[Grey Ghost]

Originally I was looking at the Ford mustangs after 2005, but gm was posting photos of their 5th gen Camaro concepts and I decided to wait on the Camaro.

When the time came for me to order a 2010 Camaro my wife and I made the decision to pay off our debts before buying a new car. My son has Autism and his therapies and special schooling cost us a large fortune over the years, so our debt was more than most people make in 5 years. Insurance pays nothing.

Anyway I made the sacrifice and was happy to wait to get my Camaro when we had the debt paid off.

Well this year 2012 arrives and it's time for me to buy my Camaro, my Xterra had reached 200,000 miles and I started my search. I was torn between a 2SS/RS or a ZL1. I was having trouble locating an SS that had exactly what I wanted. I don't like ordering my car, I usually feel I get the bet deal taking something off the lot.

I finally found a few Camaros at different dealers that were equipped with what I was looking for in a Camaro. I put some bids in on these cars, but either the salesmen were trying to milk out extra commission money or they didn't take me as a serious buyer because I was communicating with the dealers via Internet and phone. All the dealers were no more than 1.5 hours from me and I told them if we could agree on a price I would be there that day to finalize the deal.

We have a fax so the paperwork wasn't even an issue. After the salesmen turned down my offers I decided to wait and buy a 2013 Camaro. I went to lunch with my wife the next day, but had to wait on her to finish doing surgery on a dog. ( she is a veterinarian )

Her practice is beside the local Chevy dealer so I decided to walk a block to their lot and check their cars again. They didn't have any colors I wanted and I really don't like to make dealers trade for cars because it always cost me extra money in the past.

They had a few 45ths in RS and SS and was considering those. I love the color just not a fan of the vinyl on them. I had been lurking on these forums and had been well aware of all the mods available for Camaros and this had been running through my head when I stumbled upon a SIM 1LS the dealer had just gotten in that week.

So I asked to take it for a drive. I hadn't drove a V6 yet, only the SS models. It had a manual transmission like I wanted. I instantly fell in love with the car. My wife wasn't happy about me buying a V8. She is Eco friendly and thinks every car should get 40 miles to the gallon and up.

What finalized my decision on a stripped down 1LS was all the mods I had seen here on Camaro5. My plans even for an SS were to get rid of a lot of the items on the car, especially the wheels.

I bought the car with visions of all the mods I will be doing, I kept my wife happy by buying a V6 and I won't be trading SS interior items, wheels, front end, etc. I got the exact interior I wanted, so the only item I am tossing away are the heritage wheels, which are going to make perfect end tables for the home theatre in our Man/Son cave.

I did get the car for the fair price I was looking for also.