All I can say is what I know.
My '90 IROC has an L98 350 with 184K miles, it has a factory water/oil cooler, and not-one-knock or tick....and it maintained over 40psi oil pressure @ idle, over 55@ 2,000rpm +...(past tense, I tore it down just to refresh it .)
Something that changed in the LT1's when they went to a lower pressure pump, I forget which year?....

Original transmission: with B&M shift improver kit will still snap the car sideways shifting into 2nd!..

Rear end: only ONE problem, the pinion nut backed off, and it locked up in a parking lot.(And I've been to the track more than a few times...) I put another nut on it and drove it another year, before my Zexel upgrade.
Oh, and ALL may power equipment still works, the widows are a bit slower than I like, but still working good.
I did have to replace the driver door-hinge pins, them some heavy long doors...

My cousin owned a '95 Z28. It was in the shop for transmission trouble, they said there was a ground issue in the PCM (?)that caused soft shifting and could lead to tranny failure...(a dealer)

He was hard on that one and didn't change the oil like I do, but still had only minor lifter noise when he sold it, 138K. At idle it only had just under 20psi and climbed to only 45psi @ 2,000+...

Having 2 cousins as Deputy Sheriffs, in 2 different counties, they both prefer Chevy's to the Crown Vic's.
One of their biggest complaints was overheating running the A/c in the summer, and being down on power compared to the Caprice's.
The only reason they drive Crown Vic's now is the lack of a full sized Chevy competitor.
Over half of our City Police drive Impala's, the other third or so, are a split between Tahoe's, Chevy Vans and Crown Vic's.
Oh yeah, our City Police Inspectors/detectives drive Buicks..

 

eriously I'm starting to get a bit worried about the 5 th gen. Can anyone give insight about these issues in the new car. This is a serious issue for the people who are going to buy the car. I hope that all these issues are resolved by the time this car comes out. Please some one try to calm me down. I don't want to think about any car but this. I want this car to be PERFECT

 

Wow this an old thread

Comparing the 5th gen to past Camaro problems is silly. The car is gonna be built in one of GM's best plants and with new plant equipment. Plus GM's quality the past few years has been pretty stellar, and throw in the fact you'll probably be able to get the 5 year/100k powertrain warranty. Needless worries...

 

You basically just said what I was going to say. I was trying to decide if I even wanted to post so thanks for posting.

I dont understand what goes thrue some peoples heads somtimes.

Comparing anything in the GM's past to GM's current quality is silly.

Not to mention the quality is embelished a little bit. People dont give the cars credit where its due. I have owned many gm cars and the overall reliability has been outstanding. The only common problem between my gm cars was the window motors. Other then that they seem to go forever.

 

im glad they wont be getting any camaro's
just like im glad back inthe ealy 90's florida went with the mustang.it made it easier to get away.they just couldnt keep up with my 90 formula
even on the turnpike

 

in regards to reliability factors, Where I work, we have 3 company vehicles. 2 Fords and 1 Dodge. The Fords BOTH have issues with constantly broken motor mounts, Power windows, Power mirrors, Power locks. The Dodge, hasn't had ANY problems. Just sayin.

 

****

 

oh give me a break. anecdotes and some loud-mouth at a shop is an authority? please...

1997 Trans Am converitble, LOADED. If ANY 4th gen was GOING to be high maintainence it was this one. Engine? lost a head gasket at 250,000 miles... stock opti.

T56 tranny? stock... still running strong. how do I know? because it survived drag radials, a Street Twin clutch, and 3 broken 10-bolts from drag racing.

poor quality? nope... I beat the hell outta that car and it STILL drove 300+ miles with a head gasket gone. The internet-band-wagon /mob crap is overplayed... get past it, this whole thread's blown way out of proportion. One ancedote is not proof of manufacturing problems ten years earlier... let this conspiracy garbage die. thank you.

 

GM seems to have a problem with rearends and PW motors.
My '04 SRX rearend started whining at 1400 miles.
My '04 GTO rearend started whining at 900 miles.
MY '07 SRX rearend doesn't whine.
My '06 GTO rearend doesn't whine.

Hopefully they are getting a handle on it.

 

As much as I am down on GM for KNOWINGLY letting some of the crappy things on the 4th gen continue unimproved, you simply can not let judge what the 5th gen will be like by using the 4th gen as a measuring stick.

The only way we'll be able to tell what the 5th gen's issues are (or aren't) is time on the market, time in customer's hands, and look for common problems that keep cropping up.

GM motors are top notch. GM's body structures and suspension components are "Grade A". GM's A/C and stereos last longer than the competition hands down without any real maintence (never had a problem with a GM HVAC system).

However, that doesn't change the fact that of probally 18-20 cars that I've owned in my life, the one that gave me the most trouble, had more parts wear out or break far earlier than the Fords I owned and stranded me the most times in a single year was my '97 Camaro Z28.

