Dealer Sells Chevy Camaro With Bad Clutch for Cheap, Buyer Fixes It in Three Minutes

This 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, painted Ashen Gray, with color-matched carbon fiber inserts, seemed to check almost all the wrong boxes in the sales ad: it had structural damage, a worn clutch, and over 100,000 miles (160,934 kilometers), which led to a score of only 1.9 out of 5.

However, the photos in the listing showed a pretty decent Camaro, which had, indeed, a few dings on the body. What the listing failed to mention was that the engine was anything but stock.

It turns out that the former owner had modified a few things under the hood: bigger injectors, reworked heads, a ported blower, an aftermarket air intake, and exhaust are just a few on the list for a total of over 700 horsepower.

That is way more than what the stock 6.2-liter supercharged V8 makes. The 2013 Camaro ZL1 rolled off the production line with 580 horsepower and 556 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual transmission puts all the power down through the rear wheels.

Those were enough for the car to rocket from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in 4 seconds flat and run the quarter mile in 12 seconds. The needle of the speedometer went all the way to a top speed of 180 mph (290 kph).

A reverse camera, a head-up display, heated and power front seats, leather and suede upholstery, and a premium sound system are on board, making the car a pretty well-equipped Camaro.

The sales ad for this 2013 Chevy Camaro ZL1 is very pesimistic

The listing claimed the ZL1 had sustained structural damage and had a bad clutch. The buyer is none other than Sam, aka Samcrac on YouTube, a car rebuild expert who buys cars at auctions, fixes them, and gives them a new lease of life. So, it seems that the 11-year-old Chevy ended up in the right hands.

The day he had the car delivered, he drove it home and noticed that the clutch was, indeed, stiff, but what was really urgent to change were the brake pads. So, he ordered new ones.

But when he wanted to replace the old ones, he got pretty bad news. He noticed that the transmission did not go into gear at all, and the clutch pedal had little to no resistance. Sam assumed it was a hydraulic pressure issue. The clutch fluid really looked terrible.

A clutch master cylinder failure was his second suspicion, but it seemed fine, so he needed to rethink his repair strategy. He remembered that the additional clutch fluid container was tilted on its side when he checked.

A scope camera gives Sam all the answers that he needs

He got pressure in the clutch pedal when he moved it into an upright position. So, draining the remaining fluid, cleaning up the reservoir, and pouring in fresh fluid, a procedure repeated a few times, until the fluid shows up clean, was the way to go.

A new clutch kit for the Camaro Zl1 would be anywhere between $1,200 and $2,000. But he doesn't need a new one. He fixed the old one in three minutes, he says. He can now proceed to replace the brake pads as he originally planned. He will also need new rotors, but for city traffic, the old ones are reliable for the moment.

Sam hates the rear window louvers, so he takes them off before the first test drive. He doesn't push the ZL1 too hard because he says he doesn't want to turn it into a Mustang and end up going viral on the internet. What he does notice is that the clutch is not as bad as he originally thought.

Sam lifts the car up and puts a scope camera through the transmission inspection port. That is how he discovers that the clutch has already been replaced at some point, and the new one looks impeccable. The 2013 Chevy Camaro ZL1 was just misdiagnosed before the sale. All that the car rebuild expert did was replace the brake pads and use some brake fluid.

As for the structural damages, that is how the seller defined the dings in the body. Some amateurs drilled some tiny holes, screws, and speaker wires in the trunk floor to install a sound system because they didn't know any better.

Sam finds it amusing because he did the same when he was in high school with his first car, a Honda Accord. But those tiny holes are anything but structural damage.