my 2.8L Firebird was rock solid. 176,000 miles. 3 alternators, 4 starters, 3 ignition modules and 1 water pump. That motor was solid. I got pretty darn good gas mileage out of it, was able to hit 120mph all day long. Yeah, it took a bit longer, but fact is it did it and it never complained. I didn't have dexcool in 1989, I used Zerex Maxlife antifreeze at 112k.
my Mom had a 3.1L Chevy Beretta.. that motor was on the loud side, but it could keep up with anything. Had dexcool, but never had an intake manifold gasket leak. She sold it at 70k to a kid who drag raced 2 mustang 5.0's and won! of course tossed the tranny, but didn't blame us for it! Gave him a bottle of Greased Lightning Trans treatment and he was good for another year. But he junked the car after (the guy was a friend of a friend). It had a lot of guts in it, climbed steep grades like it was nothing.
tuneup and belt replacement was a . But a bottle of injector cleaner every oil change, no big deal, I didn't even put synthetic oil in it. I did use Valvoline WB though and a larger oil filter.
Oh.. replaced the coolant temp sensor and yes, 1 alternator.
All in all, it wasn't a bad car.. just hated the 2 doors.