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What To Look At When Test Driving A GP?

B

Brendon

New member
I plan on going to look at a few Grand Prix's (97-03) over the weekend as my first car, and I'm curious as to what I should take a look at when I'm checking it out. Are there any things I should take an extra look at or any known problems with the GP's I should check if they have or not?

Also, during the test drive - what should I test or try to do?

Thank you!
 


I saw one about an hour away from my house listed at $3000 with 168,000 miles on it. Everything on it is apparently perfect, besides there's a tiny bit of rust on the rockers and the info center doesn't work. Info center's are available on eBay for $20 max, so I'm not worried about that. Should I bite on it?
 


Euro said:
Yeah I wouldn't either, especially for a car that's showing visible rust
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I'm gonna try to bump him down a little bit, but I'm glad he seemed to be genuinely honest about what's wrong with it. Hopefully I wouldn't run into instant problems though.

Tuner-Extraordinaire said:
Look for a mental health professional.
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It's my first car asshole...Pretty sure you didn't really know what you were doing when you were picking out your first car either, so...
 
First off, if it's got the 3.1 motor (3100SFI) pass on it or pick it up for ~$900. It's slow and there's really not much you can do as far as mods go.

Second, there's a buyers guide sticky'd in one of the subforums. read it, print it, use it.
 


I'd avoid a dealer, you're going to get raped. $3k is crazy expensive.
Private seller is where I'd look if $3K is your price point.
 
Always look at the rockers and then inside the trunk at the tops of the strut towers. Those are the common GP rust areas.
Take it up to speed and see if it has 4th gear. At 168K the 4th hub shaft won't be in great condition if it's original.
Pull off the valve cover cap and look for signs of crud or cleanliness. Caramel rockers are normal, black is a lack of oil changes.
 
Durk Diggler said:
I'd avoid a dealer, you're going to get raped. $3k is crazy expensive.
Private seller is where I'd look if $3K is your price point.
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That's what I was noticing on some of the Craigslist dealer ads. Only thing that had me steering in that direction is that they'd do all the stuff done for me, so I wouldn't have to get the title notarized and such. Although, I think I'll go private party now because they're so much cheaper.

BillBoost37 said:
Always look at the rockers and then inside the trunk at the tops of the strut towers. Those are the common GP rust areas.
Take it up to speed and see if it has 4th gear. At 168K the 4th hub shaft won't be in great condition if it's original.
Pull off the valve cover cap and look for signs of crud or cleanliness. Caramel rockers are normal, black is a lack of oil changes.
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Will do. Thanks man.
 
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