New Member, looking for buying advice.

Hey folks,

I have owned a Trans Am in the past, a 2001 WS6. I regret letting it go and have been looking to get into another. I have found a few mostly around $10-12k. These are automatic trans am, t-top cars. Not the WS6 versions. 1998-2002 are the years Im looking at.

Anything I should look for in particular. When I look at the cars what should I look for in the automatic trans fluid?

If I remember correctly the major maintenance items kick in at 100k miles right? Most of the cars I look at have anywhere from 45k-75k miles on them. Sucks being in northern va. Everything is overpriced here. Pleople want $20-30k for there WS6 low mile cars.

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Originally Posted by electricmarquis

Hey folks,

I have owned a Trans Am in the past, a 2001 WS6. I regret letting it go and have been looking to get into another. I have found a few mostly around $10-12k. These are automatic trans am, t-top cars. Not the WS6 versions. 1998-2002 are the years Im looking at.

Anything I should look for in particular. When I look at the cars what should I look for in the automatic trans fluid?

If I remember correctly the major maintenance items kick in at 100k miles right? Most of the cars I look at have anywhere from 45k-75k miles on them. Sucks being in northern va. Everything is overpriced here. Pleople want $20-30k for there WS6 low mile cars.

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Welcome welcome! Yeah it took me a long time to find a WS6 with low miles on it. All I kept seeing were ones with 75+k miles. I looked and looked and finally found a 2001 with 13,888 miles on it if you can believe that. And at CarMax of all places. It was $19k, which might be a tad high but well worth it being low mileage.

Yea, I have a few saved searches for carmax f-bodies. The good thing about carmax is you can buy 100k mile warranties. I found a 2001 Camaro SS with 19k miles on it there. It was gone in like 12 hours. LOL. I think it was $14k.

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Originally Posted by electricmarquis

Yea, I have a few saved searches for carmax f-bodies. The good thing about carmax is you can buy 100k mile warranties. I found a 2001 Camaro SS with 19k miles on it there. It was gone in like 12 hours. LOL. I think it was $14k.

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I still have it saved too...I saw that one...red??

I had mine shipped from Cali here to Memphis before a pic was ever posted on their website. It was black, 6 speed, 13k miles which was good enough for me to blindly have it shipped! haha.

Welcome! Check this thread out: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118628

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Originally Posted by staleycornell

I still have it saved too...I saw that one...red??

I had mine shipped from Cali here to Memphis before a pic was ever posted on their website. It was black, 6 speed, 13k miles which was good enough for me to blindly have it shipped! haha.

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Yea, it was the red one last week. I call them to have it shipped to NOVA area for free but someone else called like 10 mins before me.

Welcome aboard. Good luck in your search.

+1 on Carmax. I waited for about a year before a good one showed up, and had it shipped to me from Kansas City. Low miles, good condition, average dealership prices. I had to go through a major dealership for my loans, no private sell allowed, which sucked but oh well, we of marginal credit do as we must...

Auto Transmission Fluid should be a fairly bright reddish color. The darker it is, the older or more used it is. It'll turn dark brown, almost black, I believe when it's bad.

Looked at another today. Guy wanted 11,500 for a 1998 trans am, automatic. His wife said it was like new. It was not like new. Stained leather passenger seat, t-top seal in the colounm was bent up. Various window seals and platics were warped, engine bay was a complete grease pit, rear bumber body lines did not match up.

I was not impressed. It looked more like a 8k dollar trans am. Dang.

They are definitely getting harder to find. I usually check Craigslist for them but its usually junk or early to mid 90's models. Rarely have I seen an 01 or 02 on there.

I seem to find lots with 100k + miles on them. If everything body, cosmetic wise etc is great is there anything I should be concered about with a 105000 ws6 automatic?

Welcome to LS1.com!

Welcome to the fold

Welcome aboard, and good luck on your search.

All the fluids in the vehicle should be changed every 50-60k miles. Key word is "should". It all depends on driving habits and climate. Here in MI, we try not to let a vehicle pass by with that mileage, without recommending all the fluid services.

I found a 2002 White WS6, automatic with 46k miles. Gonna check it out on Sunday. Dude said its in super excellent condition with only damage being a few spots of wheel rash from a curb. He said he has not changed the trans fluid yet but was planning on doing it at 50k.

What is he asking for it? Sounds like a good find.

Kinda pricy, $15k. Im gonna offer him $14k. The problem with living in D.C. Metro area is everyone has money and they will pay more than the average joe for just about anything. I found a few others with alot less miles. 24k and 27k miles. They are $16k and $17k for those.

The majority of the birds I find are M6's. Where there alot more manuals made than automatics in the WS6 package?

Also the carfax came back as a

Pontiac Firebird
Formula/Trans Am

Thats weird bc the majority of the ones I see here around Memphis are automatics. I'm not sure which they made more of but I'm sure someone will chime in with the answer...

Well the white WS6 mentioned above was no good. Over all Id say it was worth about 9k not 15k. Needed the following:

Headlight motors x2
antenna motor
weather seals left and right door(including the ttop area)
tires
brake pads all around
suspension bushings replaced
lower ground effects driver side reworked(falling away from body)

I scored a early notification of a 2001 Camaro SS with 19k miles at carmax. Im thinking its the one I saw about 2 weeks ago. Its on its way from Rockville to Dulles near my house. If its very nice I will bite on it. I cannot imagine carmax having a POS. Well see. If not Ill keep waiting for a WS6.

