My name is Nina and I live close to Pittsburgh, PA. I am a 17 year old high school student looking to buy a car sometime this year, which will hopefully be a newer Monte (year 2000 and up). The first car I bought was a disaster, 1995 chevy beretta and I got it cheap, I guess you get what you pay for, because everything that could go wrong with it happened. Here is a picture of it on the tow truck when it broke down yesterday. Going to sell it for parts and start saving up for my Monte

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/IMG00978.jpg

 

welcome, you will find absolutly tons of good info here, good luck with the monte search.

 

Hi Nina. Glad you joined us.

Ya'll be nice to Nina now, I know her from another forum and she's a GREAT person.

Don'tknow if Nina can draw cars but she does some AWESOME custom art of wildlife and pets. I know there are some pet lovers here so if you want a custom drawing of your pet, get in touch with Nina and help herearn the money so she can get her very own Monte.

 

Welcome, Future Monte Owner Nina! I've owned 2 so far, and will not drive anything else. Good luck on your search, there are still plenty of good ones out there.

 

Welcome Nina!

You have a really good friend in Becky. She's one of the nicest people I've met.

The Beretta's were a good car in their day, but now really show the era they were made in. A kind of low point in GM's history. When they were living on their past reputation, rather than their current quality. But in the past few years, GM has started to turn things around quality wise.

There are a lot of good Montes out there available as the original owners are now trading them in for something new. As a student, you'll want something reliable that won't give you the problems and expenses your Beretta did. In your case, I would suggest getting one with the 3.8 litre engine. It's been proven to be a very reliable engine with very few issues. If you look at a Monte with the supercharged 3.8 (2004 & 2005 years only), you should know that the supercharged engine calls for premium gas. Information I didn't find out until I went to fill up my car for the first time. I think I did the Homer Simpson "DOH!" right there in the gas station. LOL.

Good luck in your search!

 

welcome!

 

Welcome Nina to the MCF Family. I hope you find the Monte Carlo that suits your needs and fills your dreams, also.
You have a great friend in Becky. She is a great part of our MCF family here.

 

thanks for all the welcomes everyone!
I'm already looking in the autotrader's and on craigslist and have found some really nice low mileage Montes. I am set on getting a 2000 SS. But I'll have to start saving.....lol

 

You should be able to get a good deal on a 2000 SS. One thing I didn't mention is you may want to avoid the 3.4 litre 3400 engine from 1999 to 2004. There is a well known issue with those engines. The lower intake manifold gasket has a tendency to leak. This causes the antifreeze and engine oil to leak into each other. A very expensive repair. I (and many others) know this from personal experience on my previous car. They are used on many different GM models. Mostly the 1999 and up Pontiac Grand Am and Oldsmobile Alero.

Good luck in your search.

 

Taz, would an SS have a 3400? Also when did they start putting those POS clunk-thunk ISS's in them? That was 2000 wasn't it? BTW, they STILL don't have that figured out, even the '08s with their new design are having issues.