16th Jun 2010, 11:39
I have owned my first new car, a 1995 Chevrolet Beretta Base Model for 15 years. I have 225,000 miles on it and the original engine and internal components, and transmission and original internal components. The heater core and radiator are replacements, as GM used plastic side tanks and associated plumbing. All factory electronics including the tape player still works. The sheet metal is in immaculate shape, as with the trunk and cloth liner. The interior is still in very good shape. For me, the Beretta is a grand slam hit.
21st Jul 2010, 20:04
Hi, my hubby bought a 1996 Chevy Beretta GT automatic about year ago as-is. Someone had blown the engine, had to put another in.
It runs great! It has a kit on it and painted with green flames and skulls. Love it! People always want to race the car (sometimes take their challenge, always win, LOL).
Also have 1995 Firebird Formula Z. Love older cars; they run better than newer models!
10th Sep 2010, 13:57
Received a 1995 Chevy Beretta (3.1L V6 Automatic) from my Mother, who bought the car used in 1998. About the 10 year mark was when just about every component need to be replaced. At this point in time, the engine and the A/C compressor are the only original major components.
I received the car in 2007 with 138000 miles and everything in fairly great shape. After a year, the A/C got a little weak, recharged it. That lasted a year, recharged it. That lasted 6 months, recharged it and that lasted only 2 months. Lastly, recharged it to only have A/C for 2 hours. Shortly I will be having a buddy mechanic look at the possible leak on the A/C.
The biggest issue was and still is the driver's side door. I haven't read anyone else having this issue, however the driver's door stopped working on my Mother, you could not open the door from the inside, but you could from the outside. A mechanic said that is was a bent rode, it was fixed then. About a year ago, the door broke again, but would not open at all. Took it to the dealership, took four hours to get the door open, once the cover was off, the dealership wanted to replace everything in the door, but didn't have the parts. Upset, I told them to put it back and I was out of there. After that, the door worked for about 2 months. My Father took it to a mechanic who got the door panel off; when he did the door started working again. Left the door cover off so if it happened again, could try and fix it.
For 2 months now, the door has worked, but just yesterday the door would open. Same problem. Tried to get the door back open, gave up, tried again an hour later and the door opened. Once opened, I studied the mechanical workings of the door and found that there is a spring assisted "hammer" that pops down to hold the latch locked when the door is closed. With the door open, I found that this spring is stronger (push down) than on the passenger side door. Passenger side door has worked the whole time. Both handles lift this "hammer" up to allow the latch to rotate as the door opens, but I'm thinking the locking mechanism that disables the handles from lifting the hammer is not disengaging all the way when you unlock the door either inside or out, sometimes. Now why the cover made a difference, I don't know yet. When the door does fail, the key lock gets a lot of play before you feel the mechanism adjust with the key turning. Unlike when the door is working, the key adjusts the lock assembly fully with no play. Anyone else have these door lock issues???
And what is up with the S-belt, and how you have to detach the engine from the mount just to change the belt?? What the hell Chevrolet? And could you have put the "low-side" of the A/C system on top instead of the under side of the engine compartment?? The car now has 151000 miles on it with no A/C and a door that mostly works, but runs GREAT! I got it for free, so overall it has been there when I needed it!
15th Nov 2010, 21:29
I have a 1990 Chevy Beretta and I love her to death. She's my girl. Whenever I'm at a stop light and newer cars look us over, we just pull out and leave them in the dust.
The best car I've ever owned.
17th Nov 2010, 08:46
By new cars you "leave in the dust" I can only assume you are talking about Corolla's or Civics? There's not much else even a Beretta Z26 could take on in today's cars. The average new sedan is north of 200 HP. The best Beretta had to offer was around 140 HP that year.
17th Nov 2010, 09:40
I remember Berrettas. We had one as the car in our student driver's class back in the 90's. These were made during an era when GM didn't give 2 cents about their cars. Perhaps the most utterly boring, bland, uninspired car I've ever driven. I remember that the rear speakers didn't even have speaker covers. They'd just laid carpet over the top of them. The car was loud, handled poorly, and had an interior reminiscent of a Rubbermaid trash can.
10th Mar 2010, 00:07
I own an 88 Beretta GT 2.8 V6 manual. While not in the best shape, the body is solid with no rust, the interior is in good shape except for missing the dash pad, and it even has a working digital dash and sunroof. Altogether I had $300 in buying the car! (I traded some stuff too). The car now has I think 300,xxx miles. on it. I say "think" because that is the one part of the dash that don't work all the time.
This car impressed me with how strong it ran, also I got near 30 mpg on the highway. Despite some of the minor flaws (headliner coming down, faded paint, turn signal mechanism broke - still woks but you have to hold it, only bright lights, and re-wired rear lights) this has been a bulletproof car.
I have owned it for over a year now and in that time replaced the brakes and a rear wheel cylinder, tires, battery. But these are just wear and tear items, and not bad for the age/ price.
Recently during the cold weather the the car sit and now I think the battery is done for. I had a slow coolant leak that turned into a major one while driving 35 mile away. I made it there, the let the car cool down, and drove it back home. It was overheating, but I didn't have a choice. Made it home, fixed coolant leak, still running. Recently it developed a misfire, I think it may be a coil, a simple fix, even on 4 or 5 cylinders it gets me around.
These 2.8 engines were designed for S10's so they are tough, you just can't kill them.