1984 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SE from North America - Comments

Rear end replaced at 65,000 miles.

Brakes (disc all-around), replaced numerous times. Cost: approx.$1,700.00

Transmission replaced at 120,000. Cost $1,859.00.

Clutch replaced at 120,000. Cost $680.00.

Replaced the radiator 3 times. Cost $260.00+ (each time).

Electrical system faults. Never completely identified or fixed, resulting in power window problems, door lock, and radio problems.

Steering gear box replaced at 135,000 miles. Cost $675.00.

Power steering unit replaced twice.

Fan on the radiator replaced twice. Electric fan.

Extensive body rot began at 6 years after manufacture, even though the car was in Florida.

Headlights were often "stuck" in the down position.

The glass "T" top leaked.

Left window was "dragging" itself to the "up" position, leaving rubber "drag" marks on the glass.

Most mechanics had trouble trying to "fix" the braking system.

The emergency brake was useless, not stopping the car within a reasonably safe distance.

I had trouble finding brake parts such as rotors and calipers.

The engine was not burning oil, but was leaking it onto the exhaust system.

These were internal gasket leaks.

It was virtually impossible to find a replacement exhaust system for the 1984 model year, in 1995. I was told I would have to go an have a customized system made up at 3 times the cost of a stock system!

In 1998 both the engine and transmission were making loud 'banging' noises.

Most mechanics failed to tune up the car properly, and I often drove it away not much better than when I drove it in to be repaired.

Even though the car did "did out" fairly quick, it was a lot of fun driving the car when it had low miles on it. The power and acceleration were scary to someone not used to driving such a powerful car. Even when the car had the transmission fixed at 120,000 miles, the head mechanic told me the car had "one fine engine in it"! I agreed.

Also, the leather seat on the driver's side fell apart at 85,000 miles, due to extensive cracks in it. They were Recaro Bucket seats. The seats were very comfortable and reassuring when cornering at high speeds.

The Trans Am is the most powerful American sports car in my book, although Corvette owners would disagree. The thing with the Trans Am is, unlike the Corvette, the Trans Am transmission and rear end are properly geared for quick, powerful accelerations. 'Vette owners rarely "jump-on-it", simply due to the fact their inherent defects in the transmission and rear end have never been dealt with! Powerful engines are nothing without properly geared transmissions and rear ends. Perhaps this is why the Pontiac transmissions fail so often, due to the fact it's too irrestible "not" to jam on the acceletator! But playing with the car means paying for the thrill, and it doesn't come at a cheap cost, either.

No Corvette ever beat my Trans Am, except 2 other newer Trans Ams. A cpuple of new Ford Mustangs held onto my tail pretty good, but couldn't get up that little extra oomph to pass me on a open road. The Trans Am was excellent on climbing hills in mountainous regions.

People always seemed to take it personal when my Trans Am beat them.

After all it's just a car, and now that I'm older and wiser I'd never own one of the things again, especially with the gas prices and insurance costs.

Somebody told me in an auto parts store I might be able to get my Trans Am to run if I bought 2 other ones for spare parts. I reluctantly agree with that! These cars are going the way of the dinosaurs, and thank goodness for that. Highways aren't places to play games when 50,000 a year lose their lives on them. Today I happy with my little fuel efficient 4 cylinder car.

I tend to thoroughly disagree with the review written. I own an '84 Trans Am very similar to the one in the review with all the same options. I currently have 185,000 on my car and the only thing that has gone bad on my car is the alternator and starter (typical items). It sounds to me that the person who had originally purchased the car before you had abused this car to a great deal, this is the only way I can see there being such a huge difference between the two cars. Of the few people that I know that own a Trans Am within a few years of 1984, they have also only had very minor occurrences of their Trans Am's breaking, usually the obvious stuff (new brakes, burnt headlight, starter, etc.)

I purchased a 1984 T/A H.O. in 1985 with 8,500 miles.

The car now has 287,000 miles.

