Thinking of buying a 95 3.4 : input please

[grayman]

Howdy Gang,
My bro is looking at buying a 95 3.4 camaro. I am going to go look it over with him and was hoping to get some feedback of things to look for/look out for.
I have no real experience (no first hand) with the 3.4 engine. I do know how to get the model codes and stuff but mainly interested in major problems to look out for as the car has 200,000 miles on it. The body is in good shape and the owner says the tranny and motor are fine. The car is a hard top A4. We are looking at this car as a daily driver. He will not be modding it. Asking price is $1500. Supposedly the ower got a DUI and can no longer drive. it seems like a nice price for a car that is not banged up. The current owner does not seem like a 'mechanic' type person because he wasn't sure at first what engine it had...but it is 'the smaller v6.' So i am cautioning my brother that any number of things may have to be repaired and maintained such as brakes, cooling system, ignition, tranny flush, etc.. as the current owner can't be depended on for that type of stuff.

I would appreciate any feedback on inspection points when i check out the car tomorrow. TIA.

[MattM450]

thats an awful lot of miles but i dont know how well it was taken care of...you should take it to a shop and have them check it out, or do it yourself if you know what youre doing

[notsonic]

mine has 156k miles on it. the only thing thats gone bad is the cat.

i replaced the serpentine belt only because it looked a little worn. and the air filter, it was filthy. also my pads/shoes are in need of replacing, and every once and a while i think i feel loss of pressure in the brake system. its more than likely because theyre 11 year old rubber hoses.

other than that it seems fine.

mine only averages around 20-22mpg, but i drive like a tard sometimes. its my daily driver.

all in all its not a bad engine but as much as i love my car i regret not getting the bigger 6 or the 8 every day.

$1500 is damn good. i paid $2800.

[terminaldegree]

Your brother should have another $500-1000 squirreled away if he buys it, as most cars with that mileage [especially a hard driven f-body] are going to have problems.

Why not a 3.8?
Is the car going to be a daily driver? I worry about a lot of the rubber parts [vacuum hoses, etc.] deteriorating on a car that old.

At that mileage, the transmission may have been rebuilt once, or even the engine. Or anything and everything else. I would just take my time and inspect all the major systems of the car. I doubt a lot of people are looking for f-bodies this time of year.

Not to be negative, but it's a special case when you find a $1500 car in good enough condition to count on everyday. Yes it happens, but even more rarely with a firebird/camaro because of how they are driven.

[BobbyZ72]

How old is your bro. If hes jest driving age hes not going to be wanting to work on it, hes wanting to drive. He hes older and mechanicly inclined and understands the he may have to fix a few problems go for it. I got my 97 with 102k on it about 8 months ago. I paid 3400 for it, the inside of it is like new. I did put about 2500 into it with tires, filters, tune ups, seals gaskets, brakes, stuff of that nature.

1500 sounds like a good deal to me.

[camaroman1181]

1500 isnt that bad of a deal.. the 60degreev6's run forever it seems.. i cant say ive heard of anyone blowing one up unless they ignored something wrong (blown headgasket,) or ran a power adder thru one. my 3.4 has 150k on the clock and it runs strong still. i get anywhere from 20-22 mph with mixed driving, but mine's also the M5... if stuff does go wrong, parts are relatively cheap for it and you can find used rwd 3.4's off ebay for like 100-200 a piece. i would def. check the car out good first to make sure that things like the suspension and all arent worn out on it. take a magnet over the outside of the body too to see if there is any bondo anywhere... if there is, try and talk him down some... all in all, its really not that bad of a deal for what will basically be a beater...

[FunkZ]

I would not feel hesitant about buying the car based solely on the number of miles, as long as it was taken care of. You can usually tell just by the overall condition of the car.

Ask for a maintenance record of the car. If the owner can't provide it and doesn't remember what was done and when, request that a 3rd party inspect the car. You can usually get the seller to go halves on the cost of the inspection if you put something in writing that you'll buy the car if everything checks out okay.

[andrew.brandon]

how much of the white crap do you get in Seattle? if you get it a lot I would suggest at a minimum of adding a LSD if you see much snow/ice if not in addition to buying a set of winter tires. something to consider when looking at a rwd car in the north.

I say take it to a mechanic and have them go over it with a fine tooth comb. if it passes and it feels solid after YOU drive it I say get it. I say YOU should drive it because you already have a f body and even after driving a nicely modded car you should be able to detect any deficiencies with a bone stock one. The shocks are shot after 200K but that’s not all that expensive to replace. Maybe if your really want to make sure the cars in tip top shape you can send off an oil sample, and can find out exactly what’s been going on inside the engine.

[Publican]

Guys - it's a $1,500.00 car - it'll part out for twice that!

3.4 is a great engine. Since you don't know the history, run a compression check, and if OK, for $1,500.00 what can you lose? Check brakes for wear. Check Fuel filter.

Go to a fluids specialist & change everything - oil (5/30 100% synthetic); power steering fluid; coolant; brake fluid; transmission if automatic.

After that - change the oil every 3000 miles, and enjoy. My '95 has 100K on the clock, feels like it came off the showroom floor yesterday.

Enjoy.

[grayman]

Thanks for all the feedback.

We still havent seen the car. dudes at work.

thanks again. g

[Nikos95]

Well I am unsure of whats peoples big deals are over the 3.8L V6, honestly its not a better engine by any means. A little more powerful from the get go, and a bit easier to find parts for but thats where the block ends. The 3.4L is built off of the 5.0L aka 305 block, which has always been a rock solid engine. I personally just picked up a 95 camaro 3.4 a4 with 134k on it for 1,500$ with a salavage title, I have spent about ohh 15 hours working on it, and about $250 and the thing runs just mint. I still need to do a bit more, but again with this one it is my daily driver. Just pay a little attention to minor things, if it runs clean, shifts nice, and the suspension seems decently tight its got no real worries.. Plan on plugs, wires, coil packs, tranny flush, brakes, oil change, fuel filter... the basics you should almost always do anyways just to make sure they have been done. if you have any questions or concerns after looking at the car feel free to email me or w/e the case may be, i have learned alot about this engine imparticular in the last week.

[93slomaro3.4]

the 3.4 is not based off of the 305 differnt bore and stroke 305 is a 90 degree v and the 3.4 isa 60 degree v

[grayman]

anyway, dude with 3.4 was hard to get a hold of. now bro is looking at ls1 cars. sheesh, talk about extremes.