Posting this on behalf of my mom who isn't really into blogging and BBS'es and all that...For several months prior to Aug-2008 she complained that at least 2-3 times a day the engine in the Bonneville would stall, usually when letting up on the gas and preparing to stop, like at a stop light. This would be after the engine had been running a while and was warmed up. After waiting about 30 seconds the engine would start right up again and she would be on her way. It wouldn't seem to stall while she had her foot on the gas, though, just when she was getting ready to stop. Several visits to the local Firestone shop got her a lot of head-scratching, followed by replacement of pretty much the whole ignition system, part by part. Spark plugs, plug wires, ignition control module - you name it, they replaced it and proclaimed the problem "fixed." No luck.

Some $1200 later she broke down and took it to the Pontiac dealer (this was before GM killed Pontiac, when there were still dealers...), setting a $500 limit on how much more she would spend. The service manager said that it sounded a lot like something he'd seen a few times before and quoted something called a "fuel pressure regulator." The part was only about $80 but the labor brought the total to just under $400. My mom had the work done and the car has not stalled since. In fact, it runs so nicely that she seems to want to keep it for the time being. I've driven it a few times and it really is a nice car.

Car has stalled 3 times since July 2008, always after being driven for a while. First two times, it started up again only after sitting for 15-20 minutes. Took it to the dealer in mid July of 2008 after the second stall, spent $1200. Dealer replaced EGR valve and lower manifold cover (which evidently goes bad most of the time on '97 Bonnevilles, anyway), and told me I was good to go. About 3 weeks later on August 8, 2008, I set off on a trip. Hit stop and go traffic for the first 10 miles (took about 35 minutes to get through it), and then traffic loosened up a bit. Car started to run a little rough at highway speed, and then something changed and car would not drive over 10 MPH no matter how hard I pressed on the gas. When I took my foot off the gas, the car still went 10 mph. I drove 2 miles up the shoulder of the highway (road was on uphill angle). Eventually, the car shut off. I let it sit a couple of seconds, restarted it, and it drove normally. Pulled off the road for 30 minutes to rest. When I restarted again, it drove fine for the entire 40 mile trip home. I was glad to get home, but I was very annoyed to have missed the event that I was heading out to see. Does anybody know what I should do? The Check Engine light did not come on this time, although it did during the 2 stalls before it was "fixed". Should I just chuck this thing and buy something else? Help!