Dear fans,

Since March I own a Chevy Monte Carlo Ls 3.1 which is built in 1997. The first owner was a lady from a Belgian Realestate company. she imported the car and drove/maintained it untill until 2018. She was always proud of her car and kept it in the garage in the evenings. In 2018 she decided to buy a Mercedes, so the Monte Carlo became a unwanted object in a showroom untill untill 2019. An American carlover bought the Chevy and did not used it at all because his cardealership consumed to much time to enjoy it.
​​In March 2023 I became the 'second' owner in The Netherlands. The cardealer imported it and gave new oil, tyres, filters etc.

It is unbelievable smooth to drive! I was born in 1987 and by the introduction of the Monte Carlo in 1990? We were still dealing with 1 side mirror, no electric Windows, no power steering, no airconditioning let alone powerseats or an automatic. And exactly this is the reason why i like it so much. The sound of 3.1 is a very nice sound (i want to make it louder) and everybody has an opinion about it. IT has a lot of opinions for the time of built. The most people here don't like it because it is gigantic with limited interioir space. But? I like it!
My monte Carlo drove only 118.000 km or 78.000 miles. In my research i found out that this model Monte Carlo has just 1 other car registered in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Only 2! With a total population of 29,8 million people...

​​​​​Can i ask you what an average driver pays a month to drive ?
- Gasprices are a disaster here, roughly 7,40 dollars for one gallon
- taxes to own the car: 95 dollars monthly
- insurance: 82 dollars a month
- the MSPG is better than i thought 1ltr in 8,5 km in the city ( 1/20mspg)

And a question for a better sound;
option 1 is to remove the mid -muffler and empty this and put it back
option 2 is to change the rear muffler/exhaust

What do you recommend? I cannot do both because of the police and the policy for loud vehicles.
I really want it to sound like an old timer.. no race car... And a heavy ground forced sound when i accelerate.

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​​​​​Best regards

 

Welcome! And that is a wild story about your Monte! Also to hear that some of the comforts you find in this Monte Carlo were not common in other cars local to your home. By the time that Monte came along, all cars had dual mirrors. Features like air conditioning and power steering were standard (power door locks and windows were probably very close to standard on most vehicles in 1997).

Outstanding to hear you enjoy this find and you are one of two Monte Carlo owners.

As for cost to own/drive, that can be a bit subjective. Here in the US, I live in Ohio (I would say that is somewhere between east coast and central US). I think 87 octane is about $3.59 today. If you ask someone on the west coast, it will be a lot more than that. Insurance depends on your driving record and coverage you choose to have.

If you are changing things with the exhaust purely for sound, you will really need a different muffler. But, I would consider leaving the car as-is if it is all still factory original, only because of the rarity of what you have. Just my opinion.

 

That's a really awesome story, thanks for sharing! Out of curiosity, what are the car brands you see most out by you?

Do you get a lot of comments/questions at the gas stations and such?

Most folks here are US based, but it does vary wildly across the country.

-My gas locally is some of the highest in the nation at the moment. 87 has been running about $4.75 lately, although thankfully that's down from the $5 / gal it was sitting at. However Ive converted my monte to E85 so it doesn't use regular gas anymore. Our pump E85 is a bit cheaper- lately around $4/ gal.

-Our ownership tax is called registration (the regular fee you pay to get a registration slip + license plate). My local registration is based on vehicle value which thankfully for my 96 monte is nearly 0 at this point. I want to say I paid about $225 for a 5 year registration - which is pretty close to the local minimum fee. Where they make their money are these people that constantly buy new $50, 60+k SUVs as those can get well over $1k a year to register.

-Insurance varies a lot across the country. Each state has different requirements for what/how much insurance you must carry at a minimum (and of course you can add additional insurance well beyond the minimum) and different parts of the country have different risk levels (ie car theft is much higher in some areas than others). It also varies a lot person to person - your driving history and credit score play a big role too. My insurance is fairly cheap as Ive got excellent driving history and my monte is listed as a limited mileage pleasure vehicle (i.e. not the car I commute to work with every time). I don't recall the exact premium as Ive got it bundled with my other cars, but my best guess is under $150 for 6 months.

-My mpg is probably the worst on this board due to modifications and running E85. I'm in the low teens last I checked. Admittedly, I'm also not particularly easy on the car when I do drive it. I take it out so rarely, that I enjoy the work I've put into it whenever it comes out of the garage (which of course involves excessive use of the accelerator pedal).

Im with Maniac, I'd leave it as is. I'm not sure what kind of old time cars you have out there, but it wouldn't sound even remotely like the old time US cars (which traditionally had big v8s).

I will say the 'mid muffler' is called a resonator and is intended to help cancel out fairly specific frequency ranges. Its actual impact on sound level is nowhere near what the actual muffler at the back is. So if youre looking for a noticeable increase in volume - the muffler at the back is your best place modify.

I'm not sure how your exhaust shops are out there, but when I got my previous muffler (Ive probably had a dozen different exhaust setups on my monte over the last 23 years) I had no idea what muffler I wanted. I found a place that put the car up on a lift and they slipped on probably 6 or 7 different mufflers while a guy inside gave it a quick rev on each (I was standing behind). It was very helpful to me in coming to a decision. I tipped them extra for taking the extra time.

 

Muffler replacement will make it louder. Different exhaust tips will make an aftermarket muffler sound different also. A cone air filter will make it sound more throaty on decent acceleration.

 

Welcome to the MCforum. cool story . I got a new dual exhaust system on mine. Will it make it louder? Probably not, at least not enough that snab jones will take notice.
The system I put on is from the 90's from the Z-sport option. It's Okay but no one notices the sound. If you want to hear what your car sounds like. Drive down an alley with the window open and you will hear it.








and was offered on the 5 Gen MC as a dealer option. there were a few left over and I just happened to get one.

 

lol, who?

 

Snab Jones was an old term for the Police or State Trooper. Lol

 

​​​​​Can i ask you what an average driver pays a month to drive ?
- Gasprices are a disaster here, roughly 7,40 dollars for one gallon
- taxes to own the car: 95 dollars monthly
- insurance: 82 dollars a month
- the MSPG is better than i thought 1ltr in 8,5 km in the city ( 1/20mspg)

The gas here is been around $3.30
Taxes to own my ride is about $10.00 per year that includes the plate
I think my insurance is 250.00 per year on the MC
Miles per gal the best I ever got was 27 Miles Per Gal I could never get above that no matter what I tried. If you want to get in the mid 30's the tach needs to read under 2000 RPM at 75 miles per hour.

 

Thats awesome! I've honestly never heard that term before