Reliability of Firebirds and Camaros

Oct 01, 2005 8 Replies

alrighty... im lookin at gettin a firebird or camaro.. 80's bout an 85



camaro or round 88' firebird... i was readin some posts round here an i'm kinda feelin a "needing to buy parts alot" thing... are these car reliable? i mean could i go for a few months or longer without havin to replace parts and such


-- user nam



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I have both of those cars.. it depends.. like all cars.. if it was abused like my 'bird.. it will need parts to start off... if it was treated well.. and you continue to.. it will runs quite a while without replacing parts.

I have only been stranded twice with my camaro.. once because the fuel pump went, and once because the alternator went... the alt went after 136k miles. So treat them right and they'll treat you well.

-Geno

1985 Blue Camaro 2.8L auto w/T-tops (aka "Tazmaro") 1988 Blue Firebird Formula 5.0L auto w/T-tops 1985 Brown Firebird 5.7L (360) 5-speed NO T-tops

It really depends on how the car was treated and how many miles are on it.

The only non-maintainance repairs my '84 T/A has needed was a carb choke break and a fuel pump since 1998. Both of those went bad due to age more than mileage.

aight thanks bro... real help... i was feelin kinda fuzzy bout the whol

situation for awhile :P ... but im cool now and think i might try an pick up a firebir

-- user nam

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Yeah, just ask the owner a lot of questions.. anything you want to know. Check the body out inside and out throughly (which unfortunately I didn't do for my 'Formula) and run the VIN to make sure what it originally had such as engine hasn't been switched out (I was told the Formula had a rebuilt 350 put in.. when I ran the vin and compared the engine tag, they matched. You can get a car fax report on it if you would like.. sometimes you get lucky. Not sure where you are from, but salt for ice does a number on these cars. Better to find one where snow isn't a problem. But any problems you run into, many of the people here will be able to help you through them. Just do your research before you buy it.

-Geno

1985 Blue Camaro 2.8L auto w/T-tops (aka "Tazmaro") GETTING A NEW PAINTJOB!!!! 1988 Blue Firebird Formula 5.0L auto w/T-tops 1985 Brown Firebird 5.7L (360) 5-speed NO T-tops

Another thing to remember is these cars are going on 20 years old, so some things are bound to go. Having said that, I drive an 80 and with proper clean up and maintenance, I ve yet to have a breakdown with the car of any type. Little elbow grease and time spent on these cars and they ll go forever for you.

True of most every car/truck in my experience (with a few exceptions).

The only things that have really stopped my '84 have been water hoses. I've had 2 perish and die in the last 2 years (one stranded me for a couple of hours in Camden, NJ, but it was daytime so I got it replaced). Check it over well before you start out and it should run fine.

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