my first car, what should i look out for? (80s)

[DirtBike1128]

hey everyone, im 17 and looking to buy my first car in a couple of weeks, and i just had a few questions. i have fallen in love with the mid 80s-early 90s camaro (i think thats the 3rd gen, i dont know much about camaros). on autotrader i have found 3 which i would buy:

1 - '87 IROC Z, 17k miles, $10k...not sure if its a manual or auto
2 - '89 IROC Z, 40k miles, $8k, manual, 305 tpi
3 - '84 Z28, 28k miles, $9k, manual, "5.0 HO" (note sure what HO means)

i know some of you guys are saying "this kid should just go back to the hondas, he doesnt know what he's talkin about" but this is why im asking. all of the mileages are origional, all of the paint looks good (not sure about any of the interiors. the '84 claims to have 4whl disc brks, which i dont know if they are orig or aftermarked (im thinking OE).

i know ive babbled, but im just wondering if there in anything i should look out for on these cars: any recalls, any personal experiences, i mean these cars ARE about 20 years old. are there any areas prone to rust? any help would be MUCH appreciated. THANKS!

-Will

[ridge_runner]

damn... those are some low miles..... and expensive.... you could get i really nice third gen for around 3 grand or less but it will prolly have around 100,000 miles

[DirtBike1128]

yeah, since my dad is bein REALLY generous and giving me the difference after my own $4 grand, i have to follow his conditions of getting something with 60k miles or less. i can see his point though.

im not planning on modifying the car (yet), probably just a nice exhaust to make me think ive got a super fast car. im not into racing (again, YET) but i love the look of the 3rd gen and think it would be a good platform to build a race car from later.

[ridge_runner]

yea you got good taste.... i thought it would be hard to find one with miles as low as that, hah, yea if you get an iroc or z youll have a pretty fast car, yea its a good platform for a race car

[DirtBike1128]

is there anything i whould look out for?

[89IROC&RS]

from those three, i would suggest the 89 IROC (although i am a bit biased) i would check everything to see what kinda treatment the car has had. oil, trans fluid, brakes. put it on the lift see if its got any underbody damage, alot of gas station guys lift these cars on the pinch welds and damage them. you have to lift from the front subframe and rear control arm mounts. test drive it, see if it feels tight, see if its clean, check for rust, check for shoddy shade tree mechanic work, wiring, and such, if you can, have it taken to a chevy dealership for a one hour checkout, have one of the techs look it over for ya.

[ridge_runner]

look out for body rust, make sure the frame is straight, if your talkin about gettin one with that many miles there shouldnt be any, check engine, test drive it make sure it runs smooth and shifts smooth, make sure brakes work good, check the value on it. go to www.kbb.com and umm i dunno someone will come and mention anything i missed

[ridge_runner]

oo you should also check the oil make sure its clean, and tranny fluid, give it a nice smell make sure it dont smell burnt

[DirtBike1128]

i checked kbb and it said that they're all worth around 2 grand...but if i were selling 1 of em, i would probably bitch slap somebody who made me an offer that low (lol). id probably start around 4/5 grand and work my way up.

[1992RS]

Well the H.O. on the 84 meant high output wich is kinda redundant since it only pushed 190hp wich is the same as my 92RS had stock. But the miles on all of them are outstanding, check to make sure they're not b.sing you. Get the vin numbers and run a carfax on all of them. Kelly blue book is kinda shady I'd check the NADA value at www.nadaguides.com I checked and got $4200 on the 87,4700 on the 89, and 9200 on the 84. But these are all "high retail" values if the car is prestine condition. So I would make an offer based on that.

[Genopsyde]

make sure the blower works

[ridge_runner]

haha

[DaMoNe6969]

because a camaro without a functional blower would be useless???

[DaMoNe6969]

One thing about camaro's is that if theres something wrong with them.. they let you know pretty quick.. Hard to hide problems with these cars..
Yeah I'de definatly get those vin's checked out.. the milages are all suspiciously low...

Two main things, make sure the engine idles smoothly and accelerates smoothly.. and make sure the tranny isnt slipping at all.. Put it in gear and hold your foot on the brake.. Give it a bit of gas, you should feel it start pulling instantly, if it rev's up a bit then jerks, you know the trannys shot.. Do that in forward and reverse gears.. Best thing to do, as 89iroc mentioned.. Take it to a dealer and get a buyers check on it..

[DirtBike1128]

another question, on all of these three...

since they're all large engines that put out minimal power, im guessing their fuel economy is shit too, is there anything i can do to improve this? if not, o well