I'm looking at buying an '87 IROC with a 350, ttops, posi. disc. rear, Black paint for $3500

The engine compartment is clean and looks good, it had good belts, new tires, the ttop weatherstriping had been replaced, one owner, The engine seemed strong, no noises, the trans shifted firm, the seats are in good shape, the door isnt sagging, six speaker radio.

Now the bad stuff, the steering wheel is dry rotted and very bad off, the pass. door panel cloth is loose, the headliner is starting to fall, the power door lock works but wont open the pass. side, there are a couple of small(less then a penny size) chips, the drivers side door has been opened on something and the paint is chipped off, the front right fender has two small dents in it The brake pedal is worn through bad. The paint isnt bad but is starting to fade on the nose and is getting old .

The iffy stuff, the coolant gauge isnt working, the engine is smelling real rich(isnt hasnt been driven to much) The brakes are real soft, real soft.

My question is would you buy this car and what else can I do to help narrow down whether this guy is lying?

 

couldn't running the carfax on the car tell you the actual mileage of the car at it's last inspection? when i bought my car back during the summer i ran a carfax and i think it tells you the mileage but i can't say for sure. sorry if that doesn't help any

 

LBC,

That's a tough call. I have an '84 Fiero that had the headliner start to sag and fall loose at 75,000 miles, and the brake and clutch pedals were worn through at under 100,000 miles. It had a lot of city driving. My '86 TA has just over 47,000 miles and is in what I would consider very good condition. The car is always in a heated garage and covered all winter. It only goes outside to drive and is never parked outside for any length of time. The nose paint on it is starting to turn a different color that the rest of the body, and all the paint is original. The urethane paint used back then just wasn't as good as it is now. My '94 Impala had the lower jacket of the steering column rust away after les than five years and 100,000 miles. The rest of the car is like new. And my wife's '88 Astro looked, ran, and operated like it had only 75,000 miles, but was actually used for ten years of boat and snowmobile towing, grocery getting, and kid chasing for over 180,000 miles before it was traded. I've seen two year old vehicles in worse condition. Basically, you just can't tell with a lot of certainty.

Your descriptions could be misleading, or could indicate a lot of mileage. I don't think they are a valid barometer of mileage, though. What might be a better indicator is the operating condition. If the engine runs well and seems to have good power, it probably doesn't have over 200,000 miles. Even well-cared-for engines get tired at that kind of mileage and just start to lose compresion and power. A quick compression and oil pressure test would be a better indicator or wear and mileage.

Other hints may be the transmission and differential. Most automatics that have been serviced regularly will easily last 150,000 miles, but 200,000 usually starts to show some sloppy shifting and less positive engagement. A lot of lash in the differential would also be a clue of very high mileage and/or abuse.

If you can get a good look at the suspension, that may be another clue. Most front ends will last 100,000 miles with periodic greasing. If all the components are newer or have been replaced, all the rubber bushings in the control arms are worn and torn away to nothing, and the rear control arm and torque arm bushings are gone, there's a good chance the car has well over 100,000 miles or has been really neglected or abused. Distributors with that many miles usually start to get a lot of bushing wear and will have some radial play that can be felt by moving the rotor side to side.

Still, it's a tough call. At least you're being cautious and looking for the signs. Look for the number of replaced components, like water pump, steering pump, transmission, replaced injectors, timing covers that are "too clean", clean or replaced oil pan, newer springs, replaced carpets, heater/AC blower motor, newer radiator, etc. A lot of newer parts may indicate a lot more accumulated mileage.

On top of all that, the price seems just a little on the high side unless the mileage can be verified and the body is really clean and rust-free. Still, I'd shoot him/her a lower price to start with, for sure.

 

I gotta problem here, I am going to be selling my Camaro and I installed a 145mph cluster and kinda ruined the old one, and the new one reads to many miles. The car is at 100,956 I've been keeping track since the swap, but the one i put in says 96541 i don't want to tamper with it cuase i broke the old one that way.

Any chance someone has an RS speedo laying around they could sell me? Anything with low milesor very close to 100,000

 

So your car has 100,000mi. but your gauge cluster reads 96,000mi.. I wouldnt worry about it.

 

Back to the topic if it has an inspection sticker that is getting pretty old you might be able to look on the back of the sticker and see the milage. I don't know if they actually right that at all stations or just the one that I go to. Or if they even have a space for milage on the back of the inspection stickers. You might be able to call your dps and give them the vin and have them run the milage from the different years the car was regestered.

 

I think 3500 for a car with even 150K miles is a bit on the high side. I think blue book is closer to like 2700........ May wanna run it at www.kellybluebook.com and see what you come up with.

 

I'm buying it, the car isnt as bad as I described, and it is definatly got 105,000 mi. Irocs go for $4000 or higher all the time around here. I got it for $3500 and it is exactly what we have wanted except for the year.