I am looking into buying a new car. I have had my eye on this blue 05' Monte Carlo. It is my aunts car and she has it for sale. My price limit is 10,00 and my aunt had it priced at 11,000. She said she would go down, but I am wondering if anyone knows if that is a good deal, and if Monte Carlos are good cars. Pros and Cons please :)

Go to nada.com first!

What is the VIN#?

Monte Carlo's aren't bad vehicles; GM had a problem with intake gaskets leaking, though. If your aunt hasn't had it replaced yet, be prepared to fork over a few hundred to get it done properly.

With good preventive maintenance, most cars are well-made today and will last a long time.

Not knowing the particulars I did a check on Kelly and NADA blue books. There are 3 models the LS, LT, and SS. I used the LT as the basis with 30,000 miles. If it is an LS the price will be slightly less, if it is an SS it will be bit more:

Price will also vary depending on options and mileage.

KELLY:
Excellent: $12,305
Good: $11,530
Fair: $10,555

NADA:
Clean Trade-in: $11,352 (Average a dealer "should" give you on a trade-in)
Retail: $13,475

Most used car that age rate in-between excellent and good. In my opinion the Monte Carlo is a fine car.

The issue with the gaskets "seems" to emanate from the red colored 100,000 mile rated antifreeze that is specially formulated for the aluminum radiators and is supposed to break down slower then standard antifreeze. It also seems to be caustic to the intake and head gaskets and seems to eat them away over time. This usually occurs around the 100,000 mile/10 year timeframe although some have failed sooner and some have not failed until well after that mileage/timeframe if at all (I had to change mine at 98,000 on a 1998 Jimmy). This antifreeze was used on nearly all of the GM vehicles over the last 10 years or so. I believe other manufactures have also used that antifreeze but couldn't accurately tell you which ones. If you develop a leak because of this and can't do the work to change them yourself it is quite costly as it entails tearing down the entire top end of your engine. If you can do the work yourself then you are out the time and the cost of a gasket set.

I personally know of more then a few people who have had there cooling systems flushed and refilled with a different brand with no ill effects.