Advice on purchasing a camaro

Well one of my roommates is planning to buy a car very soon and his dream is to own a camaro. His budget is max ~4500 maybe a bit more. He says that he does not care if it’s a V6 or a V8. Of course I try to bug him to get the V8 model.

In his price range what I could find were some 100k-140k 93-94 Lt1s and some newer V6s.

Knowing you guys are the experts what should we be looking out for: any specific problems for certain models or any other camaro specific issues?

Also are there any reliability differences between the V6s and V8s what about between auto and manual trannies?


Also if you guys know of any camaros being sold in Utah please let me know.


Anyway thanks in advance for your replies.
:)

dont get a 2.8 litre camaro you will be dissapointed. nit al to fast. but whatever.. im looking to buy a 3.8 cause i hear they are fast. just as fast as a 305 i think.....stock, im not to sure and i think i have read that 305 isnt the greatest motor either but the 350 is good. and fuel injections better then carb and ummm look for rust. i dunno if rust is a problem where you are but it is in florida where i am. look for rust around t tops and the rear hatch and the bottom of the doors. ummm thats all i can really think of. well theres a start..have fun

Well let me give you some quick numbers for 4th gen (1993-2002) V6's
3.4L Engine- 1993-1995 160HP, 200 ft.lbs low to mid 16 sec quatermile times
3.8L Engine- 19951/2 -2002 200Hp 225 (I think) ft. lbs mid to high 15 sec quatermile times.
Sorry I only know V6 cause thats what I have

As for budget $4,500 should buy a nice 3rd gen Camaro, probably with a motor swap. Before I bought my 94 I was looking a an 82 Maro with a slightly built 350 in it, for $2500, rough body but nice engine.
Or if he likes the newer body style he would be able to get a nice/clean V6 maro. I bought mine for $2,500 (minus the wheels and tires) but it needs a new hood and bumper. I know searching autotrader.com the lowest Z28 I could find around my area is about $6,000 but it might diffrent over there.

Anyway good luck

I would recommend a LT1, if he can afford slightly higher insurance. The only reliablity issue is the optispark which can easy be taken care of with buying a vented cap and running a vacuum line into elbow. Although I must admit that the 3.8 with 200 stock horses is a great bang for the buck car. Either would be a good choice in my book. Let us know what he ends up getting.

John

PS- 94 over 93 though, 93 was speed density which creates a problem when you start to mod and 93 also had smaller injectors and showed slightly slower numbers in 0-60 and 1/4 mile. Plus with a 94 he can do his own custom tuning with the Eprom directly from a laptop

Plus with a 94 he can do his own custom tuning with the Eprom directly from a laptop
Is that just for the LT1's or can 6's do it to

The 6's can with the right program from www.tunercat.com (http://www.tunercat.com)

There site doesn't list it for the 3.4L Camaro but there is something listed for 91 - 94 Buick / Pontiac LQ1 3.4L V6. I am going to take a wild guess that is a different engine

Go with an LT1 if you can find one with few miles, otherwise the 3.8s have a good amount of power, are fun, and also will last a loooong time.

ViperJ: go to www.hptuners.com they make awesome software, see if they make it for your car (I think they do)

Go with an LT1 if you can find one with few miles, otherwise the 3.8s have a good amount of power, are fun, and also will last a loooong time.

ViperJ: go to www.hptuners.com they make awesome software, see if they make it for your car (I think they do)


hell no, tunercats is completely customizable. That is what I use to burn my chips

I only see that available for up to 95 f-bodies http://www.tunercat.com/tnr_desc/ecm_sup.html#chevycars

Would it be possible to have one of you burn a chip for me? Don't have laptop and probably won't ever have one. When you custom burn a chip, do you customize to your mods or what power you are looking for?

