The 2008 bailout was the nail in Pontiac's coffin.It's a shame what could've been.

Very nice this Bonneville GXP, nice and beautiful car

agreed

Very wise. I have worked on several gm cars and have owned many, and the 3.8 series 2 is ENORMOUSLY more reliable than the Northstar. Northstar makes a bit more power up high but the 3.8 with the supercharger makes very similar torque. Small sacrifice (if any) for a lot of reliability and fuel economy

@@MandarFahrren1299 what about the 5.3 LS4 compared to the 3.8 Supercharged

The v8 is definitely better, it sounds better and was more reliable

I had an 04 gxp. Loaded. Black with tan interior. Loved that car til it blew a head gasket at 54k miles. They unfortunately did not fix the head bolt problem by 04. I was told they did, but evidence shows they did not. Traded it in on a new 07 sierra, which had its own gremlins with the dumb afm system, but that's for another time. Moral of the story, don't by GM. Moved on and have been so much happier

Can't find one due to the Northstar probably...

I'm looking for one now

Currently looking at one. 😉

You can find one, but you have to be patient. Try cars and bids.

My 2004 has 204000 miles on it now. Read the owners manual and change the coolant correctly and the mighty Northstar rules.

My 96 cadillac made it to 240k before it started having issues. Saying "no northstar make it to 200k" is false and there are more example than you realize that have gotten past 200k. But to add to you comment about reliability my Intense Racing tuned/pullied 98 riviera did make it to 340k before the trans started slipping. We are definitely in agreement there

except the transmissions were fragile in the v6 cars. yes, even the 4t65hd with the supercharged v6. the 5.3/4t65hd combo (grand prix/impala ss) is even less reliable than usual since gm specs the 4t65hd to handle 300tq max and the 5.3 makes 330tq. storytime: i used to have an 04 Bonne GXP (stock) and a friend had an 02 grand prix gtp with headers, no cat, flowmasters (lol), cold air intake, pulley, injectors, and tune (most of it from zzp lol). we raced many many times, and he would consistently lose. from a dig, a 30 roll, or a 60 roll. every time he would get about a half car ahead up to 40mph then by 60mph i would be passing him. from a 60 roll he never pulled at all. We even did top speed runs lol. He was done after 125mph, the Bonneville would pull over 140mph no problem (i actually hit 152mph in the bonneville on a road trip)

northstar can have its problems fixed, with cams and a tune it could be alot better. and it comes with the 4T80 that doesnt explode

DTS had 300 hp version

@@jasonswinconos9231 Lucernes have Northstars, the LaCrosse Super had the 5.3 V8.

@@iluvcamaros1912 👍 I stand corrected. I meant looking at the Lacrosse super.

Old Motorweek numbers are always slow. I usually subtract a full second from just about every review and you get something closer to what Car and Driver would get.

I rather turbo this than to fix the 4t65

Excuse my ignorance, but what's wrong with the Northstar because I've seen similar comments 🤔

That all iron truck engine 5.3 boat anchor? Nah.

​@@sdmurphy20nothing. The issue was the owners who didn't read the owner's manual on a 36 thousand dollar purchase! The Northstar requires a strict adherence to the type and schedule on coolant changes. Trust me. That's the fact and the rest is ignorant opinion. I own an 04 w/ 204K and an 05 w/ 57K. They are both running great thanks to my ability to read and follow simple instructions lol

@marcusxmac9687 as they say, reading is fundamental, 😆

Yes, but even compared to the Bonneville's rather average interior, a 300C felt like a garbage can inside until they got the 2011 update.

@@Trendyflute Neither had nice interiors with quality materials - The Bonneville's looked outdated and ostentatious by 2004 while the Chrysler 300 looked spartan and boring, but BOTH used equally cheap/flimsy plastics... The 300C largely made up for that by offering superior content, power, exterior styling, and VALUE. No comparison.

Looking back the Bonneville is way more handsome than the 300. Imo the 300 was pretty ugly until 2013

@@RaceDefendImportTunerTeam I think they both looked good in their top trim levels but the buying public chose the 300 by a large margin. And you mean 2011 which was the year of the redesign.

The 300 had the looks of a poor man’s Rolls Royce, but undoubtedly the Bonnie was far sportier than the brick-like 300

They’re way slow. My ‘02 GTP did 0-60 in upper 6 secs and 1/4 mile in 15 flat. Something amiss here.

The Grand Prix GXP got the Impala SS 5.3

Northstar was never, ever more reliable than the 3.8! Are you nuts?

I agree, by this period, I preferred the appearance of the Bonneville and Grand Am without the cladding

The 3800 platform had reliability in SPADES over the Northstar. Where did you get your info from?

The Northstar head bolt defects were largely cured by 2004 but the way more powerful Hemi V8's instantly dominated this segment when the less expensive Chrysler 300C hit the streets around the same time in 2004 which made these Bonneville GXP's dead on arrival.

The Northstar had aluminum block and heads and was actually lighter than the smaller 3800 V6. By 2005 they had longer and thicker head bolts so the problems were much better than the earlier models. I did a lot of research since I considered buying one but couldn't find a nice one.

How tf is it uglier? You blind or?

Id also argue the aurora with the V8 is just as rare.

@@RaceDefendImportTunerTeam The 2nd generation was even slower so no real loss - The first gen. Auroras with the V8 standard are timeless future classics

​@@Stressless2023I somehow prefer the styling of the 2nd gen Aurora.

The front fascia is good looking but I never did like the rear of the Bonneville...too dated even back then.