i have a 2000 3.4L w/ just over 54K on it. I have had the car for a yr and a half, got it w/ 34K on it. I have had no problems except a water pump failure (fairly common on any car. I have upgraded my intake, exhaust and throttle body a little, and performance-wise I know it'll outrun a stock 3.8. So there, ur not far off the premier package (minus the supercharged SS)....I have heard a lot about the intake gasket issues, haven't had that problem yet. Otherwise, I haven't heard of any major issues that don't happen on any impala (common to all 00-05 imps are the intermediate steering shaft issue, several exectrical issues, etc). If this impala has, lets say, under 20K on it, and the asking price is at or lower than the blue book (
www.kbb.com), I'd pick it up if I were you...5 years and 54K miles later, mine is still running GREAT. It's a smooth ride, handels well, and is a car that I know will start up and get me to work EVERY morning. For the 1st time, I don't worry about having a reliable car. I think the neg-hype about the 3.4L is just a bunch of trash talk. It is a LONG running GM motor (back to the mid 1980's i think). So like I said, if the price/milage/condition is right, I say go for it, u'll be happy and get ur $'s worth.
-Tim