my mother in law rolled her 87 sable, (dont drive drunk), and asked me to find her a nice used car. i found a 98 with 84k. very nice shape, fully loaded cd player and all, for $5995. im sure i can get the price down a bit. but my question is are these bonnevilles pretty rugged? she does not have the greatest respect for cars. she dont change oil enough or even pay attention to normal maintenece. (she drove on a lil donut on the sable for a month once, on the front and let the oil go for 6 months)
i suggested a old Ltd, caprice or diplomat, but she wants to get modern.
also is there any thing in this year i should look for? i know the 3.8 have some things not so great about them like intake gaskets, will this year have this problems? what series 3800 would this be. thanks guys for any insight.

A 93-94 would be the best. The L27 cars last 300,000-400,000 miles easy w/no problems. One can be had for under $3000 usually

Traded my '96 Bonneville SE in at 135,xxx and it still ran great. That car was probably the most dependable car I've ever owned.

ok will the 98 last as long or be as good as the 96? she wants as new as she can get for under 5 grand. and this boneville is pretty nice lookin. didnt see any leaks, and not a whole lot of rock chips so it wasnt a country car(were in nebraska). good tires and nice rims. interior is showroom looking.

The 96-99 generation Bonnevilles are very good dependable cars. The only real concern would be the upper intake manifold, they can fail (EGR stove pipe heating) when miles get near 100,000. Try to get the price down a bit, but it sounds like a fairly good deal.

i know the intake prob, i have a 02 grand prix gt, and it went at 35k. i'll let her know it'll be a good car. thanks all

my bonne SE has over 167,000 miles on it. Intake went at 74,000 miles. Have had no problems since then. Love the car. I'd want to be in it if I hit something.

My wife has a 98 SSE and a plastic part called a "plenum"went out at 62000 miles. It cost us $600 in repairs. Other than that we love that car. The buckets seats are super comfortable and supportive..

a "plenum"went out at 62000 miles. It cost us $600 in repairs.
That's the upper intake manifold. It is molded out of a composite plastic material and is subject to failure.