Re: I bought a car today! Orig poster on: Cheaper to keep and maintain 2 very old cars (vs 1 newer one?)

On 2 Dec 2003 12:06:56 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Yang,
MD) wrote:

>> >---How many miles on your Chevy Beretta?  How many miles have you put
>> >on it since buying it?  The Buick Century has a 3.1 V6 and I read that
>> >they are notorious for head gaskets going every 40k-50k miles.  (I
>> >don't know if EVERY Chevy 3.1 SFI engine does this?).  This is a
>> >$500-$800 job, so now I'm scared...
>> >(can still back out on the car deal, but will just lose my deposit).
>> >
>> Been reading Shiden posts?  I've had 6 of these engines in the family
>> (counting 2 2.8's from which they're derived) and never had a problem.
>> Your Dad's 2.8 is one of the "notorious" engines.
>
>Hi Victor,
>I think that the 3.1 SFI design, which began in 1994, is significantly
>different from the 2.8/3.1 MFIs, and thus, has this intake manifold
>problem not shared by the MFI engines?
>
Nope, though they may have changed the gasket design/supplier.
I see you changed from head gasket to intake manifold gasket.
You've come closer to the truth.
This is usenet.  I told you the 3.1 intake man gasket "notoriety"
wouldn't give *me* a moment's pause in buying a 3.1.
And that there are *millions* of 3.1's in service.
To get some perspective, do your google scan on Toyota intake manifold
or Toyota head gasket.  You might be surprised. 
Keep in mind there are *probably* more 3.1's in service than total
Toyotas.  It's unscientific (some of the hits on Toyota will be people
bitching about their 3.1 manifold leak and now they bought a perfect
Toyota and will never buy a GM again!  Sometimes one joker bitches 50
times about the same thing. etc)
But hey, that's usenet.  You can still get a reasonable estimation.

--Vic