to disagree with your dad, but the 305/auto setup is pretty darn bulletproof and 150k is nothing on them. Give the guy 1k for it, use the extra 1,500 for a performance build on the tranny and some freeflowing exhaust.

Also the late 88 up tranny is what everyone wants, so you would be set. 82-92 seats are an EASY find, and dirt cheap for a good set. Ebay has a complete seat interior for about $100 bucks. Especially with everyone going racing seats and 4th gen seats pretty easy to find. Dash pads you can get new from one of our sponsors at the top of the page.

James

 

In L.A. that is a 400 dollar car. I wouldnt touch it myself , but if I had too I wouldnt pay over 500 for it.

 

Evil T/A where do you find that for $400? I'm in OC and look through LA and OC and haven't found anything much under $1,200.00. A couple of $800, but they don't even have an engine lol

If you know where to find one let me know I am looking for a cheap TPI car.

James

EDIT: Ok I am dumb... Look what I just found.


$1 - $500 Camaros

 

Where does this come from? Most of these haven't been taken care of, and the 700R4 is known to have its problems.

 

Well, most likely that 700R4 hasn't been taken care of, however in my post I told him to have it rebuilt anyway and with performance in mind when he does it. I am not saying run the beaten down tranny.

Also 90% of all 700R4 tranny problems that I have ever heard of were pre 1988. I have the 1988 and the SC he is looking to buy is an 1988, hence my comments. That is why GM has made the thing for so long. Just changed to the electronic control on the 4l60E.

 

I wouldn't buy that either......

I bought my camaro with 92,000 miles on it though.......although it was a Florida Car and i have only put 30,000 miles on it in the past 3.5 years......

Rust = NO, NO

 

The only reason they last so long is the 4 cyl. power in a v-8 package. They just arnt strong enough to break themselves. I think the power output of an 88 lo3 was just 150 horsepower. Mod the engine real good and i garantee youd be able to break it in nothing flat.

 

That's why so many guys in here are running tremendous power through them with only a slight performance build right?

Also why the the only difference between the 700R4 and the 4l60e (used behind the LT1 and LS1) is that one is controlled by the ECM/PCM and one is not.

The tranny's that had the problems for chevy in the thirdgen Fbodies was the stick. Put some torque behind that thing and see the metal shards fly

 

yea rebuild on the trans is definately something to do, im not doubting that at all lol im really content on motor swapping, and since it is a V8 base, it will be a little easier compared to the V6 i have now... but i dont know if i want this car... im going to talk to him at 4 today when he gets home and show him all the stuff thats wrong, and tell him hes absolutely nuts thinking hell get that much, and offer him like 600 and work up from there

 

Sounds like a good plan.

Also the 88 lo3 had 170hp. Unless your talking RWHP, well than I doubt it even made it to 150 hehe

Good luck

 

my ***... i just talked to the dude on the phone for a minute and found out the car is a V6, i guess i misread the add... wow. what a complete waste... if i was buying the car in that condition... it better atleast have a V8 base so i can swap motors easily... but a V6...? forget that lol this guy is smoking if he thinks he'll sell this car for more than 700$ let alone 2500 LOL

people these days :lala: oh well, thanks for the help and thoughts, points of views etc. hehe