Thread: How many miles is too many miles

Basically I'm in the market for another 3800 vehicle, wanting L67 powered. My top choice at this point is a bonneville ssei. Anyways, how many miles do you think is the cut-off? My budget is around 5 grand, and I've been mostly looking at dealers because I want to trade in my parents taurus for it. the problem with my budget is that I either find like a 100-130k mile car but the body isn't the best. Or I can find one that has a great shape interior and exterior, but they have like 170k+ miles. I'm almost leaning towards getting a really high milage car that's in nice condition. Since I can literally swap an engine or trans in a day if it were to give out in a few years. I'm planning on keeping whatever I buy for probably 3-4 years. The reason I'm thinking/leaning towards bonneville ssei is because I want a large 4 door to both commute in and have as a cruiser. I've also considered the regal gs.

Any opinions/suggestions would be awesome. Thanks

i have 225k on mine w/ no real problems

but i may have chipped a piston from beating on it too much since i got it

good body + high mileage is my vote.

that is what im going to go after unless i can find one that is broke somehow. i am going to be rebuilding pretty much everything besides the body anyway..

All about the better body since you can do the mechanical. That's exactly how I got my Regal (2000 with 161K miles) for $1400. Sure it needed a little work. Now it's awesome

The Bonneville would be nice if you are looking for a bigger bodied car vs say the Regal. The big difference really comes down to back seat room.

I have 204K miles on mine and the only problem i have is the trans slipping into od.

I got my 98 GS with 61,xxx miles for 4,400 out the door

i got my 98 regal gs for 800, sunk about 1500 into it so far fixing it up, porter cable orbital buffer made the paint look like new, its got 215,000 or so on it now, and runs and shifts fine, (it has had 8 owners, so i dont know if anything has been swapped out tho) will say the back seat area aint the best for a roomy ride for the back seat guests, but im driving and fit fine at 6'6". front seats are real comfy.

cops dont look at the Regal either, dont know why but i never get the look as passing the man. and im all tinted up too, front window tint is not legal here in jersey.

I like the SSEI's, I'm on my second one. First was a 97 with 120,000 miles got rid of it 4 years ago. Now have the 2003 SSEI with 181,000 miles. Blew one of the shift solenoid valves a year ago and rebuilt the tranny. Besides the performance stuff listed below everything is stock and it runs great. Note had the rust fixed by the gas door, it rusts form the inside out! Was thinking about getting a 2005 SLE (3800) as my next car and maybe a top swap.

Go with the high mileage, good body condition car.
Think of it this way: If you can REALLY tell that the cleanliness of the car has been maintained, odds are that owner would have kept up on maintenance as well....I run a small detailing gig on the side and I can tell you the people that care enough to keep their cars looking good, keep up on proper maintenance.

It looks like I might be focusing on trying to pick up a Regal GS now. They're just soo much cheaper then the bonneville SSEi's. I've found a few locally, and I'm planning on just going out shopping in a couple weeks with cash in hand.

i just drove by a white over cream colored lower trim regal, not sure if it was a gs or not, but it looked real nice and clean. had a spoiler on it too.

Originally Posted by Nixon

FTW

IKR, Going to limit my search to black with grey undertrim though. I don't actually want any other color haha. Black is just the color you get for a regal IMO. (You wouldn't get a 78 trans am that wasn't black/gold, would you?)

Originally Posted by Nixon

Good choice. I have two in the black/slate.

Jealous

im kinda partial for the black on black look, this is mine.