I am looking at buying a 1992 Bonneville with the standard 3.8 engine (not supercharged). It has 166K and the guy is asking 1300 for it. I don't know to much about these cars, so I am wondering what you guys think. I am very aware of the upper and lower intake manifold gasket problems on these vehicles. I addressed the seller of my concerns about that and he basically said that it if was going to leak, it would have by now.

He also mentioned that he is going to replace some area of the fuel line as he said he noticed a small leak. Hmm?

Lastly, how good are the transmissions in this year of Bonneville? Is it a pretty reliable design?

Any other thoughts would be great. I have seen a lot of Buicks, Grand Prixs, etc. go well over 200 thousand miles on them where I live.

Thanks guys

the uim gasket is not a concern. the 92 will have an aluminum uim and no egr. so thats not an issue.

i would however strongly recomend changing the LIM gaskets if you did purchase it.

the tranny'* are more reliable than some people will say. many have made it past 200k. mine was at 180 and still good.

the condition of the body will deternmine the value of that car. do you know the trim level, or any of the features? if its a bare bone se with no goodies and cloth seats, maybe worth a lil less than 1300. but if its an sse, or an se with the sle package, it may be worth the 1300.

does he have a record of the maintaince?

and we live for pictures if you have any.


ohh, and welcome tho bonneville club.

Thanks for the responses guys!

The car in question is in SE trim. It has PW, PL, AC, CD, PS, Cruise, tilt, etc. No HUD or leather.

The guy doesn't have maintenance records as he buys these and other similar GM 3.8 vehicles at the auto auction. There is very little rust and no dents in the vehicle at all. It actually looks really sharp for being a 92. The guy and his wife said they have been using it on some long trips to auto auctions and they said it runs really solid. They got great gas mileage and were impressed by the vehicle for its age. I can read people pretty well and I don't think they are BSing me either.

I have three nice pictures of it, but I cannot figure out how to post them. Lemme play with the forum buttons and I'll post them shortly.

Thanks again fellas.[/img]

i see you tried,

this should help
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=77281

Here is a link to the pictures. Hope it works.

http://<a href="http://img145.images...u4.th.jpg]</a>
http://<a href="http://img113.images...[/img]</a>

heres a lil help


* edit, oh, i see you got it now, but if you just copy the forum line under the pic, you can just paste that in your post. and hit enter before you paste the next pic, to make em easier to view.

Thanks! As you can see, the body is straight and it looks pretty decent. As you can also tell, we get a lot of snow here :P

The guy said the interior is nearly perfect, no burn holes etc. He shampooed the carpets and really cleaned her up.

where are you located?

and yes, in the pics, it appears to be in decent shape. but cant really see the problem areas that are typical to these cars in those pics.

based on the pics and info, and the fact that it was bought at auction, id offer 800. but i dont think id pay more than 1000, personally.

I live in wintery Eau Claire, Wisconsin which is about 90 minutes from Minneapolis. You cannot find many cars over 8-10 years old that are rust free. This vehicle does have a very small amount of rust on the body, near the trunk.

The more I think about it, I think I am going to buy it. I was thinking the same thing as you though in offering 800 and having a high limit of a grand. Sure, anything can happen when the mileage hits 150k and above, but any used car is a risk. I can wrench a little bit, which begs the question.

What would be the first things you would do the car after buying it?

I was thinking,

Oil change
ATF flush or maybe a drain and refill would be a little safer at this mileage
Throttle body cleaning
Plugs, wires
Coolant flush
Inspect and maybe replace serpentine belt





What is the normal duration on the life of the timing chain in this vintage of Bonneville?