dont buy from a dealer! trade ins are usually beat to hell and they half *** fix them so they dont eat profits. also dealers buy wrecks and fix them up. How do I know this info? I worked for an auto body shop and I fixed the cars and I was told dont spend alot of time on the car because they dont pay anything. Also when I was looking for a used car knowing what I knew I could tell on every low priced car where the body work had been done. carfax means nothing there are ways to get around it. carfax only determines if the car has been in things that are reported. carfax is so dumb that it says my 97 cutlass had one owner me. Wrong! I would have been 11 years old. My mom had the car before me, and she bought it used with 100k on it. Only thing I use carfax for is to determine worth of a car. if it shows anything bad for the car I dont buy it. being clean doesnt mean it hasnt had any issues. I own a monte I can tell both bumper covers have been replaced because of the orange peel. its not consistant. and the rear bumper was screwed and the trunk was messed up because the previous owner hit a guard rail in the snow. other thing about carfax is if you see it says the car used to be a rental I dont reccomend you buy it. the wrecks I fixed were enteprise rentals bought at auction with clean carfax. I fixed them halfass and they were sold as gently used new cars. buy from a private owner with records. I also dont reccomend buying online from ebay etc because there are many legal issues that have arised with people I knew over the years. If you do decide to buy on ebay buy locally and see the car first and ask questions. Also when u buy from a private party ask to see the title. if they say they haveto get it still say get it then we will talk. when I bought my monte I got a bill of sale which in ohio its not valid for temp tags so I had to wait a month for the title to come here from arkansas. not fun esp when my cutlass blew the intake and water pump and a wheel bearing went in that month. As for a 3.4 expert theres a bunch of websites about the mods I have saved in text documents Id haveto dig up. Im a member of malibuclub.ca and 60degreev6.com if your looking for parts mods look for stuff for 97-05 malibu classic. vehicles only with a 3.1 which is malibu ls. I have a cutlass which is the same platform and only comes with a 3.1 thats where I found my info. also theres an old site 3400swap.com has info about the engine etc. also I have chilton manuals for cutlass malibu, and monte carlo. very helpful. for any of you that need help there are bolt on superchargers but they are priced in the thousands. theres a site by a guru that port and polishes intake and exhaust again not cheap and you haveto ship them unless you are local. lightweight pullys list goes on. as for headers for turbos they haveto be custom made. I seen one custom made one on ebay once it was $700+. Right now my moddings on hold until I find a better job. focusing on cosmetics for the time being. anyone in need of help with a 3.4 join 60degreev6.com I believe my name is eurocrx1991 on there. Also malibuclub.ca and grandamgt.com those guys are big on 3.4's. Im probably not going to be checking the thread so pm me or email me guys.

 

well I didnt read a lot of the thread... BUT, the PCM's can be tuned a few ways, canned tunes from ZZP or others, or a custom tune by way of a Powrtuner. You can get an N/A 3800 and top swap it for a supercharger, supporting mods, and drop pulley size, just know pistons are a little different between them. (neither are forged, so not too big of a difference besides compression) Im working on a top swap right now, and the 3800 community is HUGE, tons of people have them, and work on them, and the mods are also very in depth with everything you could possibly want. ZZP has a grand prix with the 3800 engine twin turboed... stock bottom end I believe? We also have a pretty extensive appearance market... and its pretty easy to make parts from fiberglass if needed. Someone here also made a center console from wood if I remember correctly. As for reliability, the 3800 series found in our cars is one of the best engines GM has built IMO, transmission is the weak link when you start puttin down more power, but there is a speacialist for our trannies (triple edge performance I believe) that can rebuild a complete race tranny for it. You'll love our cars and the community is great. Only issue most people run into eventually is LIM gasket, which is fairly easily fixed, and can be replaced with a metal gasket so it doesnt happen again. Otherwise... amazging motor. get an 00+ with a 3800 and have fun.

 

I'm saying if you buy one on EBAY, buy from a dealer, especially if it's hundreds of miles away. As any transaction, it's buyer beware, but even more so on the internet. Craigslist has brought this to light even more with all of the fraud on there.

I agree, that a local trade-in with documentation is always the best to find, but when that doesn't turn up what you want and you start looking across the country, as I did, just be careful. My Intimidator was a local trade-in, just 600 miles away. The well established F__d dealer that had it, had dealt with this guy for 35 years, and he traded it in on a new F150. And with all the pictures, tons of warranty, and extreme low milage, it was a pretty safe bet. Amy found hers at a dealer, but was told it was selling on Ebay, and bought it there for over $1,000 less than what the dealer would sell it to her face to face, so she bought it that way instead, and saved the grand doing it.

The thing about Ebay is the reputation thing. People don't like getting bad reputations, it hurts business. That's the best thing that happened to Ebay. It helps to keep deals honest. Always check out the rep's 1st. That's where craiglist is hurting.

 

*edit* didn't see those 2 posts before me. nevermind what I just typed up lol

 

nice to see your looking at monte's! This place IS very helpful, and we try to keep all flaming to a minimum.

Personally, I always say go big or go home. The only reason why Ive kept my LS (3.4) so long is for the gas milage. I would LOVE a 3.8 supercharged or better yet, the 06/07 SS. Personally, both are great and can be very fast for cars of our class.

 

Not always, wait til some spammer comes on. I know they will never come back but i sure as hell am gonna yell at them anyways. lol good luck on ur monte quest.

 

Well I understand spammers, haha. In 3 years as a mod/admin on my forum, I've accumulated 63 bans and a good half of those were spammers. We have a competition every year to keep the mods active and reading threads to spot the spammers and ban the accounts.

When it's just a crappy member, I'm all for cutting them a new *******, but I just meant that there's no bickering over trivial things or opinion or that kind of stuff here.

For example, we had this joker last month and it provided for a good laugh from everybody.
http://preludezone.com/showthread.ph...761#post249761