i have been lookin for a f-body for a good couple months now and thought i wanted a cheaper lt1 car, and then play with the motor etc. but ive seen quite a few ls1 cars under $10k and now think that ill just get one of those and slowly add bolt-ons. my question is: i found a 99 automatic z28 with 140,000 miles. its at a "liquidation" dealership and he only wants $5900 im not expecting perfect, but i still want it to be damn near as ballsy and fun as new. he say they put in a rebuilt trans, and it still runs great (he is a salesman) is it worth the price and worth me driving 180 miles to see? do these cars stay as powerful that long? or what else happens to them at high miles?

 

I would think that car has at least another 40kmiles to go, the way that it is. Then again its hard to say that for sure. It may not be a STEAL but it seems like a better deal than would be expected. I would probably at least check it out...

Depending on what you want to do to the engine may make the mileage a lesser factor. If you're wanting to just do bolt ons and not rebuild much if any of the engine then the price doesn't look as good. If you've got 10grand, you could probably build a sweet machine out of that car with your funds!

Also take into account how the suspension feels (they will let you drive it right??) and how the tires look, as new tires would cost almost 10% of that entire car purchase...

 

yeah i would have roughly $10k total to spend (including car price) and theyll let me drive it and all i just dont want to go 180 miles without being almost sure i want it, but that all does make sense. i guess the idea is buy this car for 5900 and put 4000 into it or buy a lower mileage car and have 1000 to put in it (right now that is)

 

Correct. do you think you could get them down further on the price? Like 5500? and if its a "dealer" they'll probably want to tack on stupid fees. If you can get it for $5500 (or even the original $5900) out the door, and its something you really want to get into then I'd say go for it! Think about it first though...when I was looking for motorcycles first starting out I didn't do much research and I just wanted CHEAP. I'm now on my third motorcycle since last summer. haha I did the research on this one though, so you do the same so you don't want to kick yourself later.

If the car has something "major" wrong with it, say a blown head gasket, don't worry too much about that...maybe try to bring the price down because of it with the intention of slapping some better heads on it; just an example of a way to spend your extra $4k..

 

See if they can produce a reciept for that rebuilt trans they put in.

 

Take a look at it first, when I was in the hunt for my f-body, I called plenty of dealerships only to be told that the car was a "strong runner and looked great" only to drive to the dealership to see otherwise. You might be hard pressed to find a pristine LS1 for under 6K, but a couple thousand more should bring up more of a selection. Good luck.