New Dilemma

Ok so I had made a post on here about 1 1/2 years ago asking about a Formula or a Camaro. Well that whole scenario fell through due to some family issues. Fast forward to present day and I'm now faced with a new dilemma. My uncle passed away and left me a decent amount of money, nothing to retire on, but enough to buy a nice car and have PLENTY left over. Which brings me to my dilemma.

I am still in school for about another year and drive just shy of an hour each way mostly on the highway for a total of about 325 miles a week. I have about a year left of school before I can quit being a wage slave and get a real job. If well taken care of, how well would the LS1 do under that much driving. Now, I understand that for the most part the Camaro and Firebird are essentially the same car, but another car I have found in my price range is a few nice C5 Z06. Which would be better suited for my situation? I still have a special place in my heart for a WS6 (just looks so damn mean), a nice Camaro SS wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit, and the C5 Z06 has always been a dream car. So I figured I would ask you guys who know more about these cars than I do. And I buy my cars to drive them, not collect them so please keep replies relative to my situation as I know how some people feel about certain cars.

IMHO... if you want to be smart driving 325 miles a week... I'd look at something more gas friendly and newer. And buy a fix up WS6 as your project car.

^^ This. In the event you do get an LS powered ride it shouldn't have a problem running the miles so long as you keep up with routine maintenance items.

Thanks for the 2 replies out of 33 views, seriously. I really am not worried about mpg too much, if I was I would have went asked the Prius turds for advice. I don't want a project car as I don't have the required amount of time to mess around with it between work and school. And besides, after finishing said project I would want to use it as a daily driver anyway so why not just buy what I want now instead of farting around with the whole process? Thanks pajeff02 for at least letting me know sorta what I asked.

No problem. I'll just point out that the newest of the WS6 models is now at least 9 years old. Irrespective of how little miles are on the car when you purchase it, there are things that are going to need attention.

I have included enough funds for things like that in my budget (hopefully). I am planning to have to take care of minor stuff and a fresh fluid change and tune up, you know restart the maintenance cycle. But as far as a project car, not gonna happen at this point in time.

How much exactly do you have to spend on a car? Do you plan on doing anything to it once you buy it, or are you planning on keeping it stock and just use it as a daily driver and nothing else? I ask because if down the road you get the mod bug (almost all of us do), then you'll be looking at spending a considerable amount for aftermarket parts such as a rear end, heads, cam, intake and other bolt-ons.

Back to your original question, putting miles on 4th gen cars isn't an issue at all. These LS motors are strong as long as they are maintained properly. Oil/transmission/rear end/coolant/hydraulic clutch fluid, etc change out at the required miles. I wouldn't let mileage be a sole factor in my decision.

Here is a sticky I made for the routine maintenance that would be required: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...vals?p=2564198

Lastly, here is a thread on what to look for when purchasing one of these cars: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...Buying-a-Fbody

OP - I reported your request. You cannot post in AAG because you do not have enough posts to do so (10 minimum). I've asked that this be corrected so you can post in your own thread again :)

First, thank you 35th-ANV-SS for the links and getting my post situated.

Now on to your question 35th-ANV-SS. We are still in the process of getting my uncles estate finalized and sorted out but as of now with the money I am going to get, my budget for car/parts/crap it needs and such is in the ball park of $30k with plenty left over to put away and have a nice savings. A friend of mine is pushing me to skip a Z06 and just buy a C5 and make it nice. And as stated above a Corvette has always been a dream car of mine and I would love to buy one. I am hesitant as I'm not sure if the "cost to own" a Corvette is outrageous or fairly livable. But if I manage to find a SOM WS6... all bets are off.

As for mods, well nothing crazy regardless of the car I get. Suspension stuff, rims/tires, intake, headers and exhaust with a tune sounds about where I would want to be unless there are other things I should do first after getting the car up to snuff. I'm not looking to kill drive-ability as I will be using it 5 days a week.

Hmmmm. I believe it was 02ragtop t/a who just mentioned that he would be willing to part with his SOM vert in another thread. I looked at the car last year and it is in great shape.

welcome :wave: - if you decide to get it, just keep some cash on hand to handle repairs and stuff.. there's plenty of folks on here who are daily-driving them (me included)... some folks have few problems, just minor regular maintenance/replacement stuff, ...others have pretty significant problems... it's hard to know since you're buying it used, and sometimes they are abused...

I love the SOM color. If that's really what your heart's content is...I would wait until you found one.

I don't know the expense involved with owning a corvette (I wish I did :lol:), but I would assume it's more.

On a 10+ year old car that is bone stock, I would say at a minimum you'd probably be looking at: replacing the stock shocks, possible a fuel pump at some point, and the clutch if you get a M6. It looks like all of the other "minor" repairs you already have covered.

The great thing about owning a 4th gen car IMO is that even though these cars are 10+ years old now, there are still in full force and used/owned by many gear head enthusiasts...and because of that there are a ton of vendors who still supply just about all the OEM and aftermarket parts you would ever need for one.

Thanks Wiley for the welcome. I'm trying to be as smart about this as possible, so I do not plan on buying the first LS1 powered car I come across, nor blowing my whole budget from the start. My wife is OK with me buying a C5 (she thinks they are sexy), however if I have to bring more than one kid somewhere I will be in a bind. So yes a C5 is a dream car, but at this point it may just have to stay a dream. Which brings me to the WS6. I love SOM, but being that I have never seen a t-top one for sale close by and I'm personally not too fond of verts regardless of color, a black M6 is my first choice. At this point I'm just waiting for the legal crap to be over with so I can get on with buying instead of internet window shopping.

Good luck man and keep us posted on what happens and which route you end up taking when the time comes.