looking at '95 sse-anything I should know?

I am looking at a specific 1995 bonneville sse.
It is a one owner car with 100,000km
Fully loaded with moonroof, hud, power everything, no rust, leather, full guages, etc.
3.8 liter V-6, overdrive trans.
Is there anything about these cars that I should look out for?
How much would you pay for a car like this?
The car I am looking at is super clean, and he is asking 7,995 cdn.
Any and all comments-suggestions are much appreciated.

Here is a site that will list all the recalls and known problems with the Bonneville. Its a U.S. governments office of defects site but it should apply to a Canadien models also. I use this site a lot before looking at used cars, it lets me know what other people have had problems with. It says that this site is for safety concerns but it has a lot of the known problems also.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/

I wouldn't take these complaints to seriously just look for the things that people have complained about and check for them on the car, don't let the stories stop you from buying this car, the engine is one of the best, have just about 321,800 kilometers on mine and runs just as smooth as it did at 80,450.

Damn, man!
Are you a GM tech or something? That's the second time you've helped me in a week- on two different forums.
Thanks a lot.

Brian

Just a guy with a passion for anything GM. Only vehicles I'll look at. Some call me narrow minded even.

Me too
It's nice to know I'm not the only one

Same here

We've decided to wait on the car...if it's still there in a week, we'll consider it again. My woman doesn't like leather seats all that much, and she thinks it's a little too big for her. So, we'll keep looking for now. Too bad... it's a damn nice ride!

hell, I would kill for leather in my car, plus I would rather have a car thats to big than a car thats to small.

to bad there nice cars i have a 95 ssei love it and it rides like your on a cloud, great cars my :2cents:

My wife has changed her mind...AGAIN...and is leaning toward the Bonnie...AGAIN. I think it is due to the fact that I got the seller down to 6,995cdn. I just hope that she decides soon, I'm tired of making deals. Imo, this is the best of the cars we've been looking at. She has warmed up to trying out a larger car than her 3.3 Calais...she tried out a '98 olds 88 and was comfortable with it.
We'll soon see what she picks! I hope.

We went out and I tried the '98 Olds right after my last post. She's not going to buy it. The car cranked too slowly when it started, The lights dimmed every time I put it in reverse, which could be a charging problem or a bad battery. It was hard to put in gear, the tranny fluid was thin and smelled a little burnt, the rear bumper is cracked, and the guy won't give an accident report.
More trouble than it is worth, imo.
She hopes that the Bonneville is still there...

Me too:)

The Olds sounds a little beat up for being a 1998. He couldn't have taken very good care of it.

It LOOKS real nice, but upon closer inspection...


CRAP! well, for the price anyway.:)

Check the coolant fluid level. All 3800 series II N/A engines have the dreaded Intake failure problem around 50-80k miles depending on use and operating temps. The Hot EGR gas causes the plastic to fail, and coolant leaks into the engine, causing hydrolock if not caught quick enough. New replacements are reinforced these days, and that'll run about 2-300 if you do it yourself, 7-800 if you have a shop do it.

Otherwise that car's bomb-proof.

I love 2000 and newer Bonne's. I have 2 of them, ride better than a 740iL BMW I had. I found Bonne's to basically be trouble free driving. By the way, they were recalled for the intake gasket so it should be done for free. What exactly are the symptoms for intake leaks??? Or is it impossible to know until it's too late?

Decreasing level in the coolant recovery tank (over time) with no evidence of an external coolant leak are some symptoms of upper intake failure as BonneMeMn previously described. The newer Bonnevilles (2000+) were recalled for the throttle body to upper intake gasket replacement along with the throttle body fasteners replacement.

Thanks, very interesting. One of my 2000 Bonnevilles were never returned to have the recall repair done on the intake gasket. I probably should have them do it. BTW, the dark red looks great, here's a link to mine which is Light Bronze.

http://www.geocities.com/wallstreetmoney1/Automotive.html

There's no recall but see bullitin 01-06-01-007A.
Also see KenCo.com for a repair that will save changing the lower manifold. By the time you get the symptoms it's too late. You might get lucky and save the engine. See LeSabre posts.

Thank you for contacting the Pontiac Customer Assistance Center. We
appreciate you taking the time to write us in regards to recalls on your
other 2000 Pontiac Bonneville.

We have processed the information provided and have found one open
recall on your vehicle. A Pontiac dealer has not completed repairs for
recall number 03034, according to our system. Please see your dealer as
soon as possible to have this recall completed at no cost to you. The
details of the recall follow.

Recall 03034 – ENGINE COOLANT LEAK
General Motors has decided that your vehicle may have a condition in
which engine coolant may leak at the upper intake manifold throttle body
gasket, or at the upper intake manifold to lower intake manifold
gasket. This condition may result in a low engine coolant level and higher
engine operating temperatures.

I just set up an appointment to have the recall work done on Thursday. Strange how the dealer said they would not replace the gasket, they will just replace a few bolts and add a sealer to the anti freeze. Does this sound right to you guys?

Typical GM. Put a band-aid on it untill the warantee runs out.