Alright I'm in the market for a car for my senior year of high school. I have a (little) bit of money to throw around but I want something that is not going to cost a fortune. I was talking to a guy that is interested in selling his 89 Iroc Z w/ a 350 tpi and of course the A4 trans ( I wish I could find one of the few that have the 5-speeds w/ the 350's). Anyway I have only seen pictures of the car so far and it appears to be in good condition. It's bright red and it has 58K origional miles on the odo. There is a dent low on the back of the car that would probably cost around $600 to get taken care of. I will probably also get the car repainted red (probably a maco job, with the best package they have). I hopefully will make it down to test drive the car sometime this week. I think he wants around $4500 for it. Assuming everything is in good condition (IE: engine runs strong and the trans doesn't slip, much) what would be a good offer? A local mechanic was talking to me and told me to bring around $3000-$3500 in cash and just offer him $3000 cash straight up if it was in ok shape.

I plan to use this as a project car and hopefully during/after college I will drop a new engine in it and completely restore the car to showroom condition. But for now I need it for transportation and want to know how reliable these 350 TPI's were in general.

 

58k stock miles is a rare find

Worth more than $3k if the car is in 58k mile condition

What A4 trans???

 

I believe it is the (stock?) 700R4 trans, though I didn't ask if it was replaced with anything else. That is what I'm assuming. I was under the impression that the 700R4 was the only automatic 4 speed (hence A4) trans offered that year.

Anyway, there is also 1 more in the area that is in good shape. It is an 89 w/ a 305 TPI and a 5 speed. Has 32,500 miles on the ticker, and the body definitly looks showroom. I think he want's $9500 for it. Good deal, or no go? Like I said I'm planning on using it for transportation. But the car will be cared for like it was a child. I'm not planning on driving it in the snow, and doubt it will see much rain either. I'd ideally like to keep it in good condition until after college when I'll have the money to fiddle with it.

 

Forget spending 9g's on a 13 year old car.

4500 isnt a bad price, for a nice IROC.

3000 Would be a Steal.

IMO

And welcome aboard, Always refreshing to see a Newbie who dosent already know everything...

 

New to the board doesn't mean they're new to cars

And stereo types are for suck

 

Thanks...I knew the second car was quite a bit above the blue book; however, I was not sure if that was an accurate means to judge the price of such and old car with those miles. Anyway thanks for the information. :hail:

 

I love TPI,,deffiantly better then any carb or TB injection. As for the TH700R4, its a great tranny, no problems with mine what so ever, I would offer him 3900 and go from there, Also look for paint touch-ups/ accidents, check in door jams and gas cap and around moldings, Also check all weatherstripping b/c that is a bit pricy, one mistake i had, i thought my door would cost 15$, well its giong to cost 70$ in weather stripping...
Aj