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I am leaning strongly towards the Pontiac since it is the least expensive but I wonder about the reliability.
The 3800 engine is one of the most reliable you can get, with decent maintenance it's going to outlast the car itself in most cases. Even with the supercharger you're going to find multiple cars for sale in the 150K+ range. My mechanic said he had one customer that had one with 450K on it.
That car can be made scary fast with a few minor modifications. You need to do the intake, dual exhaust, smaller supercharger pulley and the computer.
You might also want to take a look at the Regal GS. Same engine with the supercharger and that one is much easier to make modifications too becsue there was a GSX which was dealer added option with all of the the things I listed above.
We had a red 99 GT. I thought it was great looking and handled pretty good. The 3.8 felt torquey, but the car was not that quick. We traded it in around 90k miles. It had the ECU replaced 3 times, the torque convertor, crank position sensor, and few other items, because of a surging issue that resurfaced pretty regularly. The ABS went out due to a failed sensor in one of the front wheel bearings. Luckily we bought the extended warrenty. It was not a very good experience for us.
It appear the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP I wanted, has sold. However, there are tons of them available. I liked the Grand Prix for its inexpensive purchase price and it seems fairly economical.
This Lexus seems like a good deal. It drives very nicely too. However, it needs new ball joints and control arms, both upper and lower. Cosmetically, it needs a little help and has the highest gas consumption. However, the overall feel of the car is the best. Smooth and quiet.
2007 Toyota Camry XLE V6 ($14,900) 46K Mileage
Most economical, most reliable but also most expensive. Does come with a lifetime warranty.
Not really sure what I'll buy. I just want a nice daily driver. The most important criteria is good reliability and better than average acceleration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vfrpilot
We had a red 99 GT. I thought it was great looking and handled pretty good. The 3.8 felt torquey, but the car was not that quick. We traded it in around 90k miles. It had the ECU replaced 3 times, the torque convertor, crank position sensor, and few other items, because of a surging issue that resurfaced pretty regularly. The ABS went out due to a failed sensor in one of the front wheel bearings. Luckily we bought the extended warrenty. It was not a very good experience for us.
Thanks, I read there were problems you've mentioned on the Grand Prix of a very similar nature. I just wasn't sure if it was true.
The GTP has a supercharger. This video is from a Regal GS but same engine, note the shift out of second at 95MPH. Top speed is 150ish.
I looked at Regal GS models too! I prefer the Regal's styling to the Pontiac actually.
I am probably going to go with a 2004 Toyota Camry SE or Solara or something plain and boring. I've been scared away by some of the maintenance and reliability horror stories about some of the other cars I've read about.
I am probably going to go with a 2004 Toyota Camry SE or Solara or something plain and boring. I've been scared away by some of the maintenance and reliability horror stories about some of the other cars I've read about.
The Buick's, especially with the 3800 are solid cars. If you look on CL you are going to find a lot of them for sale in the 200K range. I just bought a used car and specifically went looking for one with the 3800. I had GS with 58K on it, unfortunately the rust was little more than I was willing to deal with so I sold it. That's a fun car. Between 60 and 90 which is the high end on second gear that thing is ridiculous.
Last edited by thecoalman; 08-17-2015 at 08:54 AM..
Great cars, but buying used take into consideration that it's a supercharged, and marketed to the gear heads, so they may have been ridden pretty hard
The GS started at 28.5K in 2002 so many of them would have been sold to people with money in their pocket. As I recall the prototype was pushing 300HP, the production model is 240HP which is only 40 more than standard 3800 so they didn't go crazy with the supercharger. The GSX stage 3 adds another 40 for total of 280HP. This is achieved with smaller supercharger pulley, dual exhaust, different intake and computer alteration. It can be made much faster.
Since they are so easily modifiable such as simply changing the supercharger pulley what to look for is one that has not been modified.
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This video is from a Regal GS but same engine, note the shift out of second at 95MPH. Top speed is 150ish. 
