1984 Pontiac Fiero SE review from North America

I have experienced a few significant problems with my Fiero since I bought it when I turned 16 back in '95. Most of these problems were due to the previous owner not knowing how to store a car. My Fiero was in storage for 6 years before I bought it, so it looked like new, but had lots of seal and gasket issues (like the oil pan gasket, which requires removal of the engine to fix $$$$).

The only other major breakdown that I have experienced was when the timing gear shredded inside the motor as I was going about 65mph. That cost about $600 to fix and left me stranded on the side of the road for a while.

The Fiero is a great car for someone who does not need to drive the fastest car on the road to have fun driving. I have driven many different cars since buying my Fiero and I still have not driven anything that is more of a blast to drive down winding roads.

The brakes are decent, too, for a car that is 18 (!!) years old. My daily driver now (A Ford Focus 3-door) has noticeably more stopping power than my Fiero however.

I love the lack of power steering and the precise go-kart like handling that goes along with it. It makes every otherwise boring drive an adventure.

You also don't see a lot of Fieros on the road any more. It seems to stand out more than many expensive cars because it isn't as common to see a nice Fiero as it is some other "nice" cars.

One other comment I would like to make is about the transmission. Every car I've ever owned with the exception of my Fiero has been a manual. When I was shopping around for my Fiero, every manual trans Fiero I drove had either a shift linkage that felt like a screwdriver in a box of nails, or needed to be shifted with BOTH hands because of binding in the linkage. So, for reliability's sake I got mine with an auto and have had zero problems with it.

Overall, this car is so much fun that I would never consider selling it. Next up is a Chevy small-block or maybe even a North-Star. Strap up and hang on tight!!!