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I've just bought (well pretty much for free) a Bonneville 00 SLE. It has 217k miles on it. Im wondering how reliable they are?

The engine sounds fine except with some weird noise at low speeds, which im guessing if of pulley. Transmission and suspension seems fine, idk what else to look for. Any help is appreciated. thanks

Look through here, specially the common problems sticky... viewforum.php?f=18

It really depends on how it's been kept up till now. It can still have a lot to give you.

They are reliable. My 02 SLE has 210,000 miles on it and is climbing at a rate of 1,000 per week and half. My recommendation is don't buy cheap parts. If you fix the common issues and use high quality parts the car will last a long time. I find myself fixing things more than once because I simply used a cheap part the first time I fixed it.

It's all about how it's been kept up. Mileage in most aspects, is just a number if you've kept things up well.

That's what ive been thinking and also i think those are highway miles.

The car doesn't have that much running also, about 60 miles or so a week.

Also the only two things ive encountered with it was power steering leak and some weird pulley noise. I got an oil spray and did that on the belt and that noise is gone, also when i got the oil change they changed the power steering fluid and now the steering feels much lighter and doesnt make noise at sharp right/left turns.

The power steering leak fix was estimated at about $600, my question is if i constantly change oil, and put that oil spray to reduce that pulley noise, can it be considered cheap fix? or the noise is just disappearing but internally its getting worse day by day without me knowing because of no noise.

I have looked through that stickey and the issues do seem to be common. Any help is appreciated thanks!

What did they say the actual problem was with the power steering?

Don't spray any oil on your belts, if they are squeeking they need replaced.

They said there was small leakage, and i could keep it like that but if im driving long distances a lot, it is better to have it replaced just in case. Its been a while since oil change and steering works like a charm.

I was told it was a temp fix for the belt, but u think its gonna damage?

if the belt is sqeaking with out the oil on it that means its slipping... whne you add an oil to it, it slips more and silences the "change me" indicator as well. leading to an out od sight out of mind condition and when it fails out in the middle of no where then you are stuck because of a "cheap fix".

Sometimes you have to pay a lil extra for quality, but that quality in the long run can save you due to the quantity of times you have to replace them :D

The belt is a relatively inexpensive fix. $40-50 for a name-brand, quality belt will have it silenced in no time.

If most of those miles were highway, it still has lots of life left. Highway miles are easy since the car's maintaining a steady RPM for a long time, and moisture/condensation gets cooked out of the fluids. Do be careful for losing 4th gear if the transmission hasn't been touched. It's a known problem on the 98-03 transmissions.

my 00 SE is at 156k, and its coming off the road due to it just starting to mechanichally fall apart. maybe i got a dud??

my buddy at work with a 01 SE has 600k on it, he drives from NF to TO every day, so the miles are just being thrown on,

he has changed alot of the moving parts, but as a whole his car is sound, motor runs nice. every buld in the dash is out and you can see onbious wear on the paint and chassis, but he still drives it.

I think the 3800 is a great motor... but the platform its on sucks. i still love my bonnie...

Liability wrote:my buddy at work with a 01 SE has 600k on it, he drives from NF to TO every day, so the miles are just being thrown on,

Man do I gotta see a pic of that.. Not saying I don't believe you, but I believe that tops anything I've seen on these cars mileage-wise.

Liability wrote:my 00 SE is at 156k, and its coming off the road due to it just starting to mechanichally fall apart. maybe i got a dud??

my buddy at work with a 01 SE has 600k on it, he drives from NF to TO every day, so the miles are just being thrown on,

he has changed alot of the moving parts, but as a whole his car is sound, motor runs nice. every buld in the dash is out and you can see onbious wear on the paint and chassis, but he still drives it.

I think the 3800 is a great motor... but the platform its on sucks. i still love my bonnie...

That's what, about 300 km round-trip? Yeah, that would do it...