I had a late 83 (84) Fiero for 3 years befoere it became an electrical nightmare. I hear the 84s were wired differently. Mechanically and electrically how reliable is the 86 (se?) model ?
In my honest opinion, there's no such thing as a reliable Fiero, not in stock form anyway. They're getting very old and most were poorly maintained. I have driven fieros as daily drivers before but they were all engine swapped.
I think it would be fine as long as it wasn't altered or abused. I have an 85 SE 2M4 that I bought last year. The car had sat for 8 years and after I replaced the fuel pump and the gas tank, starter and alternator it is fine. I have had to redo the headlights but now even if it sits for a week or two it starts right up.
Fieros are not getting old. They are old. 25+ years old. As an old car it will not be reliable as is unless you upgrade & maintain it. Having said that the 84 Fieros (there is no such thing as an 83) are the worst and have several different things from the later upgraded 85 and up. So yes they are better.
The wiring issue you read about with 1984 Fieros is primarily with the C500 connector. In 1984, it's position was on the firewall. The obvious issue this caused was it put it not only close to ambient heat from the exhaust but also directly in the path of elements from the center magnesium decklid vent. For 1985 onwards, it was moved to the equally exposed area in front of the battery. However this position is much more reliable in terms of overall degradation on the wiring components.
I agree too it's not a matter of that Fieros are becoming old but that they are just simply old. It's a 30+ year old design using mostly already at-the-time existing components.
More reliable than the 83 prototypes, 84, but less reliable than the 86, 87, and finally, 88. j/k It varies man. Can buy a junked 88 and then run into a 84 that runs like a tank and looks like it rolled off the showroom floor.
Here in 2014, maintenance trumps everything. An '84 can easily be much more reliable than an '88 that sat under a tree for 5 years.....and it seems that original owners of Fieros were often not at all mechanically inclined. If you do get the whole thing freshened up, it is as good as any American car.
In my honest opinion, there's no such thing as a reliable Fiero, not in stock form anyway. They're getting very old and most were poorly maintained. I have driven fieros as daily drivers before but they were all engine swapped.
I second this... being its an older car. parts in it are 25+ years old it's going to be very hard to get a reliable one.
