2005 SLE I might buy

[Benvw99]

Hello all.

I am sorry for being generally annoying, because I sometimes post here without even owning a bonneville. But, with recent problems with my grand am being in an accident, I am now in the market for a different car.

I have been looking for a few months now and I might have found it. http://www.bismanonline.com/makoti_nd/2 ... ville_2_64

Im sure you can tell - it is a 2005 SLE. 145k original motor and trans. No problems that I know of besides EGR valve (which has been replaced already). Sunroof, windows, locks, heated seats, and everything work according to him. No gas cap rust either! Small scratches/dents right above door handle in rear right hand side.

I know that nobody will be able to give me an answer for sure, but this car is about 3.5-4 hours away from me, but this weekend my family and I are headed in that direction and we might stop by. It is an extra 2 hours.

So I was wondering if, from what you can tell, this car is worth the extra trip and looking into being bought. And if it is worth the trip, any special things to look out for on an engine with 145k? I have already looked at the common problems thread and have asked about them, all of which checked out good. I just really need to know if it may be worth it to make the extra drive. Thanks.

[nos4blood70]

Check for metal LIM gaskets and coolant elbows, as well as the date stamped on the UIM. Make sure the oil is free of milkshake, and take it for a nice long test drive to let it warm up to see how the trans behaves. Listen for general clunks and rattles, etc. Check the fluids and all that. Car looks dirty so I'm hoping it's been taken care of better than the pictures let on.

[ga93sle]

Everything Carl said but as far as clunks and rattles go I'd say to expect some intermediate steering shaft clunk.

[nos4blood70]

And don't be put off by it. You can fix it or alleviate with a number of methods.

[MikeKerr]

If it doesn't have rust and carfax shows 2 or less owners and no prior accidents, looks like a very good buy.

[Benvw99]

awesome - i am really pumped to check it out.

carl - where is the date on the uim?


mike - it has not been in any accidents and this guy is the second owner.

[Benvw99]

Well I have made my decision! I am going on Saturday to take a look at it. I am printing off a complete copy of the Common Problems and Solutions thread to take along with me.


I really hope it meets my expectations as far as how good of shape its in! Wish me luck as this is my first time buying my very own car.

And if there is anything at all extra that I should just maybe check, please PLEASE let me know. I want to be sure that I am being totally safe with this purchase. Thank you and I am excited to (most likely!!) be a Bonneville owner!

[nos4blood70]

Date on the UIM will be on top of it under the engine cover. More towards the throttle body side if I remember correctly.

[Benvw99]

Once i find the date what should it say?

[nos4blood70]

You can see if it was ever replaced, so if it is newer than 2004/2005 you *should* be good. However, it is an easily replaceable part that isn't too expensive. So don't be scared away from the car if it is the original one. You can also drill, tap and block the coolant ports in the LIM preventing the problem from ever happening again.

[retroren]

Hi, don't know if you saw it but there is a craigslist ad for an '05 in Toledo which is about 1 hour from White Lake. http://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/5417062243.html

[Benvw99]

Going to check it out today! Wish me luck.

[Benvw99]

after inspecting it for what my friends said was over an hour, i decided to buy it!

final purchase price was $3600. i did find some downers though.


it has some problems. ses light is on, and was told it was a misfire due to a coil pack(?). sounded easy enough. drove it all the way home, 4 hrs. plus some city driving while i bought some stuff. no problems other than a little stutter start and a small rough idle! ran awesome at highway speeds. nothing i couldnt try to tackle. came with vent visors included. will post maybe one dirty pic tomorrow and give it a deep clean and then post clean pic tomorrow as well.

very excited to own this cool car! all the gadgets work (so far). the sunroof doesnt leak that i know of, which i thought for sure it would since the back end sits a little deeper than the front end. im gonna try to fix that too.


was pleasantly surprised to see that it has HID fog lights!! i did not know that sle's (or gxp's) came with hid fogs. BUT the fogs unfortunately dont work. any possible fixes for them? i really like fog lights especially this time of year because where i live it gets foggy a lot.

[nos4blood70]

They did not come with HIDs, they're just a halogen and I'm willing to bet they're both burnt out.

Check which cylinder the mis is on and you should be home free with that misfire. Just gotta check on/refresh the ignition system most likely.

[Benvw99]

Awesome!! thanks Carl for help with the mis. And I'm sorry - i didn't realize that they were just regular fog lights - must have been my angle that made them look like HID's.


I spent over 6 hours giving it some MUCH needed TLC. This thing was filthy! Trash everywhere on the inside, grime on the outside mixed with gravel and dirt, man it was gross! But, I did give it a good wash, plus wax, rain-x on inside and outside glass and mirrors, leather cleaner and conditioner, vacuumed the carpet, used stain remover, and used a turtle wax headlight restorer kit on the passenger headlight (the worse of the two). Besides that, I also programmed my homelink to my garage. Works like a charm!


Got some pre-sunset pics.

























Sorry! The engine bay won't get cleaned until after i fix the misfire.



How did I do? I apologize because I don't have any before pics, just imagine a grime/dirt covered bonny with wrappers and mouse poop inside!

[1oldman]

Very nice looking car.

I like to clean the engine bay before working on anything. It makes it easier to work on things, find problems and keep the new parts clean, especially the spark plugs if you wind up replacing them. - BC

[Oldman]

Great job cleaning it up. From the link where the car was for sale, I noticed that they guy certainly didn't spend any time "prepping" it to sell. I would recommend taking it to your local Autozone, Advanced or whatever local parts store you have and getting them to run a scan on it. Write down the codes (or ask them to give you a print out) and come back to this site and see what help we can provide. I agree that the fog lights are burned out. The bulbs for those things don't last too long. Seems like I'm replacing one about once a year. Nice to have though. Do you have an owner's manual? It fun to download one and read up and find out little bells and whistles that you aren't even aware of. Great looking car! Welcome to the wonderful world of BONNEVILLE!! Looking forward to helping you get it in perfect condition!!

[Benvw99]

thanks! ill pick up some new fog bulbs and put them in. and yeah it did come with a manual - i plan on reading it either today or this weekend.

i really appreciate all the complements! looking forward to having this car!

[Benvw99]

Forum question - should I start a thread elsewhere for everything I need help on for the Bonneville? Technically this is the thread where I get information and what to look for BEFORE buying it, so I was just wondering if I should make a specified thread, and if so in what section?

[MattStrike]

There's a section for the '00+, yes.

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... -than-gxp/