I just got mine a month ago (first one) and its a 98 auto with 114000 on it and i gave 1500 for it...the only think wrong w it is it has a salvage title (it drive great and straight) and the paint is a lil faded which im fixing to get a paint job on it... other than that really its a great car...and very fast

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Originally Posted by electricmarquis

Well the white WS6 mentioned above was no good. Over all Id say it was worth about 9k not 15k. Needed the following:

Headlight motors x2
antenna motor
weather seals left and right door(including the ttop area)
tires
brake pads all around
suspension bushings replaced
lower ground effects driver side reworked(falling away from body)

I scored a early notification of a 2001 Camaro SS with 19k miles at carmax. Im thinking its the one I saw about 2 weeks ago. Its on its way from Rockville to Dulles near my house. If its very nice I will bite on it. I cannot imagine carmax having a POS. Well see. If not Ill keep waiting for a WS6.

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I can vouch for CarMax. I have purchased 2 GTO's from them and 1 WS6. They have all been in great condition. I am anxiously awaiting to see your 2001 SS. I have a 2000 SS as my daily driver and love the hell out of it. The WS6 is a weekend car, but really only gets driven maybe twice a month. Haha. Thats great mileage for the 01 SS..my 01 WS6 from CarMax had 13,888.

Hell for 15k you can get a decent C5! Seriously.....lol

Keep looking op, you will find a car that fits you perfectly. :)

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Originally Posted by TLS_Addict

Hell for 15k you can get a decent C5! Seriously.....lol

Keep looking op, you will find a car that fits you perfectly. :)

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Your right on the 15k. I have seen 40k mile GTOs go for 15 also. I have not found a WS6 or a SS priced below $13k and the $13k ones are about 1.5-2 hours from me. The few around that price I checked out had issues or needed anywhere from 750-3000 in parts.

I bought my 02 WS6 last week for 13k. Has 72k miles and is in perfect condition. Paint is great and the interior looks brand new. Engine runs really quiet (which is kinda rare, usually there is some kind of ticking) I think it was a pretty good deal. GL finding yours man

Well the carmax ss looked great. The plastics under the front wipers need to be refreshed. Don't know how to tackle that one yet. Seals look good and car ran great. Above 50mph shakes like crazy. They checked it out and tires have flat spots. They are replacing all 4 tires and will call me tommorow when done. I might take this time to look at another ws6 about 1.5 hours from me tonight. If not I will jump on the ss in the morning. The ws6 has 37500 miles, black on black m6. It's a 2002.

The WS6 sounds like something worth looking at. If you end up getting the Camaro, use Mothers 'Back to Black' on those front plastics. My WS6 was faded all to hell and now they look brand new.

Well looks like Im gonna bite on the 2001 SS from Carmax. They said it will be ready tommorow night. Tires will be in Monday. The two WS6's from the 1.5 hour trip were not all that.

One had 37500 miles but looked like it had 150k. Needed window motors, door panel cracks, stained seats, numerous body scratches, scuffs, dents.

The other one looked cosmetically almost perfect. It had 95k miles on it. Too many miles for 14k bucks. More like 10k.

He also had 2001 and 2002 SS camaros. Looked good but no where near as good as the Carmax one. I will be getting the 2001 SS and refurbing the plastic moldings. The car will look new and with 18900 miles sweet ride for long time. I dont thnk I need it but Carmax offers a 100k mile 72 month warranty for 1400 which would take the car to 119000 miles and another 6 years.

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Originally Posted by electricmarquis

Well looks like Im gonna bite on the 2001 SS from Carmax. They said it will be ready tommorow night. Tires will be in Monday. The two WS6's from the 1.5 hour trip were not all that.

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Sweet! I have purchased my pony cars from Carmax over the years, and had no regrets. Congrats, have fun with the new ride!

I meant will be ready Monday night. I might take Tuesday off and go pick it up and do all the county registering etc.

Make sure you put up some pics!

Ok guys. I went ahead and bought the 2001 SS. Looks good. Needs very few minor cosmetic things.

1. Front windshield plastics/screens under the wipers. Replace or polish
2. Driver leather seat cover could use replacement but not necessary(cracks)
3. Headlights need a refresh/restoration.
4. The molding between the T-Tops could use replacement from massive fading.

Thats pretty much it. I went ahead and paid for it this morning and will pick it up this afternoon. They put 4 new tires on it, I took it up to 75mph on the highway and its smooth as glass. No rattles, creaks, etc. I will take some pics after I pick it up today and post them.

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Originally Posted by electricmarquis

Ok guys. I went ahead and bought the 2001 SS. Looks good. Needs very few minor cosmetic things.

1. Front windshield plastics/screens under the wipers. Replace or polish
2. Driver leather seat cover could use replacement but not necessary(cracks)
3. Headlights need a refresh/restoration.
4. The molding between the T-Tops could use replacement from massive fading.

Thats pretty much it. I went ahead and paid for it this morning and will pick it up this afternoon. They put 4 new tires on it, I took it up to 75mph on the highway and its smooth as glass. No rattles, creaks, etc. I will take some pics after I pick it up today and post them.

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Awesome! :) The things you listed are easily fixed with a little elbow grease and a good product. With the exception of the leather seat cover. But, new covers are easy to find.

Enjoy it!

Is that the red automatic that I saw on the CarMax website?

Yes it was. It dissapeared for a week, then showed back up. I had it sent to Dulles. Then I bought it today.
All Stock, 18990 miles. Now to call Chevy dealer and see if the trans filter/fluid was changed at the 15k mark. If not theres $300.
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/.../camaross1.jpg
http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/.../camaross2.jpg

Well I returned the SS today. I finally got to spend a good day in the car today driving and noticed the rear grinds alot. Mostly while slowing down like it had lots of play in the rear. At stop lights the car shook from rough idle. I took it back and got my money back.

I truly miss my old 2001 WS6 and really long for another. Carmax has a good 5 day return so I took advantage of it.

So Im still in search of.

That's too bad. But, better to find out now then later. Happy hunting :)