Its been over a year since joining and I'm finally going to post!
I'm looking for some advice here, I test drove a 97 GXE 5-spd with 135xxx mi. It looks good on the outside, no dents, couple scrapes, but nothing major. I drove the car and it drove nice. I get back to the dealer and I look underneath the car to notice the bottom of the tranny and block are soaked in oil. I read something about inproper shimming of input shaft bearing, could it be that or a rear seal? also the dealer wants $5688 for it. Think that is a good price? If you guys could chime on this, i'd appreciate it!

-Tony

 

way too much for any car with 135k miles, especially gxe.

 

Keep looking. The price isn't to high (for a dealer) for the year but you can probably find something better. I always prefer to purchase from private parties just because generally there are service records present. There is a '97 GXE 5sp. in my area with 95k for $5500. Even better... a '97 GLE with 61k for $4600. Both are private sellers.

 

That really depends on what you think 'better' is...5 spd>auto...
back to the original post -- you're going to run into many problems with the tranny if you know it's already leaking, I'd also say keep looking.

 

Sorry, I wasn't clear as to what I meant by "better". I wasn't referring to the tranny since this is always a personal preference. Actually, it was the price. Cheaper is better, right? LOL.

 

yea the leaking tranny definetely concerns me, After I told the guy my concerns, it appeared he was willing to bargain. Anyways, I found a 99' SE fully loaded with 125k on it for $7900. i know thats still on the higher end but it may be a better deal.

 

thats easily $1500 too much, even without considering the oil/tranny leak....keep looking.