buying Camaro questions

You guys may remember me, I wanted to get a 3.8 a few months back, and I still lurk ocassionally. Well the time has come and I'm likely to get a new car soon. I've already decided the 3.8 is best for now so please quit bothering me about the Z28.

I already found a great looking 3.8, but it has very few miles, and I'm looking for protection against odometer rollback. I need to know if there are any sure-fire ways to find out if it hasn't been rolled back.

Or maybe you guys know of certain places where wear and tear betray the car's fake mileage. Anything helps, including your thoughts on the car... link below:

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=189901426&dealer_id=5758013&car_year=2001&model=CAM&bkms=1128985923726&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1998&certified=&search_type=both&distance=100&first_record=1&make=CHEV&min_price=1&address=33173&advanced=&end_year=2006&pager.offset=0&max_price=10000&cardist=33

well it seems very possible that a car could be that low mileage, i don't know any way to check for rollback... i don't even know how to roll back lol... but i don't see why you would spend almost 8000 on a v6... especially when i got my car initially for 1600... lol to each their own...

Eh for 8K for that low mileage.. i'd pay, really. Seems in good condition, really.

because I need a car with good gas mileage, that will last about 80,000 miles, and I'd like to have alittle more power than my current 100 horses. And 3rd gens are no good with gas mileage. My friend has a 305 getting 12mpg city. I don't wanna be stuck paying that kinda gas money when I'm a poor college student.

I'd love a newer Z28 but dad won't let me get a V8, which is very smart of him. I'd love one but I admit it doesnt make any sense to give a 17 year old 300 horses, I'd never do that to my son.

And this seems like a MUCH better deal than what my dad was thinking of getting me... an '04 2.5 Altima with 22k for $13k. I'll prolly put a lot of highway miles on it if I drive between my hometown and college a few times in the next 4 years... and the 3.8 and the 2.5 make very similar highway EPA estimates.

If you want a nice reliable car cheap go for another car with a 3800. You could get a grand prix or a monte or something if you dont want to go ith the camaro. But dont go japanese dude. There are alot og really good engine out there. If you dont want a v8 go for a big 6 popper. Get a blazer w/ 4.3 vortec. Plenty of power and last a long time.

Well with your current situation it then puts it in a better perspective. I'd say go ahead and check it out, 3.8s are said to outlast the body itself

when i was 17 i got 400horses... now i'm 18, but i just turned it... its not age, its maturity, if your dad thinks your gonna be stupid i suppose its a smart move to get a v6, but u could kill yourself just as easy... they hydroplane just as easily, my buddy with a 3.1 v6 thirdgen has all of 90 horses maybe, and he still will slide around like crazy in the rain...

if you got a lt1 z28 6-speed, and put intake and exhaust on it, you could easily get 30mpg highway... hell i've said this a million times but i get 27 on the highway, and i have a hot cam and 30lb injectors... you could get an lt1 4th gen for much less than than, 2000 or more less expensive... plust i've seen lt1's go 250,000 plus miles before they need a major rebuild...

LT1s will be steep for insurance on a single 17 year old. As it is I pay 160 a month for a corolla. Not to mention my dad wouldn't want me to drive a 275 horsepower car... as I've mentioned.

The car is perfect for me except for a few thing I need to check out. It's last mileage check was 1/29/03 at 6,776. It's had 2 non-car dealer owners. Right side frame damage was reported minor to moderate. I emailed the dealer about it, and I think a responses should be in by tomorrow.

z28 and the 3.8 are ABOUT THE SAME GAS MILEAGE.
The z28 has better potential to do the 30mpg+ freeway w/ the 6-speed and the 'breathing' mods.

I have 3800, its a PoS and it gets 21 mpg FREEWAY and under 15 city. Not hard driving all the time.

275 is not too much to handle you just have to be smart, and insurance on camaros is expensive period, besides i think biggie only pays 85 a month for full coverage on his '95 z28...

i'm not telling you to get a z28, i just want to get rid of the stupid myths about them being too powerful or that they aren't as efficient, besides, z28's are usually more reliable than the v6's, USUALLY, not all the time but usually... ask xeno, he's had quite a few problems...

i have a red v8 camaro, and my buddy with a v6 '91 pays more for insurance than me... even after my 7 tickets and 2 wrecks, he still pays more than me... it depends on your provider...

Depends on more then that.

Depends on location, type of car, if you are under a loan or not, if your family has insurance vs if its you on your own, age, gender and what kind of jello you like all determine your insurance amount

you forgot color of car...

I've done plenty of research on the subject. You guys may not think 275 is too fast, but for lay people like my dad a 6.6 0-60 G35 sedan is a speed demon. He will not let me buy a 275 horsepower car, so quit bothering me about the Z28 like I said in the first post!

