Hello everybody! I'm new here, and I'm also new to the Grand Prix scene. Here's the deal. I was looking for a new car to replace my 92 Bonneville, when in the paper I came across a 1997 GP GTP for sale for $5750. I went to check it out, test drove it and loved it, and asked if they'd accept $5000 for it. They agreed, but I thought I'd get some opinions before I jumped on it.

The car is in very good shape, but definately not perfect. The paint is still very glossy all around, but has a few stone chips on the hood (typical, though). The hood has 2 small spots of rust, both about half the size of a dime, and in the same spot. Other than that, the body is rustless.

The interior is tan leather, and in good shape. Has the typical creases that come with age, but has 1 small rip on the drivers side seat facing the door, about 2 inches long. The carpet is also in good shape, the back seat has a few stains, but the front drivers side has a small hole towards the seat, about 2 inches in diameter.

The engine runs GREAT, has no oil leaks (that I can see just looking), and it is awesomely fast! The supercharger seems to be in good condition as well.

The car was owned by 2 people, both non smokers within the same family. The first was an older woman who bought it on a five year lease, the second was a middle aged woman with kids (note the stains on the carpet in the back)

Another thing I noticed was that 1 headlight was partially filled with water and the taillights are starting to get a white fog around the edges.

And finally, there are 2 lights illuminated on the dashboard. There is a low coolant light, and an SRS Airbag light. The coolant system was pressure checked and has no leaks, and she could not explain the airbag light, which worries me.

So... what does everyone think? Worth $5000 or no? The woman said she couldn't go below that, after I dropped $750 off the price. I really like the car, and I hope to get it, I just don't want to be ripped off. Thanks for reading all this!

EDIT - I forgot a few things. The milage is a little more than 96,000 and the tire wear is probably about 50%. Underbody is clean as well.

what year is the gtp?

lol, oops, forgot that little detail. It's a 1997.

5,ooo bucks is not a bad deal, however the two lights that you mentioned should be checked out. i would take the car to a trusted mechanic and she what he suggust.

First... welcome to the group!

What year GTP are we talking about?

Chips on the hood are expected and seem to crop up after only a couple weeks even on a new GP.

The interior depends on the owners and doesn't sound too bad.

Fluid leaks to watch out for are the valve covers, oil pan, tranny pan, and supercharger snout. To check for rear valve cover seepage, look from under the car between the engine and tranny pan. If the oil's not coming from the oil pan... it's the valve cover.

Look for cracked or split vacuum lines. Some are soft rubber and others are hard plastic. The hard plastic ones get brittle with age and and can develope a leak very easily. I generally carry a short length of rubber vacuum hose in my trunk just in case one breaks while on the road.

The low coolant light could be a couple things. If the coolant isn't actually low, it's probably a bad coolant level sensor. Look for it about 7" below the radiator cap on the back side of the radiator. If it's the sensor (which many times it is), you can either replace it or just unhook the connector. If you choose the latter, make sure to always keep your coolant in check.

Don't know what to say about the airbag light. If you get the car, you'd probably want to have a dealership check into that.

Also, check to see if the supercharger snout is rattling. If it is... it's probably the coupler and can be replaced for about $30 and the cost of two bottles of supercharger oil (if you do it yourself).

If you purchase the car, I'd suggest swapping in all new fluids and put in all new filters just to be on the safe side.

Good luck,
Marc

Welcome, Like the rest said take it to a shop have that airbag light checked out. As for the coolang light prob just the sensor.

Thanks for the help! Like I asked before, is it worth the money? I really don't know how much I'd EXPECT to pay for a GTP.

Also, I've been looking into the airbag lights and it seems like it could likely be a sensor or loose connector. At least I hope thats all it is!

$5000 isn't that bad for a Grand Prix. Although it does sounds like it needs its share of work.

Hello! Welcome! If everything everyone has mentioned above is OK and checks out I would say it is a good deal. I would be sure to take to a machanic and have it put on a lift and check the obvious stuff. Also have it scanned to see what code are thrown with the lights. I would really check on the Airbag light before you make a decision. Some will go off if they have been wrecked. Others just go off for no reason. Also, with the water/condensation in the headlights, that is normal especially for 97's. I have heard of that alot and the driver side on my 2000 did that till I had it replaced. Good luck and hope it works out for. These are great cars and alot of fun!

I don't know much about GTP's in particular, but experience as an auto mechanic has taught me that engines with forced induction (even from the factory) are inherently less reliable than their N/A counterparts as the mileage climbs.

However, $5k for the car you described sounds to me (not knowing the book value or anything) to be a fair price. I'd check the coolant and see if it is actually low; if it's not then it's likely a sensor.

Also, how much do you care about having a working airbag? If you really don't care about the airbag (I know many people who don't), then just ignore the light and drive the car. I know on my gf's dad's 2002 Explorer the airbag codes are accessible through the OBDII port with an up-to-date scan tool (not something you can pick up at your local AutoZone). In that particular vehicle, the light came on because there was a problem with a seatbelt pretensioner, the airbags themselves were fine.

As for the mileage reliability with the S/C. The L67 will last as long as the L36. The GTP doesn't use the boost 100% of the time. So if you drive it in town with out using the or cruising down the highway on flat ground at bout 75 you are only using something like 8.2:1 CR (I might be off a litte) where at the GT with the L36 runs a little over 9:1(somewhere around there)

Thanks everybody! Your information has been very helpful. I'm picking up the car today or tomorrow and I'll post some pics of it (I just wanna show off!)

Just a few more questions, then I'll leave ya alone! For the small rust spots and for the places where paint has chipped off, what can I do about those?

Is there any way to repair the leather, or make it look more like new?

And if I were to buy new headlight and taillight shells, would I have to worry about them leaking? If so, what can I do to prevent it?

on your headlights, buy new-DO NOT buy froma a junk yard. on the 97`s the lenses came from the manufacturer superglued.. shame on the manufacturer!! both of mine fell off, one under warranty, the other oow. the new ones use epoxy type resin to secure lenses. its true cause my service writer at the dealership told me and he would not lie to me. keep the old ones though so you can cannabalize if you have too. lenses can crack from road debris.

your airbags are a personal decision as far as im concerned only cause its your life. but if your gonna disconnect, do the passenger side cause dashboards are very expensive and when the pillows fillup they have to replace the whole dashboard when your in the hospital.

Good luck on your car! Let us know if you have any questions. Im sure youre gonna want to down now that it is spring and want to do a few mods. These cars are easy and cheap to mod without hurting the engine on on a daily driver with the light mods.

Find a good upholstry shop in your area to repair that leather. I looked into replacing my driver's side seat cover and the dealer want a little over $500.