just bought 97Gt just need some info on what to watch for

[smellmygas]

Hi guys,
first post here, i just picked up a 97 Grand Prix GT, its got 83500 miles on it, been maintained its whole life pretty well. Looks to be in great shape, white with beige cloth, tape deck, traction control, ect.
just wondering what I should check out, im sure there are some problems that happen on all grand prix, just wanting to catch anything before it happens.

btw it has some very ugly gold wheels on it, im not looking for anything to "bling" it, just something nice, even the factory spoked wheels like on a trans am would be nice...any thoughts or places to buy them cheap besides ebay? any pictures of ideas to do on the car, im not gonna spend much money on the car cause i already have something to dump my money into!

Thanks guys, any tips on the car would be greatly appreciated.

[regalfriend]

the transmission...4t65e have been known to be problematic on these cars. if you have service records that show it has had the fluid flushed or changed every 15,000 miles then i would suggest having the trans fluid flushed....if your not sure then you may want to drop the tranny pan and change the filter....NO FLUSH! the motor 3800, IMO, is one of the best made..Keep up a regular mantainance schedule and you should get many more miles

[richtazz]

there are a few minor wiring problems with the 97, being the first year of the body style. Hub bearings are a little fragile, especially if you live in a pot-hole prone area. Keep an eye on your coolant, if it starts to drop without any signs of external leakage, you may have a cracked upper intake plenum (pretty common on 95-98 3800's, less so on 99-up). Other than that, follow regalfriends advice, and you should be toolin' for a while. As far as the rims are concerned, discount tire is probably the cheapest on aftermarket rims, or you can check out thetirerack.com where you can bring up your car on there web site and "try on " different wheels to see what you like.