I am now less than a year away from paying off my 01 Grand Prix and I am much looking forward to moving it into "toy" status. it has been an outstanding car with 120k now on the clock. Time, money and mods have delivered a fun to drive car with usable performmance and still serving up 27mpg at 70-75mph cruising speeds.

I have spent a good deal of time reading up here on the board and you guys have been a wealth of information...almost too much ...out of everything else I have looked for my potential new daily driver, I absolutely love the looks of the 2000-up Bonne...I've been leaning strongly towards an 02 or 03 SLE.

However I'm afraid I have to admit to being somewhat dismayed reading about all the trouble spots this car seems to have...lots of nagging little issues it would seem, even though a few look to be pricey ones to remedy.

My GP has been very trouble free as w-bodies go...then again who knows what the next year will bring. I guess to sum up, I dont see many posts about how people have had their cars and put umpteen miles on them without a hitch...and too many saying they are so fed up theyre ready to trade or sell the car. This is a sad note cuz I would love to have the Bonne as a stablemate for my GP...but I dont want a car I have to spend so much time and money repairing that I wont have any cash to play with my GP any further.
Are the other sisterships to the Bonne so plagued with these same issues?

ps...do any of the other bodies common to the Bonne offer a fold down back seat that could possibly be swapped in? The Regal and Impala offer this option for the W-body that can be made to work but I dont know if there is a similar situation available for the B-ville.

Please feel free to talk me out of my present train of thought

One of the main reasons for a forum like this is for people to ask about their problems, not to say how much they like the car. One thing that we don't know is how well the car has been cared for or maintained.

I wouldn't say that these cars are any more trouble prone than many others. There are some things, like any car that will be pretty much a given that you will experience. Intermediate steering shaft clunk, broken rear window regulators, and eventually the front transmission mount. All relatively easy to repair and covered here.

I have no regrets on purchasing mine, and plan on having it for some time. I'm coming up on 90k miles, and have had to replace the intermediate shaft, repair the window regulators, replace a rear wheel hub, replace the rear shock mounts, replace the tie-rod ends, and the front transmission mount.

My friend'* 00 SSEi has had the front hubs replaced, window regulators repaired, power steering pump replaced, intermediate shaft lubed, and a coil pack replaced. Currently, it also has a slight leak in the high pressure hose for the power steering. It'* coming up on 100k.

I don't believe any of this to be unusual maintenance for a 7, almost 8 year old car.