New owner in Georgia
 

Hey folks,

I recently came across a large streak of good luck and got myself a 2005 SS with 28K miles. I've been a big fan of the Monte since I was a kid in the early 80s. I immediately fell in love with the styling and the rest we can say, is history. She's replacing my first car, a '99 Mazda Protege, that I've driven into the ground so I've just made a huge upgrade in the vehicle department. Needless to say, but I'm going to anyway, I'm VERY VERY happy with my new baby. She's got a black exterior with silver valences and a black interior. Yes, I'll get pics as soon as I can.

I was very happy to find the MCF during my car search and am looking forward to an ongoing interaction with the community here. I'm not much of a tuner and know only the basics about what's actually going on under the hood and all the myriad parts that go into the lovely supercharged powerplant that's making me smile like a kid in a candy store. I doubt I'll ever be much of a speed demon though, I'd rather spend my money on other things like paint jobs and whatnot than paying off tickets and increased insurance [sm=badbadbad.gif]. My main goal in getting this car (aside from having a killer ride) is to have something to eventually get into show condition. To that end, any advice you can give toward maintenance focused on longevity will be much appreciated.

Regards,
Blade

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

Sounds like you have a very nice Monte and haveing the SC edition is always a plus.

I would recomend switching the oil over to synthetic but besides that just make sure you do the general stuff for your beautiful car and she should be just fine for a long time

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

congrats on the new ride get her looking sweet and show her off

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

Hi blade. Congrats on the monte purchase. My recomendation to keep it in show quality is wash it as often as you can. Nothing makes a car look bad like rot from dirt collecting on it. Every time you wash it, be sure to hose off the underside as good as possible and wipe and spray out the wheel wells of all the dirt, especially the lip around the wheel well. Hose off along where your bumper cover meets the rest of the car toget out any dirt that accumulates there. Wash the jambs as often as possible and dont forget to get the inside bottom lip on the door.Thats a common place on any car that rots out. Keep a nice coat of wax on her at all times too. It will really help keep dirt and grime from sticking to your car. Do all this and your monte should stay in show condition for a while to come.

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

Hi Blade.

Welcome to the forum.

I switched to full synthetic oil just this past oil change. Glad I did, the engine seems to run better now.

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

Thank you all for the warm welcome and tips. I'm glad I joined up as soon as I did, I'll ask them to use a fully synthetic oil for my upcoming 30K maintenance. It's just my luck, I get a good price on a car that's >< close to needing a $600.00 maintenance! Still, she's worth it.

When I clicked on the embedded links y'all provided it sent me to the Pennzoil mainpage. Were you meaning to direct me toward the Platinum synthetic or justthe brand in particular? I was talking to a guy who owns a 2005 LTat the Advanced Auto near my house and he recommended Lucas gas additive and oil. WhileI'm usually inclined to believe people who I know have experience with something in this case I'd like to get asmany opinions as I can before starting on a regular maintenance routine.

If you use fuel additives in your car, what do you use?

What about parts like spark plugs? AC Delco?

I'm assuming since it's a GM product that DexCool is the only coolant I should consider?

I'm still sifting through thedifferent mechanical/maintenanceforums but at thispoint in my automotive education a lot of it may as well be Egyptian. Any direct advice is appreciated.

Pictures are forthcoming.

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

She's got one of the nicest rear-ends I've ever seen:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...Picture001.jpg

Pretty face too:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...Picture002.jpg

The interior with my first upgrade, appropriate foot pads to keep the floor nice and clean:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...Picture003.jpg

The poor old girl she's replacing:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...Picture005.jpg

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

Ahh, you've got the rare and coveted red bowtie floormats
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...0/100_0737.jpg

As for the maintenance, go with AC delco spark plugs. Im using autolites which work fine, but GM tends to like ac delco products. Steer clear of any bosch products. I always hear bad things about their plugs.

Go with the dexcool antifreeze also.

RE: New owner in Georgia
 

I got the same floor mats.:)The red bowtie ones were hard to find. I think I got the last pair available around here. All they got now around here is the ones with the gold bowtie.