Looking to Get a New Car. Ideas?

[cfox10 10+ year member]

7th gen Pontiac Grand Prix (my parents have owned a few, and they're great cars)4th gen Buick Regal (avoid '97s) (I own one, and know people with them)

8th/9th gen Chevy Impalas (I know a number of people with them)

10th gen Pontiac Bonneville (my brother owned one)

You get a Series II or III 3800-powered car, look for common issues before buying, she looks solid, do the right maintenance and it has a chance of getting to 400k. I've seen many, many of the above cars reach 250/350k miles and still be running strong.

The 97-03 W-body buyers guide / Common problems Use that as a general guide on 3800-powered cars before buying, look for those issues/symptoms.

I'd avoid the Ford Taurus, I have three friends whose families have them - they're mechanically reliable mostly, but the frames/subframes are sketchy at best (especially the Taurus' sister the Mercury Sable) as far as rusting out (they rust even worse than 6th gen Grand Prixs, lol), and have literally no power. You could wait a year for that car to go anywhere. Good mileage though. And, knew a guy who was driving a Taurus down the interstate and the rear underside of the car literally rusted away and came off.

my $0.02

I enjoyed my Bonneville. It felt luxurious and had some nice power to boot.

 

[Kaiser Pontiac]

I enjoyed my Bonneville. It felt luxurious and had some nice power to boot.

My brother's was an SSEI (supercharged and loaded) so it was a lot of fun. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

My brother's was an SSEI (supercharged and loaded) so it was a lot of fun. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

That was my first car. SSEI, was a boat... but quick still. I bought it for $600 because the kid who owned it thought it was dead. It just needed new coil packs and was golden for the next 100k miles I put on it. $30 fix from junk yard lol

It was in great condition, electric windows/locks/sunroof, nice cd player in it, leather interior, and the projector speedometer lol, felt baller driving that thing around

 

[Kaiser Pontiac]

That was my first car. SSEI, was a boat... but quick still. I bought it for $600 because the kid who owned it thought it was dead. It just needed new coil packs and was golden for the next 100k miles I put on it. $30 fix from junk yard lol
It was in great condition, electric windows/locks/sunroof, nice cd player in it, leather interior, and the projector speedometer lol, felt baller driving that thing around

Yup, those H/G bodies are boats, lol. Niiiice! I love the HUD on my GTP. First car, but overpaid because I was a noob at the time, lol. Learned a lot since then...

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

7th gen Pontiac Grand Prix (my parents have owned a few, and they're great cars)4th gen Buick Regal (avoid '97s) (I own one, and know people with them)

8th/9th gen Chevy Impalas (I know a number of people with them)

10th gen Pontiac Bonneville (my brother owned one)

You get a Series II or III 3800-powered car, look for common issues before buying, she looks solid, do the right maintenance and it has a chance of getting to 400k. I've seen many, many of the above cars reach 250/350k miles and still be running strong.

The 97-03 W-body buyers guide / Common problems Use that as a general guide on 3800-powered cars before buying, look for those issues/symptoms.

I'd avoid the Ford Taurus, I have three friends whose families have them - they're mechanically reliable mostly, but the frames/subframes are sketchy at best (especially the Taurus' sister the Mercury Sable) as far as rusting out (they rust even worse than 6th gen Grand Prixs, lol), and have literally no power. You could wait a year for that car to go anywhere. Good mileage though. And, knew a guy who was driving a Taurus down the interstate and the rear underside of the car literally rusted away and came off.

my $0.02

Yes i like Regal's, i was just unsure of how the bodys were. I wish i could get one with folding seats in back lol... As far as Grand Prix's i like the 6th Gen(1999-2003) & 7th gen(2004-2008). Id be happy with one in that range. I definately like Impalas lol... I dont want one newer then like 04 though.

 

[Kaiser Pontiac]

Yes i like Regal's, i was just unsure of how the bodys were. I wish i could get one with folding seats in back lol... As far as Grand Prix's i like the 6th Gen(1999-2003) & 7th gen(2004-2008). Id be happy with one in that range. I definately like Impalas lol... I dont want one newer then like 04 though.

4th gen Regals are less prone to rusting, in my experience and observations, than the 6th gen GPs. Yeah, the 60/40 rear sets on the 7th gen GPs is really slick. You can always just put 7th gen seats in a 6th gen, that's been done a lot, lol.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

4th gen Regals are less prone to rusting, in my experience and observations, than the 6th gen GPs. Yeah, the 60/40 rear sets on the 7th gen GPs is really slick. You can always just put 7th gen seats in a 6th gen, that's been done a lot, lol.

why did you say avoid the 97 Regal? its in the 6th gen model so i was unsure why said that

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

volkswagen gti, mazda speed 3 or any other hatchback if you wanna get loud easily. Fk trunks. Toyotas require a lot of work to get loud btw. They arent built that solidly.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

volkswagen gti, mazda speed 3 or any other hatchback if you wanna get loud easily. Fk trunks. Toyotas require a lot of work to get loud btw. They arent built that solidly.

4 door hatches are rare around here. but if there is one they want to much

 

[Kaiser Pontiac]

why did you say avoid the 97 Regal? its in the 6th gen model so i was unsure why said that

'97 Regals and Grand Prixs still have the old Vac-powered transmissions (weaker than the updated one they started using in '98 on with all Series II 3800s), and on the GPs there's a bunch of annoying year-specific things for '97s. If you get a Supercharged (GS or GTP) '97 is just generally a year to avoid, if you go N/A (LS, GT) then it's not such an issue, but they do have year-specific things that make working on and getting parts sometimes harder.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

'97 Regals and Grand Prixs still have the old Vac-powered transmissions (weaker than the updated one they started using in '98 on with all Series II 3800s), and on the GPs there's a bunch of annoying year-specific things for '97s. If you get a Supercharged (GS or GTP) '97 is just generally a year to avoid, if you go N/A (LS, GT) then it's not such an issue, but they do have year-specific things that make working on and getting parts sometimes harder.

I'm not looking at supercharged though. Don't have any use lol

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

I'm not looking at supercharged though. Don't have any use lol

Don't have a use for forced induction? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

Don't have a use for forced induction? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

You know what I'm saying... Lol...

 

[Kaiser Pontiac]

I'm not looking at supercharged though. Don't have any use lol

That what I said before I bought my GTP, and now I want a GTO. lol

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

That what I said before I bought my GTP, and now I want a GTO. lol

Lol I'm just saying.... Not really a have to for me