1990 Pontiac Firebird GTA 5.0

Summary:

It's nothing special now, but when I get some $ flowing, it will look nice and go very fast

Faults:

As a well maintained 1990 Trans Am GTA, numerous things have gone wrong. A year after purchasing my GTA, my left-side injector harness shorted out (costing me ~ $1000 and several weeks).

Not long after, both my AC compressor bearing, as well as my alternator bearing seized up, and in one instance created an engine fire while on a freeway.

Other little things have broke (usually during the cold months), such as the hatch-back release motor, the driver's side mirror-motor, and the dash-vent system.

Currently, I am facing 2 issues with my GTA:

1) While starting the car, the starter seems to stick (making a loud growling noise).

2) Sometime the car won't start completely, due to a security feature gone haywire. Allowing a 5 minute period before trying to start it again tends to fix this issue (although not very cool while on a date!).

General Comments:

Call me crazy, but I still love my GTA despite all these problems. I haven't gotten too wild with it in terms of "maxing it out", but I have taken some pretty sharp turns (WS6 style!). One time I was frustrated with all these problems that I revved the damn thing up to 5,000 RPM right in my work-parking lot. As you might expect, I turned a lot of heads!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th July, 2002

27th Aug 2002, 08:52

You have a GTA with a 305? Every Grand Trans Am I've seen have 350's in them.

13th Sep 2004, 20:21

I have/had a 90 GTA with a 305, it was a great car... was in an accident a weeks ago and the car was written off... as the numbers of the 1990 trans am GTA's slowly decrease the prices got up. FACT: only 1183 1990 Trans Am GTA's were ever produced 884 in the United States and 299 in Canada.

1990 Pontiac Firebird Formula 5.0

Summary:

A comfortable sports car

Faults:

My power antenna just broke.

My rpm-meter is off a little.

This car is too fast my sister did a burnout in my neighbors yard.

General Comments:

My interior is perfect you can't even tell it is 12 years old.

5.0 liter engine is very reliable and if you put about $2,000 in it you will get more power than you would with putting $2,000 onto a 5.7 liter engine.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th May, 2002

1990 Pontiac Firebird Formula 5.0

Summary:

I love the shape of the Firebird, but not GM's construction of it

Faults:

Passenger window started sticking around 78,000.

Rear defogger stopped working around 79,000.

Transmission mount went around 82,000.

Water pump around 87,000.

Passenger door handle ripped off around 95,000 in the bitter cold.

The entire exhaust fell off first then the rest rotted off.

Hood shocks and hatch shocks were shot when I got it, only replaced once.

Very sluggish when I first bought, replaced entire distributer assembly, wires and plugs, very quick now.

Overall after replacing a lot of stuff it is a very nice car, but GM gets a thumbs down for poor construction and poor use of cheap plastic parts, but the motor seems very strong.

General Comments:

Did not have to change headlight motors yet!!

Very quick for it's age and mileage.

Still looks really good.

Sound good after replacing the exhaust system.

I used to have one and wrecked it, and after putting some time into this one it looks really hot and sounds even hotter.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th March, 2001

7th Aug 2007, 01:23

I own a 1990 Pontiac Formula. Original owner. Made 4 cross-country trips the first 4 years (complete circles around the US, each about 9,000 mile trips each), still own it, and STILL LOVE IT! Excellent performance. Drove it in 120 degrees at Death Valley and 30 degrees below in the north, even after 90,000 miles! Never let me down once in over 17 years! No rot. HOWEVER, the passenger side t-tops always leaked a slight amount during a very heavy rain. Excellent car and the most reliable one I have ever had. Even after 17 years!