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2000 Grand Prix, in garage for 3 years after a front collision.....repair it?



GT2000 said:
It all depends what you want to do. Are you attached to that car and want to keep that car, or could you care less if you had some other car. That is what it really boils down to, what do YOU want.
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Yes, this is the key. Let me parse this out a bit......

First I believe(or used to believe) in buying new and keeping it until the wheels fall off.....had this car since 2000.

I say I love the car but I love saving my money more...I'm frugal. If I were not recovering from a 13 month layoff and took a pay-cut and the car didn't have lingering issues( (a) transmission hard shifting and (b)engine randomly turning off while driving but starts right back up, (c) I think power steering liquid leak ), I would have fixed it . It just always concerned me that I could spend $2000 on the body work and still have possible mechanical expenses.

Actually let me back up, If Grand Prix were still on the market, the plan would have been to buy a brand new one and I probably would have done that by now. After the accident, I focused more on new car shopping because I just don't trust someone else's used car. Since I ended up traveling for work, I think I came to appreciate not taking on a $25K new car loan and the car I've been getting around with is a 2000 Nissan(bro's car, bought same year as mine) so I now appreciate and see value in buying an older high mileage car. That's really what makes me consider fixing my car as opposed to buying someone else's car for the same amount....cos at least I know mine.

So yes, if I had a way to buy another similar car that I can trust...I probably wouldn't be thinking about this car at all. Whew, very long winded but I had to get honest with myself.

The general consensus is to let it go, and I already felt that way last week and even more so now that I've pondered GT2000's question.
 
cheatah faheatah said:
It's worth what it's worth to YOU. So there are no wrong answers.
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Yes, that is true. This and GT2000's question really got me to think about how much it is worth to me....and I would rather save money. If its going to cost a lot to bring it back to life, I must let it go, sucks that I don't like anything else on the market but such is life eh :(

Someone mentioned earlier that I could always buy another one and he is right but if I don't keep mine I will probably get a boring "reliable, long lasting" Toyota....
 
On BTW I didn't take a look at the rockers since I can't open my trunk.

My key is stuck in the ignition....put it in to jump start with bro's car 2016 summer, kept it running for 1 hr, nothing happened but then we couldn't remove the key. I have a valet key but it doesn't open the trunk, so its just another reason to let this go. How can I get around this though? I want to remove any items before I sell it.

.... How do I sell it? Call a junkyard? That hurt to type....:(
 
Make sure it's in park and then the key should come out as long as there's not a lot of pressure on the steering wheel to turn left or right.
 


FordMan77 said:
The rockers are under the car where the rear door and quarterpanel is, just in front of the rear tires. If there is a ton of rust there or up inside the rear strut towers (you'd have to pull the carpet back in the trunk and look at the top where the strut bolts poke through to see it) then it may not be worth it.
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Ok, so I re-read this and saw that I misunderstood where the rockers were. I decided to drop working and go home for lunch so I can check it, make the final decision and move forward.

If I got it right (hey, I'm car illiterate), it does have rust on both sides, more on the drivers side. I also looked & found my spare key...there is also some rust around the rear strut towers. I have pics but have maxed out my quota.
 
BillBoost37 said:
Make sure it's in park and then the key should come out as long as there's not a lot of pressure on the steering wheel to turn left or right.
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Its in park. I can also easy turn the steering wheel to the left and right...that's not suppose to happen right?

It Still won't .....how do I explain it....it won't turn & lock into the neutral position that allows one to remove the key. I can turn it clockwise as if I want to start the car but not back completely. My younger bro that came to visit 2 summers ago tried it as well, he's car savy somewhat(worked at a car detailing shop).

I found the spare, so I was able to open the trunk. The steering wheel is warped a bit from the accident, so I wonder that has something to do with it, another reason to dump it. I've cleaned out the trunk, now I have to get to the rest of the car.

I want to thank everyone for their opinions, it helped me make a decision...okay I don't feel 100% yet, more like 90%. I think I need to find a site like this but a "how to buy a reliable used car" site that can help me. Once I have that figured out, I'll be good to go. If anyone has an tips/recommendations/etc, I would appreciate it.
 
under the wheel is a plastic plug, pull it out and then use a pen or a stick to put inside the hole, then push up then turn the key back.
 
I also recommend not repairing it. $2000 to $3000 can buy you a non-wrecked car of similar or slightly newer age. If you like these cars in particular, they are not hard to find, although finding ones that have been kept in good condition might be harder. You're in Illinois, so you might consider contacting Andrew Suderman at bonnevillesunlimited dot com [in Minnesota] and telling him your budget. He buys, repairs, and sells primarily the last generation Bonnevilles, but if you wanted a Grand Prix, he might locate a good one for you, as they share a lot of the same parts with Bonnevilles. If you do look for another same body style Grand Prix, you might hang onto yours until after you get another one, as you might have some parts in better condition that you want to swap over. That's a good use of a wreched car, before you either sell it as-is or have it towed to a yard. There are lots of these cars in salvage yards, so there are still lots of good used parts available, for things like body panels and interior parts, or even more expensive under-the-hood parts.
 
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