I know they get better highway mileage with a 6-speed, but the insurance will easily cost more than the money I'm saving. Not to be an ass... but I don't really care how much your friends pay, cause in Miami insurance sucks, I pay 160 for a 1.6 I4, a 3.8 V6 will be a big spike in insurance, and if it's a "Camaro" the insurance companies will rape me for it. And if it's a V8 as well theres no way I will be able to afford it for 4 years on low income. I'm going to a tough school, and I can't have a job just for insurance and gas, and another for food and water. It'll be impossible to balance that kind of work with school, and fun. And I'm not counting on landing a job better than $10/hour, cause they're not too common in college with millions of kids competing for the best jobs.




So to get back on topic... please help me out with my original concern: odometer roll-back.

Do your research. Call your insurance companies tell 'em what you want ask 'em for quotes on the v6 camaro vs the v8. some companies don't have a different charge so if its the same insurance atleast you are aware you ahve the option of hte z28

...even if I did, how many Z28s could I find with 20k miles under 10 grand? exactly.

Your chances of finding ANY camaro under 20k miles is VERY VERY LOW even the ones that ARE under 20k I'd be very leery of. 12,000-15,000 miles on average per year for a used car

already found it... I just need to take some odometer roll-back precautions, and that's were I was hoping you guys could help me.

you spend 2000 or more less on the car itself... that's that much more money you will have for insurance and gas... if you're claiming you're poor then 8000 is too much for a car anyway. like i said in my first post... my car originally cost me 1600, and trucked on like a champ with 150000 plus miles on it for 12 months, with me punching it every 5 seconds...

like i said ealier, i'm not trying to tell you to get a v6, you just had it in your head that v8's were terrible on gas, insurance, and were too powerful. i'm just trying to tell you that's not true. i've seen lt1 z28's in good shape go for 4000... imagine how much lower a car payment would be on that... you said you've done your "research", now we are adding more info to your research... if you're so worried about insurance and gas, then you need a beater. and you don't care what my friend pays? he pays prolly what you will pay, if not less that what you will pay. i thought insurance was a big concern to ya...

let me lay it down for ya an lt1 z28 for you could be
1. cost less than the v6 you're looking at
2. be more reliable
3. more efficient (if you keep your foot under control)
4. insurance about the same
and the one that unfortunately pisses off your dad
5. more power

if all you're worried about is cheap gas and cheap insurance, like i said, get a beater... my first car was a geo storm (not that you care)

I don't see how I can pay less for a V6 than I am currently paying for my corolla, much less a V8. Your friend's rates are most-likely affected by where you live. And unfortunately insurance seems to be much worse here.

And I already have a beater... looking to upgrade. Insurance and gas are concerns, but they are sacrifices you and I are both willing to make.

lt1 z28's aren't third gens...
but i suppose i understand... but if you're gonna be making the car payments why does your dad have a say?

I know I editted that part. I kinda skimmed through the first 2 paragraphs and figured you were convincing me to get a 3rd gen frame and drop in an LT1 and continue to pay 3rd gen insurance. And you drive a 3rd gen lt1 so that contributed to my assumption. lol.

My dad's paying for the car, regardless of the insurance payments V8s cost more, a bit more for equal mileage. If it tops 10k he'll just get the 13k altima instead... thats what I'm thinkin anyway. If I'm to convince him to get me a V6 it better cost significantly less.

lol, that's not what i'm saying... that's too much work for a college kit to do... you won't have time for the swap... what i was saying is gettin a '93-'97 z28... those are the lt1 4th gens... my point is those are going for cheaper than the v6 u showed us...

i can find you a '93-'97 z28 for much less than 10K if you want...

Yeah I realized what you were saying so I went back and editted, sorry bout that.

I'd be interested in that even if I couldn't buy it... can you get any near Miami?

look at autotrader
'92-'97 z28... and you should be fine even with like 90,000 miles on it... you wont be doing too much driving in college anyway... and least i don't drive that much, and i'm in college

my dad wants me to get a car so that I can drive down some weekends, thats why I said highway EPA is more important than city... but yeah, he wants to buy me a vehicle that will last 80k with minor problems. a 90k Z28 won't make it.

biggie knew a guy with a lt1 that made it 300K... lol most will last easily 150K if not more

Well, I'm not very positive about this. But arent those rims off the 93-97 4th gens? I could have sworn that they changed the rims in 98 to those other 10 spoked rims like these: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=189914404&dealer_id=504815&car_year=2002&search_type=both&make=CHEV&model=CAM&distance=0&address=32225&advanced=&certified=&bkms=1129067231463&max_price=&min_price=&first_record=101&end_year=2002&start_year=1998&isp=y&pager.offset=100&lang=en&cardist=322

I'd check out that car thoroughly if I were you. I mean, it doesn't have the right rims (if I'm correct), and it has very low miles. Just sounds a little fishy. If the rims aren't right, then what else could be wrong?

