2000 Sunfire GT convertible thoughts

Hi everyone,

Came across this today on CL.

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5533956653.html

2000 Pontiac Sunfire GT Convertible for short money. Thinking of taking a look at it. I know they are not the funnest of cars, but looking for something topless to take the WxFam out in for ice cream runs, nice Sunday drive, etc.

I know subframe/rocker rust can be the death knell for these. Anything else I should be looking for?

Thanks!

J Body, not even once. For modernish cheap convertible with a back seat I'd recommend a mustang, or even a K car, or really anything that isn't a Chrysler Sebring, over one of those awful pieces of automotive hell.

EDIT:Even a PT Cruiser would be (slightly) better.

Ewwww, Quad 4. IF it had the 2.2L pushrod engine at least it would run forever. But Quad 4 is a major nope.

They were known to fold up in any sort of impact. I shudder to think how floppy and fragile a convertible would be.

NickD wrote: Ewwww, Quad 4. IF it had the 2.2L pushrod engine at least it would run forever. But Quad 4 is a major nope.

2200/manual was the only good combo in those cars, the rest of the car sucked a 55 gallon trash can of dicks, but the powertrain was stout if you kept a tight timing chain in it. 2200/auto sucks because you can't get the oil filter off easily, so it rarely gets changed.

Nooooooooope! Just nope. No.

clutchsmoke wrote: Nooooooooope! Just nope. No.

QFT

J body convertible?!?!?

So, what you're all saying is....

Good to go!!

Thanks for the heads up!

Lots of apostrophe-esses in that listing.

the idea isn't bad, but that example doens't give me a good vibe.

Brett_Murphy wrote: They were known to fold up in any sort of impact. I shudder to think how floppy and fragile a convertible would be.

^ This. The hardtops were pretty much deathtraps, I can't imagine how horrendous the convertibles are.

kill it with fire. between the crap body rust issues and that terrible engine id avoid at all cost.

As a slightly off topic question - I thought the Quad 4 was a 2.3. Do these have similar issues?

Wow

Nobody on here has any suggestions on redeeming qualities on a cheap convertible.

And didn't enable someone AT ALL.

I need to mark today on the calendar. It may be the only time in the history of this board that this has happened.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Wow Nobody on here has any suggestions on redeeming qualities on a cheap convertible. And didn't enable someone AT ALL. I need to mark today on the calendar. It may be the only time in the history of this board that this has happened.

Second time. Someone asked about a freelander. Once.

Can we start a list of verboten autos?

This is actually the 2nd time a Sunfire Convertible has been trashed. Last year someone asked about buying one for his daughter.

The NO's were screaming!!!

well, ya could recommend one to yur ex

Dusterbd13 wrote: Wow Nobody on here has any suggestions on redeeming qualities on a cheap convertible. And didn't enable someone AT ALL. I need to mark today on the calendar. It may be the only time in the history of this board that this has happened.

It's because while we enjoy hearing about somebody trying to restore an old car that is really nothing more than a VIN tag, one rusty fender and three bolts or laughing as somebody tries to keep a Biturbo running, we don't actually want to wish active harm onto anybody.

the 2.4 twin cam was an updated and much better Quad 4 (altough less powerful). it is not related to the later 2.4 Ecotech

A lot of BS from people who have never owned one and know little to nothing about them. The 2.4 was a good motor, made ok power (150/150) stock and responded nicely to simple mods. I bought a 99 Z24 as an appliance for my wife. We had it almost 10 yrs. and 240k and it was the most reliable cr we've ever owned. I liked it so uch I built one as a project car, drove it (extremely hard) for a few years and sod it to my son who beat the E36 M3 out of it for four more and sold it to a guy for an auto cross project. Definitely not bad cars.

SWMBO had a '00 2 door 2.2l auto Cavalier when I met her and the first 3 years of our relationship. Mechanically reliable enough, but just a terrible place to be. Disposable interior parts, when we sold it the dash was mostly duct tape and epoxy. Rear seat room was non existent. Got not so great gas mileage, the lack of overdrive didn't help any. Valve cover gasket was a wear item.

Were we willing to, I'm sure I could have kept it alive to north of 200K miles, but cockroaches have been around a long time too, and most folks don't seem to sing their praises.

They really aren't that bad, I've had a few of them. Parts are dirt cheap and there easy to fix, drive it for the summer and sell it for the same money. Win