Looking for advice on buying a ‘14-‘15 SS or 1LE

[sandiego74]

I’m new to this forum and this is my first post. Long-story short, my son being born made me buy a loaded 5.7 ‘18 300 C. I love the car, but it’s honestly kind of boring to drive. I’ve been wanting a manual daily that I can autocross and track every now and then. I normally autocross my ‘74 Camaro, but I don’t have the time right now to tend to its needs, and my local SCCA group don’t have any local solo courses any more.

So, I figured since I can get more money for my 300 now than when I paid for it, thanks to the spike in the used-car market, I might as well make a profit and get what I want now that my son is older.

I’ve got a few SS that I’m looking at and want advice on what to look for from the experts of this forum. Here are a few details on the several I am looking at.

1.) ‘15 1LE: Silver, which is my favorite color for this car, and looks to be in amazing shape. The previous owner put Michelin Pilot Sports, which is good as it shows the owner didn’t cheap out on the car and probably took care of it. Just over 60,000 miles and is going for $26.5K. This is my number one pick.

2.) ‘14 1LE: White, which is my second favorite color, but this one is a bit sketchy. It’s a private party sale, and it has over 100,000. It does look to be in great shape, however, but there are some good/bad things to go with it. It has a new engine with a factory 3-year warranty, as well as a new clutch, struts, brakes, and a few other important bits, all installed by the dealer. He even has the dealership inspection report, so it seems legit. This car has the optional Recaro’s, too, so that’s exciting. He wants $25k.

3.) There are a few 2SS’s I am looking at, as well. 1 of them has a sunroof, which may be the deal-breaker since I’m 6’2” and will need to wear a helmet for track use. It also has 80,000 miles, but looks to be in great shape and is also Silver. The other one is a pretty basic red SS, which is clean, but they want $27k for it.

Before anyone asks, I have already tried the car seat and the kid in the back of one in-person, and it was far easier than I thought it would be and have no worries about it.

So, what should I look for in the cars, as a buyers-guide? I think 1LE is a great deal, but how easy/costly would it be to make an SS run as well or better than a 1LE?

Also, here’s my ‘74 that I autocross:

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Welcome aboard, bad ass 74 you’ve got there. You are right, car seats aren’t terrible in the 5th gens. I logged a crap ton of miles in my old SS with both (at the time) kids in tow in car seats. I miss those days when we could all go out in it as a family. Now with three munchkins it’s my silverado or the Yukon Denali only for all of us. As for the cars you are looking at you can’t really go totally wrong with any of them, I would say though that the 1LE is the car that I’m looking to add to my stash next. Recaros are not a question, they are mandatory for me. Keep searching if you aren’t quite sold on what you’ve found. The right one will come along and when it does you will know with out question.

[ariZona28]

Very cool 2nd Gen. I'm definitely no expert but as the well respected gent in the above post stated you really can't go wrong with either of those 1LE cars you mentioned. I'm a BIG fan of the 1LEs. I'd probably lean more towards the silver car especially if it's been well cared for. If you're going to ride it hard and put it away wet then the white one is a good choice as long as the work was done properly. I made a feeble attempt at Auto X with my Z/28 and after running over several cones and constantly spinning about I decided to step back for a bit. The 5th Gens are kinda big cars and I had a heck of a time with sight lines and trying to determine how close the car was to the cones. I'm currently putting a lot of $$$ and effort into a C5 Vette that I use for HPDE and that consumes a lot of time so the Z is back to being a late night therapy machine.

[sandiego74]

I’m pretty attached the Silver one, honestly, which is usually my first rule of what not to do while car buying. But, I a younger guy and grew up with the 5th gen being the “cool” poster car, so it’s kind of a dream car to me. The Z28, especially, is the one I want, but way out of my budget. Hell, I even put a ‘14-‘15 hood vent on my ‘74.

Anything I should look for, though, when inspecting the cars? I’ve done some research online, and most complaints are about comfort and visibility, and not so much reliability.

Is the idea that the white one had a lot of work, especially a new engine, a little sketchy?

