My folks'* 00 SSEi, 38K, never ever been beat on.. Recently had brakes all around, and had the coolant flushed and refilled a year ago, but dexcool back into it. Always dealer serviced, needs no obvious repair. Anything that it needed it got, like a new heated seat element, intermediate steering shaft to name a few.. Aside from a few door dings and stone chips, it'* cherry. It will be my daily driver, family car, etc. It'll get no mods and not beat on, but I'll probably enjoy it more than they did...
What can I expect to have to do to this thing?

Mike

If you do nothing else, replace 6 L of transmission fluid and filter, replace the stat with a 180F unit and replace your Lower Intake Manifold gasket.

You should wake it up with a CAI intake, a 3.5" pulley and a PCM for total $400. if you do it yourself.

You got a good one.

Check also for trunk leaks, hood herpes and rear window regulators. All common issues with the 2000+ model

Get yourself familiar with the 2000-2005 Forums down there a bit

Okay, lower intake gaskets... check for trunk leaks, be mindful of rear window regulator.. Not sure what hood herpes are, I assume rust.. The car will remain stock through and through... All work will be done by me, my cars never go to shops..
Anything else I should do?

Hood herpes is not rust. The hood is aluminum and the primer GM used was insufficient and the paint starts to bubble up underneath the front edge of the hood. If it'* bad enough it will start to come up over the top of the hood. There'* nothing you can do besides get it repainted though.

The hood is aluminum? Hmmm.. And yes, it is bubbling right near the secondary latch.. so it'* working its way there. Luckily, I can paint..

My hood herpies originated where the steel striker bolts to the aluminum hood. Take care of it before it travels. Also keep an eye on front trans mount.
One thing I wish I would have done was to disable the DRL.. I think this might have prevented the headlights from getting the “sandblasted” look by keeping them cooler on hot sunny days and minimizing the time the plastic is exposed to heat from the bulbs.

The hood herpes will be nipped in the bud, so to speak.. I'll check that tranny mount, and I disabled the DRL'* on my Olds, it just bothers me to have the headlamps on all the time.. Also, my automatic headlamps in my olds could not be disabled, which really bugged me because in the morning when the sun is low, the lights come on then I can't see the digital dash, because it is daylight.
All this has been helpful, I will weigh whether I want this car, but now I know what needs to be tended to... thanks.. Mike

Depending on the car/miles, I find that the biggest problem with hazy headlights is road rash on the outside of the lens that makes them appear sandblasted. I sanded my headlights with 800 up through 2000 grit sandpaper and polished them. They look NEW compared to what they used to look like. The typical tiny "cracks" on the inside of the lenses aren't too apparent.