I have been driving by countless dealerships trying to find a 1st car for my youngest daughter. We have been doing the autotrader.com searching driving down the local strips etc. I asked the wife if she wanted to take a swing by the dealer where we bought her jeep liberty from, the oldest daughters jeep liberty, and the oldest daughters second grand am from. We pulled into the lot and right near the door is sitting a Black 2005 bonny GXP. I geeked out hard! That is the first time I ever saw one in person. I told the wife after we see what they might have for her I'm taking a look at the GXP. They had nothing for the newb driver, but they did have something for me. LOL. My wife owned a Q45 before her liberty and fawned over this one. She likes the spaciousness, the power of course, but most important brought her back to when we had the one thats in the sig. Alot of fun times in that creation of mine.

SOOOOO. My question is what do I look for before buying this car. I've been out of the loop for so long. Is there any major problems with the car or little annoyances I should know before maybe going into it. Thanks in Advance for the information

water leaks are a big one on the 00-05'* comes from sunroof drains, spoiler, trunk seals, and sometimes the doors

Right. Check the trunk spare tire well for standing water. Check the steering for clunking while turning.

They're generally pretty reliable cars. I've had a bit of bad luck with mine (gauge cluster, coil assembly, etc.) but people seem to be getting 140k+ miles on these without problems.

I've heard the rear man oil seal on the northstar'* can be trouble

Having just purchased mine last month, may I ask the mileage and how much they're asking?

I got a really good deal on mine as it was a bit higher mileage.....whomever the original owner was must have loved the car. The interior was perfect and there are only three small dings I'm going to have paintless dent removal performed on in the spring.

I even got the original window sticker and the owners manual!!! A rarety I've found when buying a used car.

Obviously, don't say anything if it will force you to compete with someone else for the deal!!!

it'* all option with 70k for 9500. Black on black

Boy, I thought my deal was good.

Sounds like it'* about the same as mine...black on black with all the options....or at least as many as I was aware you can get.

Didn't all Bonneville GXP'* come with the same options?

As for the rear oil seals, is that particular to certain year Northstars? There were quite a few changes made on the LD8 that'* in the Bonne GXP over the other Northstars of previous years.

For that price, I'd definitely pick it up. I paid $15,500 2 years ago when the car had 45,900 miles on it.

Rear main seal has never been a problem with the LD8. NEVER. Let'* not throw out every Northstar issue since 1992 please! That said, the oil crossover lines have been problematic with some.

Sunroof leaks have NOT been reported on GXP'*. Although there have been complaints of leaks around the trunk seal and a very few with bad spoiler assembly.

Intermediate shaft clunk. It'* going to happen. A matter of when, can you see it'* Service records to see if it was replaced?

Like Xtreme mentioned a few dash clusters and rarer is the bad coilpack/on plug problem.

Not all GXP'* are "optioned out" We have seen a few without trunk CD deck, heated seats, and I'm sure a few other things. They based at $36,000. Mine stickered near $39.

For the mileage and the price, I think it a fair price. Not a "deal" but a fair price.

Its not a cheap car to maintain. Tires are from 200-320 per tire. As with most bonnevilles I've had (2000-2005) front bearings can last from 40-100K miles. I have an 05 GXP (V now, so I suspect that the plenum issues with the V6 are corrected. Other than that, I love my bonnevilles, and am still upset they quit making them. Even more upset that Pontiac is now history. They are awesome cars. Their motto "Luxury with an attitude" is very true.