PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

My parents gave it to me

Originally they bought it in '95 or '96 with about 32k. It had been a company car for Alltel. My parents needed a full size car because the p.o.s. Grand Am and the uber p.o.s. Dodge Omni we had was not going to cut it for a family of four and other than that we had an '83 Ranger. Nothing Ford had appealed to my parents (Taurus/CrownVic) And my mom one day saw a Bonneville but had no idea what it was but she liked it. The first one she saw was Green with the Gold cross lace rims. Dad looked into it and found out what the car was. He was searching around and couldn't find anything with less then 90k and everything was in the 17-18k price range still. Until he found the one we have now, which was about the same price but it was way less miles so dad jumped on it. Mom kept saying she wanted a green one with the gold rims, That is what she wanted until dad brought home the White on White SSE I have now.

Went looking for a vehicle with better fuel mileage than the 98 Tahoe i was driving, and found this one on cragslist, my dad has an 03 SLE through work, and he let me drive it, and i LOVED it. Decided i had to have a bonne

mine was a hand me down, my next one (if i ever get it) will be because i miss it so much

I got tired of lookin at hondas all day like my mom wanted me to get. And randomly parked a house up was my future bonne. The kid i bought it from was one of the peoples next door kid. I almost should of let him keep it cause it has done nothing but cost me tons of my money lol.

My Bonneville was a replacement for my totaled 91 Regal GS. I got it back in may of 2000 from the service station I worked at (pumped gas& light mechanical work)part time. My boss used to pick up cars at auctions and flip them and I asked him to keep an eye out for something with a 3800 in it. He came back with this ugly ass silvery mint green boat with 100k on it. I told him I was thinking more in terms of another GS or a GTP. Well anyhow a couple months went buy and this ugly ass car was just sitting there and I figured what the heck I will at least see how she drives and maybe get it painted. I loved the interior from day one, everything was laid out real nice and stepping up from a regal I liked the roominess.
I popped the hood to see what kind of trouble I was getting into and was surprised to find the cleanest engine to this very day that I have ever seen. I looked at all the fluids and usual used car stuff. No rust and only minor scratches on the front bumper cover. I took it for a test drive and liked how smooth the engine ran. I took it around town and beat on it for a while. I came back and asked how much it was going for, he said $2600 and I thought that was a fair price. but I did not but the car at that time, I hated the color so much. My Regal sat at my work while I waited for the insurance company to make a move. I was charged a "storage fee" of $40 dollars a day and my car sat for 2 months! Finally I get a check for the book value of my Regal it was only worth 1600, later that day the insurance company comes buy and picks up the car and pays the storage fee of $2400. My boss gives me $2350 and says I owed him $50 for the tow so now I got $3950 to blow on a car. I told my boss I wanted this to be a cash and carry sale, no warranty, no bs so he let the car go for $1700 and I promised to not bring it back if it had troubles. I filled up tank and paid my insurance for the year and registration with the money I had left over. Been happy since then. and I have come to like the color.

I was getting sick of driving my rusted out Astro Van(even though I lived that thing to death) my uncle had the '92 as a parts car but just after he got it, his car was totalled so he desided to fix and sell this one... and I just saw it at my good family friend's shop every day, and I just loved the all black and the lines, I was able to look hast all the issues it had (and there where alot!) the only thing that held me back was the fact that I had never driven cars before..well no alot.. and the $2000 asking price well one day a guy at the shop asked me If I was interested in selling my van and offered $1600 (easly doublt its value) so I JUMPED on that and bought the car $300 out of pocket and the $1600 from the van sale... its cost me ever since, but I wouldn't go back on it if I could...

the '95 was one that was in my area all the time that I liked (carded it twice unknowingly) one day I saw a forsale sige on it $1000 OBO called "jennifer" told her I wanted it offered $750 she said meet me in the middle so I payed $850, very good deal! this cars been great to me.

I didn't need another car, and wasn't looking for one, but drove by this one parked in a driveway with a For Sale sign on it. I was really an eye-catcher and extremely clean..just like new. I had the owner come out and I looked the car over very closely, drove it, looked under the hood, and it was so cherry, I just had to have it. It is not a DD, it is a toy and I love it.

I had $400 my old mechanic had this car sitting in his yard, he wanted $600 and he let me make payments, so i bought it... and then fell in love

My dad bought it off a customer of his for pretty cheap and gave the car to me instead of just selling it to someone else. I liked it and we both agreed it was a good first car for me. Fast, cheap, fairly reliable, extremely comfortable.

When I first saw in it online at Autotrader, it looked immaculate. The color was my favorite, combined with the charcoal interior, and the fact it is an 03, it was EXACTLY what I was looking for, all options included. It seemed to good to be true, except it had higher miles (108,000) than any other, but it was $8800 and looked brand new for the miles. Not even ONE door ding on the body. So the miles didn't bother me.

