Just placed a private offer of $1400 for this SSEi. I suspect it will cost about $400 to move it from California to Phoenix (My F350 is still up north, I have no tow vehicle).

I don't fully trust the ad. We don't see 80k 3.8 fail from leaking LIM gaskets. maybe the gasket replacement was poorly done, causing damage to the engine. I suspect it will need a transmission rebuild. It doesn't not have the nicer SSEi seats, nor are the seats heated. Finally, when people mention KBB, that is a huge flag. Hustler comes to mind. And 9k KBB value..... NOT.

Might be a fun project car- I think $1400 + $400 movement is too much, but these Bonnys are becoming harder to find with clean body'*.

Pontiac : Bonneville SSEi in Pontiac | eBay Motors

$1,400 would be a steal. Even if you decide not to fix it, you could part it out for many times that price. If you plan on fixing it, you probably need to count on a short block plus a transmission rebuild.

Good luck.

I'd be asking for current pictures, also pictures of the oil pan off the car... appears the pictures of the car were from back in the day the car was running

If selling is unwilling to provide current pictures... BIG RED FLAG

Yea, the bottom end of that engine is toast. Yank that beeyotch out and try to at least find a short block. Everything should swap over just fine.

I don't see any close ups of the gas door area. This is a common area to rot out.

you can tell it was garage kept, the headlights and taillights still look new, so do the wheels.

I don't think the pictures are of current state of car

I looked pretty closely at the ad, and I can't imagine there is any deception here. The tags on the car are from 9/12, as mentioned in the ad, and if the coolant was never serviced, I can see how LIM gaskets failed after 10 years of Dex Cool.

Plus, according to the auto check, the car has been in Upland Ca most of its life. The mileage was at 80,323 at last count, 4/12, which means it has taken 500 miles in the last year, which sounds about right for a bottom end failure right after a LIM failure.

I say it is what it his, and should be fun with the Series 3 longblock going in to it.

Not related, but to prevent confusion, I believe we tested the theory that Dex had nothing to do with gasket failure. It was the plastic gasket themselves that failed.

how would you test that, out of curiosity?