And they dropped a huge bomb on me. First thing is that the power steering is bad, and some of the lines need to be replaced. Then they told me the front breaks were almost gone. And lastly they informed me it would be around $1000 to replace the gaskets that are causing my oil leak. all of this is gonna cost over $1400 to fix supposedly, and on top of that i need new tires.

I think you can do most yourself besides the steering pump (saying this since I have done soe of that work myself and others too, just not the steering pump stuff) therefore save your money and have at it!

Why would you take it to the dealership?

I sometimes take my car to the dealership just so they can tell me what I need to fix. I figure it's cheaper to give them 70 USD and know EXACTLY whats wrong than just randomly throwing parts at the car.

I hadn't thought about that. Do they really do a good job at diagnosing? and will they let me walk out the door without much hassle if I don't let them fix everything?

hafta. If you only pay for diagnostics, thats all they can do. They can say that they dont wanna release the car due to these certain safety concerns, but I dont think they can deny you access to your car if your invoice is paid in full. I never had an issue with it.

hrmmmmm.... me thinks I will have to drop by the pontiac dealership soon.

may wanna call in advance so you dont get hosed on the flip-side due to some safety regulation they have in place or have to abide by.

If you're going to replace a gasket thats causing an oil leak, make sure you've got somebody there with you that has done something like this. I rebuilt the head on my truck and there were alot of little things I would have looked over if it were not for the help I had.