2004 Pontiac Grand Prix Gtp Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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GM recalling 1.4 million older vehicles for oil leak fire risk

General Motors is recalling 1,411,332 older vehicles with its 3.8-liter V6 yet again due to a fire risk. Specifically, there are 1,283,340 of them in the US, and the affected models are the: 1997-2004 Pontiac Grand Prix 2000-2004 Chevrolet Impala 1998-1999 Chevrolet Lumina 1998-2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1998-1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue 1997- 2004 Buick Regal The fault with these vehicles is that oil can drip onto the hot exhaust manifold during hard braking, which can potentially cause of fire. In the last six years, there have 19 reported minor injuries from this problem but no crashes or fatalities, according to the company. Spokesperson Alan Adler also told Autoblog: "GM has reports of 1,345 fires in vehicles that were repaired under two previous recalls for this issue." At this time, GM is still developing a remedy for the problem. According to Adler, the company advised owners to park these vehicles outside for the previous recalls. "The cars can be safely driven. In cases where a customer reported an engine fire while driving, smoke was reported, which would be an indication of a malfunction," he said. This is GM's fourth recall for this problem since 2008, according to The Detroit News. At one point it was believed that aging valve cover gaskets allowed the oil to leak out and drip onto the manifold. A campaign in 2009 covered nearly 1.5 million of these models through the 2003 model year for the same issue. At the time, dealers installed new spark plug wire retainers as a fix. Related Video: GM Statement: General Motors is recalling 1,283,340 older sedans and coupes in the U.S. from the 1997 to 2004 model years because drops of oil may be deposited on the hot exhaust manifold through hard braking, which can cause engine compartment fires. GM is working on a remedy. The company is aware of post-repair fires in some vehicles but no crashes or fatalities. There have been 19 reported minor injuries over the last six years. These vehicles with 3.8-liter V6 3800 engines are affected: 1997-2004 Pontiac Grand Prix, 2000-2004 Chevrolet Impala, 1998-1999 Chevrolet Lumina and 1998-2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 1998-1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue and 1997-2004 Buick Regal. Including Canada, Mexico and exports, the total population is 1,411,332.

Burt Reynolds' old Pontiac Trans Am replica sold for $317,500

Following Burt Reynolds' passing last September, Julien's Auctions held an estate sale of the late actor's property on June 15-16 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Hundreds of items were included in the auction, but none more valuable than the Pontiac Trans Am Bandit replica previously owned by Reynolds. It easily surpassed expectations when it sold for $317,500. Julien's, the self-proclaimed experts in contemporary and pop culture, listed 876 pieces in the sale, from cowboy boots to a driver's license to scripts. The online preview said it estimated a range of prices from $25 to $200,000. They were way off. Item No. 716 was a replica of a Pontiac Trans Am Bandit that was seen in the original "Smokey and the Bandit." Not the real car, just a re-creation. But its value comes more from who owned the ride rather than what the car was. The replica was owned by Reynolds for some years, and now that he's passed, it's coveted even more. It's not the only Trans Am item that sold at auction. Three Reynolds Trans Am model cars sold for $640, $576 and $512. A Reynolds-signed "Bandit" poster sold for $3,200. A Reynolds-signed poster from the Trans Am plant sold for $1,562.50, a Reynolds custom-built Trans Am office desk sold for $4,375, and a "Smokey and the Bandit" decorative etched glass panel sold for $896. This isn't the first time a Bandit replica has sold for big money. In 2016, a promotional Trans Am sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction for $550,000. We also believe the exact car sold in this Julien's auction was previously bought at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2018 for $192,500. If that's the case, somebody just made an extremely easy profit.

Junkyard Gem: 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE AWD

During the middle to late 1980s, General Motors made a big push to grab back some of the sales swiped by makers of European luxury machinery during the previous decade. Around the top of the prestige pyramid, there was the Turin/Hamtramck-built Cadillac Allante taking aim at the Mercedes-Benz 560SEC and the super high-tech Buick Reatta trying to seduce away BMW and Jaguar shoppers; even the Riviera offered a futuristic touchscreen computer sorely lacking in anything out of Stuttgart or Bavaria. The General had a plan to take on the smaller German sporty sedans, too, and Pontiac of the "We Build Excitement" era offered a midsize sedan packed with modern hardware at a great price: the 6000 STE. Here's one of the rarest 6000 STEs of them all, an all-wheel-drive-equipped '89 found in a Denver-area yard last week. Any 6000 STE is extremely hard to find today; when I wrote about a front-wheel-drive 1987 6000 STE back in 2018, desperate owners of these cars filled my inbox with requests — sometimes demands —  for parts that continue to this day. Many of them pleaded with me to help them find an all-wheel-drive version, and now I have managed to find one at Colorado Auto & Parts in Englewood, just south of Denver (in fact, the same yard at which I shot the '87). You may recall CAP as the old-school yard whose owners built the amazing airplane-engined 1939 Plymouth pickup a few years back.  The all-wheel-drive system on the 6000 STE was introduced for the 1988 model year, and it became standard equipment on the 1989 STE. At this time, the automotive industry had taken note of the success of the idiot-proof all-wheel-drive systems offered by AMC and Audi/Volkswagen; Toyota began selling Americans all-wheel-drive Camrys, Celicas, and Corollas, while Ford offered the Tempo and Topaz with optional AWD and Subaru was just beginning to make the switch from manually-selected four-wheel-drive to genuine all-wheel-drive around that time (it took a few more years for everyone to standardize on the 4WD/AWD terminology we use today, though). The 6000 STE AWD was intended to compete with such all-wheel-drive-equipped sedans as the Audi 80 ($23,610), Audi 90 ($28,840), and BMW 325iX ($30,750); its $22,599 price tag (about $50,700 in 2021 dollars) certainly made it seem like a bargain compared to those cars. In addition to the all-wheel-drive system, 1989 6000 STE owners got a digital instrument panel and more switches and buttons than the Space Shuttle.