I just got a few things to say.

First off, when you are buying this car make a big long checklist of things to look for when you buy the car. It will most liekly make them come down on price. You should also think to look outside your general area. I bought my Firehawk from a guy 300 miles away and it was DEFINATELY worth it. Dont settle for a POS. If it has lotsa mods and looks awesome, then it probably has issues. Get a car as stock as possible and driven by an old woman.

Secondly, learn to drive the car before you do anything stupid. As stated earlier, the cars will lose control VERY easily. I can barely drive in the rain. I get passed by civics when its wet. They just have WAY too much power for the rain.

Third: Get a 6 speed. *Puts on flame suit* I dont think the automatic is any less of a car, i just think it is more dangerous in the hands of a teenager (no offense intended justin). I have 4 friends who have at one time owned F-bodies (2 M6, 2 A4). Both of them who owned A4's ended up wrecking them and one is now paralyzed because of it. The automatics with the firm shifts (shift kits) will break the rear end lose faster and can cause you to lose control. And chicks like the 6 speed more. Especially in high school, everyone will give you **** for having an automatic sports car; so spare yourself the trouble.

Just my $.02
-Stu

 

One thing your post made me think of that no one else has mentioned:

The power window motors go bad about every 3 years or so. After the first time replacing it you'll be able to do it in an hour or so (it's pretty easy). Just buy a replacement motor from autozone $50 the autozone unit comes with a lifetime warranty so the 50 bucks is basically a one time fee - you just have to do the labor every 3 or 4 years.

I don't know why I didn't think of mentioning this - everyone who has owned an fbody has replaced at least one power window motor.

 

Agreed on the power window motors. That's something I forgot to mention as well.

 

Yeah mine actually just went out last week. I'm not doing the labor myself though, I'm gonna have a place do them for me. I don't know about the every 3-4 years part... mines a '94 and they just went out last week... thats 10 years. That seems about right.

 

Camaro's aren't budget cars... if 4-6K is all you have save up...till you have more....


That's all I ahve to say.

 

(throws in 2 pennies)

i say just keep looking til you find what you want
don't sell yourself on a car just because you can afford that one, because there will always be a car that will come along next and will be in better condition
i've been looking for almost a year now and finally found one that i like and am buying (50k and 6spd too)
also, be careful in how you drive it
i learned to drive on my v6 so it's easier for me to control a car now that i know it's limits (taken my v6 there and back a ton of times)
but starting on a 300 horse lt1 is definately more tempting to do stupid stuff in
just do us a favor and keep our insurance rates down
p.s. i'm 18 also so...i know the boat you're in with money troubles and such
on another note though, about 3rd gens, you could look for them also
i've noticed that whether i drive my dad's 4th gen or my 3rd gen, either get great looks and both do great (a few more repairs on mine just because it has 120k on it)
best of luck to you

 

The other guys will hate me for saying this....

But for your price range... I think a 5.0 would be a nice starter car. You can pick one up for around what you;ve got...parts are cheap for them...and thier good cars to start off with in the Muscle car game... It won't have enough Hp to kill you off the top... but you can make it fast...plus you can learn as you go along.

 

I plan to buy a Firebird within 2 weeks, the only mod I am going to do is a WS6 Hood/Intake. What should I expect if the car has been taken care of decently, I don't mod it a whole lot, and drive it normally.

 

Don't listen to the guy that said to buy a 5.0 I have friends that have them and they are CONSTANTLY working on them, not to mention they are way to common. My first care, which I got in 1999, was a 90 Camaro RS with a 305TBI V8. That car has been ultra reliable! It is at 146,000 miles today, and still going strong today! I bought a secong car, my 96Z, a couple years ago, with 71,000 miles, and it now has 106,000, and has been great as well. The only thing that has went bad is a transmission mount, and a fuel pump. It has a monor oil leak, but what LT1 don't. Just ignore it and go on, unless you want to spend a fortune. As for the 87 gas, it's won't hurt a thing. I done it for 30,000 miles. It will however cause a little spark knock, and you may get a little more power with premium. But, like I said 87 will cause no damage. People will tell you that, but nothing is farther from the truth, trust me. They are hard to work on, but are not as bad as people make out, and with care, things won't go wrong very often. Good luck, and welcome to the world of Camaro's!