Also, how much worse is the gas mileage for the 1LE vs the SS? It’s going to be my daily, so I like to consider that, as ridiculous as it may be for these cars, too.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

The 5th gens have proven to be absolute bad asses not only in performance but also in safety and reliability. Just take it for a drive and listen for noisy lifters, (neither 1LE’s will have AFM so that’s good) make sure the steering and suspension feel tight, get on it hard and make sure the transmission shifts as it should and the clutch feels right, no weird no noises or anything else out of place, etc.

The fuel mileage should be pretty much the same assuming everything is tuned up and running correctly. There’s a lot of people on here that daily their cars still. Comfort has never been an issue for me and I’ve been on a couple of 1000+ mile trips in them. You get used to the sight lines it’s not near as big a deal as some make it out to be at least for me anyway. Driving stuff that cool looking and fast always comes with trade offs. I’ll keep the looks and the speed and figure out how to see what I need to while going down the road. I don’t necessarily think the white car getting a new engine is sketchy. For all we know maybe it suffered the pretty uncommon LS3 oil pump bypass failure and lost oil psi. Just because it looses a motor before 150-200K doesn’t always mean the worst as far as care goes. At least with that one you know you’ve got a fresh power plant to start with.

[Royal Tiger]

I absolutely love mine. Get the silver one. It ticks all the boxes for you.

[ariZona28]

+1 on above statements. One of the many advantages to getting a 1LE is the 3.91 rear gear as opposed to a 3.45. This will impact MPG slightly but definitely not a deal breaker for a daily. Only maintenance item that I'll add is the heater blend door. Be sure you get full heat and full A/C from all of the vents. Once again not a deal breaker but maybe a price bargaining chip.

[xstuntman]

Silver SS.
And since your in San Diego unplug the blend door solenoid and never adjust the ac temp up/down so it won't bite you in the butt. Mines two notches from full cold and never gonna be a problem.

[sandiego74]

I really appreciate the advice so far! Please, keep it coming if anyone has more to chime in with.

The dealership with the silver 1LE should be receiving it in today. I’m going to ask a lot of questions and ask for their inspection report of it. If it passes, I may just pay over the phone for it. The last one I was trying to get sold within a few days, and I only have Saturday of this weekend free to take care of this. Should I try to make a deal for a lower price than what they’re asking. $26.5K seems pretty damn good for a low-mileage 1LE, and is priced lower than the the 1SS and 2SS I most recently checked out and drove.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Originally Posted by sandiego74

I really appreciate the advice so far! Please, keep it coming if anyone has more to chime in with.

The dealership with the silver 1LE should be receiving it in today. I’m going to ask a lot of questions and ask for their inspection report of it. If it passes, I may just pay over the phone for it. The last one I was trying to get sold within a few days, and I only have Saturday of this weekend free to take care of this. Should I try to make a deal for a lower price than what they’re asking. $26.5K seems pretty damn good for a low-mileage 1LE, and is priced lower than the the 1SS and 2SS I most recently checked out and drove.

It’s no different than when you find the woman you can’t live without. You better pony up before someone else does.

[ariZona28]

Originally Posted by sandiego74

Should I try to make a deal for a lower price than what they’re asking.

Absolutely. Since it's a dealership the faster they move their inventory the better. My guess is they have $18-$22K in it. If you're willing to pay the asking price it sure wont hurt to sandbag a bit. I flew to Alabama to look at my Z so the dealership kinda had the upper hand but I managed to nibble the price down by $2K as the original tires were worn and needed to be replaced. They still made an ass load of money off of me but I've got no regrets. Oh, and a clean carfax would be a bonus too.

[sandiego74]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

It’s no different than when you find the woman you can’t live without. You better pony up before someone else does.

Until she moves in and you realize you want to go back to living without her haha.

I’m planning to bring a cashier’s check of what they’re asking, and a couple thousand more in-cash if they don’t go for it.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Lol yea that happens from time to time. They aren’t that much different than Camaros. They both love your money and can be a little whiny, but when they put out they do a damn good job

[sandiego74]

About how much would it cost to make an SS as good or better than a 1LE? Sway bars, struts, springs, and tires? In case I miss the 1LE’s and settle on an SS.