This is a genuinely good car.
I own a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire SL coupe with a manual tranny and no options (not even AC) and it's been dependable, cheap, very nice to drive and just a great little workhorse. Plus it's pretty and just the right size for daily driving. What more could you ask? I've been genuinely surprised. This was a car that was sold new in 2002 for about 11,200$ (Pontiac was having a special thing in Canada) and I was expecting this to feel like a cheap bottom of the barrel car but it's not. Obviously there's tons better, but they're usually tons more expensive. So it's a tradeoff.
I've put about 35.000 miles on this car and never have had a single serious (or even semi-serious) problem. The only things that I can even harp on is that the factory "ground effects" body kit under the doors doesn't fit right, the backup lights don't work and it's a bit more expensive on gas by 1mpg than a lot of people say their J's are. That's it.
Literally, I'm expecting to still be driving this thing in 2018-2020. It's that good of a car.
I wasn't sure about Js at first, I'd heard a lot of horror stories, but this car has changed my mind. What a great piece of machinery.
Other than little things, all of my Js have held up well....
The wife's car can be annoying (broken visors, dash rattle, a bit of rust under the door), but it has been a good car other than that.
In it's 50k so far, I've only had to change (beyond the usual) is the fuel pump.
And it needs new tires....
but for 10 grand I can't complain.........
I bought my beater (teh 97 4 door) bout 6 months ago, put 10k on it and have all maintenence records, as it was as rental when it was new. has had nothin but regular maintenance, and I have just been driving it for that time. Even after I swap to the manual trans, I expect reliability to be the same.
Did I mention I drive a 2000 Lumina now?-----wigm-tuners.org member
Whole heatedly agree... I recently got into an argument with a co-worker; at one point hes asked me, "which car would you feel safest sending a teenage daughter off to college in." My reply was a 1995-2005 GM J-body without hesitation, it's inexpensive, and reliable enough to even pass as a Toyota for a couple of years. He didn't really have a lot to say to that... because in a former "life", he did some engineering on the J-body back in the early 90's. He's since been laid off from our company as well... GM J-bodies are my answer to every question about which car to choose. I am going to buy more as needed, I don't intend to own anything else, for a long time... you guessed it, my kids first cars will also be J's as well.
just my $.02...
I'm a 6ft. tall, 250+ lb., man, and I proudly drive the Sunfire. My wife drives the half-ton 4x4...
If you are ok with the horrible interior fit and finish and the 1980's engineering then it is a good car. The reliability definately is there. And even if it breaks, parts are so cheap that it makes it worth fixing...
good for you man, im glad your happy with the J. i had bad luck with my first one but that was because i couldnt keep my foot out of the throttle. my second one has been one of the best cars ive owned yet.
J03Y wrote:awesome?
good ole baggs... gotta love the forum enthusiasm! (tell me again, why are you here?)
I believe I can see the future... as I repeat the same routine....
I agree as well. Between my wife and I we've owned three since we got married, a 96 Cav, an 01 Cav and an 02 Sunfire. All three have been great cars. I traded in the Sunfire in 2006 for my Cobalt. At the time the Sunfire had 60,000 miles on it and it never had one problem. My wife drives the 2001 Cav now. It has 81,000 miles on it and it still runs great. When we bought the Sunfire we traded in a Huyndai that had 62,000 miles on it and the tranny completely died, my first and last time I'll ever buy anything foreign. That stupid foreign car cost me a lot of money .
I can't really say too much bad about the 4 that I've owned either...
z yaaaa wrote:good for you man, im glad your happy with the J. i had bad luck with my first one but that was because i couldnt keep my foot out of the throttle. my second one has been one of the best cars ive owned yet.
J03Y wrote:awesome?
good ole baggs... gotta love the forum enthusiasm! (tell me again, why are you here?)
He is here to make you cry, seems he is doing a pretty good job.
KevinP (Stabby McShankyou) wrote:
and I'm NOT a pedo. everyone knows i've got a wheelchair fetish.
.........j-bodies are sh!tty
Working on obtainting an M-Class license... ?? Hint: 2 wheels.
