My son is in love with monte carlos and for his first car i would like to get him one. i found a 2000 LS with a 3.4 and 170,300 miles. i know thats a lot of miles like it would be with most vehicles, but would it be reliable for him to drive? what things could go wrong? thanks for your help

 

theoretically as long as the car was kept up well and had routine maintenance it will be fine... but how much are you looking to spend? you can find some great deals on montes on clubgp.com classifieds and the classifieds here sometimes... shoot me a pm or an email @ mikhail_tomasovic@hotmail.com and i will show you some good deals on montes... there are many other members here who are FAAAR more experienced than i am... but i will be more than happy to help anyway i can!

 

That's a LOT of miles, and unless it's darn near free, I'd avoid it.
How much are they asking?

 

They were asking $3000 for it. its located in Michigan. i wasnt looking to spend much since its his first car. i would like to keep it under $3200. do you think there are any reliable montes for that? i prefer the 3.8 engine myself incase i drive it sometimes but the 3.4 will do. thanks again

 

look around anywhere, that is alot of miles, spending $3200, you should be able to find a better ride with less miles, just my thoughts!!!!

 

wow 3000? i thought this was maybe a thousand dollar car or so... there are much better deals than that if you would like to shop around in different states... then you have to worry about shipping and everything... but you could ride and pick it up that would be a nice road trip i guess!

i will be on the lookout down here for any deals... is he a fan of 80s models? i think a late 80s model super sport would be wonderful for your son! i would have loved had my dad bought me that car when i was younger... of course i would have loved it if my dad had bought me any car lol.. i wound up buying my own car (1989 firebird formula) by the time i was 17... before that i drove my dad's old 81 chevy pickup lol.

regardless you are a great dad!

 

$3000 for a nearly 200k mile 2000 is way too high, and I wouldn't buy a car with that high of mileage and expect it to be reliable either, everything is going to be plain worn out- even if it is highway mileage.

If you want a 3.8L and want a cheaper, lower mileage monte- I'd also expand my search to cover 98 and 99 monte Z34's- you should easily be able to find one of those with under 100k in your price range.

 

That is a lot of milage, but if taken good care of, it could go for many more...But at 3 grand, you could do way better...and I would for sure look for the 3.8L if you can get your hands on one.

Just to keep in mind...Both the 3.4L and 3.8L have had some problems with intake or head gaskets due to the Dex-Cool coolant. (3.4L- mainly headgaskets, 3.8L- Mainly intake manifold gaskets). This being said, if it had this problem, and it was fixed, it will be very reliable once fixed, because GM changed the gasket set up when they fix it (I know because my moms 2000 Bonneville with the 3.8L had this problem, and we got it fixed at Pontiac, the car now has 134K and runs like new). So if there is no proof of this problem being fixed already, then if I was you, I would have a trust worthy mechanic look over the car, and possibly do a pressure test of the cooling system before you buy it.

I do not know tons about the 3.4L, but know that aside from the intake manifold gasket problem, the 3.8L is bullet proof.

Bottom line, know what your buying, and go for what you want...you can get a nice Monte for $3200, and there are plently of 3.8L out there if thats what you really want.

 

 

Try to find the 3.8, he will enjoy that car MUCH much more. Also I would ask him if he liked Pontiac Grand Prixs. You can find the 3.8 and the supercharged 3.8 in A LOT of grand prix for cheap.

Personally I always wanted a 2-door GTP