thinkin of trading in the grand am

[stillriza]

Originally Posted by bigbenSC

Help the economy out- go lease a new car that gets great mileage. I leased my G6 through college and it worked out real well. You don't need anything fancy, just basic transportation.

Exactly, thats why he should pick up a Wave/vibe for superior gas mileage. Or a base impreza.

[cardude007617]

im not a fan of the new vibes and the new impreza's are small and i just dont like em. its hypothetically between a used car with 270 a month payments which i will eventually own, or a new car with 199 payments that i will never own...
i will prbly end up keeping tha grand am after all is said and done i bet

[2002GT]

Um... You're gonna be away at college... You should NEVER go home.

[cardude007617]

thats part of the reason i chose UWGB, it was away but i can make the trip easily

[Panacea]

When was the last time you changed your fuel filter? Air Filter? Fuel filter needs replaced every 15-30k or every 2 years IIRC.

[cardude007617]

fuel filter was about 1000 miles ago at most, air filter was done last year with the cai from mp racing. i ran seafoam thru it 1000 miles ago (when i had the oil change/fuel filter done), new trans fluid, new spark plugs prbly a week old now... im not seeing any problems here

[GrandAmGT1996]

whats wrong with owning a honda? As long as you dont r1ce it out, i dont see any harm in it. Or if youre that against honda, go get a celica or another small car thats good on gas. you can easily pick one up for $2000 and then just park the GA for awhile.

edit: maybe you arent doing your mpg calculations right?

[Panacea]

Originally Posted by cardude007617

fuel filter was about 1000 miles ago at most, air filter was done last year with the cai from mp racing. i ran seafoam thru it 1000 miles ago (when i had the oil change/fuel filter done), new trans fluid, new spark plugs prbly a week old now... im not seeing any problems here

When's the last time you replaced your PCV valve? Could your Cat be clogged/bad? What are "short" trips? Little 5 minute drives that barely get the car warmed up? Excessive idling? Those two things there will kill your milage, especially if the car isn't warmed up and you're doing a lot of stop and go. I'd say see if you can't take a road trip all highway and see what kind of milage you get. If you get above 25-27mpg, then I'd say everything is fine and it's just your driving conditions/habits in town.

[lone_wolf025]

Maybe a new O2 sensor upstream from the cat? After 100k miles its gotta be pretty sluggish by now. Also what oil do you use? A good blend might help offset some of the loss of compression from wear and tear. Make sure your plug wires are fresh too if you haven't already.

[cardude007617]

Originally Posted by Panacea

When's the last time you replaced your PCV valve? Could your Cat be clogged/bad? What are "short" trips? Little 5 minute drives that barely get the car warmed up? Excessive idling? Those two things there will kill your milage, especially if the car isn't warmed up and you're doing a lot of stop and go. I'd say see if you can't take a road trip all highway and see what kind of milage you get. If you get above 25-27mpg, then I'd say everything is fine and it's just your driving conditions/habits in town.

pcv valve easilly makes the clicking sound thing, so i believe its ok.
cat is possible.... i would not rule that out
short trips like runnign errands, you gotta stop and start a few times in a short period of time
i dont idle that much
i just use what the dealership puts in, i believe its mobile and i change it around 3000k

isnt seafoam suppose to correct some compression loss?

[cardude007617]

k im keeping it, but im going to do an over haul on it... what kinds of things should be done at 100k...

[WeibSunder]

That legacy is a pretty sweet car.

I don't know if I'm getting old or what but those seats look INSANELY uncomfortable.

You can always keep check on your tire pressure, it's a commonly over looked MPG killer. When I had the GA I always kept them @ 35 PSI.

If it was me, I would go with the Legacy while I had the chance to get a decent deal, the only killer of the deal would be the 58,xxx miles...look for something with a little better mileage or you will regret it later on.

Edit: If you decide to keep the GA, make sure you take a look at your spark plugs, and I would give the MAF sensor and TB a good cleaning with high alcohol content rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip.

[cardude007617]

yeah its a pretty comfortable car to drive, and with living in wisconsin the awd would be nice in the winter time. but damn, about 10k before college to plunk out for a new car. or like 1500 to get my own functioning the way it should and who knows what else could go

yup i check my tires periodically and i just changed my plugs to NGK G POWER ones. i should prbly look at my MAF one of these days

[Mike Jung]

Originally Posted by cardude007617

k im keeping it, but im going to do an over haul on it... what kinds of things should be done at 100k...

Originally Posted by lone_wolf025

Maybe a new O2 sensor upstream from the cat? After 100k miles its gotta be pretty sluggish by now.

x2

[cardude007617]

this is going to sound like retarded....but iv been on autozone's and advance auto parts (the 2 stores that are close to me) and they have like 8 different O2 sensors on their site. i believe 4 are pre cat and of course 4 others are post cat. so which one do i use for th pre cat one (which is the one worth changing correct?)

i dont know if this link works or not: http://www.autozone.com/N,15900117//...eResultSet.htm

[crazypontiac03]

Originally Posted by WeibSunder

That legacy is a pretty sweet car.

I don't know if I'm getting old or what but those seats look INSANELY uncomfortable.

You can always keep check on your tire pressure, it's a commonly over looked MPG killer. When I had the GA I always kept them @ 35 PSI.

If it was me, I would go with the Legacy while I had the chance to get a decent deal, the only killer of the deal would be the 58,xxx miles...look for something with a little better mileage or you will regret it later on.

Edit: If you decide to keep the GA, make sure you take a look at your spark plugs, and I would give the MAF sensor and TB a good cleaning with high alcohol content rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip.

Speaking of the Legacy, There not that badly priced either. You can pick up a Brand New 4 Banger limited for 19k.

[cardude007617]

ehh not quite... morel like 24k but still....the cars are deals kinda. like with the leather seats, moonroof, auto stick, AWD is a big plus i think..... and subaru's last for ever kinda

[hardcore]

you only got 12mpg,are you serious i have a 2000 grand am gt in fact,with 179,000 miles gas here in missouri is 4.10 and i still get 20 mpg in town driving on 87 octane with no additives what is going on with yours to get mpg so bad?? About the subaru i'd also wait to look at something a little newer with less miles,possibly!

[Theessence]

My '99 is also approaching 100k miles and I'll be doing roughly 100 miles/day to get from home to school next year. I'm also interested what kinds of things should be replaced around this time so they don't die on me when I'm not expecting it. I haven't had any problems with it in the past year so what can I expect to die next?

[cardude007617]

exactly, it'll be easier to replace stuff NOW while 1. i have a little money and 2. i have places i can take it to.
so what are some general things?