Hi everyone,

My first post here. My '02 SLE (which I loved) caught fire and I'm hoping to get another Bonnie. I found a '05 GXP, certified (12month warranty), with 65k miles, and a Northstar. I really would like this car (I break into a sweat just thinking about it), but I'm hoping to get an idea about how reliable it is before I open my wallet this weekend and buy it.

If the Northstar in the '05 GXP and the GXP isn't going to kill me on costs, I'll buy it this weekend. Otherwise would I be better off looking for another Bonnie? Also found a '03 SLE w/50k, a '05 Monte SS w/88k, and a '06 G6 GTP w/50k.

Any advice, info, and opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

*** Moved to it'* own thread for better visibility ~ Kevin ***

The admininstator for the forum, his highness the grand poobah GXP Venom has a GXP. He goes on, and on, and on, and on about what a nice car it is. I'm sure he'll chime in here today with his own opinion, but I am equally sure he will tell you it is a reliable car.

It'* a Bonneville. How could it not be a good car?

I haven't heard anything bad about them. They can be a little challenging to work on, but thats every car out there. GXPVenom won't stop talking about his

Like I said, on and on, and on, and on ......

and on.. and on. He even dreams about it

There are common some issues with these cars that will need to be addressed over time, some of which apply to all Bonnevilles, not just the GXP.

Coolant crossover gaskets, trunk water leak, wheel hubs, etc. There should be a writeup somewhere describing what the typical problems are. I had an unusually bad experience with my Bonneville, which it doesn't seem anyone else on this board has even heard of.

My temp gauge fell, so the entire gauge cluster needed to be replaced by the dealer. I'm the only one with this problem so far.
Front wheel hubs were bad when I bought the car with 46k and caused front end vibration.
OEM brake rotors are garbage and warped by 45k.
Water crossover gaskets go bad around 60k.
I blew the rear coil assembly while racing. $300+ part, but this is one of those things nobody else has had a problem with.
The LED lights behind the radio and climate control burn out after a while.
The trunk leaks water somewhere. I fixed that by drilling a hole in the rubber plugs at the bottom of the spare tire well.
Fog light harness on the GXP is garbage and burns out fog lights every month. I installed HID'* and haven't had a problem since (about a year now).
Steering rack creaking issues (common with all Bonnevilles).
Gas cap leaks and needs to be replaced, or it will send an SES evap leak code, also a common problem.
OEM speakers aren't too great if you like blasting your music. I just blew out my rear 6x9'*.
Engine mount went bad on mine at around 55k. Fixed by the dealer.
Oil cooler lines leak oil onto the exhaust manifold, blowing burning oil smell into the cabin from time to time. This happened to me while I lived in Chicago about once every other week, and didn't happen at all for the whole 9 months I lived in California. I'm waiting for it to happen again. $26 per line at gmpartsdirect, but still an annoyance. Very common problem.

I'm at 72k miles. I bought the car with 45,800 and have had to deal with all of these problems. My Nissan warranty has replaced everything with the exception of the gas cap, fog light harness, trunk leak, LEDs, and the oil cooler lines, so I've paid a total of $100 in deductibles for the two trips its been to the dealer. Its been problem free for the last year though, so I'm happy. My warranty expires in 2012/94k miles. I paid $2200 for the warranty, and the car has cost them $5,200 in dealer repair costs so far.

But don't let this scare you. I freakin love this car. Its very unique, and very fun to drive, and just about everyone has assumed that a great deal of these problems are a result of negligence on the previous owner'* part.

Thanks for the move Kevin.

I hope to get out to see the '05 GXP either Sunday or Monday, so I can see first hand what kind of condition it'* in and give it a test drive.

bs2 My pleasure!

Any car is going to have it'* share of ups and downs, contingent on the previous owner'* willingness to take care of it. Get it checked out before you spend the money is my advice and get one that makes you happy

My ears were burning..... Someone'* talking about me.
I had some issues with inner fender plastic "pop rivets", once replaced; not a problem.

Loose plastic body panels, GM'* double faced tape was crap for '04, '05. When I had the custom paint done the shop urethane glued them. Problem over.

Truck access panel latch blows apart if you slam it, I have learned to be gentle after putting all the pieces back together twice (pain)

The IM shaft clunk that plagues so many late model GM products.

Trunk leak, but I prolly did that pulling the rubber seal loose as many times as I have been in there doing mods. I got used to checking it when I open it and haven't had a spare tire compartment full of water again. We did have 1 member who had this problem but it was a small leak. The Dealer found the spoiler was missing the rubber washers between it and the trunk lid.

Some GXP'* have had oil/coolant leaks. I think it'* a factory fitment issue. you either get them or dont. Alot of high mileage ones been here without either.

My stock front rotors still in great shape, it'* the rears that went on mine. Brakes have a lot to do with how a driver uses them, and who puts replacement pads on. I think my rears toasted from my habit of parking it all winter with a cover that doesnt keep the snow from underneath the car. I also got those soft grabby OEM pads off the front way before they needed it. The dust on the rims was unbelievable and a pain to remove. I left the backs till gone, maybe that helped with junking them.

I can certainly imagine the Monsoon capable of blowing the rear speakers. It makes them pound the back glass pretty good. I added a sub and found I didnt need the volume so high to get the sound I wanted. But I like rock at medium high. Getting to old for banging my eardrums.

My Front sway bar bushings are garbaged, I am positive from the air suspension I have since pulled.

Drivers side fog blew, havent had another problem, but I used them when new because they were novel. I rarely turn them on anymore. They do nothing for fog, barely brighten the sides a little and go off with the brights which I have on most of the time. So I forget the button'* even there.

With a lot of WOT'* throttles to near red-line and an occasional nitrous spray, my NorthStar still purrs like new @ 48K miles. It starts, idles, and performs like it just came off the lot.

Like Xtreme, I love the car, still get asked what it is (debadged), and a lot of compliments. For these reasons and the money I have put into aftermarket, it has become a Sunday Driver I'll never get rid of.