Hello everyone, I'm a long time LeSabre fan and I'm looking into buying a Century. The one I'm looking at is a 1999 Century with the 3.1 V6. My mother has a Malibu with the 3.1 V6 and her car has about 215k on it.

My Questions
Are the Centuries prone to the coolant gasket leak?
Reliable?
Since they are a W-body, are they a bit more nimble than my 1994 LeSabre?
How are they for fuel mileage? I'm hoping to get about 25 combined.


Thank you for your help!

I have a 99 Century that just turned 100,000 miles. It has never had a coolant issue and it still has the original battery.
The only problem I have had with it was the transmission while still in warranty. It was to the dealer 7 times for serious trans problems but I blame that number on a very poor mechanic. I believe that they sent the car to another dealer for the final trans repair.
I get 27 to 32 mpg usually, sometimes a little less and sometimes a little more.
The only other things were brakes and license plate bulb. Pretty good for a 10 year old car.

Did they ever make a century with a tach?

to answer your questions:

yes, all GM 3.1 and 3.4 engines will need intake gaskets and/or head gaskets replaced usually around 100-140k miles depending on how it's driven and maintained.

Yes and no. These cars are fairly reliable, minus the above mentioned engine issues and some electrical issues like the ignition switch, wipers and HVAC systems. But FYI, your LeSabre is a much more reliable car overall than a 99 Century.

Being a smaller car and based on the Regal platform, I would say it should be more nimble than a LeSabre, but they're no sports car either.

You should get somewhere between 21-25 mpg combined, again depending on how you drive.

I've had my Centuries head and intake pulled twice now, once due to a rat eating the injection wire harness, I have pictures. The gasket is an easy fix, I have 190,000 on mine and get great mileage. Electrical system seems to be my biggest problem now.