Faults:

Water pump at 182,000.

Alternator at at 206,000.

Heater core at 223,000.

Transmission leaks terrible, but still works excellent.

Oil pan starting to leak.

Replaced all 4 ball joints myself (a royal pain in the ass).

Check engine light goes on and off as it pleases for no apparent reason (had this checked 3 or 4 times after I bought it, and finally gave up).

Choke never has worked properly, I've tried adjusting it 5 or 6 times, and playing with the miles of vacuum lines, and finally gave up on it.

General Comments:

This car is a tank that will not die. After over 8 years of abuse from me and my kids, this car is still going strong. One of my daughters religiously changed her oil by my guess about every 12,000 miles (or not at all, judging by the soot on the dipstick when the car was returned to me). She survived at least 10 trips from Denver to college in Minneapolis and back with not a peep of trouble from the car. The engine still doesn't burn a drop.

Supposedly this was the most powerful motor available in the '84 model, but you could have fooled me. It's as reliable as Old Faithful, but it's no drag racer. I wonder what possessed GM to drop their 350's (some of the best engines around, past and present) in the 80's.

The audio system is amazing for an '84, 6 speakers (1 in each door, two in back) and a factory cassette player with 5-band EQ.

The interior is like two plush couches on wheels. The seats are so comfy it's hard to stay awake on a long drive.

I think this was the last year before they switched this car to front-wheel-drive. I wish GM still made cars this good.