So ive been doing quite a bit of research about these trannys, and they seem to fail alot between 50k - 70k miles, some Grand prix GXP owners have replaced them more than twice, Im interested in how the monte's put up with it, if GM changed anything for the monte. Or well to see over all if its worth getting a v8 from my 3.5, or just stick with a v6.

 

The 5.3 Monte's go through trannies just like the Grand Prix. It's not a matter of if the tranny goes out, it's a matter of when the tranny goes out.

 

lol yeah, and Im not sure whether if giving up my perfectly fine LS for a sexy 07 SS is worth it, if i have to replace the tranny in like a month or two cause the prev owner smashed it up.

 

Tranny's are hit and miss. i know some who had to change em at 80k, and some with 139k who hasn't changed it at all. All depends how how you take care of it/luck of the draw.
Tranny's in any FWD car are garbage so i wouldn't let it stop me from buying a car.

 

You're absolutely right, ive been debating it for quite awhile whether a GXP or a SS Monte. GXP's seem to have too much trouble period, but montes are a different deal .

Anymore opinions?

 

I too have been on many other car forums like, ls4 forum, impala ss forum, grand prix forum & the problems with the 4t65e & 4t65e hd are miles long.My monte carlo lt3 with the 3.9 have been having issues for almost 1 and a half years. At 35,000 miles had fast hard shifts, had that fix at the dealership but as soon as i left the lot another problem pops up.Come to a red light give it a little gas in the revs go up & the car bangs into gear.The bad part about this is, that it does not do it all the time. So i have no clue what the dealer did. So i went to another dealer had pan drop & filter change(45,000) pan was very clean as was the fluid.Will be taking car back to a dealership that i trust at the end of april the service advisor that i know told me that it sounds like the transmission has to come out. Also from what i am reading the gov. could be looking into all these transmissions that are going bad.Its to BAD that GM put WEAK PARTS into the trans. & hope that they would hold up.

 

Yea it really just depends on how you drive it. Luckily if it goes out there is a pretty stout aftermarket for these transmissions since they break so much. triple edge performance seems to build some that can old up.

 

Yeah and I want a ss, but I'm thinking of just paying one off while keeping my ls for awhile then selling that. Just incase....some on the gxp forums go out like twice a year, which I kinda find hard to believe but idk

 

The nature of how FWD transmissions have to be set up makes it an inherently weak design. It's just the nature of the beast. RWD trannys will always hold up longer for this reason. You can do various things here and there to increase the strength of it, but don't let anyone fool you and try to tell you a Honda or Toyota FWD transmission is bulletproof. The torque levels of the GM V6s and V8s just have a nasty tendency of exposing those weaknesses, whereas most of your imports don't put out nearly as much torque (Nissan seems to be the main exception from my experience)

 

I've noticed that from driving my moms Nissan. Her maxima 3.5 puts out quick *** acceleration with more of a pull, but it feels like less of a pull with my 06 3.5 mc and more of a drag. But again that could be also weight difference as well. Plus I have rims and she does not.

I've felt that type of pull only in my old 00 mc ss and my sisters 06 Grand Prix gt. but I've never driven a v8 mc though. So I'm researching a bit. Glad to know these forums are behind them as stating they are good cars, just depends on the car and previous driver.