did i buy bad?

bought my boy his first car a beautiful white 95 grand prix SE yesterday for 1800$$ its better and sportier than my green 94 se..anyhow gotta replace 2 rusty mufflers, rear shocks need replacing..autozone wanted 54$$ thats alot!! plus the front ones were even more..anything cheaper out there??? lastly the real reason for writing...i noticed brown goop in the radiator cap,i have sort of seen this before checking out cars over the years,especially in the radiator overflow tank..anyhow reading a previous thread about 3.1 coolant leaks i wonder if im screwed?? waddaya think???

I'm not sure about your brown goop, doesn't sound good though...maybe oil?
I paid $5200 CDN for my 95 GTP, and that was after I talked them down. That was in late Sept of 2005, since I have replaced the brake rotors and pads all around, and calipers on the back, and my struts need replacing all around. The price I was given for my rear struts was $95 CDN each!

Jamie

I think you might have problems. My coolant system looked much like yours for quite some time before the small leak developed into a huge leak at 120k miles. I bet your ball joints are toast too. I would say you paid a fair price.

bought my boy his first car a beautiful white 95 grand prix SE yesterday for 1800$$ its better and sportier than my green 94 se..anyhow gotta replace 2 rusty mufflers, rear shocks need replacing..autozone wanted 54$$ thats alot!! plus the front ones were even more..anything cheaper out there??? lastly the real reason for writing...i noticed brown goop in the radiator cap,i have sort of seen this before checking out cars over the years,especially in the radiator overflow tank..anyhow reading a previous thread about 3.1 coolant leaks i wonder if im screwed?? waddaya think???


If you have Dexcool in the radiator.....this is normal. When Dexcool hits air.....it sorta gells. I have had that same crap on my cap for 150,000....and no problems with the cooling system other than needing to be flushed. I would suggest you DO flush it with Prestone......and just follow the instructions on the bottle. You run it for about 3-6 hours with water only in the cooling system. If it is cold where you are ....you may want to wait till you know your out of the woods on freezing up. After you run the cleaner.....install a flushing inlet in you heater hose (mine was on the bottom....but I have a 98 GP...so verify before cutting it in) and flush your system for 5-10 minutes. I just did all this and it works like a champ. If you want...you can even dump the Dexcool for Prestone extend life....and end you "goop" problems for good. Use a 50-50 mix of Prestone and Water for best results.......


Good luck

$54 is not bad for rear struts, especially if they are complete units with the mounts. If you decide to do the rear struts, don't cheap out and re-use the old mounts. You'll need to do a 4-wheel alignment, and will be wasting your money because the mounts will soon fail and you'll get to do it again. The front struts are a cartridge, and may have been priced per pair. THey should be cheaper than the rears. There is a special tool needed to replace these cartridges, but A-Z rents it for free. The mufflers are normal wear items, so when you buy a used car, you'll always find things needing attention. You got a good price, depending on mileage you may hve gotten a great price, so I'd say you got your moneys worth. The brown goop is sludge from Dex-cool antifreeze, which is normal and not a cause for alarm. Keep an eye on the coolant level, as these cars are known for intake leaks.

thanx guys most times i just hit the panic button and freak for nothing...will flush the system as instructed and if worse comes to worse i actually did the intake gaskets on my 94 se last summer..so im semi experienced on that job..if it happens...ps car has 122k miles,auto tranny..there was no mixture of oil and water on the dipstick or tranny dipstick back on monday when i bought the car

thanx guys most times i just hit the panic button and freak for nothing...will flush the system as instructed and if worse comes to worse i actually did the intake gaskets on my 94 se last summer..so im semi experienced on that job..if it happens...ps car has 122k miles,auto tranny..there was no mixture of oil and water on the dipstick or tranny dipstick back on monday when i bought the car

Sounds like your fine then. And the flush thing is not mandantory either at this point.....cause like Rich says...it's normal. Just keep an eye on the temp while driving around town in particular and makes sure the cooling system is doinf it's job. A a clenaing product and flush should help clean out clogging in the radiator should you need it.