1986 Pontiac Fiero GT from North America - Comments

Headlight motors, easily rebuilt to better than new condition.

Replaced original clutch at 138,000 miles.

Fuel Pump.

Alternator.

Years later, I replaced the transaxle at 166,000 miles.

I also replaced the original, tired V6 with a rebuilt long block at 166,000 miles.

This car was pretty high mileage when I bought it. I drove it another 10 years. It has always been very dependable. Even with the worn out transaxle and engine, I could still drive it just fine.

After owning it for 14 years, I still like it as well as the first day I bought it. Maybe even more. So, I decided to rebuild it to like new condition. I'm a mechanic/machinist so it wasn't a problem for me. In fact, I think a Fiero is one of the easier cars to work on.

I've color sanded and polished the paint until it looks like a black mirror. I've actually had pedestrians stop walking and just stare. I imagine they are trying to figure out what kind of car it is. I even had one guy ask me if it was a new electric car. That's a pretty good testament to the styling of a car that is over 20 years old.

Gas mileage is pretty good, 21 City/30 Highway and easy to find a parking spot.

The A/C and heater work really well, not a lot of cabin space to heat or cool.

The interior feels like you're wrapped in a cocoon, real cozy, but with plenty of leg/head room.

I especially like cruising at night, with the pop-up headlights up, the sun roof (Vista Vent) open, listening to some cool music and the sound of that little V6 behind me. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that.

So you would recommend buying one of these? There is an '86 GT for sale, $2,995. It looks like its in great shape, minus the inevitable tear in the cloth seats.

It'd be my daily driver.. I'm growing tired of my Plymouth Neon!

As I used to own a Neon, I'd say go for the Fiero. You'll spend about the same in maintenance and have the joys of driving a Fiero.

I actually sold the Neon, soon after someone else bought that '86 GT. I've found another Fiero, and I think I'll go with that one!

Would I recommend you buying one? Well, that all depends...

If you are a mechanic and know how to work on cars you'll be fine. The only problem is most shop mechanic's eyes glaze over when they hear "Fiero". I've even heard of some Pontiac dealers that don't know how to work on them. If you do find a willing shop many often overcharge for their work. I really don't understand why, basically the drive-train is just a front wheel drive package installed in the rear. Everything else is pretty basic, brakes, wheel bearings, suspension, etc. They do have a few quirks such as you shouldn't jack them up from the side (the coolant tubes to the radiator are there) and you can pretty well count on rebuilding the headlight motors at some point in time. Bleeding air out of the hydraulic clutch line can sometimes be "an adventure" but is doable. Still, not a big deal if you know how to work on them. There's lots of Fiero forums on the 'net, Pennock's is one of the larger ones. So if you do have problems you can post them up there and people will help walk you through the repair.