but it does include a fourth gen. Don't know if there is a website for the fourth gen, but anyway....

I am about to buy a 2000 Camaro (unfortunatly 6 cyl, T-tops, and etc) and the price I am going to get it for is at about $6500. At this point your all probably asking yourself "what's the catch?". Well, it is a rebuilt title. So, I spoke with the company that buys these cars and he said that I could come buy when it arrives, to see what kind of accident it was in (because once he gets them he starts to do all of the body and engine work to them to resell them). He then showed me a couple of pics of some other 2000 and 99 Camaros that were rebuilt titles and those were only smashed up in the trunk/side doors/ or a left fender, which never even came close to the engine bar. So, my question here is if anyone has any suggestions as to what kind of inspections I should perform on the car and what to look out for. Would these cars have any problems if they were just hit from the back or side or anythwere else other than the egnine bay, or am I getting suckered into something? (Don't forget that I get the car with a finished paint job and everything brought back to new) And if there is anything else I should know about this, any information would be appreciated.


Thanks

I used to have the 89 formula.

 

I'd say forget it, with a salvage title it will be worthless when you sell it, plus its a v6. for 6500 you could find a nice 93-95 z-28.

 

it all depends on who rebuilt it. talk to some people that have bought cars from them before and see if they incurred any problems. As you stated, it also depends on how hard and where it was hit. My buddy rebuilds cars now and then but he builds them for himself and sells them after a year or so. right now he has a 98 Corvette that was upside down and every which way around when he bought it, now it's 100%. He took the body shop the car, all the parts to fix it and still had to cut an $8k check to the shop for labor and materials. As mentioned, he is having trouble selling it because of the rebuilt title. Eventhough it was done right, it's hard to sell. A low value car wouldn't be too tough but when someone's shelling out $25k they want a clear title. If you plan to keep the car for some time, I wouldn't worry about the value issue, just find out if they are reputable or not.

 

Oh yeah, I plan to keep the car for a minimum of 4 years, hopefull for as long as I can. Most of these camaro's have about 12000-18000 miles on them, which is nothing. These cars are practically new. So I'm hoping on finding one that was just hit from the back or from the sides, so that I get a good motor. Do you think anything could happen to the internal components of the motor, if the car was hit from the back or any other place other than the engine bay?


Oh and the reason why I won't just buy a 95 Z-28, it because I hate the lights that it has. Those are the same old style "black boxy lights". The hood is also little too pointy for me, for those years. Once you get to a 98, they changed the lights to the newer type and they changed the hood, which looks sharper to me. I believe GM changed a couple of other things to it, but I'm not sure. I not even sure if they changed any of the parts to the engine.

 

ditto silent, i would not get a junkyard title car thats been in a accident, those are a nightmare and if you ever do decide to sell it, there was big a big fat "accident" all over the car and in the title giving a big red flag to anyone trying to buy it. i would say save up and get a good one.

 

What kind of nightmare might there be if the car is hit from back or the side doors?

 

I dont think that the engine would be damaged. Test it like you would any other used car and if you buy it can you get what you paid for it if you have to sell it? Drive the car around for at least 30 minutes. Leave the radio off and listen for strange noises drive in the city then set the cruise on the highway for awhile. Take some turns and bumps and listen for loose stuff. Does the car go straight any vibration? Make sure everything works headlight dimmer heater defroster ac lights etc. Slam on the brakes do they work good does the car stop in a straight line? Like I said drive the car at least 30 minutes!

 

Thanks man. That's somes really good advice. I fogot about how to observe the car when is brakes. I will definetly do that. And Slam on the brakes I will! I am also going to check out the entire underside of the car and make sure nothing is bent out of shape or if there are any stress cracks. I am also going to check all of the fluids (once time I almost bought a chev. lumina for my mother, and when I was almost about to buy the car, I took it to dealer to see what they would say, and he took of the oil cap and right under it was a light light coffee color oil, thus the car was majorly overheated and somewhere along the line, the radiator fluid married the oil). So anyway, I plan on checking and even tasting all of the fluids to make sure everything is ok (to make sure there is no Coffee Latte in the engine oil and to also make sure there is no Strawberry Shake in the trani fluid, or and also to make sure there isn't any OJ in the radiator). I plan on reving it up to at least 5500 RPM (although GM says it can go to 6000), I plan on turning the steering wheel as far right/left as I can while driving to see if the wheels rub against the body or if anything makes any noise. This is about all I can think of right now. I was wondering if you had some pointers as to how to notice if the airbags have deployed or are still intact?



Thanks for all of your help.