Faults:

The heater core, ball joints and radiator needed replacement under the manufacturers' warranty - not a huge deal; more of an inconvenience.

Recently, all three of the engine mounts have cracked - two of them twice within a year! Radiator needed a new core, and A/C compressor + evaporator done last summer.

Cosmetics: the clear coat comes off easily. Inside headliner coming loose. Replaced leather on the driver's seat with vinyl.

Electrical: Driver's Information Centre and electronic compass died in 2000. Power seats can be finicky.

General Comments:

The aforementioned list of problems should not discourage anyone away from this car!

After 14 years on the road, including repeated trips from Toronto to Tampa and Phoenix, the Bonneville is still humming away. The engine is as vibrant as ever. The transmission can hit hard between 2nd and 3rd, but is smoother and far more precice than a lot of new cars that I have tried. Excellent steering feedback!!

Mechanically, after 14 years, it's solid. It's not the fastest car on the road, but is surprisingly quick. 120 km/h (~65 MPH) is achieved at ~2000 RPM, so it really is a highway car.

As far as comfort goes, it beats all cars I have been in, including my father's Cadillac Catera. Excellent features, seats, visibility, everything!

Faults:

Well when I first got the car it was great, but after a while the entire braking system went, two times.

The CV joints went.

The calipers got real choppy and impaired my driving.

The bearings were both shot.

The shocks were all shot (especially after the tree fell on it).

General Comments:

I absolutely loved this car, other than it being old and having over 16000 miles when I bought it. The car wasn't made for my aggressive driving but it held up pretty well.

I owe my life to it, since I was in a recent accident with and if it hadn't been so tough I would have been crushed by the engine, the car was totalled.

It had great handling and was pretty responsive, real fast and zippy. The cabin was comfortable for all passengers including myself. All the controls were easy to get at. I would really like to drive and own a newer model.

Faults:

My car was in quite bad shape when I bought it. Half of it's lifetime it has been in Florida and in 1997 it was shipped over to Finland. The use of the car has been careless.

Most work has been to rebuild it in original shape after somebody did try to service it in the wrong way/parts.

Now after many work hours and some new parts everything seems to be working right. Biggest problem was in the wheel adjustment after a bumper replacement. There has not been any problem with the engine.

It has been easy to work with it!

General Comments:

The car is great! Luxury is wonderful and it's good to drive. Fuel economy is in balance with the car weight and engine.

I think I will never sell it after this work?

Faults:

Half-shaft started clunking and was replaced ($100).

Tensioner pulley failed and was replaced ($10).

One coil pack (of three) failed after a major accident, but still made the drive back home ($100).

General Comments:

Incredible reliability. I've owned it almost two years and over 40,000 miles and it's now at 280,000 miles and starts up every day. The 3800 engine is a well-known extremely reliable engine and if you can look past the little problems (the power windows and the locks get flakier and flakier, plus a strange unidentifiable rumble I've had the entire time I've owned the car) it was a terrific bargain for $1500.

It actually looked pretty nice when it was new, but an Eclipse ran a red light and nailed me. It still runs great after replacing a coil pack and some homespun body work (but is significantly less aerodynamic on the highway). Replacing the duct tape is regular maintainence when I change the oil.