LS1 high miles?

[scoutsniper]

whats considered high miles on a LS1 car

i found a 99 trans am 6 speed car flawless for 5k but it has 145k miles. is that to high? will i be looking at a rebuild soon?

thanks

[MunsterZ28]

if something is taken care of thats not to bad at all. if its beaten to death and never maintained then ya thats alot. but if its in really good condition i wouldnt think twice about it and get it if i really liked it

[prorac1]

I agree with munster 100 percent. I have a 2000 silverado with 185,000 miles. 5.3, nothing done but regular oil changes. Dosent leak or burn and holds 60 psi of oil pressure. If well maintained the LS series has proven to go to well over 250,000 miles or more. Heck my LT1 had 145,000 on it when i started, and its life has been anything but easy. I wouldnt hesitate if the price was right. You can get a lot of good deals on our cars once they get over 100,000 miles. People have a tendancy to write em off. The thing that I have never understood about some people is this. They search for a 20,000 mile pristine car and pay top dollar for it, just to pull weight out, change the suspension, rebuild the motor, pull out all the seats, the ac, the heat, etc............................whats the point. Im not saying everybody does this, but you got to admit, it happens often. JMHO, Eric L

[c0ncEpT]

145K is just broken in. I would cam and spray that motor and not think twice about the mileage :]

[WMCCjames]

145K miles...no effing way unless it was like $2K. Not saying that this is beyond the life of the LS1 motor but there are just too many uncontrollable variables there.

[nascarnate326]

Buy it. 200k is when I would be leary.

[93formulalt1]

I agree with munster 100 percent. I have a 2000 silverado with 185,000 miles. 5.3, nothing done but regular oil changes. Dosent leak or burn and holds 60 psi of oil pressure. If well maintained the LS series has proven to go to well over 250,000 miles or more. Heck my LT1 had 145,000 on it when i started, and its life has been anything but easy. I wouldnt hesitate if the price was right. You can get a lot of good deals on our cars once they get over 100,000 miles. People have a tendancy to write em off. The thing that I have never understood about some people is this. They search for a 20,000 mile pristine car and pay top dollar for it, just to pull weight out, change the suspension, rebuild the motor, pull out all the seats, the ac, the heat, etc............................whats the point. Im not saying everybody does this, but you got to admit, it happens often. JMHO, Eric L

Same here. 142k on the ol' Formy when I signed the title, 166k now, only a couple hiccups along the way, and I know my car has been beat on pretty hard for at least 24k of it's life. . . lol

145k on a well maintained car is different than 145k on a car that gets an oil change when it is more than a quart low on oil, has never had a tune up, and is driven like it's stolen everyday. Depends on how well it checks out mechanically, really. If it still runs and drives like a new(er) car, I wouldn't hesitate to drop a few grand on it. Try to talk him down some, you'll feel better knowing you got the best deal you could if you do somehow start doubting your judgment in buying a car with higher miles.

[Fbomb]

145K is just broken in. I would cam and spray that motor and not think twice about the mileage :]

hehe. I'm at 101 now, going to have heads/cam/intake on it in about two weeks. So to give you an idea, I'll be over 400hp at the wheels with my stock 101k mile bottom end, and Mike's TA was/is at 135k and it had no problems. Like everyone else said if it was well taken care of then I'd go for it, as long as it isn't too much.

[98blackbeauty]

I think the real issue with high mileage cars, is how many owners is important. Run a car fax, spend the $35 for unlimited car fax for 60 days. That will tell you # owners, and if there were police reported accidents. A person that drives a car 15,000 a year and don't regularly change oil is worst than someone kinda beats on it but keeps oil changed.
Take car to mechanic have them do compression check, go look at car 1st thing in morning if you can so its engine is cold listen for clatter and knock noises during first couple of minutes. That will give you an idea of real wear in engine.
My 1995 had 117,000 on it, 1st owner had it 12 years, 2nd owner 1.5 years. I'm 3rd owner. Oil was clean, no noise when started. When I took engine apart at 122,000 it was clean inside, and no cylinder wear, I had a blown head gasket, and a bad lifter. anything can happen with higher mile engines.

[Darren]

I wouldnt worry about the miles like most of these guys said. But I would check out of have the car checked out really good. If it has been taken care of then that car will go for 100K more! Just get it looked at and ask a lot of questions...

[tenpin842]

Heck yeah 100k on a LS motor, (as long as its been taken care of) is just being broke in. It has a lot of life left to it.

[98blackbeauty]

The biggest problem with high miles is buying the car for the correct $. Kelly blue book only devalues the car by $300-$400, but to me its worth 1000-1500 less. The other things can eat up your pocketbook. brakes, shocks, alternator, window regulators, battery etc etc. Depends if you want a nice cruiser or a base car to mod. If your going to mod engine and suspention, then look for high mileage with excellent body cheap. If you want a dependable cruiser then go for the low miles well cared for car.

[nascarnate326]

The biggest problem with high miles is buying the car for the correct $. Kelly blue book only devalues the car by $300-$400, but to me its worth 1000-1500 less. r.

Amen.

[prorac1]

But, define high millage. 12,000 - 15,000 per year is considered average. In that case when I sold my 1994 z28 in 2008 with 164,000 miles on it it would have been considered average millage.

[prorac1]

FWIW, a 2002 camaro driven an average of 15,000 miles a year would be average millage at 120,000 miles. Eric L