1984 Pontiac 6000 LE review from North America

When I got the car, it ran really poorly. After taking it on a road trip from Las Vegas, NV to Concord, CA, roughly 560 miles, I found out it only needed a tune-up. It was running on 3 out of 6 cylinders, which caused the poor performance and mileage.

The starter gave out and needed to be replaced, probably because it was stock.

Same with the alternator. Though I didn't find out it was the alternator until three batteries later.

Lots of cosmetic damage, but I think it gave it character.

It had no muffler. While this could be construed as a fault, I loved the sound it produced.

The front disc brakes had to be replaced after a while; the left ones wore faster than the right for some reason...

The suspension was shot all around. Driving over the slightest bump caused a roller-coaster-like effect.

The tires were all different sizes, had to be replaced before the trip.

The power steering had a massive leak, had to add fluid almost daily or resort to strong-arming it.

Speedometer / odometer didn't work, so I don't know how many miles it had... stuck at 69,709.9, which was probably more like 169,709.

At the end, the transmission died (because of my own stupidity).

I paid twenty dollars for the monster. That's right, $20.

Man, oh, man. After I got the tune-up, it was like a new car—in a word, wow. Doubled the performance and mileage.

Got probably about 20 mpg, not sure since the odometer didn't function, which is good for being that old and carbureted.

It had power driver seat and power door locks.

Very comfy seats for up to six.

And the sound of the engine—apparently the muffler had been cut off by a previous owner, giving it a very unique sound from the back. I got a funny comment one time: A guy asked me first how big the engine was, then if I was running dual exhaust, and said it sounded like a 5.0 (Mustang). I was very proud.

I ended up killing the transmission through stupidity... tried to replace the filter and gasket, unknowingly bought the wrong part and tried to force it in, then drove it... it ground itself to pieces. Poor thing.