How reliable are GTPs?

[topless94style]

There is a 1997 Black GTP coupe for sale for $3999 at a local dealer. Has 140K on the clock, jw how long the L67s will last. I might go check it out monday see what its like. Very sexy car....just the miles are stearing me away.

 

Anyone with experience with these engines, should i jump on this or let it pass by.

[Justin]

Sounds like an alright deal, I've never heard anything too bad about the SC 3800. 140K isn't much mileage, for any 1997 car. Just check the fluids, especially trans, to make sure they're decent looking.

[Guest TurboSedan]

does the '97 have the 4T60E or 4T65E? i'd be worried about 240hp in front of a 4T60E.

joshua

[supreme_style21]

And didn't someone say something about how the '97 GTP registers as a GT model with the insurance company?

[LukeZ34]

Yes, in 97 and 98 the GTP was a addon package to the GT, and insurance companies don't jack up the price of coverage for packages.

 

The 97's have the 65E, I have a friend with a 97 that just had the tranny replaced and it was a 65E. The tranny wasn't replaced due to age or failure, instead it was damaged when the car was totaled back in 97. The car was restored, but the tranny couldn't keep a flexplate for more than 10K without cracking it.

97's are the blacksheep of the GP's, mainly because they were the first year for the new body style. Drive it, and see what it's like. The tranny is one thing I'd be checking over for sure, and if nothing else, take it to a mechanic to look over it.

[luminator94]

Yeah, since it is the first year model, they have ALOT of electrical problems. I know many people that have had or have 97's with crazy ass electrical problems. Now my GTP is a 98, and I haven't really had any problems at all. Pretty much hit or miss I guess.

 

 

Aaron

[dbtk2]

That is a really good deal! L67's will run for a long time, 140k is nothing for that engine. I would definately go take a look at it. Our 2000 SSEi has 98k on it and runs like its brand new. (actually better, but theres another reason for that) I would watch the tranny a little bit, but not a huge worry. Any car you buy could have a bad tranny. '97 isn't a bad year to get, its actually the year a LOT of the people with really fast GTP's have. The '97 has a different PCM and a little different wiring, and the '97 & '98 have different coolant and washer fluid bottles, but basically they are the same car. The '98 is actually a worse year to have because GM changed a bunch of the wiring in '98 to improve it but decided it wasn't better so they changed it back to the way it was in '97 for the '99s. Kind of odd, but thats what they did. So if anything, '98 is the oddball year.

 

And as for the tranny, the 97's have the same tranny as the '98 and newer. The only difference is the GT's have the 4T60E instead of the 4T65E like the later years. The GTP is exactly the same though.

 

Shawn

[sl3196]

Check for leaks! My sister-in-law bought a '97 and has had to replace intake, valve, supercharger gaskets. It now needs a head gasket. Badass car though.

[White93z34]

my friend bill has a 97 GTP he has had quite afew electrical problems includeing the ignition switch and more that i cannot think off the top of my head. but it all said its a nice car, but be prepared for strange elecrtiacal problems. i was truely suprised when replaceing the ignition switch magicly fixed the DIC, radio, heater and headlights.

[topless94style]

Hmm, i would love to own one of these cars. But it has 50K more than my car, and the only problem my car has is the oil leak. Since i paid 6K for my car, and the GTP is only asking 4K, should i expect to get money back since my car is worth more? Or will they only do a straight up trade? I am going to go look at the car on Monday, but i dont want to loose money by getting this car and trading in mine. I wish i could find the money to own both cars.

[supreme_style21]

Hmm, i would love to own one of these cars. But it has 50K more than my car, and the only problem my car has is the oil leak. Since i paid 6K for my car, and the GTP is only asking 4K, should i expect to get money back since my car is worth more? Or will they only do a straight up trade? I am going to go look at the car on Monday, but i dont want to loose money by getting this car and trading in mine. I wish i could find the money to own both cars.