I had Karl check it out for me, and I was sold on it before I drove up 200 miles to see it in person.

I got mine because it was in my family and always loved it. Lucky for me, I was able to pick up the 89 SE for myself and enjoyed it immensely. My second Bonneville was purchased out of vanity for my Aurora and it served its purpose well until I couldn't afford to maintain two cars.

I bought my 95, as I wanted a Series II 3800.... And I read a lot about the new Motor for 95... Lots of changes over the previous generation.. Plus it was just a good looking car...

I got lucky and found the color I was looking for( Medium Garnet Red Metallic ) and it even had the right color interior( Dark Gray or Charcoal.... In this case it was Graphite ).... I took it for a drive... Haggled on the price a bit and then signed in Blo.. I mean bought it and took it home...

It was given to me as my first car. To be honest, I didn't have a choice. My parents wanted something reliable and safe and I wanted something sporty. We both agreed that the new gen of Bonne looked sporty but it was also safe and reliable. I gotta admit, if it was my decision, a black Mustang GT would be in the driveway. I do love my car though, it just wasn't my first choice.

I wanted something that was sporty but still had alittle luxury. Plus not having everybody and there brother having one was a plus also.

The real reason? I have wanted one of these as long as I have wanted a SHO. But I would only get a supercharged model. Have owned several (6 or 8, I forget) SHO's, and then I found the Black Beauty through a buddy who was going to purchase her for $1000. He knew I was hurting for a car (I gave my '99 Sunfire to the Ex-wife, her other car kinda went kablewy) so he told me about this one. He didn't realize it was an SSEi, so when I spotted it, I was amazed. 160K, black, great condition. Took it for a test drive, told the owner what I believed was wrong with it and how much to fix it, and then asked him what he would take for it. I was prepared to give him the full grand, it was in such great shape! He told me $400, and I didn't even fight it. SOLD! Turns out it just needed valve cover gakets and a tune up.

I love my Bonnie more so than ANY of the SHO's I have owned. (Just wish the SSEi would have had a manual tranny option...lol)

I knew I needed a full sized car when child #2 was coming along. A mini-van looked like my only option, but I just couldn't do it. I needed a car with a big back seat to fit the child seats in correctly. (much different from when I used to look at a car with a big back seat )

I was told a Bonneville has a big back seat, then I learned some were Supercharged, and that made me think: Hmm, something for me too!

I was after a mint red '93 SSEi in town, but it had issues, wouldn't pass an e-test. Both of the child seats fit, and I thought: Winner!

So, I knew that was what I wanted, then a green '93 came up for sale in a nearby city. Took it for a drive and paid cash right then and there. I was hooked. My wife just doesn't understand me, though....

Moral of the story: Yes, a booster seat and a rear facing infant seat work just great in my generation of car. That was how I sold the idea also to my wife that this was the right car for us. She asked, "What's Supercharged mean"? I said it had to do with the emissions. I didn't lie, did I?

Adam

Umm....well. Found out about the 89 sitting in a waiting room with a bunch of old ladies...and one said to the other, "i really need to get rid of my car" turned out she was talking about a car that she had bought about 5 years before...and had only been driven just over 1000 miles in 3 years..and only a hundred or so in the last 2. It was snatched up because my mother and I had just gotten to Wisconsin about a week before..and it was boosted because we were driving an 87 LE at the time on loan from a friend and really liked it alot. Turned out to be almost exactly the same car at first glance. 87 LE was Maroon/Maroon and the 89 MGRM/Gray. I've said enough about it over the years.

And the 93...

Well...why? I had been a member here for a few years... so I automatically would go for one above anything else. I actually found it on autotrader and was literally there 2 hours after I saw it for the first time. Cash in hand. Got money off for it for a few noises and broken parts which were fixed when i got home. I was cool with the high price of it because of its immaculate condition and that it had, within the week, had new brakes put on, new EGR valve, and new cam sensor. So knowing what goes into all of that...in addition to the cost, it was mine that afternoon.

well, i was car shopping last summer (almost exactly a year ago) and couldn't find anything that i could afford AND liked. i really wanted a truck, cuz gas was cheap (about 2.85... haha) last summer, so i didn't mind. i had a job at a factory about 30 miles south of my town, so i knew i would be driving a lot, but wanted a truck nonetheless. this was after a year of college by the way.

