_HighVoltage_ Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Hello, everyone! I am new here, but I've been reading the forum for quite a while. I'm an international student in America (WV to be specific) and currently I am looking for a car. Being a college student and a car guy at the same time, I want a reliable car that is also good looking and exciting. I've always had a thing for the first gen W-Body cars and in particular the Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe. I know you all love your cars, but what is your honest opinion on their reliability - is it a good car for a college student that will drive it every day and will not have lots of money to fix it every week? What problems should I expect and what should I look for when I am looking at these Pontiacs. I am absolutely determined that it has to be Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe (SE)! I would really like to find one with a manual gearbox, since back in Europe all we drive is manual cars. But from what I've read - finding a manual SE is 99.999% impossible. Anyways, how much do you think a decent Grand Prix SE should cost? I've looked at a couple of dealerships and they had some of these cars for 6000 dollars. Are they kidding? How much money realistically do you think I should save up before I buy one? A month ago I saw an ad for a Z34 in my area - a trade-in in a dealership for 800$. I got so excited and went to see the car, but by the time I got there it was already sold... Now I am looking for a good GP - it doesn't have to be the TGP. I would really appreciate any help with information and opinions! Quote
jeremy Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 fwiw: a lot of the early manual GPs are SE trim level Quote
RareGMFan Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Welcome! What part of Europe are you from? Honestly, reliability on the cars you're inquiring about all comes down to how well it was cared for, which is usually pretty obvious by condition of the car. Are there a lot of things broken on it that the owner didn't keep up with? Over all condition of body and interior? These are good indicators of whether the previous owner cared about his car enough to maintain it, or not. A car with a lot of aftermarket garbage on it has a good probability of having been beat on, too (decals, painted interior parts, cold air intake, etc). Not saying this is always the case, but a good enough percentage of the time that I'd stay away from such cars. That being said, a 3.1 is not very hard to work on, and most parts are pretty cheap (sensors, water pump, alternator, etc). The 3.4 DOHC is a bit more of a pain, especially if you're not too familiar with it. Finding one in manual will indeed be a bit difficult, but not impossible. In all reality, since the manual cars would have to be a '93 and below, you really shouldn't pay more than $3k, even for a great condition one with low miles. Quote
runt Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 I don't really think that there is any easy way to tell if a car is going to be super reliable or not. Sometimes you just take your chance. I'd say typically, if the car is clean inside and out, it was probably taken care of and should be a bit more reliable then something that is all torn up. Also, I'll agree with Jeremy that there are quite a few early GP's that came with manuals. Good luck with your hunt for your GP! Quote
_HighVoltage_ Posted March 27, 2008 Author Report Posted March 27, 2008 Thanks for the info, guys! I'm originally from Bulgaria (Eastern Europe). I was asking about the reliability more in a general way. I was also considering some of the W-body rivals - the Ford Taurus SHO, Thunderbird and Probe GT but I heard about them that they had serious head gasket issues that tended to blow on a regular basis and the parts for them are not very cheap (surprisingly!). It's very difficult to find any GP's in my area. There are lots of 2nd gen ones but the first gen are a very rare sight. What do you think about the maximum mileage of the 3.1? My other idea is to save up some more and get a E34 BMW with 3.5 straight six that is considered "bullet-proof" for its reliability and it's capable of running 400 000 miles without rebuilding it. Quote
jeremy Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Thunderbirds have HG issues if you get the 3.8L V6.....I have owned a SHO and 3 Probe GTs and have never heard of a HG issue in either of those cars Quote
AWeb80 Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 welcome. we have a few international members here...lonewolf is from Germany....can't think of the other screen names though. Good luck on the search. Quote
RareGMFan Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Thanks for the info, guys! I'm originally from Bulgaria (Eastern Europe). Sweet. I'm Armenian, so I know where Bulgaria is. What do you think about the maximum mileage of the 3.1? Many years ago, I traded in my first car, a base model '86 6000, for an '86 6000 STE with 164k miles on the original motor and trans. It had the distributored 2.8L, the predecessor to the distributorless 2.8, which would then be replaced by the 3.1L. I beat the ever living piss out of that car for 5 years, and it just kept coming back for more. Along the way, I had to replace the distributor cap and rotor, water pump, alternator, harmonic balancer, and radiator, but that was about it. I drove that thing to about 225k miles when it finally threw a rod, and that was MY fault. I didn't realize it had developed a small oil leak, and the oil had gotten dangerously low. I usually had my stereo up pretty loud, so I didn't notice it had started knocking till it reached the point of diesel truck volume. By then, it was too late to save it. Otherwise, the thing still had PLENTY of life left in it. Had no trouble spinning the wheels on it till the very end. Quote
Euro Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Welcome!! There are LOADS of Grand Prix's...specifically 1st gen sedans and coupes around every college campus(including mine!) that I've been to. I think you will be safe on getting one. Quote
Addicted2bass Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 I love my TGP and i loved my 96 GP i had which unfortunately got totaled last summer. Overall the 3.1 engines are pretty damn reliable, its not at all unusual to see them with 200k+ on them. If there are not alot of Ws in your area id keep an eye on ebay and craigslist. You may find something close to you for sale, of even a few hours drive. I drove 5 hours each way to buy my TGP and it was totally worth it! Quote
Addicted To Boost Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 If you're looking for reliability, look for a 2.8/3.1 Grand Prix. I personally have an 89 Grand Prix SE 2.8 5 speed and a 90 TGP as well. The 5-spd SE has 221,900 miles on it and it runs very strong. Not so pretty on the outside, and the seats are a little ripped up, but it has performed flawlessly. I strongly recommend buying one of these cars. FYI there are 2.8/3.1 engines out there with 550,000 miles on them still on the road. Quote
Rdrckt_92 Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 Welcome! 3.1s are tanks, I have had nothing but food luck (knock on wood) with my 2, where abouts are you in west virginia? Quote
Brian P Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 Welcome! 3.1s are tanks, I have had nothing but food luck (knock on wood) with my 2, where abouts are you in west virginia? Welcome!!!! And yes, the 2.8/3.1 is very reliable. One of the only things that would ever get you stranded is if the crank position sensor fails. That's about it.... The car however needs a little more attention. You will probably have to get the rear brake system rebuilt as the calipers are very prone to seizing. Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 Thunderbirds have HG issues if you get the 3.8L V6.....I have owned a SHO and 3 Probe GTs and have never heard of a HG issue in either of those cars Never heard of a HG issue in a SHO either. As long as you have a SHO that has had the ever important 60k service performed every 60k, that Yamaha engine is pretty solid IMHO. Quote
_HighVoltage_ Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Posted March 28, 2008 I saw a dark green 96 SE in a dealership today. It had 120 000 miles and they were asking $3995 for it. I think it's too much for such a car, right? Quote
AWeb80 Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 possibly....my GP has 125k and I could easily pull 4500 privately...but my car is uber clean with full maint records so this car had better be nice Quote
_HighVoltage_ Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Posted March 28, 2008 It looked nowhere near as good as yours...and the rear lights needed replacement, because they looked kind of...rotten? Quote
AWeb80 Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 i'd say no more than 2k...but someone will pay $3995 cause they won't know any different. Quote
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