I agree with a lot of the things you stated, especially the rear wheel disc brake set up. I have meticulously gone over my system with new e-brake cables calipers and lubed all necessary parts. They still didn't hold the car in place on even the slightest incline.

This car is blue over silver and was very well maintained prior to my ownership. The prior owner had the car zbart undercoated the correct way. Door, fenders, quarters etc etc. The car has one little rust spot on the right rear quarter panel in front of the tire. The car was made in CA and had a waterbase environmentally friendly paint job with durability right out the window. I had the car painted (same color) with a nice clear coat finish in 1996 and it still looks beautiful. I left the stripe kit (although purchased) off the car because it just looked so sleek w/o it, a real sleeper.

The car was only just recently (within the past 2 years) garaged. I can imagine the rust might have been non existant had the car been garaged the entire time.

I have just had a Jasper remanufactured engine installed in the last six months. It is now broken in and runs great. Headers, hi-per ignition, intake.

The electrical system was done by J&L auto electric in Newington, Va. The entire cost of this project was about $5500.00. It's a toy, like a boat is to boat lovers. You'll never get out what you put in financially except a whole lota torque and fun. Everyone has to have a hobby to maintain their sanity. Some are just more expensive than others, don't you agree.

Hey man, do with this what you wish, just keep it real, OK. have a good one and see ya down the road.

My name is Susan and I'm from Texas. I have a 1984 Trans Am, black and gold with a V-8 5 speed. I have had this car for for 18 years now and I love this car.

I was offered a 1998 Trans Am but wouldn't part with my old one. It has 120,00 miles on it and I have wrecked it twice, gotten it fixed and still drive the hell out of it.

The only problems I have ever had with this car is the power steering leaking.

In my opinion this was the best car ever made. I do like the the new ones with ram air and 6 speed. I might just get one of those to add to my collection, but I still won't part with my 1984 Trans Am. They'll have to bury me in it.

I happen to disagree with some things and agree with others. I have two Trans Ams. One is a 76 and the other is an 84. The 84 is a little harder to work on... but with proper care, can have as many miles that mine has. It has over 200,000 miles on both the motor and trans, the trans just went out on me. I have never had any problems working on the car, I just think that the "competence " of some mechanics are questionable. That is why I prefer to do all work myself. as for exhaust work, of course pipes are going to be hard to find, these cars are getting old! I can't find any parts for my 76, and many parts for the 84 have been discontinued from GM. I actually would rather have custom exhaust, might cost more, but with the proper know-how they can unlock some restrictions from the factory system and boost a little horsepower, plus you have the choice of getting aluminized pipe, so you won't have to worry about the system rusting out again and have to replace.

I have recently gotten a 1984 tran am and the only thing thats gone wrong with it was the transmission went out on me as I was driving home one afternoon. Besides that, the body needs some work, but I'm happy with it. I always wanted a trans am and now I have one. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I would have to disagree with the owner of this car. I currently own an 84 TA with 220,000 miles on it and besides the leaky T Tops and general maintenance the car runs great. I race it every chance I get with www.autosportsnorthwest.org you can view the my car in the picture gallery there. It's the only 84 TA in the circuit.

For as the rating the car recieved, the review it is all wrong, the car handles better than my 82 Vette ever did with minimal suspension adjustments. Handling does not even compare to the rating that was given in this review, for instance when a car with minimal suspension adjustments can hit 1.25 G's in the corners is great handling in my book!!!

I would disregard anything that this review says because when you can't even maintain your own vehicle (letting a mechanic tune it up?), you probably shouldn't own a high performance car such as a TA!!!

I also disagree, with the review above, I have an 84 trans am with manual transmission and rear disk brakes, and the way to adjust the e-brake is to park on a hill and let the car roll slowly and pull the e-brake tight and then release it and do that over and over again about 100 times, and that is supposed to adjust the e-brake.

But anyway, I love my t/a and I wouldn't trade it for anything, it has the special appearance package, ws6 package and t-tops and it is the most fun car I've ever owned, not to mention the fastest.

