I recently bought a Fiero on eBay. It was shipped and arrived at my house yesterday. It's a purple '87 GT automatic.
My first reaction to the car was a bit mixed. I was expecting to get a car the I could immediately drive, but this one is going to need to some work before I can start using it as a part time daily driver.
The Good- The body panels and paint are generally in good shape. I didn't notice any cracks. There is one spot on the roof with a quarter-sized paint chip and some paint bubbling. Other than that and some paint swirls it looks pretty good. I know the color isn't right for everyone, but I like purple cars.
- The seats are in good shape. The interior overall is in pretty good shape. I'll list the problems later in "The Bad" section.
- The engine seems to run pretty well and the automatic transmission shifts smoothly. I did hear some tapping from the engine.
- Very little rust. I pulled the trunk carpet away from the walls and didn't see any rust there. Looking under the car, I didn't notice any rust. I'll do a more thorough inspection later.
- The headlights and headlight motors work.
- Power windows work.
The Bad- I did a short test drive of the car. I drove maybe 5 or 6 miles on the highway at highway speeds. When I parked the car after that short drive, I could hear the coolant bubbling and the car left a large pool of it in my driveway. I'll be posting in the Technical Forum for tips on diagnosing and fixing this issue later. This is the biggest problem I have found with the car so far.
- The front hood release is stuck. The hood won't close. I disassembled the latch and it looks like the cable is just sticking. I think I can fix this pretty easily.
- The parking brake isn't working. It won't lock into position but the dash indicator comes on when I pull it up. This might be enough to keep the car from passing inspection in Texas, so I need to fix it soon.
- The Air Conditioner isn't working. This is bad for driving in Central Texas. Looks like a R134a conversion is on the first task list.
- The dew wipes are completely shot. It's so bad that both windows are scratched up. Are Fieros supposed to have inner dew wipes? My windows seem to flop around a lot when the doors are open. The windows lay against the plastic door moldings. I was planning tinted windows for one of my first upgrades, but I'll need to replace the dew wipes and windows first.
- The sunroof leaks some. It's not bad, but I did have some water on the inside after washing the car.
- The power mirrors don't work. The driver side rear view mirror is so loose that it can't be set in place. This may also hamper me from passing the state inspection.
- The dome/map lights don't work. I don't know yet if it's just a blown bulb or a fuse or a wiring issue.
- The brakes are very spongy and weak. It may just be my perception comparing it to newer cars, but I'm going to have to do some work on the brake system soon.
- The car seems to idle a little on the high side at around 1300 RPM.
- The suspension isn't very responsive. The car feels very heavy and sluggish for a car of this size. There's also an unpleasant rattle/clank in the front left area when driving over bumps.
- The rear taillights are starting to delaminate some.
The Weird- The car has what appears to be factory optional 16" Fiero wheels. However, the tires are clearly not the right size for the car. It has a set of 225/60R16 tires on all four corners. My speed didn't feel right compared to what the speedo was showing and this might be the culprit.
- The side moldings at the front and rear with the turn signals are attached using galvanized screws. The silver heads don't look right.
- The rear quarter windows aren't the stock GT ones. They're a solid black piece. That's not bad. However, the passenger side one wasn't installed very well. It's somewhat loose and pulled away from the car at the front. My guess is that the passenger side window hitting it every time the door is opened has something to do with it. The one of the driver side is slight creased.
- The door locks on both doors at messed up. You can't get a key in either one. The driver side one looks like someone took a screwdriver to it once. I can't lock the car.
Overall, it's not a bad car, but it's going to require more work to get it into driving condition than I hoped. I was looking forward to doing some minor mods on it, but I have to take care of the functional stuff first. My mechanic skills are a bit weak and rusty. Hopefully, I'll be able to find the help (and encouragement) here to be able to turn this old car into a fun car to drive.
-Avi Stetto
E-brake? disconnect the little cordy doohicky so it wont beep. Sunroof leakes? Again, welcome to never using a carwash 
It does seem to idle quite high.....just switch the wheels, drop a bigger and better motor in it and live with the rest!!
