Longtime Mustang fan now thrilled to own a Camaro...

[Stormwalker]

A few months ago, if you'd asked me, I'd have sworn I would never buy a Camaro. And I'd have sworn I'd never buy a white car. Funny how things change...

I grew up with Mustangs. My dad had a '65 when I was a kid, and I adored that car. I was brokenhearted when he had to sell it (it had electrical issues, it was his daily driver, and he needed something reliable). He promised me he'd buy me one when I was old enough.

He kept that promise... when I turned 15, we went looking for Mustangs. He didn't have a lot of money then, but he found me a project I could work on - a '65 coupe with a 289 that he got an incredible deal on. I drove that car for a lot of years, and put a lot of love into it. Eventually I realized it just wasn't practical enough for me to drive every day, and I've been through a few cars since then - a '93 Dodge Shadow ES I got secondhand, a Kia Rio that was all I could afford at the time (and got totaled less than a year later when I got rear-ended by a guy with no insurance), and finally a 2007 Chevy Cobalt.

I could have had the SS, should have bought the SS. Have regretted not buying the SS since. Especially since the non-SS Cobalts have possibly the worst clutch ever created by mankind.

I'd made a lot of financial mistakes over the years, and it's taken me a long time to climb out of the holes I dug myself during those times. Now, finally, I have, and armed with good credit and a well-paying job, I had laid plans to buy one of the new 2015 Mustangs when they come out.

Then my Cobalt started showing signs of the air conditioner going out. And the clutch acting up (again). I started thinking that I don't want to end up replacing a compressor or a clutch and dropping $1500 on a car I plan to get rid of in a few months.

But, I knew, the 2014 Mustangs just didn't have what I wanted. Like, you know, independent rear-suspension and a decent interior. By contrast... I'd read enough reviews to know the Camaro did offer what I was looking for.

I'd always looked at Camaros through Mustang-fanboy eyes. Which is to say I'd never really taken them seriously. I'd seen the Gen 5 Camaro when it came out, and my thought on it at the time was that it had really nice lines but I hated the front and back.

The front and back have changed a lot since 2010, though, and I like them a lot better now. So, I told myself, maybe it was time to give the Camaro a fair shake. And while I had my Cobalt in for the recall service, I decided to look at them.

I looked at red ones, and black ones, and they were much prettier than I remembered them being from photos and the ones I'd seen on the streets. The changes for 2014 really improved the appearance of the car in my eyes (yes, I do like the 2014 taillights, but that's far from the only difference that jumps out at me)

And then I saw a white one. And, oh my goodness if this car isn't gorgeous in Summit White .

So... I had the dealer rustle me up an SS with a manual in white. It had to be a manual... performance of modern automatics be damned, I like shifting gears. They actually had one on the lot, a 2014 2SS/RS.

I fell in love on the test drive. It was the car I'd always wanted and never realized it.

Truthfully, I probably paid a little more than I should have. I'm not the greatest negotiator, though I do know enough to argue the sale price before the financing and such, and I almost certainly could have gotten a better deal if I'd shopped around more. But I didn't pay MSRP, either, so I didn't get completely ripped off. If I paid too much, so be it. This car puts a huge grin on my face every time I drive her... and I plan to be driving her for a good long time.

I've only got one good picture right now, one I took at work when I was showing her off to my boss. There'll be more after I give her a good, careful wash (always a challenge when you live in an apartment, but I've seen some great suggestions on these forums about how to do it right even under those circumstances. That's one of the reasons I signed up).

I also did the fuse pull last night after running her second tank of 93 octane (I'm 99.9% sure the dealer was running 87 in her), and maybe it's my imagination, but it does seem to have made a difference. Idles smoother, I'm definitely getting better mileage (small sample size, though), and seems to pull a bit harder.

So... here she is, my pride and joy. Any other advice to a new Camaro SS owner I should keep in mind? Thanks to all of y'all who have contributed to these great forums, reading through the threads here has been very educational thus far.

[TheSmokingSuns]

Congrats! Your Camaro looks awesome! You won't go back, that's for sure.

[13FastBlkSS]

Welcome to C5 and the Camaro family!

[MLAZ1990]

Welcome!

[Silverlsinva]

Congrats and white is a great color on the Camaro.

[Mersades]

Beautiful car! I don't blame you at all for falling for her.

I hold respect for all car people and any car that ignites passion in people. My neighbors have two garage queen Mustangs and I love hearing them start up on the weekends. My uncle has a 66 Convertible that he adores. I good friend I've known since first grade is a Mopar guy. I'm just happy there are enough fun cars around still for some variety! It feels like cars that are more than the common vanilla type are becoming more and more rare.

Again, welcome and congrats!

[Stealthpanda]

[Todd in Vancouver]

Congrats and it does look good in white

[bryand]

Congrats on your car. The polished wheels look really really good with the white. I might have to consider trading in my whithot G8 for a car like yours. I love the 2014 taillights.

[Camarolover85]

You're doomed now. Soon you'll be replacing intakes, washer bottles, exhausts, headers etc. lol this place is good for that! Congratulations and good luck on the car. The Camaro is what I always wanted, but I almost bought a Mustang instead, but they didn't have the one I wanted. So I went to check out Camaro's and realized I could afford the payments.

Similar situation sorta!

[OneSlowV]

Nice car! Hope i don't see you around the Dallas area in my 5.0. Make you wish you would of stayed a Ford fan boy lol

[Trentin24]

Originally Posted by OneSlowV

Nice car! Hope i don't see you around the Dallas area in my 5.0. Make you wish you would of stayed a Ford fan boy lol

Yeah it probably would! The headlights on the new 5.0s look so much better in the mirrors! It must be the autodimming or something!

[Squillo]

Originally Posted by OneSlowV

Nice car! Hope i don't see you around the Dallas area in my 5.0. Make you wish you would of stayed a Ford fan boy lol

It's would have.

[Trentin24]

Originally Posted by Squillo

It's would have.

Let it go. Let it go. It's a MuStank thing.