My grandfather recently purchased a 91 firebird V6. He bought it at a great price of 900 dollars. What i know about this car is that it has 141,000 miles but I am not completly sure because the thing that is records mileage is broken. Also, it has a bright red paint job, but on the rear fender is has some damage, just some deep scraches on the rear fender and a tiny bit of rust. Also, the carpet on the roof of the car is coming off. On the drivers side door someone keyed the car, but it isn't that bad. On the hood thier are 2 dents and on the passanger side door their is a dent. THe transmission seems to work fine and the engine also seems to run fine. This is a one owner car, but the the last owner of this car loved to party. He bought the car new, but it seems that he has put no extra money into the car. Everything is stock. I am a 16 year old that just wants a first car that is fast, and reliable. I also wants something that looks nice. A couple more problems with the car is that it rides really ruff. Like the shocks are broken. The brakes probably need to be replaced. I am not an expert on this kinds of cars and my dad is not an expert at all. I would like your advice on some questions. How much money would it cost to fix up this car? Is buying this car worth my Time? Last, Would this car be reliable if I did fix it up? Could someone please answer these questions for me. I would just like to say, This 91 firebird is a really good looking car.

 

if you can get it for 900, and it runs, i would say its worth it. shocks are cheap, cosmetics isnt really an issue when buying your first car. brakes are easy, if not you can find a backyard mechanic to do em cheap. how much do you have to spend on repairs? its a 3.1 right? it just really depends on if you have money to spend on repairs if you are mechanically hadicapped.

 

My dad is going to pay for all the parts to put into this car. He is just not convinced about putting money into a car with 141,000 miles on it. I believe it has a 3.1, but i am not sure. It has whatever kind of engine that comes with a regular 1991 firebird. Can you give me an estimate on how much brakes and shocks would cost because i could really use that information to persuade my dad.

 

if its shocks and not struts, 20 each for KYB shocks. brakes you can get done at most shops for about 50 per axle or so. also, my 89 beretta, which is pretty mucht eh exact same engoine as yours(2.8) had 230,000 miles before the engine blew. and thats with 10,000 miles of NOS on it.

 

EASILY look at putting a good $1500 into the car.
Parts & MECHANICS LABOR equal lots of money.
As an FYI.
I paid $300 for my Firebird. Body damage, no good engine & good tranny.
I killed engine, installed another engine. Did electronics & body work, then tranny.
I did all myself.
I have about $1600 into the car. I have a $2K car, that still looks like $hit (body wise-primered parts from wrecking yard!) but, I'll live with it. It'll be better soon. I NOW HAVE A GARAGE!!
You?
16?
You want a better car.
HONEST!
Go find a new F4 car. 1993 & above.
Shame ya paid $900 for that car.

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Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Shocks at a shop can cost up to 100 a piece... Does the car ride rough under all conditions and how well does it corner? If it seems to corner well and not ride too low (should be about 6 inches of clearance) than I would say your shocks are still good. These cars tend to ride a little rougher than family or luxury cars... If you don't have springs (which indicates struts only) than there is nothing you can do about the ride because struts are a very rough ride. I would say you're looking at 500-1000 dollars in repairs (~100-200 for the brakes).

If any of the following are going on with the car don't take it: burning oil, leaking fluids, tainted oil (see if extra stuff comes up when you check the oil), bent/damaged subframe, rust in bad places... pretty much anything that indicates needed engine rebuild or tranny rebuild... I wouldn't worry about the 140k miles, most of these engines will last 200k + with proper care... that gives you 60k miles which probably equates to about 5 years (or more since a lot will last 'til 250k).