well, my younger sister had to be dropped off in Worthington (about an hour west of us) to meet family, who would then take her to souix falls for the weekend. while my dad and i were driving around worthington looking for possible vehicles, we happened upon a ford dealership with a very clean looking GMC pickup in the lot. we drove a little closer to check it out, and asked for the keys so we could check inside. mind you, this was about 15 min before their closing time. anyway, it was very clean, had only 137k on it (i was trying to keep it below 3000 because here in MN if its less than 3000 than you dont have to pay the 10% sales tax, or something like that), and i got to drive it. my dad and i hopped in, and had a lot of fun. it had the 5.7 in it (plenty of power ) and drove very smoothly. i loved it, and almost bought it then. it had a nice 2 tone paint job, that i still to this day don't know if it was factory or not. anyway, they wanted 2500 for it, and i almost jumped the gun right there. then my dad (smart as he is) listed a few things that we "didn't like" about it, and said we weren't sure. after the sales lady went in to talk to the owner a few times, she agreed that if we came back the next day, we could either have it for 2000 flat, or they would pay me for the gas that i spent driving over there. anyway, the whole way home i was excited about my "new truck" that i was gonna get the next day and all that.

that night, in the shower (hey, i get a lot of serious decisions made while in the shower) i had an "early life crisis". all of the sudden, i just HAD to have a black ssei.... i don't know where it came from. i somehow just knew that the ssei was supercharged, and i've always liked the way black cars looked. i decided that if i wasn't getting a truck i was gonna get a 4 door car, because i hate having to move the seats for people, and i liked the supercharger on them. anyway, long story short, i didn't go to worthington the next day, instead i spent all of the next week searching the internet for black ssei's.... and couldn't find one even CLOSE to the price range i was looking for. i emailed a few dealerships and whatnot, and didn't get a response from any of them. anyway, the very next weekend, while i was earning some extra money working in a field, i get a call (again, about 15 min from closing time) from a dealer (in none other than souix falls) and said he had a bonnie that i might like. so i called my cousin who lives in souix falls, and told him that i was coming that night. so i left, and got to souix falls that night, and we drank and were merry. the next day, i drove to the dealer to check the car out. it was dark blue, 15% tint (which was later taken off), and had approx. 151k on it. it was pretty sexy, not gonna lie. so i drove it, and loved the power. i'd actually looked at a bonnie in my hometown, but it was too much . so, i decided i'd spend the rest of the day thinking about it, and that night my cousin and i drank again, and then i went home. i decided to buy the car, and my mom drove to souix falls with me.

it wasn't quite a black ssei, but it looked *dang* sexy anyway. i bought the car (for just under 3000) and drove it home that day. when i got home, i realized the gas gauge didn't work. but i thought that would be an easy fix at the local garage, but it wasn't. they said they would have to charge me approx. $200 just to drop the tank, and thats regardless of if they get it fixed or not. so, i just decided to trip it. (and still trippin it to this day!) the next two repairs came a few days later, when i replaced the steering wheel (the original one was for some reason ground to heck on the top, don't ask me how) and the drivers side window motor was replaced. luckily, i got those for free from a local junk yard. he even helped me install them

the next repair came 1k later, when i had to replace both the front axle struts... that cost me a clean 400. a few months later, i got the windshield (which hit a turkey on the way home from college) and both the headlights replaced because apparently our insurance replaces glass for free!

since then, i've had the a/c compressor replaced, and a few other random little things to take care of, but it doesn't matter, because I LOVE MY BONNEVILLE!!! i was getting a pretty consistent 32 mpg on the highway during the summer, and most of the driving up at school was freeway, so i was getting about 28, including in town. so whatever my car has cost, me, has probably saved me about as much as i would have spent on gas had i gone back and got that truck. but i love my car to death, its extremely comfortable, and has that power that i love. i've just began to get into the modding mode, now that summer is here (more or less) in central MN, and couldn't be happier!

i know that everyone already knows this, but BONNEVILLES RULE!!!

I saw a post over on BC for a 95 supercharged SLE..I really didn't think much of it because I was looking for another n/a 95.. So for whatever reason I clicked the link after a couple days.. I saw the pics and my jaw dropped... a 95 black on black SLE.. just like my old car.. but with a sunroof and spoiler and in awesome condition.. AND no engine! I had my old engine and trans at my buddies house so the gears started turning.. I called Joe up. (The owner who works at Dynotech) I offer him 1/2 KBB ($800) He really wanted a G for it because of fresh 20% tint and the condition etc. I told him IDK.. He called me back up and said if I come get it that weekend, it's mine for my offer. Dynotech was in the process of movng from NJ to Long Island NY and he really didn't want to tow it up there.. So, I rented a trailer and got it. Best $800 I ever spent in my life. Not an incredible deal, but to me, more than worth it. A nice clean slate. It was an opportunity to take everything I learned from my last car and make this one better.

I get into this car, turn the key, and it feels like home. You can't put a $$ value on that.