Faults:
Replaced Alternator.
Replaced Plastic buttons.
Head Gasket blew up at about 215000km. This cost me about $2500 to repair.
Replaced a few balljoints.
Replaced front brakes.
Serpentine Belt Replaced.
Battery.
Tail Light bulb, running light bulb.
The custom cd player is starting to go. Sometimes it doesn't want to work.
Slight oil leak from oil pan gasket.
Panel underneath steering wheel broke off on its own one day. Don't understand how a part like that can break when I never touch it. Fixed it with some industrial strength Velcro.
Replaced the Exhaust system with a Flowmaster Catback, dual tipped system. $1000.
General Comments:
Overall, other than the head gasket blowing up on me, this car has been excellent. It was 10x better than my 1981 Grand Prix and now I have just bought a 1999 Trans Am and it is 100x better than this!
The FireBird has been a great car. It it fast for a mid 90's V6, but it doesn't come close to today's V6 cars. I get great highway mileage, I would say about 550-650km on a tank of gas. I sped a lot though so you could probably squeeze some more out of it I'm sure.
The handling is quite good, although everyone hated the hump in the passenger side floor. They all got used to it. The back seat is cramped, but even larger people can get back there and get comfy. Very large people have a hard time getting in or out, my mom figured that one out.
When I bought the car, the guy made sure I had lots of antifreeze with me for the trip home, he obviously knew that the head gasket was already going on it. I had to put a far bit of antifreeze in the rad part way through the trip (2000km). It took about 2 years before it went out completely. By the time it blew up I had to constantly add antifreeze.
Also have odd electrical problem, where I press the brakes at night with the lights on and the lights all dim. I think this is being caused by the Alternator, just starting to wear out.
The ABS INOP light comes on sometimes in the rain and always goes out. The ABS still works so it is prolly a sensor malfunction due to the water.
Doesn't go through any oil what-so-ever. I only use fully synthetic. Tranny runs fine, no problems there.
Paint starting to rust in the wheel wells and bottom of the doors, but other than that the paint is fine.