hey everybody. just thought i would try a actual gm forum and get some advice from knowledgeable guys, instead of youtube. but i just bought a 2003 buick regal ls and its already proving to be a headache.. honest opinion- is this a problematic car?

Should be a great car, and the 3800 is a very reliable engine. What kind of problems are you having?

well first the heat is not working. upon further inspection we found a reddish brownish sludge in the radiator cap. put in a new radiator, flushed the coolant system, flushed the tranny, flushed the heater core. Still no heat. this weekend we will be replacing the Heater Blend Door Actuator as we believe it is faulty. Also just yesterday my wife informed me that after driving the bank atm, she placed the car in park and it rev'ed up so high like she was pressing the gas pedal. which she wasnt ofcourse. When she went to put it back into Drive it kicked and the RPM slowed down. She repeated this process (put it in Park and it rev'ed high, put it in Drive and it kicked and slowed down). After getting it back home she put it in park and it didnt do it. Likewise while driving the work this morning, while at a stop light, the car just shut off. No puttering no choking, just shut off. It did start right back up however. But is she made it to work, about 15 minutes later, it did the same thing except this time it puttered off as soon as she pulled in her parking spot. Car Guru'* please help!!

see my post in the technical section for the engine, that brown goo is what dexcool turns into if you dont change it every year or two. i always flush a car when i get it and put prestone extended life in it

as far as the car i have a 98 bonniville with that engine i bought in about 02 and its never been on the tow truck i dont think. just when the trans went at 160k. it has almost 200k on it know. after you fix the lim gasket/cracking upper intake/ and aluminum coolant elbow all you have to do is change the oil. all that stuff can be bought from rock auto for maybe 120