If you check fluids (oil, coolant) weekly, a Vega can last as long as ANY car
Alternator, dome light door switch popped out.
Car runs very good for its age and mileage.
Handling and ride are as good or better as anything made today (new shocks installed).
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th June, 2009
Engine smoked like a freight train.
Drivers door had to be lifted when shut due too bad bushings.
When visiting a gas station, normal procedure was to fill it with oil and check the gas.
When bottoming out after becoming airborne, the cross member would flex rearward and punch a hole in the oil-pan.
I drove this car, nicknamed the "Mosquito Killer", in high school and had an absolute blast.
The Vega Panel wagons came stock from the factory with only a drivers seat, drivers visor and drivers outside mirror, no rear seat and three speed transmission, though these items were optional.
They were listed from the factory as a delivery truck, and mine carried a commercial truck tag for years.
The original three speed was removed and replaced with a Saginaw four speed out of a '74 Vega GT, along with GT bucket seats.
The engine smoked so bad that when forced to sit at long traffic lights, I had to shut off the engine to keep from asphyxiating everyone within a three car radius.
This old Vega was very reliable for years until if finally just wore out.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 5th September, 2004
229,000 miles and still going strong!
A few alternators, clutches and a water pump. Replaced belts and hoses.
I bought this new in 1971 and it still runs and looks great. The metallic green paint still has excellent gloss and the interior is nearly perfect. It never needed any engine work and it still doesn't use a drop of oil! I had the compression checked a few months ago and it is still within factory specs. Great job, GM!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 21st July, 2004
This sounds exactly like a 71 Vega I used to own. My first car ever and it never failed to take me anywhere I wanted to go and back again. Mine was a parts car for the the gas station I worked and was used to go for parts runs. I held it for 2+ years and must have put 40k over the 130k already on the odometer. Left it in the driveway at my Mom's house when I joined the Navy in '82 and gave her permission to give it away a year later. Great first car memories.
30th Jun 2009, 17:22
Yes, indeed, I would check that oil on a daily basis! I suppose in theory, yes, if you continued to add the required quart of oil per week, and don't drive over 45 mph (not that you could), one of these embarrassments might actually hold together. I never saw one that wasn't totally enveloped in a cloud of oil smoke. Do you have the last one, then?