I started this thread when I got into a conversation with a friend of mine with the CHP garage up in Sac. The problems they repeatedly had echoed what has been posted here on this site and mentioned by many people who I've talked to who owned 4th gen Camaros.

FWIW: most of the CHP Camaros put up for resale ended up simply being taken to auction instead of being refurbished & auctioned off by the CHP itself. Reason? The condition of the cars doesn't make it feasible to invest the money to sell it themselves. A situation that Crown Vics, the Ford Expeditions, Dodge Ram pickups, Chevy Tahoes, or even the old SSP Mustangs, Chevy Caprices never had.

 

I agree it's unfair to use the 4th gen issues against the 5th Gen car that has to be released. I've had 3 4th gens and while the window motors and weak Monza rear ends are notorious police duty is certainly a different type of duty. I can't say with certainty that GM designed the 4th gen with police service in mind. That's certainly part of the design for the Crown Vic, Caprice, Impala and Charger. I think its an important point when you see how police cars are driven. I saw a CHP Crown Vic beached on some railroad tracks recently. Should the officer have known the car isn't made for rail duty, common sense would say so, but did that stop him from driving that way? Not a chance obviously.
Another point is the Camaro after '96-97 was a lame duck and the decision to drop the car was made. We were just flat out lucky to have the LS1 cars when we did as that was not really in the plans.
To me of all the issues the crap 7.5" rear was the worst because even in LT1 trim the car was over powering it's own rear end STOCK. I'm sure the engineers said something but I'm sure were overruled for cost or some other bean counter reason.

 

They should of, at the very least, installed the Australian 9 bolt for the 4th gens, like my '87 TPI 5 speed..

I hope Scott or somebody at GM is watching this thread.
On another subject, I am sure the FWD Impala B4Cs are doing even worse than the Camaros.
My '01 Impala needed new wheelbearings at 42,000 miles.

 

Naw, 8.8s are pretty stout (T-5 trannys on the otherhand, not so stout) even with 28 spline axles. The current rear end uses 31 spline axles and the GT500 uses a 8.8 with larger bearings and 31 spline axles (although I hear its also made from stronger materials, just cant remeber where I read that, so it may only be bigger axle bearings compared to the regular GT, the current Bullitt also uses the GT500 axle as well). IT was used with rangers and IIRC F150s as well.

 

My bicycle is 20 years old and still has no rear end whine.

 

I didn't read this entire thread, but I read enough to irritate me a little. People who compare the 5th gen to any previous gen are either missinformed or don't understand. Allow me to elaborate..........

The first car I bought with my own heart earned cash was a 1990 Chevy Beretta GT. I bought it in 1997. I'll go into how great I thought the car was when I bought it if anyone wants to know, but after owning it for 3 years it was the car that made me buy a Honda. The car I currently drive is a 2000 Honda Prelude which I bought brand new in Dec. of 1999. It has 185,000 miles now and other than routine maintenance, I have not had ANY issues with it.

Up untill about 2 years ago I completely swore off GM forever. I was only going to buy Hondas, and no one - I REPEAT - NO one was going to change my mind. Their cars were boring, made out of cheap plastic with gaping seams in the body parts, they had reliability issues, and after 50k miles everything in the car was loose and rattling. That was my opinion of the company based on my experience with my own Beretta and other people I knew and still know who had similar experiences with other GM cars, from Chevy to Cadillac.

Enter Bob Lutz. A dynamic, outspoken, well respected car guru that had an impressive resume from moving Chrysler away from the K-Cars to the LH platform to working at BMW. He was smart, brave, and very blunt. I knew of him long before GM even considered hiring him. And when Rick Wagoner chose him for VP of product development, my ears perked up and my eyes opened a little...... "You mean, GM really wants to get serious about building cars?" I thought. "Nah, he'll never break the beaurocratic bull$#!* that had choked great design out of the once proud company"....... what followed ended up converting me faster than a preacher on Sunday.

The Solstice/Sky project proved he could kick the penny pinchers out of the design studio. The 3.6 VVT proved he was serious about making world class modern engines. GM's engines are now utterly smooth, refined, as well as their interior fit and finish. The Lambda SUVs are beautiful (especially the Enclave - wow, just wow!). The GMT900 trucks have Honda-like fit and finish...... in a PICKUP TRUCK! (only enthusiasts could appreciate the enormity of that)...... the Malibu is every bit worthy of taking on an Accord and Camry head to head..... and last but not least, the Camaro is making a glorious return in what appears to be an American muscle car with Australian road handling and German teutonic assembly.

The Camaro will be every bit a modern, refined, well engineered and assembled car as it will be an @$$ to your seat muscle car. This is going to be a far cry from any Camaro before, even the very last of the 4th gens. No burned out window motors, cheap plastic door panels, oil leaks, rattles, etc. This is not the GM of old.