bigcitybird

Hey guys. First post! Plan on it being the start of many. But i think i am going to get a firebird for my first car. On craigslist there is an 86' for $1300. It runs and drive almost perfect, one of the headlights doesnt pop up. Which im not really worried about. But the thing is, it has a lot of surface rust but none of it has gone through. 73,000 original miles, should i go for it? If i didnt give enough info just tell me!

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

Sounds decent but check it over well. See if it smokes when it starts. Drive it. Check the entire underside for rot holes. These things can be rusted disasters and a rotate car is about worthless. Main bad spots are the floor under the driver and passenger side front seats and foot wells as well as the bottom of the firewall and door jams. Check the rear wheel wells too and the floors just ahead of the rear tires. If it looks clean go for it. Might even be able to talk the guy down some too.

Also keep a eye out for hacked up wiring or strange looking mods. Chopped up cars can be a basket case

Keep in consideration the condition of tires and if you do buy it do a once over on the car, change oil check all fluids grease everything check and or replace the coolant and check the brakes and replace as needed. Should be a solid car for you after that.

The headlight is most likely in need of a simple rebuild. They have plastic pucks I them that break up into dust and when they do the motors stop working.

The factory paint on these cars sucked and they often has issues with clear coat failure which leads to the issue that can has. Nothing terribly uncommon. If it is just surface rust on the body clean it up and get some paint on it before it gets worse

Dont get over excited about the car. If its a rotted mess walk away.

bigcitybird

Thanks man. Heres the original craigslist posting http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/cto/4264106044.html

GICATA

At least it's not a T-top (no water leaks) and the lower sections don't look to have any rust. Might not be a bad deal.

bigcitybird

I was happy about that

FishinCricket

iTrader: (1)

Looks decent.. You aren't too far from me, I'm down in Lebanon.. I just rebuilt the headlight motors on mine, I'm re-installing tonight.

Good luck with your purchase, I'm sure as long as the motor and tranny check out then it's a decent car for ya..

bigcitybird

Im hoping. Its difficult finding a Standard tranny lol.

Linson

Should I Get This Firebird

my best advice: NO, you shouldn't.

1. that car looks rough, and like its been living rough (outdoors, in a field) for a long time. you will likely be buying someone else's money pit/someone else's hassle. and hontstly, that car is ugly. it looks beat up and the paint is shot. it will take more than a good wash to make that car look nice.

2. considering reason #1, even if your budget is small, as is reflected in the price of this particular car, you will likely spend more money in repair bills in the very short term, than you would on further initial investment in a nicer car.

3. it's an '86 base model. whether you want something fast or something to just drive around in, you can get a much nicer, much better performing car for not alot more money. a guy in another thread just bought a '91 Formula 350 for 1600. i've seen very nice looking Trans Ams and Formulas for around 2K. WELL WORTH the extra few hundred considering the apparent condition of the '86 that you're considering. i always say, why buy a base model when you can get an 88-92 IROC, Formula, or Trans Am for a little bit more.

now, some people will probably "stand up for you" like White Knights and say that i'm an a$$hole for berating this car that you dont even own. they will try to talk you into undertaking a project such as this. the problem is that no matter what people think about me for what i have to say, at the end of the day, i'm not wrong.

Linson

welp...having looked at the Craigslist listings for your area - (St. Louis and Kansas City,) a few things are clearer to me now: the elements are way rougher on cars there than in my area (Washington State) and people are trying to sell JUhuhuhuhUNK in Missouri. and anything halfway decent in your area is outrageously expensive. truth be told, you might be better off buying something from out of state. even with shipping costs, you would be miles ahead. although there are risks with buying a car sight unseen. here are a couple listings from my area. these are typical of what can be got up here. usually there are more Formulas and Trans Ams. i didnt bother to search for any IROCs.


http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/4285872377.html
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/ctd/4284393873.html

i know this last one is ten grand, but that is ridiculously low for a 19K original mile TTA. if anyone here jumps on this before i do (its in my area) a thank you would not be out of line.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/cto/4274006989.html

FishinCricket

iTrader: (1)

So, Linson, your advice to the guy looking at the $1300 car is to buy one in Seattle? Please, tell me you're joking?

I'm not trying to just pick a fight, but how are your suggestions helping this particular consumer? Aren't you just setting them up for disappointment? I've been advising consumers for a LONG time and rarely do they jump from "I'm gonna spend a grand or two on something" to "I'm going to have a 10k car shipped for Seattle!" In their buying process. You are obviously in a different world than this buyer.

Furthermore: Seems like you WANT our cars to be worthless, eh? There aught to be a baseline value for these models, and I HOPE it's $1000 for a non running example that isn't completely rusted out. Seems like the car he's looking at is worth $500 in scrap here in crappy Ol Missouri... So how is $1300 out of line?

And no, I'm not the seller.. But someday I may be and I'd like to think any old F-body is with a grand. How can an enthusiast argue with that?

Any response from the potential buyer? How's the car?

Linson

I almost don't know where to even begin with this. literally EVERY point you've tried to make is wrong. I don't say that to be combative, its just a matter of fact. its almost as if you didn't read my post or the one before that which pretty clearly outlines my logic. what i'll do is address each of your erroneous conclusions in individual posts so as not to create an overly long post that is a chore to read.

