Car shopping, any ideas?

[captmello]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

I just thought I should update this thread.

We ended up picking up a 99 grand prix with 145k. It was through a friend of my daughters, who had gone away to school and wasn't using the car and sold it to us. It won't get twice the MPG of the jeep, but it should do a lot better and hopefully still has a few miles left in it. Only time will tell whether it is a good choice or not.

thanks again to all those who shared you thoughts and ideas.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Totally forgot about Gran Prix's. Should be a good car.......

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Is that with the 3800 II v6? If so, that is a bulletproof engine..

 

[captmello]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Is that with the 3800 II v6? If so, that is a bulletproof engine..

Yes it is. I understand the these are good engines. Apparently they can have intake manifold issues, but I can handle that if I need to. The car is pretty clean and my daughter likes it, so we'll see what happens.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Yes it is. I understand the these are good engines. Apparently they can have intake manifold issues, but I can handle that if I need to. The car is pretty clean and my daughter likes it, so we'll see what happens.

a 99 with 145k should have had that intake manifold issue already. If it's got Dexcool in it, drain that out, you won't be sorry.
I am curious how good that 3.8 will do on MPG. As I referenced before, the 3.4 in an Impala (same car) will always get over 20 city and 33 highway.

 

[jkust]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

a 99 with 145k should have had that intake manifold issue already. If it's got Dexcool in it, drain that out, you won't be sorry.
I am curious how good that 3.8 will do on MPG. As I referenced before, the 3.4 in an Impala (same car) will always get over 20 city and 33 highway.

I had a 97 Bonneville SSEi with the supercharger for many years which is the same engine as the op got in his Grand prix without the supercharger. The supercharger theoretically allows for better performance which is an understatement but with nearly identical mileage. The best manually calculated mileage I ever got on a tank of premium gas (required for forced induction engines) was 20 3/4 mpg. That is only 3mpgs better than my much heavier 5.3 liter v8 suv's get. The Grand Prixes are I think great cars for their day and I even liked the sporty styling they were going after but MPG's never were there. I'd have no issues with my kid driving one of these cars. The intake on the naturally apirated 3.8's was a gigantic problem blamed on the dexcool. The engine was on the Wards list of 10 best engines back then.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Actually jkust the manifold issue is two fold. The gaskets themselves are bad, and the DexCool exacerbates it.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Here's a brief conversation on Dexcool. Not sure if the Grand Prix came from the factory with it. The way these posts sound, it did?

Here's the link. Apparently GTOs pretty much require it. At least it was made for their engines, LS1/LS2:
http://www.gtoforum.com/f2/i-need-radiator-flush-22852/

 

[captmello]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Yes, it's got Dexcool in it. I was thinking about flushing it out and replacing it with old school green stuff. I'm going to let her drive it for a few days and see if any problems arise.

I helped a buddy change out an intake manifold on a '99 chev 350 a couple years ago. Not to bad of a job. This looks like it would be a similar job.

I'll also let you guys know what gas mileage she gets since she is a bit obsessive about her MPG.

And to top it all off, I'm now the proud owner of a Jeep GC with 195k...:facepalm:

 

[jkust]

Re: Car shopping, any ideas?

Actually jkust the manifold issue is two fold. The gaskets themselves are bad, and the DexCool exacerbates it.

TW of course but it was 'blamed' on the dexcool. The gasket material sucked and to me it was typical GM. (My, all 3.4(s) had a similar issue in my GM minivan) End of the day though at those miles, I can't imagine it hasn't been replaced yet. Regardless, I had a hunch a GM would be the end result ot the car shipping. Great cars that depreciate down to nothing, with cheap and widely available parts. I'll be curious what the mileage calculates out at. I talked to bunches of people who claimed over 10mpgs more than I ever got with my Bonneville with their similar GM cars with the 3.8 and so I never really knew what to believe.