Also, one the tunercats website, it says a chip or program for my car is $32B, is that 32 dollars?

get 94/95 f-body 6M at that price prob 100-130k

For 4500 There's some reasonably nice Maros out there, obviously the Lt1 is best because people drive the hell out of the V6 ones.

thank you guys for the replys. Anyway let me update you, we found today an 94 Lt1 with 180K on board. The guy is a mechanic and ask for 3000. Its problems are:

the rear bumper is a bit hit, guess we can find a new one in a salvage yard
driver side window is a bit loose
interior is a bit run down
also the mechanic said that it probably has a bad lifter
it might have a small tranmission fluid leak by the speed sensor

Now this is obviously a fixer upper, the engine did sound pretty solid, the owner said the compression test it came up as 125 across the board.


Anyway if he gets this car he would have about 1500-1700 to fix it up. Probably a good idea would be to take off the head and replace that lifter and maybe do some other upgrades while we are at it (the mechanic also susgested to upgrate some parts and make it into an LT4). Are there any other upgrades we should do while we are at it?

Also I belive it still has the original bilstein suspension, is that to old by now?

that's too high a price for that many problems and mileage.

i completely agree ^^^^ dont get it

Cool thanks for the info, i guess that one is a no no. If we were to go for it what would it be worth it?



also those are the other options we'll check tomorow:

'95 camaro 108K green V6 manual $4,495

'93 camaro 104K red V8 Auto $4,4000

'94 Firebird 123K green V6 manual $3,700

'97 Firebird 168K green V6 $4855


what do you think is the best deal out of those, and are the prices right?

Cool thanks for the info, i guess that one is a no no. If we were to go for it what would it be worth it?



also those are the other options we'll check tomorow:

'95 camaro 108K green V6 manual $4,495

'93 camaro 104K red V8 Auto $4,4000

'94 Firebird 123K green V6 manual $3,700

'97 Firebird 168K green V6 $4855


what do you think is the best deal out of those, and are the prices right?
wow those 6'ers are priced high for the mileage

wow those 6'ers are priced high for the mileage


so i guess your advice is to go for that red Z28, is that a good price for it?

so i guess your advice is to go for that red Z28, is that a good price for it?

I would probably wait and see if you could find one under 100,000 miles on it, if you rush things you'll buy a car that'll last you 3 months.

I would probably wait and see if you could find one under 100,000 miles on it, if you rush things you'll buy a car that'll last you 3 months.
Also those prices are pretty high. Maybe look for a third gen. Z28 preferably, good prices and can usually find low mileage on them...in Cali you find them alot, I don't know about your area.

Also those prices are pretty high. Maybe look for a third gen. Z28 preferably, good prices and can usually find low mileage on them...in Cali you find them alot, I don't know about your area.


3rd gen...is that the model you have in your sig?

yeah that would be the model he has in his sig. the only real big problem with getting a 93, is like formula said.. the speed density system is a pain in the ass compared to MAF(94+). the computer doesnt take well to mods, also the transmission is not electronically controlled as is with the 94+ camaros. im with everyone else on the fact that you will definately find a better deal if you wait around a little bit, however, this is a bad season to be looking for this type of car. with it being primarily a summer vehicle, the price is going to be very high on them right now.

*on another note, if you do choose to go with a 3rd gen camaro (82-92), try to snatch up a 350. The 305 is a nice engine, but nowhere near as fast, the 350tpi (tuned port injection) i believe is only a step behind the LT1 in quartermile times, I wanna say it runs low to mid 14s, where as the LT1's are pretty consistent in the high 13, low 14 range.

I would probably wait and see if you could find one under 100,000 miles on it, if you rush things you'll buy a car that'll last you 3 months.

Bullshit. Bought my car with 145,000 on her in October 04, now there 160,000 and still running strong (except for my accident, but thats all cosmetic shit plus radiator support). That being said, do go with as few miles as possible. Is you get a v6 get a 96 or later model, it will have the 3.8 engine (well SOME 95's have this engine also) which is... a good step up from the 3.4.

well as I said this is for a roomate and he wants a new model so unfortunatelly those 3rd gens are out of the question.


