Help with ??s on 97 GTS

[SteveT]

I will be looking at a Red (no stripes) 97 GTS on Monday. The car is being sold to a friend who runs a local Chevy dealership. The car has 5,500 miles, the price will be $45,000 and is bone stock. I will be checking the VIN at the local Dodge house for recalls. I have searched the forum but still have a few unanswered questions.

1. I will be inspecting the car on a lift, anything to look for in particular?
2. Does this year have power mirrors?
3. What areas of the hood are the cracks likely to show up at?
4. What are the specs on the stock radio? CD or Cassette?
5. Some have said that the DC warranty can not be purchased if the car is out of warranty, is this true?


Any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Snake Bitten]

Extended warranty info...

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

No Power mirrors or trunk release. No passenger side air bag defeat. No hood cracks of any sort should show up unless abuse is evident. Stock radio is with a CD.

 

[SteveT]

Thanks for the replies.

Forgot to ask...

I looked at a 2002 GTS a few months ago, is the interior the same? Seats? Gauges?

Steve

 

[Kurt 97 GTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SteveT:
I will be looking at a Red (no stripes) 97 GTS on Monday. The car is being sold to a friend who runs a local Chevy dealership. The car has 5,500 miles, the price will be $45,000 and is bone stock. I will be checking the VIN at the local Dodge house for recalls. I have searched the forum but still have a few unanswered questions.

1. I will be inspecting the car on a lift, anything to look for in particular?
2. Does this year have power mirrors?
3. What areas of the hood are the cracks likely to show up at?
4. What are the specs on the stock radio? CD or Cassette?
5. Some have said that the DC warranty can not be purchased if the car is out of warranty, is this true?


Any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Price sounds VERY good!?

1. Look at the underside of the side sills. It should give you a good indication of how the car has been driven.

Also, look at the lettering on the brake calipers (should be white and NOT yellow).

97 is a great year with the lumpy cam. At $45k, the price is a little low for the miles(could just be that someone wants to sell the car?!) Good luck....Kurt

 

[SteveT]

Kurt,

Thanks for the the brake caliper tip. I assume that "yellowing" of the letters indicates high temp?

The price does sound good, the owner is an older man that is trading in a '02 SC430, an 01 Tahoe (23,000 miles and it looked brand new) and a S class Mercedes. The Tahoe is the only thing that he drove very much. He is moving to his ranch and no longer has room for all the toy cars. The Viper is supposed to be delivered today and I will be inspecting it the minute he drops it off. I could not sleep last night.

Steve

 

[Kurt 97 GTS]

Yes, yellowing of brake calipers indicates high temps (such may come from tracking the car

)

Have fun and make sure to join the VCA.....Kurt

 

[SteveT]

Well I am ready to go over the car but the owner has not brought the car in yet. I thas been raining everyday since Sunday and he won't drive it in the rain! Hope to see it this afternoon.

This has been the longest week of my life!

Steve

 

[Robert Dyck]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SteveT:
Well I am ready to go over the car but the owner has not brought the car in yet. I thas been raining everyday since Sunday and he won't drive it in the rain! Hope to see it this afternoon.

This has been the longest week of my life!

Steve

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

===================================
Steve: I have a red 97 GTS.....had it for the last four years......approx. 37K miles accumulated.

In addition to running the VIN for abnormal repairs and the existing service bulletin items, such as intake gasket replacement.........

My main concern would be that it was raced. 5K miles is not much for a 97. But a raced car can be repaired, cleaned, and painted, so obvious race signs may be hard to spot.

I'd do a few things, but one of the first things would be to turn into a detective.......and peer deep into the engine bay for subtle signs, such as sand or debris build-up in the nooks and crevices. With only 5K miles, the car should look like new in these minute areas.

 

[King GTS]

1st & foremost!!! Take that car on a test drive & look for some traffic!!! I can't stress that enough & I'm speaking from my own personal experience in 1997! Hope it's hot outside, look for some traffic, and watch that temp gauge. Go through the gears even, see if it overheats! Definitely open the hood & make sure that the hood is 100% functional & opens all the way too.

 

[Jack B]

Have them run the service history at the dealer, however, make sure they run the complete history. When they run a default history you only see a partial listing of events.

Common problems with the 97 were: defective intake gaskets; improperly installed windshield gasket; separation of latch mechanism from the rear glass; defective/lost weather stripping on the post area of each door (not minor, costs $1,000 each side to fix).

Also watch out for sagging doors, discolored or tarnished external gas cap and cooling issues. As one of the posts indicated make sure it does not overheat. Let it idle and see if the temp gauge comes back to an area within the three twelve-o-clock marks. As you let it idle the gauge will go to about one-o-clock and as the fan cycles on the temp should come back.

Also check the coolant level in the forward bottle. You have to remove the 4" plug inside the passenger wheel well and shine a flash light in the opening as you view the level gauge. Make sure you do a compression test, they should be at 160-170 psi with little deviation. You can also do a oil analysis for about $40 in a kit form. Also take a look at plugs 8 & 10, if the gasket on air inlet leaks water can fill those plug wells and deteriorate the plugs and boots, this is undetectable till you remove the ac air box.

 

[SteveT]

Great tips. I will be making a list from this thread and go over the car the best I can. I will be able to bring the car home for the day so I should be able to check on the overheating issue.

Maybe tomorrow it will stop raining and I can finally take a look.