Would you buy....

[dumbucket1]

Found a 93 pontiac bonneville SE. The original owner is selling it and he says all its ever had done to it was alternators, brakes, starterst, belts, hoses, etc. It has the 3.8 buick non turbo motor in it. The body is in incredible shape and so is the interior. It still runs and drives good. The catch is it has 265,000 miles on it. He is asking only $750. I was considering buying it for a work car but the mileage is scaring me. So what do you think?

[Redneckchevy]

id buy it....Miles dont mean much if the compression is good and its not burning oil.....Whats it gonna hurt?  If u dont like it..Sell it...Scrap it....All kinds of ways to make ur money back!

[VileZambonie]

The automatic climate controls like to work when they feel like it in those cars. The passkey system is also prone to security issues but easily bypassed with a hard wired resistor if it fritzes on you. The 2 main things you will find with the engine are the 2 elbows that come off of the tensioner and cooling system bypass. I would replace those before you drive it. The other issue is the upper intake plenums like to melt near the EGR passage on the oem ones and eventually it starts to burn coolant and mix it with the oil (like it has a bad head gasket). Aside from what I've mentioned (all easy fixes btw) those cars are strong.

[camdenoilchange]

i'd go for it but not for that price. $300-$500 tops.

[Dragon]

$750 is a Great Price for a Clean one, even with High Mileage!!!   I have seen a few locally with well over 350,000, before the owner decided to replace the Tranny and Engine as a precaution....

Personally I would go the Extra Mile, and Trouble, to swap in a later Series II or III Super Charge 3800, along with it's appropriate Trans/Trans-Axle for some real fun

[dumbucket1]

$750 is a Great Price for a Clean one, even with High Mileage!!!   I have seen a few locally with well over 350,000, before the owner decided to replace the Tranny and Engine as a precaution....

Personally I would go the Extra Mile, and Trouble, to swap in a later Series II or III Super Charge 3800, along with it's appropriate Trans/Trans-Axle for some real fun

That does sound fun but I just have a work beater in mind for it. Save a few bucks on gas driving it to work vs the blazer. besides that I want to get to working on the body on the blazer.

As far as the mileage goes it seems like all cars I ever look at with over 200k on them are pretty beat, this is the first one I have seen that is in nice condition. I mean I've driven tractor trailers with well over a million miles on them and they run better than new ones but those are mostly interstate miles packed in a very short time.

[bigkountry]

I generally look at the person selling it, if they seem to take care of it..then it should run out fine.

I had a friend with one of these cars and he tried to kill it, but failed...lol

[Dragon]

That does sound fun but I just have a work beater in mind for it. Save a few bucks on gas driving it to work vs the blazer. besides that I want to get to working on the body on the blazer.

As far as the mileage goes it seems like all cars I ever look at with over 200k on them are pretty beat, this is the first one I have seen that is in nice condition. I mean I've driven tractor trailers with well over a million miles on them and they run better than new ones but those are mostly interstate miles packed in a very short time.

Nah I hear Ya DB, I have had a couple of Stock 3.8's Buick's that I just tuned up, with some Higher Voltage Plug Wires,Platinum Plugs,K&N Drop-In, along with other standard tune up items....  Both of them were Great Little Screamers, that easily Terrorized the Local Ricer Wanna-Be Scene, and still could get Great Gas Mileage

Just saying that if I was able to have one again, I would do the Series II/III Super Charged Swap(Wifey doesn't like the Looks of the FWD BOP's, so it does not look like I will have another anytime soon ).....

[dumbucket1]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/762399585.html

Think I should pick up that motor if I end up getting that bonneville?

[VileZambonie]

why not?

[80stepsideguy]

DB,
for the price i say go for it, i got a 1 owner 94 ealge vision here(bought new by my folks) and has 214,000 miles on it and except for a sagging headliner and some faded paint in the back it runs great and i agree it alldepends on if the p/o took care of it like regular maintence.I also own a 96 vision with 186k on it and sunk 4500 in it and all works great(long story why i did this) but for 1,000 (750.00 for the car n 250.00 for that engine) you have a nice everyday car to commute and can still get good gas mileage and wont break the bank.

thanks
pat-

[Stewart G Griffin]

i think that the main things i would be concerned about would be:

1) The crankshaft position sensor (easy and cheap to replace)

2) The injectors.   Probably easy to replace.

3) Hopefully the intake on these engines are not plastic.

The computer systems on these cars are pretty rock-solid reliable as is the cars (W-body?) themselves.

The cavalier has 262K and still runs well with no real major maintenance, so that should tell you something.

i think it's an ok move for a daily driver;  You'll certainly get at least $750 worth of travel out of it.