i know this is asked about a lot, but i want your opions...

i have an '88 SC with a v6. it has 131,000 k miles with a lot of problems. i lack any power whatsoever. i need new weatherstipping, hinges, i feel my car twist itself to peices. i took it on the interstate and i had to struggle to keep her from falling apart. she jurkes all over the place going up hills. i dont have any of the rpo codes. she has a different color of paint, still original black on inside doors and you can tell the original paint is under the new paint, becuase it is under the chips. i have a very irratic idle and i stall all the time.

i want a 350 that is very reliable and i dont have to have it in the shop all the time. i have already put $2500 in shop bills for the last six months. i have personal fixed over 50 apperance stuff. my car is the apitamy of a "lemon" a "money pit"

does everyone else have a lot of problems? is there such thing as a reliable thirdgen? i will get another thirdgen if i get another car, most likly a trans am with a 350. is it better to stick with what i started and get this puney six running right and rebiuld that and get an all new suspension an sfc, and all that fun and expensive stuff?

i need help. i have a hundred of other problems, i just cant write the i am drawing a blank

 

Well first off, do you do your own work? you said you spent 2500 in the shop, thats not a good sign. I spent $ 2500. on my 86 SC V6 with 130,000 on it. But that was all for parts! I have another car, so i fixed every thing i could think of before I put it on the road. It has all new stearring parts, struts, shocks, breaks,paint, carpet, redone door pannels, dash pad, CD player, the automatic trans died and was swapped to a 5 speed, and a bunch of other things. But, the v6 at a 135 HP trying to move a car that weighs over 3,000 pounds, doesn't cut it! I'm swapping to a 350 very soon, the machine shop is building one now, i'll do the install myself, no labor cost, just time. I could buy another car for around, 2,000, but I would be starting all over again! people say to do that, it would depend on the condtition of the car. A V8 with 150,000 miles I feel is a gamble anyways, so swapping it out would be just a matter of time. sorry for the long reply, but there alot of things to look at.

 

Once a lemon...always a lemon. Get yourself a V8 car, plain and simple.

 

I think the question you need to answer for yourself is do you want a project or do you want something reliable to drive? Doing the V8 swap is a long term project. Buying a reliable V8 car has a big plus side to it.

 

i need a reliable car right now, i dont need a project YET, i dont have the finiance or the techinical know how. the only thing holding me back is the fact that this is my first car, and i would like to keep it as a keepsake, but i am wondering if time is not going to let me do that. i have also wanted a trans am or a IROC, but i would like a trans am more. i made out a PRO / CON list at work today and came up with 25 pros and 10 cons. the only con that is holding me back is that its my first car, the oter con is that whether or not i get another lemon. i dont want that.