Seeing as we cannot make it to Niagara this weekend we decided it was time to either fix up our car or replace it and this was the weekend to do it.
I work for an Auto Parts Store so fixing her up was the decision made. We do not have a car payment and it is a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix with only 125,000KM's on it and the body is in great shape. My friend is a class A mechanic who is giving me a sweet deal on labor and with my discount at work this was a good decision.
Here is a pic of her from last fall. Scott and I are heading to the shop at 10:00am to start to work on it.

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If you have a car that you love, invest in it.  You'll know when it's time to move on.

-Dennis- (who loves his 2000 Maxima w/135,000 on it)

and when your trustd mechanic says it'll cost more than the car is worth get another........
on my 5th Jeep now, after 30 some-odd years...............I HATE car payments!
Cathi

barry_sword wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2008 at 8:37am:

Seeing as we cannot make it to Niagara this weekend we decided it was time to either fix up our car or replace it and this was the weekend to do it. I work for an Auto Parts Store so fixing her up was the decision made. We do not have a car payment and it is a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix with only 125,000KM's on it and the body is in great shape. My friend is a class A mechanic who is giving me a sweet deal on labor and with my discount at work this was a good decision. Here is a pic of her from last fall. Scott and I are heading to the shop at 10:00am to start to work on it. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

whats wrong with this car? a friend of mine has a car like this and he blew a timing belt. since it's an interference type engine most of the valves got bent. it has a single overhead cam quad 4. if you have any kind of major engine work i strongly recomend getting rid of the car. especially a pontiac.

Only 125000 KM on it and no car payment???  No doubt in my mind what I would do!  I hate car payments, and you can do an awful lot of repairs for the price of a new car.  

Got 531,000 miles on my Dodge Ram now, and wouldn't trade it for a new one if I could trade even up.  I don't like what they have done to the newer engines and the emissions.

Jerry

barry, i just thought of something. since thats a grand prix and not a grand am that probably has a 3.8 aka 3800 v6 or possibly a 3.0. they are both 90 degree engines and are usually pretty durable. is that what it has? dad has one in his buick. if it is a v6 and not a quad 4 then i would rebuild. the quad 4s are a pain in the ass to work on and as you know from being a parts man, more expensive. the quad 4 is a piss poor design.
like jerry said new cars are expensive. it's a good looking care. if it has a v6 i would rebuild.

Thanks guys. Well we replaced a lot on the car. We installed 4 "Monroe Quick Struts" which are a complete coil spring-strut-upper bearing mount all assembled as one unit for a quick install, rear sway bar links, 4 corner brake job, tune-up, serpentine belt, air filter, oil change, A/C charge, and a new blower motor. Total with labor= $1900.00. It is like a new car now. Seeing as we could not make Niagara on Sunday, we used that money and put it towards our repairs.

It was defiantly worth fixing as it has the bullet proof 3.8 HO engine and no rust, and is fun to drive. We still have a few things to do to it, but we got the most important stuff done first.

Here are a couple of pics of it from yesterday, now to hit the car wash.

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Thanks again for the advise, appreciate it. 8-)

You car-talk guys are such manly men. Arr arr arrrrrhhh!

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wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2008 at 9:30am:

You car-talk guys are such manly men. Arr arr arrrrrhhh! START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGESTART PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

ROTFALMAO [smiley=crackup.gif] [smiley=crackup.gif] [smiley=crackup.gif]

Smart move, Barry......it's a good looking ride too.

Much Love,
Jackie

PS.....GO JR!!!!! :) :) :) :)