Repairs unrelated to general maintenance i.e. filters, brakes, fluids, tires, plugs:
New Alternator @ 210,000kms - $500CAD
Completely rebuilt transmission (all new hard parts and bands) @ 220,000kms - $2200CAD
New crank shaft sensor @ 230,000kms - $900CAD
New Catalytic Converter @ 230,000kms $600CAD
New Radiator @ 235,000kms - $800CAD
New Driver Side Window Switch @ 235,000kms - $200CAD
Rebuilt Top end of Engine with all new gaskets, belts, etc (thing was leaking oil like a siv) @ 235,000kms - $600CAD
New Exhaust Manifolds @ 235,000kms - $800CAD
New Water Pump @ 240,000kms - $200CAD.
245,000 failed Aircare and decided to sell the thing - got $1900CAD.
Unfixed problems at time of sale:
Faulty O2 Sensors
Airbag warning light was on
CD player clock light was faulty.
BEWARE - this car will ruin you financially.
It is a cold calculating machine engineered for one thing - for something on it to go wrong strategically once a month for the entire time you own it.
Purchased in Spring 2004 for $5500CAD + $500GST @ 195,000kms.
Total price paid - $6000CAD
Total cost of repairs excluding maintenance - $6800
Years owned - 2
Total KM driven - 50,000.
$10,900 for 2 years of driving on a 7-9 year old car is = to a lease payment of $455/month.
Which means I could have been rolling in a new fully loaded Japanese luxury sedan for 2 years with $0 down and handed it back in after
OR
Bought a car with low km's for $10,900 - driven it for 2 years without a single headache and then taken a dump on the drivers seat and pushed it over a cliff and I'd still be happier than I am right now with the Pontiac Grand Prix.
Thanks for ruining my life GM.
Sincerely,
Michael
You only have yourself to blame, you are the one who made the decision to purchase.
It does sound like you could have used the advice of a good friend before paying $6,000 for a beat to crap car with 195,000 km on it. This would have been a good $500 car, but you paid too much. You probably should have pulled the plug at the first $1,000 repair.
Also, I notice in your repair list a few places where you could have saved yourself a lot of money. $500 for an alternator??? You could have done much better. This is the easiest thing to change, and I think you paid at least $300 too much, and that's being generous.
A new radiator for $900? The cure for that on an old car is a $4.95 tube of J-B Weld to patch a pinhole leak, or a bottle of Barr's Stop-Leak. An expensive lesson.
You can successfully drive beaters, but never pay more than $1,000 for one, and always know when to pull the plug.
Hahaha 500 dollars for an alternator, I can get it down here for 60 dollars. your prices do not make any sense, sounds like someone is tryin to put down the grand prix, all of your costs are 300 more than what it would really costs.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site