94 Cappy - what's it worth???

So I was talking to a buddy of mine and the subject of me not having a winter car came up. He sent me out back to peek at this. Supposedly it has 128K (he thinks), runs good (when it was parked here a year ago), and most everything works... He says the fuel sending unit is bad, and the stereo is missing. He couldn't find the keys while I was there, so I couldn't get inside it yet. He said he has been holding onto it for the LT1 - to put in a hot rod someday.

It can be mine if I want it (buy now - pay later...) I know nothing about the Cappy's - what's it worth, and what should I look for before I pull the trigger?







A little blister of rust on the spare well - where else do these commonly rust?

 

Well, friend or not it needs work (everything ran great when parked....a year ago), no keys yet, You like me are on a tite budget........I'd pass, but thats just me.

IMO you need a cheap turn key winter car, gas and go


But then again, it is a wagon!

 

It looks neglected, so you should be able to get it cheap.

 

Rust is usually up in the rear quarters...hard to get your hand up in there. I don't like a car that has sat on the ground for a long period. It can, and usually does, promote the start of rust....some that you can see and some that you can't. I don't know if they use salt in your area but, if they do, the car sitting on the dirt will accelerate the rust. The LT1 is a good engine but, with 128K, it may be ready for a new opti spark which is expensive. May need other things under the hood too...wires, sensors etc. It is an OBDII engine. Then you have a sending unit that probably goes off at around 200 bucks. More if you want and AC Delco unit. And, while you are in there, you may find that you need a fuel pump too. The LT1, while a good engine, has parts that have become expensive. If it were me....and this is just me....I would walk away from this one. You could get lucky but, I don't see this car as a cheap winter driver. JMHO

 

I had to replace a tensioner and a power steering pump soon after I bought mine.
Starter went about a year later.
New Bilsteins when I had the money.
And brakes will probably need to be done.

 

What's "cheap"? Assuming it starts, runs, drives, stops with no real apparent issues, what is a good price for this? I won't take it unless I can drive it away - if it needs work before I can drive it, then I'm out. But if we can start it up and drive it out of there, the brakes still work, and it will clean up and be a driver, what's a good price? Is $600 too much?

 

Not being able to test drive a car IMO drops the selling value huge.You also hav'nt heard it run yet. With the things you have mentioned to me $600 is way to much. If it runs and drives $600 winter beater....sure!

SAt for a year outside on dirt, who knows what other little bugs could go wrong...calipers could start sticking, etc, etc. Untill you can run it and move it under it's own power even if it's just on the property where it sits I would'nt be to intersted. As others mentioned it could turn into a very expensive starting to rust winter beater. Now if you were looking at it for a parts car that would be another story.


,

 

Oh yeah $600 is cheap. I paid $3000 for my 9C1. Had about 100k miles.

 

where to start,...
inner fenders, open the tailgate, you can remove the plastic locking storage box on the pass side (it literally lifts out) and the spare tire cover, that'll let you see the quarters better,.
dr side floor goes as there's a sheild above the cat that traps salt n crap from the winter,, then bakes it,.pass does the same thing but not quite as bad,.after a year in the grass, brake lines will start popping,.from the abs pump to the pass front is a bad one it runs along the front crossmember and rots where the holddown clamps are,.
having said all that, for $3-600 it's a fairly good deal,. drive it tho to make sure the trans shifts ok,.brakes work etc,.if it sounds like it needs an exhaust donut gasket,. be careful,. lt1's have a habit of breaking the exhaust manifold to head rear bolts, then you have to remove the manifold and get creative with a mig welder, to get the bolt out,.

That car running and driving with minimal rot is worth $1000-1500 all day long,.its worth $3-400 for parts,.
JMHO

Nick
and if you don't like the deal, just stab the ,........ oh never mind, no need to upset tedy.

 

I won't buy it until I drive it. Like I said, it's a friend of mine just trying to help me out... He said he would fire it up this week and move it into the driveway. We'll take her for a spin down the road and see what happens...

Stay tuned...

 

442, is the Olds gone? I knew you were trying to sell it, but I can't remember if you did or not. (My memory isn't what it used to be, I'm afraid. The 1970's are taking their toll!!)

 

No, I still have her. I really want a winter car so that I can park the 442 and the convertible for the winter, but I have NO money... I stretched myself to the end to keep the 442, which I'm glad I'm doing, but it leaves me at zero...

Sometimes I think I should just sell them all and buy a minivan... Be a conformist with the rest of society, and stop trying so damn hard to have fun...

 

Say it ain't so, 442. A minivan, please. Next thing you know, you'll be looking for a wagon for the "d" word!!

Sometimes I think I should just sell them all and buy a minivan... Be a conformist with the rest of society, and stop trying so damn hard to have fun...
[/QUOTE]

 

Yea join the mini van crew .... they are just like a wagon 4 doors 3 seats and a hatch!

 

NO!!!!

AND NO SOUL!!!!

mike, only the 1996 model year is an OBDII car. 1994 and 1995 are LT1 but are OBD1

the wagons have a habit of popping brake lines at the B pillar.
442, if you can get it between 500-1000 id go for it. you can get your money back out of it if you decide to dump it in spring. but my guess is you will really like it (especially the power) and want to keep it.
get it, yank the A.I.R. pump off. throw some fresh brakes on her, and a decent stereo and drive the $#!T out of it!
this comming from a member in a local 91-96 gm b body club, and owner of a 1996 Buick Roadmaster and former owner of a 1994 caprice!