Linson

okay...this is really as simple as 2+2=4. and I really went out of my way to be very helpful to the OP (never heard of referring to people here as "consumers" btw.)

I was very surprised at the apparently very poor condition of the Firebird in question. having had several projects in better shape than that car, that I ended up having to bail on, I KNEW that in all likelihood the OP would HAVE to dump a lot more than the $1300 investment into that car and still be LUCKY to even have it running. what could be more disappointing than realizing you've tackled a project than needs more time and money than you can give it, and knowing you could have had something much more rewarding for a lot less money than you've put into it?

so after scouring the listings in the OP's area (to be helpful) I found that the listings there were no good. the cars were all either a) very weather beaten and in need of huge amounts of money, time, and skill in order to be drivable, let alone presentable, or b) very expensive for what they were (i.e. base model cars with fairly high miles and/or not-so-tasteful modifications.

I then scoured the listings in my area (trying to be helpful) where I see surprisingly good deals on 3rd Gens all the time. and I found two or three cars that were maybe a thousand dollars more expensive but were in MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better shape.

so given the option of buying a base model that is a total basket case that looks like its been sitting in a Missouri field for over a decade, that doesn't have a single square inch of good paint, and probably has weeds growing through the floor... for $1300, that will probably need (cheaply, $5000 to fix ~ drivable - still an ugly beater). so now that $1300 investment is at a conservative $6300 just so the OP can drive his car and not even look cool doing it. he still needs alot of body work, paint, and probably just about every other little thing.
~OR~
buy a more desirable Formula, Trans Am, or IROC (or even another base model car) with nice paint, probably fairly high mileage, but in good mechanical condition for say $2500 from Seattle. add an additional $1000 for shipping costs (i've actually had cars shipped from Texas to [Seattle] for seven or eight hundred.) so that's $3500 or so, and the OP will have a car he can drive and look good doing it. even if there are unforeseen or undisclosed problems with the car, it would be impossible to go more wrong than choosing the $1300 basket case from the field option.

how is this suggestion NOT helpful to the OP?

FishinCricket

iTrader: (1)

lol, I rest my case...

MMroc86

???

Linson, made a very good point....

I've been there done that as well, I've been the guy to buy the $1000 piece of junk that barley ran, BUT it ran! WOW how lucky was I, or so I thought. Till a wk later when I realized I bought a complete piece of crap! So then I started looking up what I needed to do to get it to run good.

$200here
$500 there
$100 here
$500 there
$200 here
$150 there
another
$1500 here

& so on & so forth. Not to mention the hours upon hours you put into fixing it & doing the research....

When its all said & done I could have just been patient & saved up my money & bought a "nice" NOT perfect z28,GTA or Formula.

BTW, that $1000 piece of crap that I bought for my bro, is still sitting out in the driveway, still a piece of crap, because I decided I'd be a terrible brother if I let him put any cash into that thing!

Linson

also, if "lol, i rest my case" is your response after i take the time to explain myself thouroughly while making very valid points, i'm just going to forego explaining myself further. obviously i'm not going to get through to you no matter what.

FishinCricket

iTrader: (1)

You got through just fine, sugar. You'd already wasted SO MUCH of your time, what's another paragraph?

If the OP comes in and thanks you for all your hard work I'll recant my post.. Otherwise I don't understand what purpose your response serves? I didn't think my sardonic post warranted a response.. I feel so special.

Meanwhile the OP still probably isn't going to have a $1500 car SHIPPED from Washington and if you think THAT (specifically) is a GOOD suggestion then I don't know what to say.

Could you check your local listings for a book on how to win friends and influence people for me?

jrhaus76

Linson is right. Give it a rest sweetheart. I wish I could see the car in question but as it turns out, the link is dead.

Sounds like it was a piece of crap.

I will say this, any decently running car is worth $1000.

That doesn't mean it's worth buying.

I bought a $700 S10, 250,000miles. Used it got 4 years around the farm and sold it for $500. Worth buying, yes. I put a couple hundred bucks in it keeping it going and it was worth beating the snot out of preserving my nice truck.

Point... I knew what I was getting. Junk. If I was buying a car to appreciate, I'd pay a lot more. If I wasn't concerned with having something to enjoy or appreciate, I wouldn't be looking at a Camaro or firebird.

FishinCricket

iTrader: (1)

"Any decent running car is worth $1000"

And this isn't just any car, this is an f-body.

My apologies for getting involved in the "discussion" on this here "discussion forum".

Giving it a rest in 3...2...1....

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

You are a miserable dude man every time i read your posts it makes me sick!

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Some people just know everything

MMroc86

doctor bubbles

do not buy it, I bought a 1990 formula for 1500 but after getting the brakes done and such.... The rest fell apart .... It's a piece of crap

wozbean

I know this thread is a bit old but here is what I have learned. I used to live in Ohio and was used to rust. You ALWAYS find more rust the deeper you dig on a car. I now live in Georgia and can tell you it is MILLION times nicer working on a rust free car. I try to avoid northern cars if at all possible. If the car ends up being a turd you can always part out the rust free panels.