I am looking to pick up a trans am/formula, but I am far from a car expert. I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on what to look for in terms of issues with the trans ams/firebirds. In particular, most of the cars I am seeing have between 70K and 100K miles (most around 80k)... this seems like a high mileage and I am afraid that I will be in the shop every other day getting something fixed. I am mostly looking at 2001/2002 birds, but I have been looking at some 99/00s.

Any advice you all can give me would be much appreciated. If there is a good forum to look at, pointers there would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Paul

 

I just recently bought my 2000 WS.6 Trans Am M6 with 75,000miles a few months ago so I just went through this. I test drove a lot of Trans ams so here's all the info I have.
Make sure you check the brakes out, see how thick the pads are, and when you drive it, put the brakes on lightly, medium, and hard. be aware of any pulsing in the pedal, or if the steering wheel vibrates. My car had some wheel vibration and pedal pulse when I bought it, I thought it would be cheap to just get the rotors resurfaced because they were obviously just a little warped as rotors do get. But my rotors ended up having "hot spots" so the front ones had to be replaced and the rears resurfaced, and because the shop was already there, I just decided to get pads as well. This added up to a $450 bill.
When I test drove it I also noticed a squeaking under the hood, turned out to be the main belt. $16 and about 10 min of work and I cured that. Last thing was the clutch. I noticed it was a little soft and spongey but I didn't pay much attention to it. Now after a lot of reading on LS1 tech I know that I either have a bad Slave or bad Master cylinder. Each of those are around $100. I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet either.

Things I noticed when test driving other Trans ams was one seemed great, I was pretty close to buying it, then my wife says, "did you check all the **** inside?" I was like, I'm sure they work". She says, "I just really would feel better if you checked them." So I sit down and check all the ****. I turn the hot and cold temp. *** and it falls off, what the heck? It completely stripped! The owner says, "oh, I didn't know that was like that?" Sure Who knows what else was messed up on that car that he "didn't" know about.

Also, check the tire tread. I lucked out and my WS.6 had just had brand new tires put on, but if they were worn out and needed to be replaced, thats almost a $1,000 bill. Finally when test driving it check for noises, roll the windows down and coast, listen to any odd sounds. And look under the car and check for oil leaks. Check the rear end for oil leaks as well. Do the head lights pop up and down without making clunking noises?

Hope it goes well for you, if you have anymore questions let me know.

 

Great info... Thanks!

 

check window motors as well, see if the sail panel behind the ttops is starting to bubble (they all do eventually) check the interior plastic pieces, most crack very quickly. check the engine bay and see what has all been hacked up and such to show that its been modded. on monsoon head units a wide range of things can go wrong so check that out. Really the best thing to do is just DRILL the seller with questions, you will get a good feel for how well the car has been cared for if you ask tons and tons of questions, you will get dumb responses or no reponses if they are hiding something or didnt care for the car. Last fall I bought my TA site unseen from a guy in Georgia, I was so impressed with the information he told me ( he basically mentioned everything I could have possibly asked) that I purchased the car and had it shipped here without ever driving it or seeing it in person. Some may call me daring but the car was exactly as described and even better in some cases. Brand new brakes, drilled and slotted rotors, meticulously maintained etc..

 

98's don't bubble, but the rest do, the rest is all good advice.

Ryan

 

Thanks for the responses. I just went and looked at a 2002 Trans Am convertible with 69K miles (at a dealer). I checked pretty much everything mentioned. The only thing I noticed was that at low speeds the front right had a squeak, which they said they would fix (they figured it for a bushing). The steering felt very tight and the acceleration and general driving felt very smooth. I negotiated and have him at $12,514 (tax, tag, and title included) out the door, which seems like a good deal. Any thoughts?

Link to car:
http://www.extremeauto1.com/detail-2...m-3778136.html

-Paul

 

That sounds like a great deal and on the low side.

 

One thing I didnt see mentioned yet is a vehicle history report. Look under the hood to see if you see ANY evidence of repainting. You can also see some overspray under the car. My forumla, the dealer claimed it was NEVER in an accident. I found out later it was in a minor front end collision.

Better to know exactly what you are buying than to just take someones word for it. Trust, but verify.

 

Yes, it has a clean autocheck (some alternative to carfax)... is anyone familiar with that service and if it is reliable? He showed it to me and everything was clean.

The undercarriage is spotless, the rotors looked good... the tires have at least 20K miles left on them and the engine is clean. I didn't see any modifications and/or major repairs done, though I don't know that I have enough knowledge to know a mod or repair when I see it... everything looked stock to me. There was no evidence of repainting... the only thing I saw a problem with is one headlight was missing a screw. Again, something they are going to take care of.

 

Sounds like a good deal if you like convertables, its good to cause your getting the 2002, which means LS6 intake, upgraded hydualic system, no EGR, and LS6 clutch with 25% more clamping force than 98'-00' trans ams, and the 241 heads as well!

 

Yes... the downside is it is an automatic. I would prefer a stick, but there are certainly advantages to not having to shift in traffic all the time The other downside is that, as i understand it, convertibles have a higher curb weight (due to the extra fortification in the body to compensate for the loss of the roof - don't know how true this is). In some ways, I would prefer a T-Top with a WS6 perf package. I was looking for something a little meaner. But, it seems like such a good deal, and driving around with the top down is kind of nice!

 

i bought my 96 formula 2 years ago with 95,000 miles and now it has 113,000. every car has its problems. but mine have not been too bad. the worst is because of the automatic i blew it up 5 months after purchase. but that was the worst thing. but i can say if i would have bought a 6-speed which is really what i would want i would have snapped my rear by now. im hard on manual tranny's i powershift them like they really were not meant to do.. but anyway i guess it equals out to the same. tranny rebuild compared to new rear its right around the same cost. but thats just my 2 cents...... it all ends down too what u want if u find what u want and it has 100,000 miles so what as long as it was taken care of it should be ok. just ask alot of questions.... no question is stupid... kinda

 

I see that you are from FL if you are willing to drive Jacksonville has a S ton of great F-Body's. I picked up my Formula bone stock for 7900 Tax Tag Ect with 82k. With a few mods you will be having the time of your life. I have had my car 3yrs and I have never had more fun in any car I have ever had

 

Downside Automatic

I felt the same way when I bought my LS1. Upgrade the torque converter and it will put a on your face. Great car!!!

Don't worry about the extra weight, the car should run mid 13's stock. You can take out the spare and jack from the trunk which will save you about 40 pounds if you want. You can always buy a ram air hood if you like the more aggressive look.

Great deal!!! You made out like a bandit. The lowest I have found a 2002 Vert is 15k. With the money you saved start modding.

 

mileage doesnt matter. You can find some 24k mile car with nothing done to it, only to find out that the previous owner had full mods and a blower on it. You can also find a car like mine where it has higher mileage, but its pristine, oil changed every 3k miles and well maintained. Your call.

I wouldnt even mind a car with some tasteful mods. Once you start tearing into the engine. id be worried. LCAS, intake, airbox lid, headers exhaust those are all common. Wont really start playing with driveability, and dont necessarily mean the car was beat on. Hell i get better gas mileage with those mods, which was the primary reason i did them. Not to mention the car sounds much better.

Once you see gears, torque converters, rollcages then you have a car someone had some fun with, and probably wasnt driven lightly. Either way im sure if you post up your finds we can help you make a decision.

As for maintenance, only things this car has had done is the alternator, belts, pulleys replaced for squeaking, and the clutch. Power window motors are another weakpoint on this car.