Hello, I am looking at buying a '97 GLT. It's automatic and a sedan. It has 69k miles and is clean inside. The exterior has some minor fender bender damage. The left fender is a little crunched, broke the left headlight and the hood is a little damaged by the light. The front and rear bumper need fixing or replacing also. It's minor but parts for these are not cheap like other 20 year old cars. It's a friends family car that has been sitting for two years because they bought a new nissan. I pulled the engine oil dipstick out and it was dry. After putting a battery in it, it fired right up. I told him to shut if off after running for five seconds. I checked the oil again and still dry. I'm going back in two days to fill it with new oil and see what happens. I'll let it idle and warm up and then drive it around the block to see if it feels like a 69k miles car should. If it looks okay I think I'll fix it up and make it look nice and probably let it go, unless I fall in love with it. My trans is slipping on my daily and he offered the car for sale to me. I looked on kbb and it's worth about $4,500. I've been lurking on youtube and forums so I have a basic handle on the car. All '97 GLT's are turbo right?

 

You started a car with a dry dip stick ????

Dip stick is sure right !!

 

Yea, and the best part was when he said "no, there's oil in there" right after it was dry for the second time right after starting it. Sounded good though for the five seconds that it ran. Can't wait to dump some oil in and hope it's not a lemon. It looks good under the hood too. Especially for sitting for two years. By the way, I think it has oil in it and it's probably low.

 

I don't know if you already bought this thing, but in the condition stated it's worth $500. I feel that is very generous. I drive one with 300,000 miles on it, daily, and so it is very capable. If you look on CL, compare to about 100 other 850's and see what they really cost.


The GLT's are all turbo, but they're low performance. They are pretty reliable, but it's not all that great they have the added complexity without really offering you a whole lot in return.


You can get parts reasonably priced if you buy a whole car. So if you hurry and do it now, you will easily find the body parts you need in the junkyard. These cars are "on the way out" of the junkyards, so it is going to become difficult to find crash parts on the cheap. People are throwing away the parts that you say are "not cheap" right now, because that is the point where we are in the car's life cycle. In other words if a guy hoarded 850 parts we are at the point now where he's realizing nobody will buy them.

 

+1 On Firebirdparts. These cars are a dime a dozen. Spotless with low miles needing NO service with oil on the dipstick, $4500 may not be bad. Body damage, yikes! Take $4500 and subtract the cost of having a body shop fix it and go from there.

I'm pushing 370,000 on my daily driver and I'm not looking back. The GLT's from '97 and newer have a low pressure turbo that makes them spunky and they do hold their own. The T5's on the other hand can really kick some butt.

These cars are great, built to last 500,000 miles and are super comfortable. We have a S70 GLT which is a newer looking 850 GLT.

I personally fear low mileage cars, they are deceitful. Age can be just as harmful as miles. Starting these cars and shutting them down within 60 seconds can cause flooding of the engine (lawnmower syndrome).

Last words of wisdom... if you don't tinker, R U N!

 

 

The vin comes back as a 1998. It had a 97 build date that I looked at on the door so I got confused. Bad news, the donor car got junked. The dealer guy said his dad junked it. The donor car I found was a 97 that had the same maroon paint and gold pin stripes. Had 82k miles and looked new. Some dealer wanted $300 because one cylinder had low compression. Now that it's gone I might just get the car to drive for a week or two while I change the transmission on my maxima. Anyone want a 69k mile 850?