1994 Pontiac Firebird 3.4 from North America

Summary:

This car is affordable, beautiful, very reliable, low overall maintenance considering its 200,000m

Faults:

At 150,000 miles the head gasket needed to be replaced.

I've replaced the alternator.

The battery was replaced at 120,000 miles.

The blinker shaft just broke at 185,000 miles.

I replaced universal joints and drive shaft at 160,000 miles.

Also the water pump was replaced at 120,000 miles.

General Comments:

I have had this car for over 5 years and put over 100,000 miles on it. I have put minimal money into it.

This car is very dependable with regular maintenance.

Plus, it is beautiful and fast.

The body style is the best out there in my opinion.

The seats have become unbearable on long trips (over 500 miles).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd February, 2008

1994 Pontiac Firebird 3.4L from North America

Faults:

Replaced Alternator.

Replaced Plastic buttons.

Head Gasket blew up at about 215000km. This cost me about $2500 to repair.

Replaced a few balljoints.

Replaced front brakes.

Serpentine Belt Replaced.

Battery.

Tail Light bulb, running light bulb.

The custom cd player is starting to go. Sometimes it doesn't want to work.

Slight oil leak from oil pan gasket.

Panel underneath steering wheel broke off on its own one day. Don't understand how a part like that can break when I never touch it. Fixed it with some industrial strength Velcro.

Replaced the Exhaust system with a Flowmaster Catback, dual tipped system. $1000.

General Comments:

Overall, other than the head gasket blowing up on me, this car has been excellent. It was 10x better than my 1981 Grand Prix and now I have just bought a 1999 Trans Am and it is 100x better than this!

The FireBird has been a great car. It it fast for a mid 90's V6, but it doesn't come close to today's V6 cars. I get great highway mileage, I would say about 550-650km on a tank of gas. I sped a lot though so you could probably squeeze some more out of it I'm sure.

The handling is quite good, although everyone hated the hump in the passenger side floor. They all got used to it. The back seat is cramped, but even larger people can get back there and get comfy. Very large people have a hard time getting in or out, my mom figured that one out.

When I bought the car, the guy made sure I had lots of antifreeze with me for the trip home, he obviously knew that the head gasket was already going on it. I had to put a far bit of antifreeze in the rad part way through the trip (2000km). It took about 2 years before it went out completely. By the time it blew up I had to constantly add antifreeze.

Also have odd electrical problem, where I press the brakes at night with the lights on and the lights all dim. I think this is being caused by the Alternator, just starting to wear out.

The ABS INOP light comes on sometimes in the rain and always goes out. The ABS still works so it is prolly a sensor malfunction due to the water.

Doesn't go through any oil what-so-ever. I only use fully synthetic. Tranny runs fine, no problems there.

Paint starting to rust in the wheel wells and bottom of the doors, but other than that the paint is fine.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th September, 2006

1994 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 5.7 LT1 from North America

Summary:

Just one word- LOVE

Faults:

This is a update of my car, I've wrote previous reviews. I bought this car last year knowing it had some problems. It is 11 years old though. Anyways my problems I've had are, Tailight bulbs seem to go out very easy, simple fix. My headlight made a strange noise, but I did some research and found out how to fix that. It was a worn out gear. Next was my biggest problem, the headgasket. My car sat for at least six months until me and my cousin got in there and replaced everything. Heads got a valve job, and a tuneup. In all cost me a grand. I suggest if you have a problem like this, do some research and try to find someone you know to do this. Local mechanic was going to charge me over $1600 for the job. Aside from all that common problems with the f-body's I also have. This dang car is incredibly noisy. My stereio, my console, hatch, and who knows what else is slowly coming loose and rattling. Interior is really starting to show its age, with stained old and stained carpet. Outside of the car is not too bad. I have a bra on my car since the hood is very scraped up do to rock chips. Paint is started to fade and crack in places. If anybody has got a paint job for one of these cars, let me know the running cost. That about it.

General Comments:

Aside from my long boring paragraph, I love this friggin car. Age don't mean a thing to people. Everywhere I go I have people staring at me. It's a great feeling to know that people appreciate these cars. The performance on these cars are awesome. I can easily smoke the tires of even with 130 thousand on it. I will never let go of this car. Later on down the road I hope to restore it as good as it came out of the showroom.

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

Review Date: 12th September, 2005