Hey guys, I was all set to purchase the GXP Bonne when my mechanic warned me about the Northstar engine. He says they use and leak oil by the puddles and are very expensive to fix and upkeep. He has alot of customers with these engine in cadillacs and Aurora. Since this is going to be a daily, he recommends me getting the 3.8 engine for reliabilty and longevity. What do you guys think. Just looking out for myself longterm thats all. The GXP is still one bad *** car.

i've never really heard anything too horrid about the northstar powerplant... make sure you take a look at a used SSEi or two. very impressive cars with the reliability to boot

Thanks for the responses. That'* exactley what I've been hearing about. It'* too bad. I think the SLE is the best way to go.

ya and the SLE now shares the body with the GXP

When I did my first oil change over here in Germany, I noticed some oil around the oil cooler lines so I took it it an authorized dealer here and they said it was just the o-ring gaskets for the oil cooler lines. They replaced those at no charge and since then I don't lose any oil. Granted I only have 10,000 miles on my 2004 but I do drive a lot in the city and have really opened it up on the autobahn as well. Still very pleased with the car. As a side note; yesterday I was leisurely driving south of Berlin when a German Police car told me to pull over. I knew I wasn't speeding so I wasn't sure what was up. They asked me what kind of license plate that was on my car. I told them I worked at the embassy and it was a diplomatic plate. They then understood and asked me what kind of car it was. I told them a Pontiac and they were just in awe of the car. They said it was beautiful! Now, I know these police knew what kind of plate I had. After all, Berlin is the capital of Germany and there are tons of diplomatic cars from all embassies driving around the city. My guess is they wanted to get a closer look at the car. They were very friendly and seemed to be more interested in the vehicle than the plate. Needless to say, I drove away with a big smile! Not all Germans are Benz, Porsche, and Mercedes fans.

the earlier northstars did have issues. But most were redesigned after 2000 to eliminate the burning/leaking oil issues. The new N* engines are great engines! I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

My '99 Northstar 4.0 has no oil loss issues, burning or leaking. There are a couple members of Aurora Club that have put 170k+ miles on their Auroras with no major issues. Of course there are others with less miles than mine that have had engines and transmissions replaced, but that is the exception and not the rule. You'll have examples at both end of the spectrum with any make/model/engine. If the Northstar had any long-standing fatal flaws, they wouldn't have continued using the engine in so many models IMO.

If you're looking for economy over power, the 3800-powered SLE is probably your best bet... depends on the braggin' rights your interested in.

Early Northstars were plagued with oil leaks....mine right now is leaking periodically due to a crack in the oil cooler lines. Later Northstars fixed the problem.

By the way, any engine is prone to leaks, so its unfair to single out the Northstar as a leaker. It is expensive...look what kinda cars it goes into...