salvatore

Hello everyone. I have been searching for a long time for a clean or at least decent third gen. I have found one and will be driving almost 2 hrs tomorrow to see it. It is a 1991 z28 350 5.7 red with red factory leather, red wheels option with 55k miles. The paint is shot, he claims there is no rust. This is a southern car. He said the back seat has cracked from the heat. Im wondering if I should pass or drive to see it for $4k. Is this a bad deal? Im afraid from sitting that the engine/tranny seals will be bad soon. Any suggestions? Thanks

Sinfulrelations

IMO, id take a look at it personally i think that 4,000 is a little much for a car that needs repainted, id say a realistic amount would be 3,000 to 3,250 if its only paint it needs, low mileage is good, i wouldn't worry too much about the seals being bad, but that's just me. and also crawl under it and take a look for rust, some of the top places to look are under the back hatch, where the plugs go in for the spoiler, the bottom of the trunk where the back plastic is attached to the metal, door jambs, floor pans, and control arms, also check out the shocks, if its been sitting for awhile they can dry rot and be needing replaced, just push somewhat down on the front and back of the car, if it seems really bouncy they are bad, in general, take your time and check it over completely, pull the dipstick for the oil and transmission, and make sure its all ok, just for reference i paid 500 for the car in my signature, its not perfect looking but it ran and drove me home 2 1/2 hours, and it was just shy of 100,000 miles on the car

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Depends on what your intentions are. If you feel you must paint it and fix it up to be shiny and perfect, then no, I wouldn't buy it. You can get one with the same or lower miles with perfect paint and interior for less than $8,000 -- actually way less than $8,000 if recent ebay auctions are any indication of the market for these cars.

If you don't mind a little "patina," then it might be a nice deal so long as the car is otherwise solid, doesn't look horrible, and doesn't have a family of rats nesting in the seats. Sometimes, a car with a little "age" on it looks cool, and you don't need to worry as much about it.

Jason E

You guys really are cheapos....

I would happily pay $4k for the car if the remainder of the interior is solid, and the body is straight and simply needing a repaint. I sold an 86 TA with a 305 for $10,000 in a week. Granted, it did have 20k less miles and it was immaculately perfect...but still.

A '91-'92 L98 is worth more than that car. I paid $3,000 for the TA when it looked like a bucket, and spent $6,000 making it beautiful.

scottmoyer

If the car is mechanically sound, I'd say buy it. Four thousand is a really good price for a 55k mile 350 based car. Regardless of auction results, the values have been increasing. If you're willing to do the work yourself, you could prep the car for paint and get a nice custom, not so ordinary, paint job. Then when you have the finances, you could get replacement leather for the seats from Katzkin that follows the paint scheme. So, for about $4k additional, you will have a 55k mile car that runs well and looks the way you want it to. If you want the stock look, then I would look elsewhere and get a car with good factory paint, because you can get one of those pretty easily today. It all depends on what you really want. To me, $4k sounds like a steal if the car is in great shape, minus the paint and the back seat.

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

It would certainly be worth a look. If the car is really a 55K mile car with no rust or mechanical problems, good interior, $4000 is probably in the "retail" price range for the car. Red on red isn't one of my favorite color combo, but if you like it after seeing it and driving it, I'd offer him maybe $3000 and see what happens. I'd would say that would be a good "wholesale" price for the car as described. Start low, you can always increase your offer if you like it. I think up to $3500 might be a good buy, but not much more.

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

AMEN!!! A lot of guys on third gen want something for nothing!!! Go for it, and a car like that is a keeper. I got buddies in my car club that will spend money on stupid ***** mods and will not spend a dime on quality. Being cheap + wanting a low mile 3rd gen = GET LOST CHEAP SKATE, AND BUY YOURSELF A BUSTED RS THATS WORTH THE CRAZY AMOUNT YOU WANT TO PAY!!!

Blackdog36

iTrader: (3)

$4,000 is a fair price for it. Most thirdgens need a repaint anyways. What will get you is if there are some dings on the body, bent or cracked bumpers, gfx, etc. Costs and time will add up to fix those items. If body is good, repaint is not bad since you can get a nice fresh coat on. If everything checks out, maybe start by offering $3,500. In the end, arguing over paying $500 to $1,000 for the car sometimes becomes moot compared to how much we spend overall on building the car

salvatore

Well I called him again tonight to make sure we are still meeting tomorrow and to check to see if he has the maintenance records. He told me he has kept record of everything, but someone put a deposit on it tonight. Hopefully the person will back out. I have been searching like crazy for a iroc 5.7 and figured the price wasnt bad.

Slater126

iTrader: (1)

Let me just say that I personally wish for them to skyrocket in value! I own one after all and not that I'm planning on selling it, but it would be nice to see people stop giving them away. But when a guy asks for advice on whether to buy something, you have to be honest and give an answer based on current market conditions is all.

So long as the car hasn't faded to a chalky puke pink (red paint can deterioriate in some really interesting ways), and is mechanically sound and rust free, 4k would be a steal. It's not going to be any less fun just because the paint's a little faded Then, if the values do go up, invest in the paint job later. Meanwhile, just enjoy it.

salvatore

Well I wasnt too concerned about the price. I was more concerned about seals going bad and having to replace a tranny or head gasket instead of getting it repainted right away. I always look at NADA values when buying a car and figure if I buy within the high and low range I am good.

jermdm

I wouldnt be too worried about seals and gaskets being bad. As long as the owner starts it up from time to time or drives it occassionally, the seals and gaskets should be fine. Remember thats its a 20 year old car and gaskets and seals fail over time so you will probably see parts wet from oil which doesnt mean its a bad thing. You can always replace seals and gaskets. As long as it doesnt dump fluids out faster than you can put it in, you'll be fine. I think 4000 is a fair price for the car with the mileage on it. I would also try bargaining at the 3500 range. I paid 9600 for my iroc back in 96 off a dealer used car lot and it had 44,000 miles on it , so 4000 isnt a bad deal. Just make sure that its not been wrecked or running horrible or shifting bad if you go and look at it. Good luck.

2007xl50

Sounds like a nice deal to me. My car could use a paint job and some dings removed and there is no way I would sell it for 4K not even close and it's only an LB9. I have 49,773 on the clock now. It sucks when the paint is not all that good, but I would rather have bad paint and a super soild body then a nice looking half a**ed paint job hinding body work and have the underside looking nasty as well. Keep in mind that even with the low miles you will be dong some repairs soon after you buy it-I know I had to so low miles does not always mean the car is ready to go. What I have learned from owning a third gen for a few months now and reading this site everyday is the the third gens are not for the faint of heart is some ways. There are easier project cars out there for sure, but third gens sure are cool.

salvatore

Well I lost out on the car, I will continue my search. I found out last night that its a member here that has bought it. So I wish him the best of luck with the car, and I hope he really enjoys it. Im in Va and searching so I anyone knows of any 5.7's let me know. Thanks everyone for the help.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

Hopefully you will have better luck. For that amount of money you should be able to find another 5.7 car that didn't need all that paint work.

That being said it depends on what your goals are for the car and how much money you want to spend. Paint and body work is a very involved and expensive process. I would rather have a car that was mechanically sound and just needed paint than a car that needed to have a lot of body work done.

2007xl50

Sorry you missed that one, but there will be others. Sometimes a non perfect car is more fun than a perfect one if you know what I mean. To me drivers are always more fun than show cars.