Looking At A GA...Need Some Help

[FusionDreams]

So, I'm heading up this Saturday to hopefully look into buying another Grand Am. It's a 99 SE Sedan with about 145k on the engine. The dealer said it has had a problem with overheating every now and then and said it could be either the thermostat or head gasket.

My question is this. Is this car worth the $1000 that he's got on it, which I'll probably knock down?

[curtisjade1]

I would say that probably its worth the $1000 but if you can knock it down you should just to get an even better deal

[GregFarz78]

the 4 cylinder SE? I'd say have them fix it first then its worth $1000

[FusionDreams]

It's a V6. I'm planning on heading up to at least look at it this weekend. We'll see what it looks like and then I'll go from there.

[GtAudioFreak]

Probably just a LIM leak. less than $200 if you can fix it yourself. Id say its worth it, given its got decent brakes, tires, the usual stuff that wears down.

[tenspeed]

How does the dealer know about it overheating? Did he sell it and have to take it back? Did the last owner tell him and he's being a nice guy and telling you? Does he really know what it wrong and wants to dump it onto someone else?

Be afraid.

[99GrandAMSE]

... Be afraid.

Unless you know EXACTLY what is wrong with it in terms of the overheating problem, follow the above referenced suggestion :( ... people selling cars (private and dealers alike) tend to belittle a trouble when they are telling you about it so if you are at all considering this car, I would have the trustworthy mechanic research the specific problem being you have been made aware of an issue ... the cause of overheating can be attributed to many different things, some of which would cost more than the car to fix ... all in all, be careful :)

[FusionDreams]

I do have a friend of mine that can be considered a mechanic heading up with me to look at it. It is a dealer and seems like he's going out to tell me what he knows. I plan on going up tomorrow and take a look. I'll try to get more information then. Thanks.

[Anniku989]

I do have a friend of mine that can be considered a mechanic heading up with me to look at it. It is a dealer and seems like he's going out to tell me what he knows. I plan on going up tomorrow and take a look. I'll try to get more information then. Thanks.

Just remember that dealers are NOT your friends, and it is their job to sell you a car, so they know how to be persuasive. None the less, I'd go look at it, and post here on your findings

[Nighthawk243]

For a 99, 1000 isn't bad (considering I paid 2100 for a 1995 2 years ago). Just get the o'heating checked out and you should be good.

[FusionDreams]

I actually passed on getting that one, never had a chance to make the trip. I did go look at a 96 Grand Prix this last weekend and it certainly wasn't worth what he was asking. But I found another Grand Am for sale like 10 miles from my house that I may call on later this afternoon. It has about 30k less miles for $50 more... Same thing, SE, 4 door, 4 cyl.

[RazorDX]

Good call on passing it over. It was probably an abused trade-in.

[FusionDreams]

Kind of what I was thinking. Figured it was wasted the trip of nearly 2 hours to find that out. I blew another long drive looking at a 96 Grand Prix that was worthless. This search for a nice daily driver gets harder by the minute.

[Nitr0Racing21]

craigslist can be handy "craigslist.org"

[FusionDreams]

Craiglist is nice however, it's hard to find a car around here on the site in which people feel they have gold. Something about Vermonters, if it's a car that can run in the winter, the value doubles...

I did make a call on that GA I spoke about earlier. Sounds fairly good overall. Said it may need new struts soon and apparently the front bumper cover is banged up. I think I'm going to see if I can make the 15 minute trip over and check it out tomorrow after work.

[FusionDreams]

So, I thought I'd just use this same thread regarding another GA I saw today.

It's a 2000 SE, the 2.4L 4 cyl. I don't know the exact mileage (swung in after work for about 2 minutes) but was told it's right around 97k or so. The car is missing one HVAC knob and has some really ugly blue window tint in the back. However, structure looks really good, no rust, has a bra in the front. He's asking $3995 for it, which I think might be a bit over. If I can knock this down to $3200 or so, is it worth it as a solid DD?

[RazorDX]

Check under the bra (I don't think she'll mind) for dirt and/or scratches. Those things can really mar the clearcoat when dirt gets trapped in there. Like most other things in life, without a bra is preferable.

I'd say it's worth it personally. The tint is easily removed. $3200 sounds much more reasonable, but I wouldn't venture far above it. What kind of shape was the rest of the body in?

[Meathead]

First take it for a run and all that.. consider the options and what works and crap before making anything a DD

[FusionDreams]

The body, upon a glance (which this was) looked surprisingly well. I do plan on going for a test drive with it when I get some free time (weekend is booked and work til' 5:00 every night). I might next week, if I can skip out of work at like 4:00 just stop in and take it for a quick drive. I really do plan on looking it over really good again if I do think I may purchase it. I was just curious as to how you guys felt about the price range. Thanks for the words of advice.