Also in utah the selection is not the greatest as far as f-bodys go especially the V8 models.


Furthermore this guy is not overly much into performance, he is more into looks, i'm trying very hard to make him even get the V8. I know the V6 are pretty fast too but the V8s still have the crown plus those LS1 and LT1s are just awesome.

Ayway basically he will probably keep the modding to minimum so that MAP sensor and the ecu will not be a problem, unless they have some reliability issues on top of mod-unfriendliness.

mod-unfriendliness if mainly the '93 z's

well update, he put down the deposit on a clean looking '94 Pontiac Firebird Formula V8 with 116k on board. The price was $4500

So what do you guys think about this buy?

PS.I'll post pics soon.

Wow, your friend has super taste :icon16:. He picked the best F-body ever :iceslolan

Wow, your friend has super taste :icon16:. He picked the best F-body ever :iceslolan


hehe its true, this is what he was actually after, he was just settling for a camaro since its similar and easier to find but he really wanted a firebird.


Here are the pics(just click on them to see the full rez pic) :
http://img108.echo.cx/img108/2917/img04362oy.th.jpg (http://img108.echo.cx/my.php?image=img04362oy.jpg)
http://img114.echo.cx/img114/5813/img04379pa.th.jpg (http://img114.echo.cx/my.php?image=img04379pa.jpg)
http://img114.echo.cx/img114/9551/img04382gw.th.jpg (http://img114.echo.cx/my.php?image=img04382gw.jpg)
http://img114.echo.cx/img114/4421/img04398uy.th.jpg (http://img114.echo.cx/my.php?image=img04398uy.jpg)
http://img114.echo.cx/img114/4828/img04402km.th.jpg (http://img114.echo.cx/my.php?image=img04402km.jpg)


What do you guys think. We found it by luck, we were just walking from a dealer to another to check out camaros we saw ads for and we just happened to see this baby. They were asking for 5500 (out of his price range) but I told my friend just to make them an offer since he had nothing to lose by it. He made it they took it and voila.

Btw is there anything special about the formula models or are all V8s birds called formula.

Nothing special.

Basicly a Trans Am, but with less options.

Nothing special.

Basicly a Trans Am, but with less options.


Congrats now Formula just banned you :p












just j/k :icon16:, i actually had the impression that formulas were the top version, i guess i was mistaken.

Ah well but what do you guys think of the car? Also what mods should he start with (nothing very expensive)

Mods....

Air in and Air out.


And by the way....there is NOTHING wrong with the Formula. Actually it is a better drag car than the Trans Am. If I was going for all out track performance, I would have invested in a Formula instead of my Trans Am.

Mods....

Air in and Air out.


And by the way....there is NOTHING wrong with the Formula. Actually it is a better drag car than the Trans Am. If I was going for all out track performance, I would have invested in a Formula instead of my Trans Am.


well we know that it has a flowmaster exaust on it, but i'm not sure if its just muflers or a whole catback. As far as air intake what would be best? Perhaps a ram air kit with the hood and everything.

well we know that it has a flowmaster exaust on it, but i'm not sure if its just muflers or a whole catback. As far as air intake what would be best? Perhaps a ram air kit with the hood and everything.

SLP or K&N cold air intakes are usually debated over which is the best (most people agree on SLP but some people... mainly, some people on this board feel the K&N is superior)

The Formula's are the lightest versions of the LT1 F-body and therefor should be able to be made the fastest (although not by much cause they are all within a few hundred pounds of each other) and most I have seen have all power so they are not stripped. Its basically just the looks of the Base firebird with the powertrain of the Trans Am like Mr.Luos said.

Congrats now Formula just banned you :p












just j/k :icon16:, i actually had the impression that formulas were the top version, i guess i was mistaken.

Ah well but what do you guys think of the car? Also what mods should he start with (nothing very expensive)

Pretty good buy...the good ones always come up by accident it seems :biggrin:, I'd go with the exhaust first then a ramair system...sweet...