Hi my name is Josh and I'm only 15 but I am about to get an 84 Pontiac Trans Am 305 V8 automatic when I turn 16 and I wanna make a comment about all the problems with this car. Trans Ams are way better then that. It's either the previous owner totally drove the thing wrong and probably didn't know anything about mechanical stuff. My uncle is who giving me this T/A has had this car all his life. The only thing wrong with it is the carburetors and and they just keep getting bad because there is rust in the gas tank which goes threw the carbs and that is what caused them to go bad. but other than that and the damn t-tops it's a very fine peice of machinery and I am glad to be receiving this car.

I have a 84 trans am and I love it also. The only thing that scares me is that it seems to be running hot 220-235.

Is this normal> If anyone can respond with advice I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

I own an 84 t/a that came with a 5.0 h.o. and a 700r4. it now has a new engine since the 305 had 2 bolt mains. it is now a 4 bolt, it was stroked and built. I put a limited slip diferential and 4.10 gears. the tranny is still the same exept for a ratchet shifter and a cooler. this combination helps the t/a run 12 second quartermiles. the 84 is an exellent hot rod because it came with a carburated engine, an overdrive transmision and a real 10 bolt rear end.

If you have an 84 you are lucky, so keep it. the 84 is full of potential and they are soon going to be rare.

I also disagree with this review. I own an 84 trans am H.O. 305 with 700r4 tranny. I bought this car when I was 16. I'm now 18 and have had nothing, but fun in this car. The only thing that has needed replaced was the carburetor that was origional. A carb that lasts 20 years before it goes bad is good in my book. The distributor also needed a new coil and guts. The car has 128000 miles on it and flies off the line. And to the person that asked about their temp being in the 200's...I've only hit over 220 degrees after doing 95 on the freeway for 5 minutes or so...I'd have it looked at.

We just bought an 85 T/A for $350, we drove the car home and now it cuts off everytime we stop at a stop sign. And for some reason the engine keeps overheating. If it was up to me I would get rid off it, but my husband instist that he is going to fix it. Does anyone have any idea what might be going on with our car?? And for previous comments I'm not lying when I say that "THIS CAR IS FAST".

Hey I have no idea if you're ever gonna check this.

But about the over heating situation, I was going to suggest get the rad flushed and make sure there are fluids in the rad. Check the thermostat too, replace it, most likely. Anyways, it's not that expensive.

Another disagreement here with the above review. Any older car, Trans Am or not, is not something that you want to try to depend on for daily service without any mechanical knowledge or a good mechanic who knows the particular car. It sounds like the reviewer got ripped off and didn't know any better. I'd only recommend a car such as this as a recreational investment (or any other 20+ year old car)

I've had my '84 T/A for eight years and I can identify with each of everyone's issues with the car. However, with some patience (and yeah, a small pile of cash dropped on parts and stuff) I've also been greatly rewarded with a car who's timeless good looks and tire-shredding performance still will turn heads even today.

I found the best thing to do with one of these is to seek help from familiars. There are enthusiast groups that have members who could probably fix these cars in their sleep. Many are also professional mechanics with a wealth of knowledge to share. Any Firebird/Trans Am (or Camaro) built from 1982-1992 is commonly called a "thirdgen" by these folks. Search that term and see what you find.

I've had my 84 Trans Am since September 1984. When my mother overheated the 305 and we had the heads done after 85,000 miles I knew the bottom end wouldn't last long. Before this the car was rock solid so I laid out plans for future revisions.

At 120,000 miles the compression readings warrented a rebuild. Now gone is the 305 replaced with an early model 350 with 882 cast heads with flat-tops buckled to a T5 and Richmond 3.73s. I share the rear disk brake problem however over the years I have learned to make the adjustments myself with the aid of several special tools. After the last wreck I decided to totally restore my battle weary warrior. Though I own: '65 Dynamic 88 CV; '67 Cutlass Holiday Coup;'70 442 CV;'69 GTO Clone, my '84 T/A is my favorite hotrod.