Poll****Help with new D/D

by 77mali Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:58 pm

Which one would you look at for daily transportation?

Looking @ a new daily driver- anyone's personal experience with any of these models appreciated. I like the two Olds' for the ease of DIY repairs vs. the other two more modern ones but I love this Monte & the Caddy looks nice too. Thanks!

A) 1985 Cutlass Supreme- white with maroon interior. V6, automatic, approximately 60,000 miles. $2000 OBO
Poll****Help with new D/D 1985_c10

B)1983 Olds cutlass supreme- 48k miles all original mint interior all power clean exterior,but a few rust bubbles. summertime daily driver. Drive as is or restore needs little tlc. I have reduced price as low as I'm gonna go $1,983 FIRM
Poll****Help with new D/D 83_cut10

C) 2000 Chevy Monte SS asking $4,995
81k miles. All power options, extra clean inside and out. New tires all around, well maintained and it shows. Saddle leather Int.
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D) 2004 Cadillac seville SLS factory 5 stage pearl white paint job , fully loaded ,brand new tires less than a week old, tan leather, factory navigation and DVD and BOSE 6 disc cd changer and dvd. heated seats in front and back., chrome rims, sunroof every option available. legal tint on the window, 123k all highway, never abused first to see will buy very nice car,many new parts all scheduled maintenance taken care of never abused. $5500 FIRM no less this car is mint.
Poll****Help with new D/D 04_sls10

by Joe73 Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:36 pm

If C has the 3800 engine. I'd be all over that. I have a 04 impala and 99 lesabre with that engine in it. Both purchased new by my father in law for trips to florida. 32 hwy and 24 around town with no problem. Plenty powerful as well. Regular maintenance and it can go 300k which 3 of my buddies have done. Those cutlasses should also have the 3.8 but they would be carbed and not as efficient. The 3800 does have one fault which is the upper intake manifold. Its plastic and sometimes leaks antifreeze. Parts for the job are less than 200 bucks for the newest Dorman replacement upper manifold. Job is easy (I've done it) but labor intensive. Took about 5 hours. But pretty easy overall. Trans in that monte should be the 4T65E which is also a tried and true tranny. Good luck with your choice.

by 77mali Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:45 pm

Yep it's the 3800 (SS) LS are smaller engines. I've heard about the coolant leak thing doing a little research on them. Thanks Joe.

The Monte seems too good to be true but I'm going to check it out this weekend so we'll see. Maybe it was a bank repo or an impound & I'll get lucky. LOL

I had a 99 Monte (3.1 L) & I hated to sell it but got Mali w/ the proceeds.

BTW- go to the top if you wanna vote.

by dynchel Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:00 pm

My dad had a 2000 monte carlo SS (bought new) for six years. Mostly trouble free. He did have a intermittent no start problem that turned out to be a $15.00 relay. I always liked 80's g body's, but they are basically a refined A body. i don't know about you but I've gotten used to efficient window defrosters and fuel injection. (My personal opinion for a daily driver, 4 wheel disc brakes are nice also.). As for the caddy, I am not a fan. Parts are more expensive, and the difficulty in doing repairs is much greater. Hope this helps. GoFast

by Landonus Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:12 am

Not a fan of the G-Body or front wheel drives but I vote for the maroon Cutlass given it has a V8. I mainly wanted to reply to let you know having had two of these Cadillacs with the Northstar V8, these engines are very problematic. At the time I had them I spoke with other owners and mechanics that had worked on them and heard nothing but bad things. From what I understood it's an all aluminum engine and the head bolts cause the aluminum to oxidize and make the threads give way letting the head seperate from the deck giving you numerous problems. Otherwise they were great cars. Cadillac is my favorite brand but with the exception of the CTS-V I wouldn't own any after the change to FWD.

by jerry46765 Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:34 am

I didn't vote. Don't know the situation, but I would keep it simple.
If it takes more than 10 minutes to change the battery, you don't want it. When the battery is a pain, the other stuff will be a major PITA too...

Is fuel consumption an issue? If not, get a truck.

Thanks -

by 77mali Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:53 am

Thanks for all the replies & the heads-ups fellas. We'll see what the weekend brings us.

Beer

by ant7377 Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:21 am

Stay FAR away from that Caddy,they are nice riding/driving cars when everything works. THe Monte is a good bet I have a Regal w/the 3.8 SC its good on gas and built well ,just have to watch for intake leaks. If you only make a short commute and you can deal with a little more BS in the snow (snow tires sand bags in trunk) get one of the Cutlass'. THe first repair that costs penny's will be satisfaction enough. Just make sure the frame behind the rear wheels isnt rotted out. And the doors on the bottom.

by BicknellWelding Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:01 pm

Are these really your only choices in the area? I've had over twenty g-bodies. If you need a good eye for rot inspection, let me know. As much as I'd root for one of the cutlass's, you probably dont want two projects. I'd think it would be far to tempting to start throwing wheels and exhaust at something like that. Money better spent on your 77. A good friend of mine happens to be a certified caddy mechanic, if you choose that route. The monte looks like a decent daily. Any thoughts on something like an S-10? I stopped and looked at that Elcamino this morning...$3900, 305, buckets console. SS package. needs some work.

by 77mali Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:45 pm

I drove by the El Camino yesterday. Nice car but not my style so to speak...looked like there was rust issues on the fender & bed area. The next car I buy will have zero body work to do...I don't mind some small mechanical things to fix up as long as they don't take time or too much $$$...lol. Thanks for the heads up on that one though.

