Camaro newbie

[Mike Pfeifer]

Hey, so I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mike and I’m from the Chicago area- Joliet, IL specifically. I do not have a Camaro and have never had one. But I am shopping for a new car and the Camaro is on my short list, which consists of Camaro and Mustang variants only.

I am a service master tech and shop foreman at a local BMW dealer, just clocked my 21st year doing that. My last few cars have been ones I have had to settle for due to “reasons”. Currently I am driving a Mini Cooper Clubman S. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would, but - it was cheap due to the employee lease deals. My lease on that is ending December 2021 and my wife and I have decided that I deserve to get a car I want this time and we can finally make it happen financially- she knows I have been talking about a car like the Mustang and Camaro since we met 15 years ago. So the journey begins.

I intend to ask A LOT of questions about the Camaro, as I admittedly know almost nothing about them. I know a lot about BMWs and some about the most modern MINIs as they share a lot with BMW. MINI is made by BMW in case you were not aware. It’s a good way to get some of the BMW tech at a better price if that’s what you want.

I have built probably hundreds of these cars on the online configurators, but those leave a lot to be desired. Also, I have noticed some of the things I would likely want in a build are not common on cars on dealer lots, so the chance to check some of it out in person is very limited. As a person who works at a dealer, I know talking to a sales person for info is probably a waste of time, especially on the lower take rate options as they don’t invest the time to learn the product like an enthusiast would. Many sales people have bounced around from manufacturer to manufacturer.

So I look forward to learning quite a bit (I’ll be doing this on the Mustang forum, too) and I hope I don’t make too many of you roll your eyes at some of my sure to be weirdly detailed questions!

- Mike

[Sir Nuke]

Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to Camaro5/6. There is a BIG fridge on the back porch with anything you can think of in it...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have. Make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom's, wives', husbands, girlfriends and boyfriends here don't care....and take it easy.



oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

[ember1205]

Welcome.

There are definitely others (like me) that went through what you're going through. Lots of experience with cars as I've owned PLENTY of them, from all kinds of companies. Zero direct history with the Camaro until I bought my '20 2SS 'Vert. Learned quite a bit here and through a lot of general reading and have learned plenty more from ownership.

Look around and glean what you can from various threads, post your own, and if anything from any of my posts piques your interest, I'm happy to field questions via PM as well.

When work is "normal", Chicago is among my territories that I travel to, so a potential sit-down over a beer before you buy might be possible as well.

I'm no expert on things, but I'm always happy to share what I know and I learn in the process as well by hearing questions I had never thought of.

[BuddyLee]

Hi, Mike! Welcome! My plan when buying a car it has to have only two things. Power and style. This included the BMW M3 which I sold several years ago. I owned my first Mustang GT for about 3 days and never got to drive it. I gave my agent the money to go get it for me. Later he came back with my money and no car. When he went to pick up that is exactly what happened. The lot boy at the dealer attempted to pick up the car with a fork lift but ran the blades through the driver door. I had never owned a Camaro either so I found a buh-tugly pink one for cheap figuring to repaint it a normal color but son little Ricky realized that the pink was nothing more than a wrap. I had the dealer remove the wrap before I picked it up and behold! the pink car became a silver car! Now in hindsight I am glad for the Camaro rather than the GT. The 2SS/RS is a tech geeks dream with power to spare.

[md30095]

You got good taste Mike!

[Nothing like an SS]

Welcome Mike!
You certainly came to the right place to learn about 6th gen Camaros!

Best bang for the buck hands down.
Good luck in your hunt and may the best pony win, whichever you decide! (It wears a bowtie, hint, hint)

[witenite]

Welcome! Good luck on the search.

[EvilZL]

Welcome

[Mike Pfeifer]

Thanks for the welcomes!

[zlathim]

Welcome Mike. Do yourself a favor and do the Camaro over the Mustang. The LS platform is second to none.

[Mike Pfeifer]

I plan on going out in the spring and giving each a good road test. We have Ford and Chevy dealers in our auto group so I can probably get access to some extended road tests with a couple phone calls.

[bertie]

Welcome to the forums! Sending you more luck finding a nice one. Happy hunting