My son made me ask...Value Question...

[AnnaBear@SpartaChevy]

OK, so my son is looking at a 1984 Z28, manual transmission. He test drove it, says it runs great and was recently painted. Said the paint job is good and no rust on the undercarriage. I have ZERO knowledge of third gen Camaros.

Is this car worth $3,000? Thanks for your help.

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Easy, have it taken into your service department and have them look it over. Get it up on a lift and get some good lights shining up under her and see what they find.

[mlee]

Nice to see your young man is eyeing a 3k Camaro instead of a 25k one... sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders. 3k would be a fair deal if it doesn't have 200k miles or something over the top like that. Can't get too burnt on but will probably have some maintenance $$ to go with it somewhere...

From a quick look at autotrader that price doesn't look bad...

[AnnaBear@SpartaChevy]

Great advice to put it on a lift, but he's in Californian and I am in Michigan. I sooo wish I was out there to help him with his first 'big' car purchase! lol

He is 20, is in the Navy and has a GREAT head on his shoulders. Nice to see others agree with me! :-)

The odo shows like 113K or 130k...something like that. I forgot.

[klatterblast]

yes these cars are beginning to appreciate instead of depreciate, i would get it they are good cars in the right hands, perfect for a youngster to learn car mechanics and driving with. it will give him something to work for. over time could end up being a nice hot rod.

[FINALLYSATISFIED]

Originally Posted by little_bank_robber

Great advice to put it on a lift, but he's in Californian and I am in Michigan. I sooo wish I was out there to help him with his first 'big' car purchase! lol

He is 20, is in the Navy and has a GREAT head on his shoulders. Nice to see others agree with me! :-)

The odo shows like 113K or 130k...something like that. I forgot.

He needs to be careful as the condition on the outside might be immaculate but the engine might not to as good as what he is advertising after being treated unfair in the past years. That fact that he's in the Navy as well the seller might be trying to pull a fast one believe it or not realizing that he has a steady income which could mean he can be taken advantage of. I'm sure there will be some things that would need to get fixed especially for $3,xxx. Just tell him to be careful...

[AnnaBear@SpartaChevy]

Originally Posted by MY1STCAMAR0

He needs to be careful as the condition on the outside but be immaculate but the engine might not to be good after being treated unfair in the past years. That fact that he's in the Navy as well the seller might be trying to pull a fast one believe it or not realizing that he has a steady income which could mean he can be taken advantage of. I'm sure there will be some things that would need to get fixed especially for $3,xxx. Just tell him to be careful...

Exactly the things that I thought of and scare me. I guess there comes a time he has to handle things on his own. :-(

He is driving a 1999 Ford Windstar that I took in on trade here at the dealership. That beast has 160K miles on it. He drove it out there last winter and he has had a couple of issues with it...he now knows how to switch out an alternator! lol Great time of his life to learn mechanics.

[mth35115]

There should be an auto hobby shop on base, have him go there and if nothing else run a compression test on the engine and it will give a good indication of the engines condition. If he doesn't know how to do this test there are people at the shop that will help him.

[d69chris]

He can always offer less.

Sometime a new $300 paint job is meant as a distraction from other issues. Paint will not last if it's an Earl Schibe job.

You can dress up a pig......but it's still a pig!

[FINALLYSATISFIED]

Originally Posted by little_bank_robber

Exactly the things that I thought of and scare me. I guess there comes a time he has to handle things on his own. :-(

He is driving a 1999 Ford Windstar that I took in on trade here at the dealership. That beast has 160K miles on it. He drove it out there last winter and he has had a couple of issues with it...he now knows how to switch out an alternator! lol Great time of his life to learn mechanics.

My very first car was a 1989 Dodge Shadow when I was 18. It was kept in the family and in pretty good condition. I forget how many miles it had on her but when I took possesion of her she started acting up. It had an oil change every 3 month, all the service was up to date. It was time for a new engine and I would have had to fork out just about $2,000. Long story short we did and after the engine was replaced it kept having issues. I learned from that mistake(even though I didnt have to spend any money on acquiring the vehicle) and when I turned 20 I ended up buying an Acura Integra from a Acura dealership with a warranty. Just one of those things, the Camaro looks nice from the picture but like d69chris said "Sometime a new $300 paint job is meant as a distraction from other issues". I'd have him take it a Chevy dealer or a place that deals with Camaro and have someone look under the hood, just to be on the safe side.

[Supercamaro64]

3000 isnt too bad for this kind of car, but as mentioned above, looks can be decieving. make sure everything checks out first. but hey, i bought my first car, my 86 camaro, more than 2 years ago for $550. i have never had one problem with it running. (of course it doesnt look great, but it runs amazing lol)