Good Car, Horrible Motor 305 junk, piston skirts broke, blew out spark plug because of block rust, bad gas mileage, like any other Chevy it is a slug.
Decent Car for the money, but would trust the 4.3 over a 5.0.
Hard to believe how many people, like this person, buy an old car with high mileage, and then when the car requires mechanical work, brand the car a lemon because something was worn out on it.
Buy a new car, or at least something with less than 50K on it, if you don't want to have to deal with mechanical repairs after purchase!
The Chevy 5.0 liter 305 engine is one of the most reliable and easiest to work on. Also a dream to bolt on aftermarket products. I have to disagree with the original comment on this page. I wish I still had my monte.
"The Chevy 305 being junk and sluggish" is only an issue depending on physical condition and how well it was maintained and cared for. Although I never owned a Monte Carlo, I did own a 79'Chevy Nova once which was completely stock with a 305 motor and a 2 barrel Rochchester carb. It was my first car and all I can remember was that for a plain jane stock Nova, the thing accelerated like a rocket throughout all ranges of the powerband.. not even one sign of weakness and I used to enjoy smoking the doors off them little sports cars coming off the green lights.. they never had a chance against me and when I finally got rid of the car, it had 150,000 miles and was still running strong. I had to get rid of it because I lived near the water and the body was on it's last leg couldn't afford to restore it at the time.
305 is junk? Engine rust? how old was this thing? I've had 3 small block chev's, (267,305 and 350) and I COULD NOT kill them. trust me, I tried. the 267 had well over 300'000 k on it when the body fell off the car, the engine STILL ran like new. The 305 also had high mileage, and continued to run great from the day I purchased it, to the day I sold it. My 350 is out of an 81 silverado, and I've put 40'000 k on it so far. This engine was sitting in my neighbors back yard for 3 years, before I slapped it in my monte. either you beat the ever loving crap out of your car, or just had an incredibly high mileage engine. 305's r junk...LOL good one.
4.3's r better was an even more ridiculous statement. less power an higher fuel consumption. no thank you.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site