Overall, this is a great car, and the 3800 engine is bulletproof.
With that said the 4T65E transmission is awful. You'll be lucky to get 150k miles from it before it needs major repairs, a rebuild, or needs to be replaced. I got mine rebuilt at 163k, I've got over 190k miles on it now and that's the only major repair it's ever needed.
From now on I'm going to service the transmission every 30k miles or so because I'm thinking that might help prolong its life - time will tell. There's a lot of debate over whether one should or shouldn't do things like change the transmission fluid but when mine went out it hadn't really ever been touched (I bought the car pre-owned the last owner never serviced the transmission)
Overall, this is a great car, and the 3800 engine is bulletproof.
With that said the 4T65E transmission is awful. You'll be lucky to get 150k miles from it before it needs major repairs, a rebuild, or needs to be replaced. I got mine rebuilt at 163k, I've got over 190k miles on it now and that's the only major repair it's ever needed.
From now on I'm going to service the transmission every 30k miles or so because I'm thinking that might help prolong its life - time will tell. There's a lot of debate over whether one should or shouldn't do things like change the transmission fluid but when mine went out it hadn't really ever been touched (I bought the car pre-owned the last owner never serviced the transmission)
- Louis L., Durham, NC, US