When I bought my '05 Monte, I felt a bit taken when I realized how much rust it has underneath. The rust has turned out to be the least of my problems.

Literally a week after spending $2000 getting a bunch of nuisance issues fixed (Crank pos sensor, new radiator, water pump, a whole bunch of leaks, etc.), I began hearing a "knocking" that over a single day got louder and eventually the engine seized. It was just confirmed to me that the engine is indeed junk, and I need a new one.

I'm now $8,000 into this car... with nearly 5000 of it on a loan that I still have to pay off whether I keep the car or not. The transmission seems strong, and I have a pile of parts ready to replace on the back end due to the rust when the time is convenient... but it's not urgent.

What would you guys do? Ditch the car and suck up my losses? Or go ahead and put another couple grand into a new engine, and hope the rest stays good for a while? That would put me over $10,000 for this car. Well over what it's worth, I'm sure. If or when the rust or other major problems arise, I could probably pick up another Monte that needs an engine pretty cheap, along with other parts, and swap everything over. Hopefully I would be in a position of living somewhere I can do most of the work myself.

Or.... what could I possibly get for a very pretty-looking but rusty Monte with a bad engine?

 

How many miles on it? Transmissions tend to be the weak point on these vehicles. Hard to say what to do, if you can get a realtively cheap engine, or reman with warranty it would be a good way to get some use out of it then sell it. I had a friend in a position who couldn't afford a new car, 2006 toyota matrix died with 220k miles, new used engine w/ 110k miles $1500, install cost $700 which I thought was really cheap to install. The rest of the car's bones were good, no rust, no suspension issues, no transmission issues, no electrical, thus it was worth the gamble and so far it worked. Of course the engine isn't the same as the original so it sips a bit more oil but it works.

As for the rust, i just finished wiring brushing and then adding 2 coats of chassis saver onto my dad's 2004 monte carlo seeing winters in the north east. I used a wire brush (wear a mask!!!!) then used a rust converter sprat on the inside of the frame where i could spray through manufactured holes in the frame from the factory, spray in both directions to get as much of the inside coated as possible. Then I used chassis saver on the frame, and everywhere else I could. Wait an hour or two then do a second coat over old areas, per directions. Hoping it'll keep the frame another few years, as the car doesn't get too much use.

Sounds like the previous owner never did a coolant change, the block probably had a ton of rust in it, that'll insulate the engine leading to higher temps as rust is an insulator. Evaporust is a good product to use for removing rust and using it in a cooling system, i used it for my 1994 jeep block, so I would do that to any new engine cooling system before putting it in, as once it's in rust particles can clog you new rad.


So if you have no other issues with the car see what the cost will be for an engine and install. If you get a year warranty, drive the car for a year then sell it and eat the loss. Or take a gamble and run it into the ground but you need to set a point of X amount of cash and then I'm done. Don't keep putting $ into something that's 16 years old, unless you have money to burn.

 

Thanks for the reply. This rust is pretty severe. One body guy I talked to said he thinks the car was at least half submerged for a while. Someone put a lot of money into it to try to restore it, but I think they came to realize it might be a lost cause... unless you happen to weld and restore frames for a living.

Regardless, I took care of it. I wasn't planning to come home with a new car... but I went to a dealer here in Vegas with the only Monte I could find for sale in Vegas... that I would actually want. I just wanted to check it out and sleep on it. I ended up driving it home. A 2006 Monte LT with a little over 80,000 miles and in nearly immaculate condition.... and it just happens to be almost the same color grey as my other Monte.

"Other..." It's cool to say "other," since I actually own two Monte's. Too bad one's a broken down rust bucket.