There are tons of other cars & lots of G bodies out there but trying to find one that I don't feel bad using as a D/D is the trick. Some of them are too nice and it would be a crime for me- I rack up a ton of miles per year & the car would be crap after a couple of years.

I have looked at the 4 door S-10's around, don't want to spend that kind of money & the less expensive ones have too much miles on them. I am keeping an eye open. (G body El Camino's too).

by 74MonteCarlo Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:50 pm

Monte.

My grandma has an 02 SS, white as well, with 174k miles, still runs like new.

My mom also has an 03 SS/HS with 81.

Different car ... same motor ... my girlfriend has a 1999 Lumina LTZ with 200k ... runs GREAT.

by 74MonteCarlo Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:54 pm

Joe73 wrote:The 3800 does have one fault which is the upper intake manifold. Its plastic and sometimes leaks antifreeze.

Just before Thanksgiving, we had to have a new plenum put on my girlfriend's 1999 Lumina LTZ 3800. 200k miles, running great now!

dynchel wrote:He did have a intermittent no start problem that turned out to be a $15.00 relay.

I had a problem like that on my old 1998 Monte Carlo LS ... turned out to be the anti-theft relay. $5.00 at the junkyard, never went wrong again!

by BicknellWelding Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:01 am

MALI. Heres a cheap G

http://southcoast.craigslist.org/cto/3535507958.html

by pila Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:19 am

I've had a lot of Cadillacs. I still have an '85 Fleetwood FWD. I really like that car, even though the engine, a HT4100 V8 is problematic.
I've been at least smart enough to steer clear of one with a Northstar engine. Our last Caddy family car was a '93 Fleetwood Brogham , which is an overdressed Buick Roadmaster, with a 350 Chevy engine. It got totalled last summer. And I'm glad it was a heavy car.
Then I bought a '93 Buick Park Avenue Ultra, with 85K miles on it. It has a supercharged 3800, and really hauls A$$ when needed. And I'm aware of it's possible manifold problems.
If I had know how nice these Park Avenues are, I would have bought one years ago.
So I would vote for a car with that engine. Here's the Buick...

and the engine..

I bought this one for $3500 by the way..

by 77mali Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:16 am

I remember you posting about getting rear-ended. The Buick's are nice cars is it factory supercharged?

by ant7377 Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:30 am

Pila, I was just going to say to look for a Park Ave or a Bonneville!I think they are a little nicer than the Chevys and seem better built too,I had a Bonne,it was a great car also with the 3.8 SC. Another is a clean Riviera. Up to 99 (Last year) Really nice car and built about the same as the PA. Paul, usually all these are pretty well maintained because they werent cheap cars when new. I wish I knew you needed a car there was a lady near here selling her dads PA for 3 grand and it only had 70,000 miles,I was thinking of getting it myself but I really didnt need another car.

by ant7377 Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:35 am

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/3581552668.html

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/3453143347.html

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/3566110272.html

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/ctd/3586093653.html

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/3527880063.html ---- Florida car

by 77mali Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:40 am

Were Riv's built on the same platform as the Aurora from Olds?

I see them around too- look well built.

by ant7377 Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:45 am

Yup,they are but the Aurora uses a different motor ,the riv gets 3.8,stay away from Aurora's ,really troublesome cars.

by pila Sat Feb 02, 2013 12:41 pm

My aviation partner has a '94 Bonneville with the 3800 SC, which the engine seems identical to my Buick.
The Buicks may have been over-looked somewhat, due to folks thinking they were just old folks cars. Some decent Buicks out there at good prices now.

by 77mali Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:26 pm

Well, thank you all for your input. I'm now back to square 1. After researching the Northstar problems- a definite NO THANKS. I emailed on the two Cutty's & no reply's yet (I'm not holding my breath either). I think I'll scan the CL's for a couple more weeks & see what else may pop up. I went & saw the white Monte today...I was not impressed with the dealership (or people there) at all.

by 1973 454 MONTE Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:30 pm

try a 04-08 grand prix. i have a 05 gt loaded. i love it.

by Jim_Rockford Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:04 pm

I had a 93 Park Ave. ultra with the supercharged 3800 It was a really nice ride. Avoid that caddy and those g bodys are way too much money, and the monte carlo is garbage.

Poll****Help with new D/D IMG_0844

by DiscoMalibu Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:00 am

ant7377 wrote:Yup,they are but the Aurora uses a different motor ,the riv gets 3.8,stay away from Aurora's ,really troublesome cars.

Absolutely agree, my friend has one and works for a GM dealership. Had nothing but problems with it, huge pile of S.

I voted for the Cutlass, they're neat cars and they're slowly disappearing (atleast in my area) and when you get bored you can tinker with it and have a nice ride. On the other hand Buicks are great. I had a '93 Regal with a 3.8L and it just would not die, trust me I tried to kill it. It finally succumbed to rot though.

by 77mali Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:00 am

Before I go into the light, I want to own an 88 Cutlass Supreme Classic.

I found a few more & really am liking an 85 Grandpa Cutty w/ 43K. Looking @ that this weekend, hopefully.

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