Me and my dad found a 92 rs with a 3.1, this car is absolutely perfect but it has 190K on it and my dads worried its on its way out. The guy that's selling it said it runs amazing and has just had a tune up. So what do you guys think is the maximum mileage is until the engine would start having problems or how much life is left in the car I guess you could say.

 

How much is the guy asking for the car? At 190,000miles, it is high, but it all depends on how well the car was taken care of and what parts have been replaced already. If your looking for an extremely reliable car, you shouldn't be looking at cars over 100,000miles. At this point in it's life, parts failure is random and almost expected. If it's what you really want, take it for a test drive...and not a down the block type either. If it can drive enough to get the car into normal operating temperature(some parts work perfectly fine when you first start the car cold, but when it warms up they fail) plus a few miles i'd say go for it. Just expect to replace parts. Again, it is high mileage and parts going out is to be expected.

 

you have to keep in mind that 190000 miles is on everything, engine, trans, rear, body bushings, ect ect ect. Thats a LOT of miles, especially for a 3rd gen. If the engine and trans have not been rebuilt recently, i would not even look at it, unless its really cheap. For 500 bux, if it lasts 2 months its paid for itself.

 

He's asking 2700 o.b.o, my dads going to take it to a shop before we commit to buying it, it's a amazing car but I can't afford to have it break down all the time.

 

$2700?!?!? I stongly advise against it. No, not advising...telling you, don't buy it. If you can't afford for it to break down it's not the car for you. ESPECIALLY FOR $2700. That's waaaaay too much for a v6 camaro with so many miles. For that money you could get a nice lower mileage Z28 or IROC with the V8. Just look on the boards here.

 

Thanks for the input guys, we are not going to get the car, all the factors you guys mentioned is why. Don't know how you guys feel about this, but the guy at the car shop said that they should of never put the 3.1 in the camaro because the car was too heavy for that engine and it put unnesscary strain on the motor. Don't know how true.

I won't be looking for a 350 due to gas reasons but the 305 would be a nice median

 

The V6 actually isn't all that bad in these cars. Sure, it's not very fast, but you get the styling with 20-30 miles per gallon. As far as strain on the motor....there have been well over 200,000miles cars documented, and mine is at 193,000+ and still has plenty of life left in it. I aquired the car at 123,000miles so really I have no idea how the people who owned the car before me took care of it. From the looks of it, i'm doing a worse job than them and I have more of a passion for it...but that's due to my lack of money for the body as i've put more money into the motor than expected. ALSO, don't go the 305 route.....the difference in gas vs. power more than outweights itself in motor choice. The 305 stock is a dog with almost the same gas mileage at the L98(350) cars. I recommend going 350. Not only that, but if you hold on to it long enough, it'll be worth way more than the 305 cars in the long run.

 

That guy wanting $2,700 is absolutely CRAZY.

My 1986 Iroc-Z28 has almost every option from the factory, 99,XXX miles, and is barely worth over $4,000 retail on NADA.

 

And that's NADA, you can find them much cheaper than that here on the boards/craigslist/ebay. If someone doesn't know what they're selling...that makes it even better.

 

That's what I'm implying by mentioning NADA, how it's basically the prices car dealerships use, and it's completely outrageous to want that price for a V6 Camaro with that many miles.

 

I bought mine at around 150,000 miles- it now has 240,000+. I paid $2600 for it(too much I know, but it was in pretty good shape).

I still have it and won't sell it and when the engine lets go it will get a 3.4 or an LS1, depending on the finances!

HOWEVER, a month after I bought it, the trans let go and BOOM I suddenly had $4000 it it!!

So, buyer beware. If everything is in great shape, keep in mind that you can pick up a 3.4 engine for $500 or so and it is a straight swap(check the boards). But you will be constantly replacing little things like bushings, accessories, vacuum lines, wiring etc AD NAUSEUM. That is how we all get to know our cars SO well!!

 

I realize you already made your decision, but I also wanted to jump in here and say what I wanna say.

I bought my 2.8l '87 with around 116,000miles for just $800.
And check out this thread: ..(for anyone who comes across THIS thread and is considering a similar "deal")
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/7...h-did-you.html

 

the car does not put too much strain on the little 3.1, mine moves the car around quite effortlessly. Its not fast by any means, but its not struggling by and means.

and i paid 2500 for my 92 bird, 73k miles and almost everything on the car was new or very well maintained.

 

The 3.1 seem to be pretty reliable to me.
My 3.1 has 285,000 on it and still running strong.
And I have no problems with strain on the engine.
Plus after you save up some more dough, you
could have preformed a swap if you wanted more power.

But, you have probably made the right choice, being the price of the car.
Unless it was really nice, and well taken care of or something.

 

The 60 degree V6 engines like the 3.1 and the 2.8 are both very easy to work on and very reliable. They do have a few issues that need looking after but so does any engine. As for the mileage yes it is high but without knowing what is all been done in the way of new parts it can be hard to tell the real condition of the car. Personally I bought my car for 1500 with some surface rust, a recent rebuild on the engine with 5k on it and a slipping tranny, paid 1000 to fix the tranny and have not looked back. I wouldn't say this is the kinda deal for every one but I love my car.

 

I have a 3.1 with 150,000 miles on it and the engine still purrs like a kitten.