Possible Bonneville Owner
 

Hello
I'm currently driving a Jeep GC and I'm looking into a slightly more economical car.
One of the cars I found is a 97 Bonneville SSEi. I was wondering if they are good cars, like just becuase it's ten years old dosent mean it will be a money pit. I also want to know what the MPG's on these cars are, even after being tricked out. My Jeep is not doing so hot in the MPG department, let's just say a Crown Vic gets better MPGs than my Jeep. Now that I'm drving 30miles to and from school the gas bill is really starting to add up. Thanks for the help.

On my 98 SSEi with my lead foot I can easily get 30-32 mpg on the highway. You must use atleast 91-92 octance though. In the more then 2 years I've owned this car the only things I've had to replace was a starter and an idler pulley. Everything has been general maintance (ie brakes, tires, fluids, an oil pan gasket.)

Assuming the car is in good condition now there shouldn't be very many (if any) problem areas. There is a weak spot in my opinion though, the transmissions. But even then I have 170k on mine with it making a few extra ponies and its still shifts decent.


Ed

Don't expect this car to be a gas saver, because it isn't. If you are doing all city driving and you like to romp on the gas, be prepared to pay. If you are mostly highway it is pretty decent.

With my driving styles, I can do 700km/tank all highway and 400km/tank all city. This is with a lead foot.

I got a heavy foot in the city, I get around 17-18 MPG.

You're n/a, the L67 will get worse mileage than your L27.

if it is the gas cost, you may want to downgrade to a SSE,SLE or SE trim bonneville which does not require higher octane gas and does not burn as much gas. You just have to suffer the loss of some of the the bells and whistles of the SSEi

That's not even close to remotely true. L67's on average get the same mileage as L27's and L36's.

Both of my L67's get 30-32 cruising at 70-75mph on the freeway.

I've always heard, though b/c of the SC it gets worse mileage :? .

No, it doesn't get worse. The SC is managed very efficiently by the PCM. You only have boost when you ask for it with your right foot. But with power comes efficiency as well.

The things to contenplate here are
Be prepared for 91+ octane every tank...every time.
~20mpg city ~27-30 highway ... with your 30 miles each way..figure 25-27 avg mpg.
Power when you want it.. 8) Gas gauge is directly related to the throttle. If you put it to the floor ...expect the tank to empty faster.

Transmission isn't really a weak point unless they are beaten. My car did 175K on it's original and didn't die... I had it rebuilt first.

Lower intake gaskets are a concern though. They should be done as part of maintenance.

Thanks for the info guys.
Well 17 and 18 MPG is still much better than my Jeep.
The car I'm looking at has 42k miles on it, which is real low.
So I need a day to go down to where it is to get a good look at it.
Finger crossed I can get this, this seems like a real strong community.
Plus I'd figure I can hop-up on of these things and get it sounding pretty mean.

42k on a '97? Must be the proverbial little old lady's church on Sunday car 8)

at 180,000 miles my car is nearly 100% original. I replaced the transmission proactively.

Says the guy that still has the zero oil pressure from the day he bought it.

EmTea if it's in great shape and the price is right you should be very happy with it. They are great cars.

It seems that I'm averaging less mileage with my 02. It's getting around 16 in the city. I haven't driven it much on the highway yet to see how good it will be in comparison to my 95, which always seems to get around 24 plus with mostly city and some highway driving. The 95 does a lot better on the highway. Maybe the wife and I have a heavy foot in the 02 :twisted: