Its not just pontiac all dealer ships are crooks ,I have a dodge durango also and dodge is the same.I would go to some other small shop and get it checked out, dont tell them the problem the dealership mentioned.

I'll buy the car as is if you want to avoid spending money on a motor. Cant be worse than harofreaks car

I'm very sorry to hear about your problems. As an SSei owner too, I've had my share of problems but typically they aren't as expensive to repair as the Nissans and Hondas I've owned. I have about 66,000 miles on mine. Sure I've had problems (actually thought about trading her in a couple of times) but I just can't find anything with as much bang for the buck, plus I still think it is the best-looking car on the road, and power.... you said it!

Problems I've had: leaking SC'r front seal (R/PL'd under warranty), bad plugs when I purchased her at 30,000 miles for $18,000 (I NEVER buy new; too much depreciation for that new car smell), rear shock mounts, thermostat bad, faulty gas cap at 50,000 miles, high-pressure power steering hose. Thing is I do my own maintenance so I've spent relatively little. I fully expect to go 200,000 miles +. My '92 Bonne SSE went 275,000 miles with some $ in her (only problem ever was: intake manifold bypass hose rupture, rack, McPherson struts, worn out rotors, bad wheel bearing. I think all my parts for that was less than $850. I sold her, not because she was failing; I was just itching for the SSEi! She was perfect and running strong when I sold her to some lucky kid. In my opinion you can get a lot of car for a lot of money, or a lot of car for little money..... if you learn to do your own work and invest in some tools.

Amen compy

Ive had a lot of problem with my SSEi,trunk leak, window regulator, lower intake gasket, boost control solenoid, pressure solenoid, intermediate shaft, wheel speed sensor, motor mount, bearings, and finaly spun bearing and a new (used 74,000km ) engine.


But still love that beast!

Your "hard shift" are probably due to a bad pressure solenoid in the tranny, causing intermittent hard shift especially on light/medium load.

Look in the 00+ problem and solutions thread to find more info on that.

My '04 rattles in at least 3 places

Yeah the quality leaves much to be desired. I would be more upset if I paid as much as you did for your car.

EDIT: Yet for some reason I am still an enthusiast! Love-hate relationship.

Just put in a 3.4 pulley with Fender well intake , high flow cat and colder plugs and youll love it again


Guaranteed

Not sure how your lower intake cracked or your supercharger pulley fell off for that matter. If you have ever had to press one off you KNOW how HARD it is to get them off. As for the lower intake unless it warped due to heat issues it should not have cracked. Did you change your oil often? Did you run the car hard? The interior stuff I can readily believe but these motors are ROCKS especially the L67 unless they are not taken care of.

How did they know your cylinder was done? Boroscope? Cracked plug? If you were stock and chipped a piston I would be looking for a fueling problem before replacing the motor or you will be doing it again in a few weeks.

As for the motor, you would be just a served to get a used low mileage L67 off of Ed Morad (gtped at msn.com) for a grand or so.

I ran the car hard roughly from 5,000mi to 10,000mi or so. I stopped running the car hard after tires and brakes started to cost too much. Since then, I go "pretty" easy on her. I mean, it is an SSEi after all. But I haven't needed new tires in 3 years. (I alternate a winter and summer set.)

Well, as much as I wanted to pour some money into to some mods, I really don't have any left after all the repairs. Plus, I don't want anything else breaking! So yeah, I'm stock for sure. As for "how" they know, I have no idea. I'll have to ask them when I call back to renegotiate some assistance

Anyone know how much I can expect to get for a 00 SSEi with no engine? $4000? I have no clue.

Ok I sent an email to Ed. Thanks for the tip.

As for changing my oil. I did it roughly every 5,000mi.