I am about to purchase an 86 Trans Am with 47,000 miles on it. It has the fuel injected 305 and 700R4 tranny. I ran a carfax, but it doesn't show a whole of information. The car runs good overall. The thing that bugs me are that the seats along the sides are wore through. The console is also bulging and the dash is cracked. Is there any way to really know about the miles? He wants $4900 for it. This would be my first Trans Am since I've owned a 76 many years ago. The only rust that I've found is the pillar near the T Top.

 

It looks pretty good, although the seats are a little worn and dirty for 47k miles. You can still get the stock pallex cloth from Larry Dennis Co to have them redone.

As for the dash and console, that's just a fact of life for these cars, the consoles often started separating before the warranties expired. The console is easily fixed (just search the forums), and replacement OER dash pads are available, although costly.

 

Oh yeah, I recommend driving it to make sure the odometer works. When I bought my GTA I thought the miles were accurate, then I later discovered the odometer doesn't work.

 

If the paint is good, that is a steal for that car...even with the interior issues. Its great that it has t-tops and the WS6 package (assuming the wheels were not swapped onto it). I sold my 86 last month with 34k miles on it for twice as much.

All of the interior issues you mention are normal. The cloth does get brittle with age...a good quality reproduction cloth seat kit is about $350 from vendors on here. The dash is a simple $100 replacement on eBay for a good used one. Maybe you have a good leather/vinyl repair shop locally that could fix that one? Finally, nearly all the consoles come unglued. Buy a good used one on eBay, or simply reglue the one in there.

As long as the paint is clean and nice, grab it before he wises up. I sold my hardtop non-WS6 car for twice that. Granted, mine was 100% brand new outside (even the wheels were redone) and 95% perfect inside...but still, mine was not a t-top or WS6 car.

Good luck. If you don't want it, PM me the info and I will be more than happy to buy it for his asking price

 

dont worry about the seats, they do not look worn out. Looks like its been outside in the hot sun and the fabric deteriorated from the UV and the heat and the stitching failed, not uncommon. If the underside is clean, and everything is in good working order, i say go for it.

check it over VERY VERY well for rust and rot on the floors. Its worthless if the floors are gone.

 

I really appreciate the opinions, thanks a lot!! The dash does say performance suspension on it. I drove it, the speedometer worked. I thought the transmission went into overdrive pretty quick, but my 89 Chevy van does that, too. The paint is faded on the hood, so that will need some attention. Overall it seems as if it's in very good condition. Thanks again! If I can ****** it up this weekend, I will post photos. I will of course keep it original and slowly restore the interior.

 

Speedometer and odometer are separate, my speedometer works too. Just drive it and make sure you see the odometer roll over.

 

Keeping it original and nice is a good plan. My 86 was gorgeous after I repainted it. Just keep in mind, that's a good torquey engine, but you will not be winning any speed contests with it. 86 was the year they weakened the cam in the TPI 305 to improve MPG and emissions. Its still 190hp, which isn't horrible...but it isn't going to wow you in the higher RPM ranges. Mine was a stone by 3500 RPM...over 4000, I would either take my foot off the gas in the hopes it would shift, or start singing the Jeopardy! theme while it wound its way to 5000 to shift into second or third

 

Wow, 80schild, thanks for that additional info on the speedometer/odometer being separate. I had no idea!

 

'85 and older has the mechanical/cable driven gauges, '86 and up has a completely electronic cluster.

 

Just an update on the thread...I bought the car and it's in my garage I did a full tuneup on it, and I believe it will need some fuel work. It has a noticeable surge in low rpm, but clears up when you give it a lot of gas. Not happy about that, but I'm overall happy with my purchase