It's no secret that I'm having trouble keeping my present daily driven cars on the road. No wonder when I rack up about 500 miles per week. I originally got into Fieros as fun little weekend toys and hoping they will eventually start becoming a collectable or a classic. So, I need to get a "new" commuter car.

I'm limited to a tight budget, so a brand new car is out of the question. I like the style and handling of the 97-99 Pontiac Grand Prix. I recently found a nice low-mileage one-owner SE, ugly dark green, with the optional 3800 engine, CD player, and completely loaded with everything except leather seats and sunroof. Runs real nice and handles smooth.

They bought a new car and the dealer didn't want to give them anything for this as a trade-in because of the amount of clean-up it needs. Looks like a couple gallons of coffee have been spilled on the seats and carpet. It's been smoked in, so it stinks and has a couple tiny burns in the carpet. Lots of little scratches around the fuel door for some reason. A few little rock chips in the nose and it sadly needs a coat of wax. BUT, the owner has all the service records and the oil was changed like clockwork. Mechanically perfect as near as I can tell.

I can buy it for right at wholesale price (average trade-in value). This is several thousands of dollars less than the ones I've seen on the Dealer's used car lots, which are usually priced over high retail value.

I took this Grand Prix to a auto detailer when I was test driving it. He said it could be made to look 300% better with a little touch up, wax, buff, and a total interior scrub. I figure spending $200 to save $3,000 to $4,000 is worth it. Here's my question: does this model have any know defects or problems? I know those 3800 V6s are powerful, reliable, and get good gas mileage...but how does the rest of the car hold up?

As long as the car wasn't used as a dragster and has had some routine maintenance, the mechanics should be good. My brother has an 87 Regal with the 3800 and over 150000 miles on it. Car runs good.

And most good detail shops can clean up the cars real well and probably get the smoke oder from it, but you've hit the detail cost right on the head $200-300 and the car should look good as new.

As for the color, maybe the gree color will grow on you. I hope the a/c works for those warm Kansas summers!

batboy,

Im not sure how interested you are in doing this type of work yourself, but I bet if you pulled that carpet out of the car and got a can of carpet cleaner, you could clean it up nicely with a pressure washer or water hose even.

The seats arent quite as easy as that, but that carpet cleaning is probably the most expensive venture.

Then again, it may be worth the money to you to have someone else clean it up.

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Dillon
Black '87 SE V6
"You mean like the back seat of a Volkswagen?"

It sounds like a great find! That detail is definately worth it for the money if the interior is as dirty as it sounds. Plus if the paint hasn't been waxed in a while, a good buffing would really bring out the shine.

My friend has a 93 Bonneville with the 3800 in it and is up near 150,000. The engine runs great! The car was formerly a traveling salesman's car and got a lot of daily milage too. So I'd think it would hold up well for you mechanically.

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1988 Fiero Formula

Thanks for the input. I've heard nothing but great things about these 3800 generation II engines. I don't remember the exact mileage, but it's 60,000+ or so, fairly low miles.

Surfing the web revealed that the 97 and 98 Grand Prix's had a common problem of the headlight lens fogging. Pontiac fixed this problem in 99. If you complained about it while it was still under warranty, the dealers usually replaced them with the 99 model headlight lens.

Guess what? On this car, I remember noticing that the headlights had condensation in them. But, I'm not finding or hearing much else bad about these GPs.

A woman at work knows the owner and has seen the car numerous times. She thinks it's a beautiful color and a sporty looking beast. I think the color is a little bit dark and that it will show up dust and dirt too much. However, I never buy a used car based on color. I look at the mechanical stuff mostly.

That 3800 series II engine is the best V6 ever made by any american car company IMHO. Most american V6s start to die around 150k miles, but not the 3800s. My boss has a Bonneville with that engine and it has been nothing but reliable. Of course he keeps up religously on the oil changes. I would love to have a 3800 grand prix but I can't afford it. Also, you said the 3800 was optional. I always thought it was standard. What was the other option?? Was it ever standard??

I think a 3.4 was standard in most Pontiacs. The 3.8 was the upgrade engine.

On the 1997 and newer Grand Prix's, the SE model base engine is the 3.1, but the 3800 is optional. However, the 3800 is standard in the GT models with an optional GTP package that includes the supercharged 240 HP 3800 engine. Clear as mud, right?

Actually, I found another, better Grand Prix. This one is a 2000 GT with 6,700 miles that looks and smells just like new still. It was a program car that a Pontiac exec had assigned to him as a perk. Full factory warranty, mint condition, priced right at average retail value (after a little bit of dickering).

I'm in love with this GP! It has the sportier GT suspension and is a two door rather than a four door like the first one I was looking at. Also, it is perfectly clean, and loaded with all the popular options including CD player and eight speakers. The downside? It's $4,000 more expensive than the 97 SE. My credit union will let me know tomorrow if I can swing a loan for it. After weeks of looking, this car feels like the ONE I've been searching for. Doesn't have the same class that a Fiero has, but it's much more comfy on my long commutes.

[This message has been edited by batboy (edited 10-03-2000).]