31st Oct 2004, 15:57

I bought my 97 Monte last January. It had just over 124,000 miles on it when I purchased it. I had to flush the radiator and clean the engine when I bought it. This was something that I was not to happy about doing seeing I just bought it, but this was to be expected since it has a high amount of miles. Recently I am having a huge problem with the power steering. So far, the only other problem I have with the car is the radio lights. As time goes by, the lights are slowly blowing out on the radio. This makes it rather hard to find the correct buttons in the dark. (Replacing the bulbs include taking off the dash, something I do not have the time to do.) I am not a big fan of not being able to turn off my lights at night. I like to not light up the entire parking lot when I am warming up my car. I did recently find a trick to deal with that; Just simply put the E break on. Knock on wood, but thus far this has been the most dependable car I've yet to own.

9th Nov 2004, 17:52

Okay, I can tell you guys why the '98 Z34 is more reliable than the '97, by far. The '97s and before have a 3.4 in them. They're known for their problems. But the '98 Z34 and later have a 3.8 V6. I have a Bonneville, and I belong to a forum of over 2800 owners of Bonnies and similar, 3.8L-equipped cars, and I don't embellish one bit when I say that the general consensus on the 3.8L is that it, like the 3.1, is one of the best engines ever made by GM. If you want a Monte, avoid the ones with the 3.4L. You'll be glad you did ;)

9th Mar 2005, 20:26

I recently acquired a 97 Monte Carlo LS from my parents, I'm taking over payments, it is the most reliable vehicle my family has ever owned. Although, like any other vehicle on the road, time does take its toll. Sometimes a little to fast, at 55000 miles, the gas tank began to leak at the seam that separates the top from the bottom, not very expensive, but a pain to get to. It now has 98,000 miles and I just changed the plugs, whew, you have to take the front 2 motor mounts off and pull the whole engine forward to get to the rear 3. The power moon roof, the motor quit and the only place I can get it is through the dealer, $230.00. The rear struts are shot as well, when rounding a curve with a pothole the whole rear end of the car will literally bounce across the road, will be fixing that very soon. I installed a high-flow cone air filter and was amazed how much it brought it to life, I alos hear a flow master 40 exhaust will add about 40 horsepower and with all flow master exhaust systems a nice tuned sound will be added.

7th Apr 2005, 18:30

I recently purchased the 97 Monte Carlo Z34 about 3 months ago from the dealership. I love the car, but my gas tank gage doesn't want to work, the battery needed to be replaced in it 2 weeks after I bought it, my windshield wipers don't want to work sometimes, and now when I shut my car off after driving it for a long time it doesn't want to start back up. Couple hours later it'll start back up. What's with that??? I had a diagnostic test done on it and it said everything is fine with it. It's gotta be my imagination why it's not starting up. If anyone knows what this could possibly mean PLEASE email me at grandprixchic_85@hotmail.com I'm starting to think my car was made either on a Friday or Monday.

18th Apr 2005, 00:15

I'm only 16 and had to buy my own car. I looked at a lot, and ended up picking up a '96 Monte Z34. I was told to expect some repairs, but I never expected this. Within a minute of pulling off the lot, my driver side window stopped half-way up. I then realized my radio antenna doesn't go up a minute later, and then within five minutes of owning the car, it dies, and won't start. So I take it up to the dealer, they say it's the battery, and they put a new one in. It's been about a month, and from time to time my window sticks, and the car takes 2 or 3 times to start. And just yesterday (about 40 days after buying the car), it dies again. I'm thinking it's the alternator. I was anticipating it costing about $150 to install, I have yet to get a quote, but someone on this board said $500+!!! I can't afford that. So, I work my butt off for a year to buy a car that I can't drive, while I watch my friends drive around in their fancy sport cars their parents bought them. Life is so unfair.

3rd Sep 2005, 14:14

I bought a 1997 Monte Carlo this past Feb. Finally got around to driving it in June. Real clean car, got a good deal (one lady owner before me).

I recently noticed it is burning oil. Has anyone else had this problem.

Please email me at nick305@hotmail.com or post comment below.

Thanks

Nick

3rd Dec 2005, 20:26

I bought a 97 Monte Carlo Z34 earlier this year. It is a very hot car and made me home in the worst blizzard in the Midwest in 2005 before I bought new tires and found that the ball joints, tie rod ends, and bearings needed replacing. That was March. In December the timing went out. I love the Monte. I have a 1984 and it has been truly dependable with nearly 250,000 miles on the original motor. The other running gear wore out before the motor. I drive almost 500 miles a week for work and wonder if this Monte will be dependable when it comes out of the shop given the tendencies of high maintenance.

22nd Dec 2005, 01:52

I recently bought a fully loaded red 97 Monte Carlo Z34. I've had it for about 4 months now. I love the car, I bought it from the first owner at 73,000 miles. I have had no major problems with the car so far, Knock on wood, and the CARFAX history report claims the vehicle has had no major work done to it. Although I did just found out that my ABS is not working in the last snow storm... Also the brakes tend to squeak a little after getting hot- (after about 25 miles of driving). Other than that the car has been great. It has great power for a V6, it has recently beaten a V6 mustang and the V6 Accord which I am proud of! The car has a sleek sporty look that tends to make heads turn. And for the parking lights, there is a better trick that I have found other than setting the E-brake: Adjust the switch for the headlights to be set between the parking lights setting and the headlights setting, and the parking lights will come on by themselves without the daytime running lights.