'98-'02 Firebird

Hey all. I just wanted to ask everybody here a simple question which I cant answer myself because I have no experience with the car.

The car I'm talkin about is a '98-'02 Pontiac Firebird, not a TA though, just the base FB.

And my question is... Is it worth buying a Firebird for about 10K, from maybe some around '98 through '02?

It might seem weird that I'm asking about the base one to some of you who would just simply tell me to get a TA, which can also be found for 10K and under. The reason I'm not (yet) interested in a TA is beacuse it's simply to powerful... I do not have the driving experiance to sit on a 300HP beast... that would lead me god knows where... So I'm trying to start with something smaller... Like the base FB...

I could also look into some other cars, but I just cant seem to be able to stop myself from just LOVING the looks of the Firebirds... The car is just beautiful all around... I love it, but I'm yet to drive one... :D

So for all of you who have something to say about this, that might help me out please post your thoughts. Oh, and just another thing, I'm only 17 :D... That might give you guys something to think about also. :grinno:

Thanks in advance.

If you buy a base firebird then you'll be spending a lot on upgrading it to the level of a TA so I'd say just buy the trans am and learn self control or attach a chunk of wood under the accelerator so you can't floor it. :biggrin:

Hehe, thanks for the input, I might think about the TA since it is just so much better than the W68 and with the same price range...

Thanks again. And if anyone else has something else they would like to mention please post it here.

EDIT: One more thing I'm concerned about right now with the prices of gas so high, is gas mileage... So if any '98-'02 TA and the W68 owners can tell me how thirsty the cars are, and if I could afford the gas on them with a job that pays around maybe... 10-12$ an hour...?

well, first off, your TA insurance is gonna be like 150+ for minimum coverage unless u get on ur mom and dads plan. got to take that into account.

Or, for the 10 grand, buy you a good looking 97 fbd for about 4 grand, put the 6 grand into some bonds or something that earns nice interest, and in a year when u want the extra power, do the engine swap, and keep low FBD insurance, for TA power :D

Just my :2cents:

I checked what the insurance would be on my account, not on my parents... It came out to about 2.2K for the W68 for 6 months...

And I've checked alot of other cars, and this is suprisingly one of the better deals on insurance yet...

But what fbd for 4k are you talkin about? And note that I did say I love the looks of 98-02 FB's :-D

Thanks for your input on this though, appriciate it.

so can u afford that insurance?

so can u afford that insurance?
I wouldn't want to.
$366 a month....holy shit.

My 1999 WS.6 was $230 a month when I was 23 (one accident on record). Now it is under $100 a month.

I wouldn't want to.
$366 a month....holy shit.

My 1999 WS.6 was $230 a month when I was 23 (one accident on record). Now it is under $100 a month.

I was hoping Mr. Luos was going to post something :D, and yea thats nice, $100 a month... damn...

But this would be the 1st car under my account that I'd be insuring... And as long as the insurance stays under 2.4-2.5k for 6 months, its still rather high, but affordable... So I would say yes, I pretty much could afford the W68, but I checked out what the insurance would be on the WS6 and it's almost $400 more...

But I dont think my insurance would get any lower on ANY car, since I'm 17 and this is my 1st car that I'm insuring... So idk... :evillol:

EDIT: And by the way, just out of curiosity, how is the gas mileage on your WS6 Mr. Luos?

The mileage was actually great before I started modding it.
Exhaust and airbox lid helped it a little....making it more efficient. Headers and LS6 intake gained it a decent amount of power while keeping the mileage the same.
Mine is a 6-speed car. It would get 25 MPG around town IF I babied it, and 31 MPG on the highway.

My insurance is actually right around $40 a month right now. I figured since it was on jackstands in the garage it could go to storage insurance.

25 MPG in town with the WS6?

Thats insane... In a good way :D

But were you gettin the same 25 MPG before you added the exhaust, airbox lid and the intake?

When it was stock I was getting about 22-23 around town.
Before I pulled the motor out, it was back down to that again, but making 60 RWHP more than it was stock.

Damn, thats pretty damn good... I always though the WS6's were getting around 18 MPG around town... Well thats what it said on most websites... Because I try to get as much information as I can about the FB's... and I guess internet could be very misleading (spell check this one :D)...

Thanks for your input though.

To be honest, you just made my choice that much harder since now I know the mileage that the WS6 gets... Damn you :icon16:

Sorry. :smokin:

$100 a month? Ouch, for me to insure an 04 vette (priced it just for comparison) its around $85 a month, but my record is squeaky clean and I have kids (insurance companies think that makes us saner, hopefully my agent never goes for a ride with me). I can't fathom paying over $300 a month for insurance, something doesn't sound right about that unless you have tickets or an accident. The most I ever paid was in 1989 on a brand new 4x4 cost me $1600 a year with an accident and 2 tickets. Keep shopping, there's got to be a better deal out there....

