? regarding Pontiac Fiero's

[rookie]

Are the old Pontiac Fiero's prone to catch fire? If so why?

TIA,
rookie

[Tiberius]

... something to do with an engine in the trunk?

Seriously though... I have heard that myself. It must have been a bad design flaw of some sort. Google probably would give you some hits to explain what causes fires in Fiero's (it probably is a rare thing.. but if there is something systematic that has caused multiple fires it means all of them are at risk to go up in flames)

[r1lee]

It has something to do with the engine being in the back and the firewall that seperates the passenger from the engine is too thin wihch causes heat problems. I'm not sure of it catching on fire, but it gets really hot in the back.

[sptembergurl]

I drove two of them. One did overheat but never caught fire.
Once when I was driving my Fierro, I was rear-ended by a drunk driver in a mini-van. He had about $1000.00 damage and I had only $30.00 damage and used touch-up paint to fix it.

I always had no faith in that car, but after this incident I was so proud of what I often used to refer to as my "plastic death trap"!

The one thing I hated about the car though was trying to drive on wintery roads. What a joke! Secondly, the gas tank was half the average size so I had to frequent the gas stations too often.

Good luck with yours!

-Sptembergurl

[Chookman]

IIRC, Pontiac cheapened out on the engine rods and also found out that the oil pan was too large for the engine bay. Pontiac's solution? Well, we'll just put on a smaller oil pan! Therefore, if the engine oil level got a bit low from the owner not checking it regularly, the engine could throw a rod and/or catch fire from the oil leaking out of the block onto the hot exhaust. Once this was discovered, what was Pontiac's solution on the recall? They slapped a sticker on the gas cap that said that the OWNER must check oil levels at all gas fill-ups and that Pontiac wouldn't be responsible for any problems due to not having the oil topped up. I think there were quite a few engine fires back in the day - something like 1 out of every 500 would catch fire. Imagine if every car was a Fiero. You'd have multiple fires daily on the 401!

From what I recall, it was only the early model cars and only the 4cyl engine. By the final year in 1988, they'd worked out most of the problems and it supposedly was a fairly reliable car.

If you are thinking of getting one, only do it if you plan to put in a V8. A lot of people do that engine swap and turn it into a monster. Oh, I'd also suggest you get a later model since the original models had Chevette suspension and the later years had upgraded suspension.

I'm considering a sports car purchase early in '06 in the 30K range. That Pontiac Solstice looks like an interesting option but it's because of the Fiero (the last attempt by Pontiac at a 2-seater sports car) that makes me think I'm going to get a used Cooper S instead.

[rookie]

Does anybody know what the 1988 GT sold for new in CDN $?

[prof_frink]

From what I recall, it was only the early model cars and only the 4cyl engine. By the final year in 1988, they'd worked out most of the problems and it supposedly was a fairly reliable car.

I've heard that the 1988 version was dubbed the 'apology Fiero' because it was so much better than the junk that pontiac produced in the years prior...

[Chookman]

Does anybody know what the 1988 GT sold for new in CDN $?

Are you considering buying one?

[rookie]

Are you considering buying one?

Not me the GF!

[Chookman]

Maybe steer her towards an early Toyota MR2. Although I'm biased because I've owned three of them, I think general consensus is that it's a better car than the Fiero with similar styling. You can get one in prime condition for about $4-6000. You can get one as a decent daily driver for $2500.

[B0000rt]

If you are thinking of getting one, only do it if you plan to put in a V8. A lot of people do that engine swap and turn it into a monster. Oh, I'd also suggest you get a later model since the original models had Chevette suspension and the later years had upgraded suspension.

V8 must me transversely mounted eh, so your list of engines and transmissions become very restricted to those GM FF cars like the old STS eh

[rookie]

Wonder what the book value would be on a mint 1988 GT loaded with 30,000 original km's?

[oldsnail]

i would agree on the MR2... its lighter, faster, and more reliable..
the 4cyl sc pumps more than fiero's v6.

i recall the top model fiero's costed 18g USD new, and top model mr2's costed in the 20's in 88

[mlc2000]

I'm considering a sports car purchase early in '06 in the 30K range. That Pontiac Solstice looks like an interesting option but it's because of the Fiero (the last attempt by Pontiac at a 2-seater sports car) that makes me think I'm going to get a used Cooper S instead.

Hehe, I guess the Sunfire wasn't an attempt at a 2 seater sportscar!
Haha. Shurely you are not choosing between a Pontiac and a Cooper (BMW).
You should then add Kia and Lexus to the group.

[prof_frink]

Wonder what the book value would be on a mint 1988 GT loaded with 30,000 original km's?

I think in this case it's one of those cars that is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it...

Kinda like the Buick Grand national, I'm sure the black book value isn't the 20-30k these cars go for today...