Sealed or not it still messes em up & its a $500 repair & just get u a camaro intake

 

those are both land yacht's not cars. lol I dont mind a big heavy rear wheel drive car in the winter. When I was a teen (in the 90's)that was all we had. Sure there where plenty of front wheel drive cars on the road but all the cheap beaters were 75 and up impalas, ltd's delta 88's.....man those where great cars.

 

My friend has a '94 Formula Firebird with an LT1 and 70K on it, he's changed the opti TWICE on it. Another friend has a Vette with an LT1 and the opti has been changed easily twice on that car (the Firebird is bone stock, the Vette is heavily modified).

It's not "hard" to change, but time consuming because of all the stuff in your way to get at it. If I recall, the crank pulley has to be pulled to remove the Opti. Plus, it's far from a "cheap" part.

Just some food for thought about the LT1.

 

Last minute design changes in the optispark module is what caused all the problems with it, but I wouldn't let that deter you from purchasing the car if you like it. If the module does fail, DO NOT replace it with an OE unit. There are aftermarket companies that make replacement units (with improved design) that solve the problem. With the improved unit installed the only time you have to worry about water getting into it is if/when you clean your engine, but plugging the holes first is all that's required to keep water out of it.

 

At 180k I wouldn't give it a second thought. I just wouldn't do it.

I don't know many people with LT1s that have lasted that long.

I do know tons of crown vics though that have had 400k miles plus, they were taxis AND cop cars.

Take a drive in both, but I would lean toward the crown vic.

 

Looked at both - the Buick was such a POS in person, I didn't even drive it. Next I went to the Crown Vic - it was nice, mechanic checked it out - nothing wrong, just the cable that moves the passenger window is busted, which he said would be about 200 bucks.

I tried to budge the guy, but he really won't haggle - he finalized everything at 2368.79 I believe, but said he'd drop to 2300 - I told him I'd think about it.

I thought maybe tomorrow I'd go in with 2200 cash and put it on the desk and see if he takes it. Sound like a good deal, or should I just move on?

 

I too am looking to get a "beat" so to say (my '94 Grand Am with 220K runs great, but as you said, our winters beat the crap out of cars).

At this point in time, I am looking to hopefully get another winter form the Grand Am and out-right replace her.

But, as Chibi said, the high miles could be an issue. My ideal target for me is a '00+ with 120 miles max! I am prefering a GM v6 (3100/3400/3800) as I am fairly well versed in most common issues with them (making most repair jobs easier on me). I'd love to get a '00+ v6 Grand Am.

We'll see what happens in the future for me.

Mike, best of luck with your plans. Just make sure you are comfortable with what you're going to put an offer on (look it over good). It would suck to land a money pit by accident.

 

Jason, Just a word of advice on the 00+ V6 Grand Am...aside from the usual 3400 V6 issues, those Grand Am's have a lot of problems. We had one and it always had something wrong with it, power windows fail REGULARLY, always a coolant leak of some sort, electrical issues up the wazoo, vent fan issues, A/C issues, and the overall fit and finish of the interior falls apart. We had door panels coming apart, speaker covers falling off...the list goes on. It's a 2001 Grand Am SE1 V6 Coupe. I love the style, power, comfort etc. But the problems get irritating after a while. I'm not the only one that's had issues with a newer Grand Am.

 

I'd say for the price and the miles 2200 would be a good price on the crown Vic. Just my opinion though.

 

I appreciate the warning, but I think if I can land the car I ideally want, it will all work out. Without rattling off the full list, I know a bunch of people with v6 '00+ N-bodies (mostly Grand Ams, a couple of Aleros). I know one has 200K on the car, another has 200K on the engine and 300K on the body.

The modern N-bodies have held up pretty good for these people (and most are still running them). No better or worse then my current 3100 Grand Am (which the 3400 still has the same nylon gasket issue seen in my '94). Problems have been far and few inbetween on them. Drive trains run great and the bodies seem a little more tolerant in my location then some of the W-body cars (especially the Grand Prixs).

I also like sticking with an engine I am fairly familiar with (especially when I'm looking to buy something cheap with "high" miles).