Okay, I’ll admit I’m a total novice in regards to buying used cars. I’ve never done it before. But I think even an experienced individual would have to look at the car I’ve found and declare that it’s a fine example of a third-gen ‘Bird. I’ve just spent half an hour talking to the seller of the ‘89 Formula 350 that I want, and I am impressed. The guy obviously knows about cars, too—he’s done a ton of stuff to the vehicle, and he’s got a lot of friends in the auto repair / performance business.

The list of upgrades, replacements and enhancements to this Formula is staggering. As I mentioned before, the engine and transmission have both been rebuilt. The engine has about 20,000 miles on it, the transmission about 150. The original 350ci motor has been ported and polished and has new head gaskets, and the tuned-port injection has also been rebuilt. It’s got a high-volume oil pump, new starter, alternator, radiator, torque converter, flywheel, new brake pads, new hood struts, high-volume water pump, new fuel pump as of three weeks ago, new Flowmaster exhaust with a 3” straight pipe, and a barely-used Sony CD player that went in last year when the stock radio head unit died.

The car is equipped with 4-wheel disc brakes and posi-traction, and being a Formula, it automatically got the WS6 suspension. Almost everything on the car works, including the power hatch release, headlamp motors, and cruise control. There are receipts and documentation available for everything except for the transmission parts the guy bought himself (he had a local mechanic friend rebuild the gearbox).

Now for the bad stuff. The body (read: basically whatever original parts are left) has a whopping 220,000 miles on it. Still, this doesn’t necessarily spell certain doom, given that almost all integral parts are new, and these are probably mostly highway miles. (I can’t imagine racking up that many miles any other way!) The air conditioning system, while 100% present and accounted for, is not working…and it’s an R12 system, which will need conversion. I asked if the compressor was okay, but the seller didn’t know. That could be costly to replace if it’s bad. Also, one of the headlights is dim (he says it probably needs a new bulb, but I think it could also be wiring), and the center console lid is split and needs replacement.

The only corrosion on the car was a spot of rust that had formed in the backseat floor pan, behind the driver’s seat, where the rear passenger’s feet would go. The current owner seems to have handled that pretty well, as he says he sanded it down, fiberglassed it and coated the floor and underbody with this super-expensive rustproofing “paint.” No further rust has developed.

The only other worrying thing is that the current owners have not driven the car much at all for the last two years. The seller’s wife (since it’s her car) has started it and run it regularly, and driven five-mile intervals here and there, washed it, etc. This worries me only because it means there’s a handful of new / rebuilt parts on the car that haven’t really been exercised, including the almighty transmission (with 150 miles on it) and fuel pump. The engine I’m not concerned with, since it’s been run for 20,000 miles since the rebuild with no problems.

The current owners have had the car for about five years. Ironically enough, the guy they bought it from worked at a Pontiac dealer in Novi, Michigan and used to drive fairly often between there and his parents’ home in southern Indiana. There seems to have been a third (possibly the original) owner as well who had the car from 1989 until 1996, but the current owner doesn’t have any information on the original owner. According to CarFax, 177,549 of the vehicle’s miles were put on by this person or persons. Were I to order an information packet from Pontiac Historical Services, I might be able to learn at least where the car was originally sold.

Speaking of which, I got the VIN number and ran a CarFax report. Everything came out clean (and no, it wasn’t really a Camaro RS in disguise or anything) and there appears to have been no odometer fraud, salvage title, or any of that other badness. On the phone the guy told me that the car had only been involved in one accident in the five years he’s owned it, and that was just some old lady backing into the rear quarter in a grocery store parking lot. Just a sheet metal dent that was taken out by a local dealer. That accident is documented, including “very minor damage” nomenclature courtesy of Ohio police. No other accidents were reported on this car.

Given all of the work the seller has done only recently, including the fuel pump, new exhaust straightpipe and a new paint job (slated to be complete this weekend), he decided some weeks ago to raise the asking price by $800, to a new total of $4200. He was planning to update the price on the ad as soon as he got new photos with the new paintjob. Anyway, since that price is still within my budget, and since the price lift actually makes me feel better (since I thought he was asking a bit too little previously, considering all the new parts), I’m still ready to go ahead with it. The seller agreed to call me on Sunday as soon as the car is out of the paintshop and let me know the results of the paintwork. At that point, if all is well, we can set up a time for me to fly up there and have a look at it.

The seller admitted he had had ten other people call him about the car and leave messages, but he said that he will call me back first, especially since I’m going out of my way to fly up there. He also agreed to give me the chance to make a counter-offer against anyone who might swoop in during the interim between Sunday and whenever I can get there.

Oh, yeah—I figured out why they’re selling the car. The guy’s wife has always had her heart set on a ‘76 Trans Am (as I mentioned in my last post), so she’s decided to sell her current “toy” and go in pursuit of a Bandit special! Her husband says he already has a 454 ci crate motor in the garage ready to go into the new second-gen….wow.

Anyway, that’s the complete lowdown on the Formula. Short of seeing it in person and testing everything out, that’s probably as much information as I’m going to get. What do you all think? Anything jump out at you as being a possible trouble area or cause for concern? Any further advice? Let me know via the comments section. I think I’m ready to make this one happen.

Now I just have to figure out one more thing: How the hell I’m going to be able to think about anything else for the next two weeks.