Faults:

Occasionally I would turn the key and nothing happened.

Alloys need refurbishing - gives slow deflation of tyres.

Belts whine even though replaced.

General Comments:

This car is an absolute beast.

It sounds amazing - pure V8 muscle.

It turns heads everywhere it goes.

Acceleration is breathtaking.

Generally very reliable.

It takes corners better than I expected.

Fuel economy is much better than I thought.

Very nice to drive, especially if you are lazy like me (auto, cruise control).

Faults:

I replaced the alternator at 48,000 miles.

I replaced the waterpump at 49,000 miles.

I developed a diagnostic problem which caused the car to jerk forward when in drive at idle at 52,000 miles which the dealer could not fix after two trips in and over $400.

I had the spark plugs and wires changed, and got a tuneup at 60,000 miles which cost me $700 from Goodyear.

My power driver's side window went out at 65,000 miles.

My power convertible top motor went out at 66,000 miles.

The heatercore went out at 71,000 miles.

My rear defrost stopped working at 78,000 miles.

Finally, the head gaskets blew at 81,000 miles (it would have cost me $1400 to get them fixed, so I sold the car).

I also had the plastic around the automatic shifter lever break right after I bought the car.

The glove box also never met correctly on its latch.

Not to mention I had the common F-car problem of replacing light bulbs all the time (1 fog light, 2 headlights, and 5 tail-light bulbs).

Overall the car cost me a fortune.

General Comments:

Well, now you have read all the bad things, so I'll say something nice. The car was ver very quick. I wish I had bought it with a manual, but it was very fast none the less. It also sounded great too. It was relatively confortable car to take on long trips (I took it to and from TN to VA (700 miles) several times and also from TN to FL on one occasion). The convertible was great and it always got me looks. I loved my Camaro, but I hated fixing it all the time. I was sad to see GM kill the F-cars, but I am hoping they will resurrect them with all the style, power, and hopefully some reliablity on its next incarnation. My advice is if you want to buy one of these cars, buy one that is at least as new as 2000 (from what I have learned they were made better after about that point) and try to stick to one with low miles. Take very very good care of it and it might not give you the problems mine had (although I did take very good care of my car, but we must not forget its age). Finally, if you are in the market for 2+2 sports car, don't fret, the Mustang GT is a very very good alternative, we also own one of these which is a '99 GT. It has 70,000+ miles and has had no major replacements. It is a not quite as fast as a Z-28, but it is very close. Not to mention they are still making them! To find out more about the Mustang, check my upcoming review for it as listed above.

Faults:

Very little.

The water pump started leaking just after I bought the car, this was replaced under warranty.

The starter motor became slow, this was fixed cheaply by a local garage.

The fuel pump leaked. This was also fixed very cheaply.

General Comments:

All Chevrolet parts are easy to obtain, and very cheap. The service history with this car pointed to it being a good example, and I have not been disappointed. Fuel consumption is much better than expected for a large V8 engine with over 25 M.P.G. easily achieved, and a best of 28.

Faults:

The only things that have gone wrong with the car are due to wear and tear and the general age of the car. Everything works ok, the only thing I will say is that the seals on the doors and T-tops have a tendency to leak and are difficult to replace.

General Comments:

The standard performance of the car is pretty average. It needs the CAT removing, a tuned performance exhaust, performance air filter & carbs just for starters. Once you make these changes the performance is greatly improved. BHP's of around 300 are easily obtained with these and a few other mods.

The handling on the car is exceptional, taking into account the size & weight.

The body is made out of extremely thick steel so while being very heavy it does not rust so easily.

The parts are much easier to find and cheaper than you might expect from a yank as long as you are prepared to hunt out the little specialist dealers.

The only downside is the cost of running the car - it only does about 20 MPG.

Still, what the hell - it sounds cool!