 

expect in terms of horsepower? how long it will last?
be more specific and we can help ya

 

heres my .02 if u know how to work on cars and have the tools to do so and like to get your knuckles busted. get the car. but u need to rember when u buy used there gonna be alot more problems that u need to be ready for b/c of the high milage. also get the car that u want to get dont get one camaro bc its cheaper then the other. i got mine for 5 grand with 86k on it it needed a clutch so i talked the guy down. do some resurce on commen problems for camaros and use that when u go out to buy and point them out to the seller. like for instance the intake leak. all in all dont sell your self short. take your time

 

I have never had any problems yet with mine. The only things I had to replace is the things I wanted upgraded.

 

Being a small block chevy the engine is very reliable.
I bought my A4 vert 4 years ago as a 3 year old salvage rebuild.
It doesn't take much to write these cars off.
A 5 ton truck had evidently backed its bumper over the hood and windshield and broken a few parts, and that was it.
If you keep it stock it won't cost much money to maintain it.
The engine compartment is very tight compared to the early cars (I'm 45) but plugs and wires last 100,000+ miles now.
With high miles watch out for a leaking waterpump as it's right on top of the opti.
If you get an A4 try and find one with the 3.23 gears instead of 2.73's.
Mods can be very expensive on the LT1.
For a good minimum you could make your own cold air intake (50.00 or less), put in a Transgo shift kit and a tranny cooler ( 150.00 plus install), and with 3.23's you would rock!
Anything else will require big bucks for less gain.
You can run 87 with the stock programming.
The PCM will adjust for the octane and you'll get less power at WOT but go easy or you'll wind up going sideways in a hurry!

 

I concur... If you take care of these cars and check/replace things often, they will run just fine for quite a while. But if you don't... it can turn into your worst nightmare. The previous owner of my car neglected it, and now I get to deal with the consequences. I am happy to say that I am starting to be able to do normal maintenance on my vehicle instead of just fixing things. Anyway, here's a nice list of most of the things I've replaced since I got the car in August of last year, there's more I'm sure, but I can't remember it all...

Spark plugs (twice)
Optispark
Coil
Wires (twice)
Fuel filter
Pressure regulator
Battery
Water pump gasket
Tires
Intake elbow (stock one was ripped)
Ignition switch
Radiator hoses and cooling system flush (was not normal maintenance, car was running too friggin hot)

Tonight I noticed a little bit of white smoke coming out of the exhaust... let's just hope it's because the car just started and it was a little cool out- I've got 1300 more miles before I get to see what the oil looks like *prays*

Not to turn you off on LT1s, but these cars are not like imports, if you don't pay attention to a car like this, it will reward you with some expensive repair. These cars demand your attention. If you meet those demands, your car will run great.

BTW, a third gen or a 5.0 would be a great choice also. I expect they will be about as reliable or even worse than an LT1, but they are simpler, and thus the repair costs will be cheaper.

Good luck on your choice. The most important advice I could give is to be as observant as possible when you're looking at a car you might want, especially during a test drive. Sometimes the small things will tell you how the previous owner treated the car. When I think about it, I should have paid more attention. The chain-smoking owner before me didn't even bother to wipe his smoke screen off the inside of the windshield- I'm glad I don't know what he didn't bother to do under the hood...

 

I got really lucky with my car, and i realized it about a couple months ago lol. I'm the third owner of the car, the original owner drove it for 75k miles and ran it mildly hard. Then Joe, the 2nd owner of the car did all KINDS of maintenane, drove it for 10k and sold it for cheaper than he bought it.

When he bought it, the rearend was going out on him, so he completely rebuilt it with a strange axle and put a 12 bolt Auburn locker diferential on it with 3.73 gears. Sweet!

He noticed it liked to run hot, and the water pump was leaking, so he replaced it with an electric water pump and got a 160* thermo and got a manual fan switch. Bad!

He also put the K&N on and put the Flowmaster Single Chamber Catbacks on there aswell, because the stock exhaust was beginning to leak. He also changed all the plugs and wires himself just before he sold the car to me, with Taylor plugs and SPIRO pro 8mm wires.

Of course, it was then up to me for the rest, but I'm glad he did all that work, and i still talk to him from time to time, he lives about 5 blocks away heh. Yeah, talk about lucky.