Hi gang,
I've been on these message boards for awhile checking out posts about their monte since I knew I was going to buy one.
But check this out.

On January 21st I bought a 97 monte carlo z34 with all leather interior, 188,000 miles.. sweet car, paid 2000 cash for it at a dealership.
Just yesterday I saw the thing leaking oil and my antifreeze has been disappearing.. was like wtf?

Took it to the dealer today and he said that I have a busted headgasket seal and a busted main seal. WTF!!!
They wanted me to purchase the car with a 30 day warranty for 2600, I said no just 2000 no warranty. They side fine.

Now they want me to pay 700 bucks for a repair.. I said, yea! But I need some help from you too buddy.. wasn't even two weeks.

What do you guys think?

btw, love the forum.. you guys rock!

Regards!
Johnnie

 

I think you're wayyyyyyyyyyy overstating things if you think it's a lemon, even though repairs suck.

your car has 188K miles! that's a lot!

not to mention your engine (the LQ1) is notoriously known for expensive and sometimes frequent repairs. Although many claim with preventative care you can avoid most if not all problems.

Anywho good luck! These are great cars and I hope the dealership helps ya out.

 

3.4 with 188K. I'm surprised it lasted that long. That sucks though. Maybe need to get out the old Haynes service manual and learn the hard way about your engine.

 

welcome and i highly doubt its a lemon law vehicle. maybe u should have purchased the warranty! post some pics and good luck

 

oh crap sorry guys, it has 118,000 miles on it.. common typing error.
Yeah... maybe I am overstating the lemon law, but you guys of all people would know how PO'd you would
be if it were to happen to you. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it up. It's got a couple dings here and there but
it's in overall great shape.

I feel that if I were to get these issues fixed, the car could last me another 10 years. The engine honestly run great
despite the issues I've had with it already. It kind of reminds me a little bit of my 3.1 engine in my 95 lumina. What a great
car that was too. But this is a badass car... the most badassest car I've ever had so far

So, wait, what's the difference between the LQ1 and other engines for monte distribution?

 

just had a upper and lower intake done gasket ext around $830.they should a leat pay half.

 

Yeah, that does kind of suck, but those are the breaks. You bought the car for a low price because of the high mileage. Maybe you should have had a mechanic look over it before signing the papers. They did offer the warranty and your refused. I doubt you will get any financial sympathy out of them. Good luck though, I really hope it works out for ya.

And welcome!

 

I think you'll find that if the car was inthat condition when you bought it, the Dealer will have to assist you in making the car right. Particularly, if they didn't let you know that there was a material defect or a latent defect at the time of purchase.
If you bought it and the contract says: "As is" -or- "With all faults" ... you own it!

 

Ok question...
I've been hearing that to fix this problem myself, I'd have to take out the transmission
and get inside the engine to get the problem fixed, which is fine, not scared to do it. But...
Do I need to have some sort of engine puller to get this job done? Is it something I can get
done with a good ratchet set, hammer, flatheads, and ramps to lift the car up, etc..
I mean, the main seal is like 10 bucks at autozone and a new headgasket can't be more than like, 30 bucks.
If I do that, then I'm going to put in all new valve seals too.. I'm just wondering where I'm going to need access because
I've never tore apart an engine before.