1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo review from North America

My head gasket blew at about 128,000 miles.

The timing chain broke and killed the engine at about 149,000 miles.

Ball joint was replaced twice.

Gas tank started to leak at about 140,000 miles.

When I first got the car I noticed the the front ball joint was broken. I asked them to fix it. I thought they did however, when I went for my oil change, my mechanic informed me that it will need to be fixed someday. I never had the money to do it and it never go to the point where I needed to so I never did.

Almost a year after I bought the car the head gasket went. Something else with a gas seal was wrong with it too. This frustrated me because I did not drive the car that much at all at that point. (I was in a bad car accident before I bought this car and was still working my way into driving again.)

Last summer the gas tank started to leak. I never did have the money to fix that. I finally did save up the money to fix it and then the timing chain went. This took out the rest of the engine. I was driving from one parking lot to another and then 3 quick clicks and my car was off and that's all she wrote. No clicks or thumps to warn me. It just died.

Other things that were a problem were the buttons (stereo, hazards...) are not glued on. They fall off. When I was going threw the whole head gasket issue last year one of the buttons fell off and I never did find it. It is really a bummer when they fall off while your driving.

Last summer I hit a puddle and my car started to make a awful sound. It turned out that the water bent one of the protective metal things under the car so it was pressing against the exhaust. I bent it back, but every-time I came near a mini-puddle it would bend back. Not a big problem, but a wee bit annoying.

The car drove well in regards to acceleration and handling. It was also really quite when at slow speeds. At high speeds it was a wee bit loud, but not to the point where it annoyed me too much. Near the end it seemed to have a little problem with shifting or something. I would hit the gas and it would do nothing (as if it was in neutral) then suddenly get its act together and was fine. I put a post-it note for my mechanic to check that out when I got my oil change. However, I was due to have that done on a Monday and my car died on the Friday before so it never made it to that point.

Overall, I would say this is a decent car. However, it has its problems. Sadly, I need a dependable car since I do not have much money and this did not give me what I needed. I did take car of my car in regards to oil changes and things that needed to be done that I could afford. However, it still proved to not last me at least two years.