 

You'll loose money. Unless you sell it outright, they're gonna take you for a run. Just for example, this past summer, just for the hell of it, I tried to trade my '94 with 70,000miles on a '89 Cavalier rust bucket with like 150,000miles. They wanted ME to PAY THEM an additional 1000 bucks. HA. Otherwise I've had dealers tell me they simply can't do the trade.

[DEMonte1997]

watch the tranny.. just b/c it's a 65e, doesn't mean it's bullitproof. 140K miles is a lot on ANY v6, IMO. think of it this way: you have no idea who owned it before you and b/c it was the s/c'd 3800, they were probably beating the crap out of that car from day one, racing everyone who came along.

 

.. but who am i to say? just make sure you have it checked out thoroughly first.

[pblunt_]

I would have

[dbtk2]

watch the tranny.. just b/c it's a 65e, doesn't mean it's bullitproof. 140K miles is a lot on ANY v6, IMO. think of it this way: you have no idea who owned it before you and b/c it was the s/c'd 3800, they were probably beating the crap out of that car from day one, racing everyone who came along.

 

.. but who am i to say? just make sure you have it checked out thoroughly first.

 

The 65e-hd definately isn't bulletproof (our GTP has 22,000 miles on it and the tranny is bad, but there are other reasons for that) but it is a good tranny, and can be rebuilt for $1000, which would still be a good deal because the car is well worth $5k. But as for the engine, the 3800 is virtually bulletproof. It is an iron block and iron heads, WTF would wear out??? There are plenty of people that have put well over 200,000 miles on them and have had no problems. And then there are people that mod the crap out of the car and run 15psi boost on all stock internals and pump gas and still don't break anything in the engine. I definately wouldn't worry about 140k on that engine, but maybe its because of the experience i have had with that engine. Just make sure you keep up on the regular maintenance and you will be fine. It is a very reliable engine. Much more reliable than any 60* V6 from what I have seen.

 

Shawn

[Justin]

60* fanboys in 3...2....1........

 

Actually I put the 2.8/3.1 (not the 3100) in the same league as the 3800 for reliability. I've never owned a 3100, but I've seen more friends have problems with them than the 2.8s.

[dbtk2]

60* fanboys in 3...2....1........

 

Actually I put the 2.8/3.1 (not the 3100) in the same league as the 3800 for reliability. I've never owned a 3100, but I've seen more friends have problems with them than the 2.8s.

 

Well I think I am in a pretty good position to say safely that from what I have seen the 3800 is more reliable. We have 7 cars, 3 with 3800's and 4 with 3.1/3100's. And from my experience with those cars, the 3800's are definately as reliable as the 60* V6, but from what I have seen they are more reliable. Thats just from my experience though.

 

Shawn

[topless94style]

Nah, im not gonna get it, because id have to give up my car, and then dump some money into the GTP. If anyone else wants it let me know, from the picture its Clean, Black, 2 door coupe. Looks very nice, but 140K and loosing money isnt my cup of tea.

[ThunderBat]

I know with me sometimes its just that you've been having troubles with your own car and switching up sounds like a good thing. I don't know if thats the case with you, I'm just relating how I've felt before. I had a very nice, one owner, well maintained Taurus SHO. I got tired of hard to find parts, expensive parts, special parts...it actually wasn't all that bad, I was just in kind of a bad way at the time. I finally unloaded the car at a big loss just because it needed valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube o-ring seals. The guy at the shop said it would cost $400 to fix it (mostly labor)...and I was too chicken-shit to do it myself. Of course I had no driveway at the time (being in an apartment) and the idea of pulling that whole intake assembly scared me to death...so instead of sucking it up and forkin over the $400, I took a big hit to sell it and then went in hock $5000 to buy my Intrepid!...makes perfect sense eh? The 'Trep turned out to be an awfully good car, but I gotta believe if I had just fixed that SHO I might still driving it (not to mention less money spent and that skunk would run its azz off!)....just IMO, your Cutty seems like a nice ride and prolly worth more than a GTP (well someday)...but thats just me, I've never owned one so I don't know what you may have been thru with it already.