i've been on both sides of the coin. a couple of years ago when my bonneville still belonged to my aunt, she went on vacation and left me the car to use.

the alternator burned out and being the cheap so and so i am i put a used one on the car before she came home.

shortly after she gave me the car last year the used one died. due to time constraints i put a napa reman with a warranty on.

just the other week(almost a year to the day!) it fried. got a new one under warranty.

2 years ago i spent $50 for a used one and was happy to save money
1 year ago i spent $182 for a new one and cursed the thing 6 ways from sunday
last week i spent nothing but cursed it just a bit for the hassle.

its a tough call to make. i'm now warrantied so that'* what i'm sticking with but if i had bought another used one a year ago for another 50 bucks i think i'd have probably tried a 3rd used one now figuring i'm still under the price of a new one.

bill

Where did you get the new one from in Ontario and what was the waranty?

i got it from the local uap store. it has a three year warranty.

I don't think it'* the 140 amp for that price either bil is it? Thanks for the reply by the way.

actually to be honest i'm not sure what'* on the car! when the first new one went on i was in a jam. it was storming like mad up here, snow, winds etc so of course i had the car on full load(wipers, lites, defrosters etc) when it blew. i didn't want to be in this crap changing it and one of the local garages said they'd do it but only if it was done right that minute. so i phoned the store, said i wanted an alternator for an 89 bonneville sse with air, grabbed it and ran! when it puked out, i took it back and just said i wanted another one. so if anyone out there knows whats stock for that year car let me know and we'll both have that answer!

thanks, bill

Well...here'* someone who picked up a rebuilt ACDelco on Ebay for $40 delivered. (105, not 140).... not sure if it works, since I didn't need and still don't.... but I have it in the event I need one in a hurry. Many members have seen it sitting in my livingroom.... it doubles as a conversation piece.

You've been hanging out with Boosty way too much!

I'd likely be heading off to the junkyard to find a good, low mileage alternator.

Well I went to AZ tonight after work as planned and picked up the Rebuilt Alternator for $136 and change including the core.

Its a Duralast and has the lifetime Warranty. I took it out of the box to check things over. It was well packaged and looks to be a keeper. I'll be putting it in tomorrow afternoon.

I think I did the right thing and we'll see. The good thing is, if it goes, I get another one at no cost.

I found my most recent one at a JY about 40 miles from me. Now I looked ALL over the yard to find a good one. I certainly found a few. And then I came upon this 92 Park Avenue that that had just been delivered while i was standing one row away. So obviously it had not been touched yet. Oh boy, not only had it not been touched, it had a BRAND SPANKIN NEW DELCO REMY in it!!!!. There was some paperwork on the front passenger seat that showed it being installed like 100 miles before what the car said was on it!! And I got it for only ...get this...$16!!! So just goes to show that you don't always have to break the bank. So I would say check the yard, and if no go, then I would recommend getting a new one for sure.

OOPS...sorry...didn't notice the update