I already found a great V6 as long as I can make sure the odometer hasn't been rolled back, so if anyone could help that'd be great.

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=189901426&dealer_id=5758013&car_year=2001&model=CAM&bkms=1128985923726&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1998&certified=&search_type=both&distance=100&first_record=1&make=CHEV&min_price=1&address=33173&advanced=&end_year=2006&pager.offset=0&max_price=10000&cardist=33

I already found a great V6 as long as I can make sure the odometer hasn't been rolled back, so if anyone could help that'd be great.

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=189901426&dealer_id=5758013&car_year=2001&model=CAM&bkms=1128985923726&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1998&certified=&search_type=both&distance=100&first_record=1&make=CHEV&min_price=1&address=33173&advanced=&end_year=2006&pager.offset=0&max_price=10000&cardist=33

Yes.. I was referring to that car. The one in your link. I was using the other link i provided as an example of what the rims should look like. And how the rims on the car you're looking at aren't the right ones.

oh... I missunderstood that, and thanks for the help.

I've actually seen alot of Camaros with those rims, all of em V6 as far as I could tell anyway.. but I have never seen those rims (The ones the red Camaro had) on any Camaros i've seen on the road.. or atleast I havent noticed.

I've actually seen alot of Camaros with those rims, all of em V6 as far as I could tell anyway.. but I have never seen those rims (The ones the red Camaro had) on any Camaros i've seen on the road.. or atleast I havent noticed.

Yeah, I see them all the time on the 93-97 models. But never on the 98-02 ones.

I like the ones on the blue camaro more anyway... but I'm going to look into why it has different rims.

So, do any 4th gen guys here know if I can check for odometer rollback?

if you find out they have rolled back the odometer, dot tell the cops, tell them you wont tell anyone if they let you take home 2 cars of your choice. thats what my drivers ed teacher told me, he said they would gladly do it but only if you can back up the fact they did roll em back. cause they get screwed hardcore when they are busted.so hey get some free cars!!! go big or go home!!!

Yeah, 88 hit it on the head.. so check it out, get the car, if it's really what it says, then take it to a mechanic, several if you feel the need to, im sure they'll come out with something and give you your answer.

AND you might want to give this thread a read, and I mean all of it, it has some pretty good stuff about scams that deals with cars.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=333644

97+ have digital odometers... I am not sure if they can really be rolled back asides from unplugging the VSS and not logging miles... or installign a lower gear ratio and not tuning it to correct the speedo...

I've done some research, digitals are even easier to roll back. Will the dealer allow me to take it to a mechanic to get it checked out? because it was also in a minor to moderate damage right side collision.

If they don't....don't buy from them.

if you find out they have rolled back the odometer, dot tell the cops, tell them you wont tell anyone if they let you take home 2 cars of your choice. thats what my drivers ed teacher told me, he said they would gladly do it but only if you can back up the fact they did roll em back. cause they get screwed hardcore when they are busted.so hey get some free cars!!! go big or go home!!!


That will only land you in jail for blackmail :) I forgot the legal term but you can't do that. They could sue your ass if you say that.

And if you should be able t otake it to a mechanic and they shoujld have a warrenty

the frame damage alone would kill it for me, i'd look elseware. and other than carfax, i don't know any way to check for odometer rollback.

yeah, I'm pretty sure that'd be illegal. The big question is would they sue me if they knew they'd be exposed to odometer rollback? Sure I'll get some pretty hefty fines and possibly jail time, but they'd get shut down completely.

aurora's are great cars, you should look into em. 30mpg highway with a 250hp V8.

Well, I have been doing some searching, good mechanics can check by finding all the wear and tear spots. They check the bumper and hood for slight damage caused by pieces of gravel coming up off the road, and slight wear and tear marks around the gas pedal and stuff. It's pretty interesting. Not an exact science but they're saying it's very easy to tell apart a 40k mile car to an 80k mile car. I'm starting to think the frame damage is a bigger cause for concern than possible odometer rollback, but I found a great site that seems to know quite a bit about telling apart a good frame from a damaged one. As long as one of their shops okay the car it should be fine to drive despite what kind of accident it was in.

i don't think the insurance would be bad either.

yeah, I'm pretty sure that'd be illegal. The big question is would they sue me if they knew they'd be exposed to odometer rollback? Sure I'll get some pretty hefty fines and possibly jail time, but they'd get shut down completely.

Is having a new cellmate Bubba with a craving for virgin flesh worth putting someone out of business?

The real question is-

Is it worth putting a 17 year old in juvie, and allow my entire car dealership to be shut down, lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, face criminal charges, and cause hundreds of people to be put out of work.

yes :)