Need advice with buying 2010 camaro ss

[max212]

Hi everyone. I am a potential buyer of 2010 camaro ss. And trying to gather information about them, the most important is if there are any serious issues with that year of camaro that I should be aware of. I tried using search on the forum but search function doesnt seem to work at all. The car will be occasionally taken to the strip and opened up on the highway from time to time. Also how does it compare to competition performance wise (5.0 mistang and srt 8's ) while test driving them at dealers cant really open them up and understand which one is better, I honestly dont have a big prefference in muscle cars but from what i managed to gather ls3 in camaro has more aftermarket support and tuning potential plus it comes with wider tyres in the rear. I am leaning more towards camaro as there are more of them available in my area for a good price. Also 2010 is not the only year I am looking at, 2011's and some 2012's are also within the budget, its just the good looking price of 2010's that attracts to them but it being the first year of production I dont feel 100% confident with buying one. Any advice and information would be much appreciated

[Reineke]

I have a 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS with 104k miles on it. For being a first production year car, it has been outstanding. A couple things to note for you, be sure to check the dash around where the passenger side air bag would pop through. They are prone to cracking, but you have to look close.

Another thing to note is, if you are looking at the 2SS Camaro, heads up display became standard on 2011 and above. The 2010 did not get it. 2012 got an improved handling suspension, newer steering wheel, and updated gauge displays among other things I am sure

I would not be scared of a 2010 for being the first model year, but you do get some extras included in newer model year Camaros.

[LCPLPunk]

I love my 2010! I honestly think the gen 5's look the best too!

[JCunningham]

2012-15 were the best years. better suspension, interior and more standard features.

[myold88]

Be careful, I had to change a tail lamp bulb on my early '10 SS after 6 years.

[Aaron0731]

Originally Posted by myold88

Be careful, I had to change a tail lamp bulb on my early '10 SS after 6 years.

LOL

[Rock-It Man]

There were several important problems in 2010 (I have one, BTW).

Early production cars had inadequate gage battery cables resulting in a voltage drop between the battery and starter. Look for this TSB and find out where the VIN cutoff is.

There was also a TSB on a leaky fitting where a coolant line to the engine oil cooler screws into the block. Get the car up on a lift and look for seepage. The fitting is on the driver's side to the rear of the block. Trace the line from the oil cooler, also on the driver's side. I had this repair done under warranty.

Most importantly, the L99 engine had faulty AFM lifters. These lose pressure and collapse if the engine is off for a few hours and sometimes cause a loud tapping for a second or so on start up. This condition is intermittent so it's hard to check for. There is a TSB on this. I had the lifters replaced under warranty. It would have cost about $3,000 otherwise. I wouldn't buy an L99 car (automatic) unless there was paperwork showing this had been done. The replacement lifters are a new design; don't settle for the old.

On LS3 engines, there's a history of oil pump failures. Do some research on that.

[myold88]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

There were several important problems in 2010 (I have one, BTW).

Early production cars had inadequate gage battery cables resulting in a voltage drop between the battery and starter. Look for this TSB and find out where the VIN cutoff is.

There was also a TSB on a leaky fitting where a coolant line to the engine oil cooler screws into the block. Get the car up on a lift and look for seepage. The fitting is on the driver's side to the rear of the block. Trace the line from the oil cooler, also on the driver's side. I had this repair done under warranty.

Most importantly, the L99 engine had faulty AFM lifters. These lose pressure and collapse if the engine is off for a few hours and sometimes cause a loud tapping for a second or so on start up. This condition is intermittent so it's hard to check for. There is a TSB on this. I had the lifters replaced under warranty. It would have cost about $3,000 otherwise. I wouldn't buy an L99 car (automatic) unless there was paperwork showing this had been done. The replacement lifters are a new design; don't settle for the old.

On LS3 engines, there's a history of oil pump failures. Do some research on that.

It's always a crap shoot when buying a used 6 or 7 year old car. You are saying
"the L99 had faulty lifters". True some did, but I have not seen anyone here on
camaro5 complaining about them in a long time. Same with the battery cable.
My lifters have never made a sound in 7 years and 45,000 miles. From what I've
seen here the '10 to '13 Camaro is a great used car choice as long as you find
one that hasn't been beat to death. Now that's a whole other story- lol.

[Snoman]

There is almost zero price differential between a '10 and a '13, unless you are seeking out a specific limited production run model (Transformers/Synergy).

Given the mid-platform redesign, including electric vs. belt driven items, interior options, the best money buy at the moment is a 2013 2LT RS / 2013 2SS RS.

[JCunningham]

o ya in 13 you get electric steering but loose the cd player for the mylink and mp3s. i forget how much power you gained with the electric steering.

[BlaqWhole]

Some of the 2010s have a MAF that was prone to become faulty when adding mods to the car. There is a thread on that here. Some of the earlier 5th Gens also are prone to the evap solenoid going bad at around 40K-50K miles. It is a $600 job at the dealership. Some dealers charge more, some less. Mine went bad around 42K miles and I just had it repaired. I also replaced one of my O2 sensors. That was 90 bucks. So in the 4 1/2 years I've owned my 2010 2SS/RS, those are the only issues I encountered. Which I can't complain about.

Some of the later years had options like MyLink, 1LE, electric steering, etc. So if the price is similar, I would say go with the later model like a 2012 instead of the 2010. Also, in the 2010, the sterring wheel is slightly different. And the needle for the speedomoter and RPM gauges is very thick on the 2010. On the later models it is thinner. So really, there are little things and big things. The 1LE and MyLink make it worth getting the later models.

[Rock-It Man]

I don't know why you are looking for a 2010 in particular, whether "first year" is of value to you.

Personally, I think that eventually the first year cars will hold more value, particularly the ones built near the end of the year, which have back-up sensors. (Before you buy a Gen 5 without back-up sensors, try parking one. It's a nightmare.)

But if you're mostly interested in creature comfort and reliability, by all means, go with a 2012 or later as suggested by others in this thread.

PS: the speed needle on the 2010 is so fat that the analog speedo is completely useless. Fortunately, there's a digital speedo also.

[KJZ28]

I have a 2010 2SS/RS I bought used because it is all I could afford. The newer the better, more features as stated above. I would love to have the Mylink, HUD, newer steering wheel, leather on the dash, no frame review mirror, etc. but I couldn't afford it.

[Pistolgrppump]

Make sure this has been done before you buy it as well. I put a quart of oil in mine about every 1000 miles.

If it's an automatic I mean.


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