I currently drive a 2001 Honda Prelude, but lately I have been in the market for an ls1. I found a transam/ formula for sale and I was wondering what you guys thought of it. I was thinking that the miles might be too high on the car to be considered reliable. He wants 18k for the car and it has 65k miles. Also any input from others with high mileage would be greatly appreciated.

1999 WS6 Trans AM w/T-tops, Power Leather seats, Power windows, 500w stereo, and 6 speed transmission. This car is very fast!! It has over 400hp at the rear tires. Mods include stage II heads and cam, ZO6 intake, whisper lid, K&N filter, high volume oil pump, Hooker long tube headers (ceramic coated), Hooker Y-pipe (ceramic coated), Hooker cat back, McCloud Kevlar clutch, BMR lower control arms, BMR adjustable pan hard bar, Ebaich pro kit lowering springs, Hotchkis shock tower brace, shift skip eliminator, Pro 5.0 short through shifter, Hi voltage alternator and power slot brake rotors. To do these mods your self would cost you over $6,500 in parts alone. I also have all of the original parts for the car so if you desire you can return the car to 100% stock condition. The car runs great as is and still gets about 20 miles per gallon. The car is aggressive but not so much that you cant still use it as a daily driver.

 

I would be hesitant to buy a car that heavily modified. I'm about 99% sure that he's ragged on it and that it's been abused quite a bit. Your better off finding one that is close to stock and performing modifications yourself. That's half the fun of owning one of these cars, getting to mod them. What's the fun in it if it's allready got all the mods?

 

Also, for 18k you could get a really nice un-modified LS1 that hasn't been abused. I would really stay away from that car.

 

agreed. also, 18k sounds a little high, like he's trying to add the price of his mods onto the selling price. it's pretty well known that it's hard to recover the cost of your mods when selling the car.

if you really like the car, make sure he's got receipts for all the major stuff, and that it was done by a respected shop. i definitely wouldn't buy it for 18k, even if all the mods were done well. i'd get the price down substantially before i'd consider it...

just my opinion...

also, why's this guy selling his car after putting all that work and money into it? even with my minimal mods, i feel like my car's part of the family. the more work i do on it, the less likely i am to part with it...

 

I agree that the price is too high. With that many mods I would have a respected mechanic do a complete inspection to make sure there are no problems with it. Get everything from a compression test to computer scan of all the sensors.

If everything checks out I wouldn't be hesitant about buying the car if it looks well maintaned. It is well worth the price he is asking, but he won't easily be able to get John Q Public to pay 3 or 4 grand extra for his mods. Talk him down. Have it checked out. Then buy it if you like what you see.

Heck of a badarse car there.

 

And if you do get it. The first time that you go out and hammer on it wear some Depends. Because you're going to soil yourself when you slam down the go pedal. With the mods listed that car will be screamingly fast.

 

Cool car, but its been driven 65k hard miles and is priced to high.

 

That is a little high for a 99 with over 50k miles. I understand the car has some nice mods but I didn't see a upgraded rear end in that list. If that moded M6 still has a 10 bolt rear then I would not even consider it. If it has a 12 bolt then maybe talk him down to 16k.

I do see one advantage to buying an all ready modded car if you are on a tight budget. If you can not afford mods then buying a pre-moded car can give you the same end result but make it affordable because the mods are part of the monthly payments. I am personally trying very hard to get $1,000 + for a torque converter for my A4 and I wish soooo much that the guy who owned it before me had put in a nice vig3200 or something.

Get him down to 16K or pass on the car. That's what I would do.

 

aight, thanks guys. I might take it to my mechanic and have him run tons of tests on it. Or I just might get a stock one to mod up.

 

try to stick with an umodded car and you will more likely be problem free. face it, you don't put mods on for better gas mileage or to get around a semi on the highway, you get em to make the car faster which means its been pushed which means its life has been cut down..... understand what i'm saying? i bought a modded dsm and it was the worst investment i could of made. i bought the t/a STOCK and it starts every morning and has never had a lick of problems and so i keep my foot outta it as much as possible so i have the car a few more years (a 16yr old can only keep there foot outta it for so long till some hottie drives by and you gotta mess with her ). but whatever you do, welcome to the club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I do agree that the price is a little on the high side but if you can talk him down to say, $16k...I'd take it. Yes, I'd rather buy a bone stock car but the only problem with that is, how do you know that it was always stock?

I've known a few people that have had quite a few heavy mods and did beat the s**t out of their car on a regular basis but when they sold the car, it was stock down to the paper filter. Personally, I'd rather buy a car that is modded than a car that was modded.
That reminds me, a few years ago when I was looking for a fox body, I went to a place down here that sells nothing but Mustangs (basically). They had quite a few really nice LXs that were "bone stock" but I took a look in their garage/bay and they probably had a dozen or so used Vortechs laying there...hmmm, wonder where those came from .
Needless to say, I didn't buy a car from them.


Welcome and good luck with your car search.