Hello:

I'm going to look at a 95 T/A Formula tomorrow. It's been a while since I've driven an F-body (been into Jeeps for the last 16 years), so I'm not terribly familiar with these cars (but I am familiar with SBCs and older F-body cars). What should I look for, in particular, with regards to the motor, trans etc.? I'm a reasonably competent home mechanic and I intend to take the car for a spirited test drive. It's red, with T-tops, auto, 113,000 mi. and a clean CarFax. The one thing that concerns me is the # of previous owners (5). Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

I'm the 6th owner of my V6 and it's still a spirited little ralley sport.

Opti is the only thing I'd worry about on the LT1, I guess just make sure the water pump isn't leaking over it? I've never experienced it when I owned a 95 Z28... Check Coolant, of course do your standard Oil Change after you buy it, Tranny Fluid... Make sure when you go W-O-T that your tranny doesn't pop or plain SLAM it into gear... that costed me a rebiuld on the Z28...then we found out that it was just a bad transmission mount... Yea, very costy... Just like any other car, make sure it's responsive and smooth and not doing anything stupid...

 

Is it a Trans Am or a Formula? Can't be both Overall theres not much you need to look for on these cars, most common problem with them is the optispark. So if you notice it having a misfire or idleing horrible thats a common cause.

 

And what is it, a T/A or a Formula; can't be both...

At 113K miles... here's the short but meaningful list.

Waterpump (Sits right about Opti, and can/will destroy if fails)
Optispark (GMs ****-poor design of a front-mount distributor)
Tranny Mount (Commonly failing part, cheap and easy to repair)
T-top seals (Wear out in time, ~$150 for the pair, new)
Oil Changes
Intake Manifold (Check the back to see if leaking oil)
Window Motors (Wear out in time, slow going up & down; ~$40 per side, beginner/intermediate skill level job to replace)
Shocks

Those are the main points to hit about.

5 owners isn't that bad, but it could possibly be a sign of something; I bought mine being 2 years old and 2 different owners; the only thing that has failed due to wear-out would be the Coil, Opti, and the Power Window motors.

 

Check the headlight motors going up and down as well. Like stated before, check the back of the intake for an oil leak, there's a pretty good chance you'll find one there. It's a pain to re-seal it, but it won't hurt much if you stay on top of your oil level, use it as a bargaining point.

The drivers seat bolster toward the door will probably be worn out or close to it. Check the back tires to see how badly they've been roasted off. Check the quarter panels for dents and wrinkles. These cars are unibody, and if you corner too hard, the quarters will take a beating.

Check the tranny mount, they're bad to go, mine did, but cheap and easy to replace. Also check the tranny fluid and make sure it doesn't look or smell burnt, and there is no slipping when you're beating on it between gear changes.

Window motors are bad to go out as well, especially the driver's side, since it gets used the most. The optispark distributors can give trouble as well, but it'll miss/stumble around if it's bad. Check the weep hole at the bottom of the waterpump to make sure it's not leaking coolant onto the opti. It will kill it in a hurry.

Check the gaps over good to see if it's been wrecked, keep in mind the gaps on these cars weren't perfect from the factory, but if you look at them well you should be able to tell if it's been tweaked.

See if they have any records of maintanance stuff done to the car and if you can get ahold of the owner before them to see why they sold it and if they had a lot of problems out of it.

Other than that check the basic stuff you would when buying any car. I may be missing a point or two, but that's about the extent of my memory tonight.

Hope this helps, and if it isn't in pretty good shape, wait around 'till you find one that is. You'll be much better off.

 

Thanks guys, this is very helpful. I assume the car is a Formula, although the dealer listing says "Trans Am Formula" and the Carfax says "Formula/Trans Am." Guess I will find out tomorrow a.m.

I have heard nothing good about the OptiSpark system, but I understand that the 95s are vented to the air intake to reduce moisture, and this may alleviate some of the problems inherent to the 93/94s. Is this actually effective?

The intake manifold leak I am familiar with, having experienced it on my 99 Suburban (company car, R.I.P).

I have seen the effects of leaky T-tops on 3rd gens; not pretty...

The power windows can't possibly be any slower than the ones on my 74 Camaro LT. Those were ridiculous.

Thanks again.

-G-

They are asking $4600 for the car. Sound reasonable?