Luos: 25mpg in town? I'm lucky to get 20mpg in town with a ~slightly~ modded quad in a 95 grand am gt, and thats driving it gently... Must be nice..

You guys are missing the part that I'm only 17 right now...

And although I dont know for sure if I can find insurance for under 2k for 6 months for any car, doesnt have to be the W68...

I am pretty convinced after checking out alot of other cars that the 2k is as low as im going to get at this age... :D

I really dont know... What insurance do you guys have? I was looking at allstate... I think it was the cheapest there...

I was 19 paying on the truck... Seriously, try the lizzard (geico) or state farm, both will give you online quotes. I tried progressive, they were double of geico but try them anyway just for laughs.

Is getting your own policy the only way you can go? If you could jump on with your parents policy that would save you quite a bit ( :naughty: mod money :naughty: ) and you could always tell them that they could get multiple car discount. Also if on your own is the only way try geico, progressive, etc.

My parents dont really want me on theirs, because they dont want me to (knock on wood) cause a crash and have their insurance go sky high...

You know what I'm saying?

no offence but it sounds like your parents are thinking ahead (17 yr old + firebird = not going on my insurence)
If your going for power, duh, get the Ws6 or possibly the firehawk, they both will run laps around the V6 any day
If your going for something that doesnt kill you in insurence, the V6 will be the best bet
I'm 19, in alaska, (alaska rates are sky high) and i pay about 1900/6 months for full coverage on my V6.
If your going only going for it because of the looks, since most teenagers just HAVE to have the sexiest car, then go for the V6, just make sure you get a stick.. lol then you might not be able to run laps around a vette, but all 4bangers are gonna be eating your dust day in and day out, like i said before, my cars just the V6, but she can still whoop most cars around in reverse. :D

I love the looks, thats true, but that is not why I'm looking at the cars... I drove a WS.6 and I was speechless... Now ever since then I want to get one... For its power...

Just out of curiosity, since I dont know too much about LS1s, I wanted to ask you guys one question. What is the HP on the LS1 engines and what is the MPG on them?

First to answer gets a cookie! Hurry! :D

Thanks in advance.

Mileage depends on tranny for the most part.
A4 gets lower mileage. 26-28 on the highway, 18-20 around town.
M6 can get as much as 30 MPG on the highway. 22-24 around town.

Horsepower....for the most part, ANY LS1 car will put down 290-310 RWHP.

Ok, thanks Luos.

Send me your e-mail so I can mail you the cookie!

:lol:

Hey Mr. Luos, or anybody else that can answer this question.

I was wondering looking through some intrnet pages, and such... Why do I see so many people storing their Firebirds for the winter? Does that mean I would be best of doing that too if I was going to get one, or can it also be my daily driver (counting winter). I know that its a RWD, but looking how many other cars are RWD and I dont see people store those... So I'm just curious...

Thanks for replies, in advance.

Here in new england, most people store high performace cars due to the crappy driving conditions combined with the fact that they salt the hell out of the roads when it snows. Not a good combination.

Yea they do same here in U.S... But all I want to know is if this could be potentialy a daily driver, since I dont have the money to buy another car to be my daily car. You know what I mean.

depends upon where you live, if it gets pretty icy it would be kinda stupid to drive a FR during the winter unless you knew what you were doing.

well, first off, your TA insurance is gonna be like 150+ for minimum coverage unless u get on ur mom and dads plan. got to take that into account.

Or, for the 10 grand, buy you a good looking 97 fbd for about 4 grand, put the 6 grand into some bonds or something that earns nice interest, and in a year when u want the extra power, do the engine swap, and keep low FBD insurance, for TA power :D

Just my :2cents:

This makes good sense. Find a '97 LT1 car in good shape(it's STILL a 4th gen.)..... enjoy the V8 power and lower Ins. rates for an older vehicle for a year or so until:

(a) you've got another 12-18 mos. of clean driving experience(which will go a long way in further bringing down insurance rates... and...
(b) you'll be able to put away a few $$$ towards mods or an LS1 swap at the same time.

JMHO.....

Mine is in the garage when the weather sucks. Denver has odd winters. Some years are bad, some I can drive the car year 'round.

I refuse to drive it in bad weather. Rock chips, salt, etc. cause damage. Plus, unless you have a good set of snow tires, the car will SUCK in snow.