Buying a 2002 Chevy Impala

[weebl]

I think I have my commuter beater car, which will be sold to my son after he turns 16 next year. This one is currently in the extended family, and I know the recent history of it fairly well. It is being bought from the only members of the family I would trust enough to buy from.

It's a 2002 Impala with the 3800 (L36) engine and 4T64-E transmission. I think approximately 230,000 km (143,000 miles), it was bought second hand by my wife's grandparents from their mechanic of many years. I understand the car needed an engine rebuild, so the first owner sold it to the shop, and they rebuilt it. The engine now has about 80,000 km (50,000 miles) on it, and all oil changes/routine maintenance down while it's been in the family. Tranny fluid, while I don't know when exactly was changed, was kept fresh smelling and cherry red, by grandpa, who is meticulous about maintenance (so I'm not worried about it).

Plans are to buy it this weekend, and I will just start using it right away for my daily commute. In the spring, when the weather is nice to do maintenance work, I plan on doing an oil change (one was done recently on the car already), probably find a good 0W-30 for it, and change the tranny filter, and a drain/fill of the fluid, using my leftover TES-295 that I have from my truck.

Any thoughts on the plan, or anything else I need to be aware of about these cars?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

How is the car in terms of rust? Do you get Krown on it?

The transmission doesn't have a drain plug, so you'll want to get an aftermarket pan that has one.

If the engine was rebuilt, then it should have the LIM gasket job done and hopefully metal elbows too. The original elbows are plastic and break easily. The fix is to replace them with aftermarket metal elbows, but the O-rings that come with them suck, so you'll need to install OEM O-rings on the metal elbows.

 

[weebl]

Minimal to no rust on the car, maybe very minor cosmetic surface rust. Out here, winter rust isn't a problem, as once it gets cold, it stays cold (-15C / 5F or colder all winter long), and salt isn't used as much as it is out east.

Was thinking of replacing it with a pan with a plug. How long do the filters normally go for on these before it needs changing?

I think the rebuild was probably done with the LIM gasket, I can't see it not being the case, as the mechanic is pretty good, and seems to know his stuff.

 

[JustN89]

At a minimum, I'd replace the trans fluid, filter, and install the extra magnets per GM TSB 08-07-30-040C. You might also want to install a Transgo Shift Kit while you're there.

 

[KCJeep]

Should be perfect for what you intend to use it for. Other than watching the LIM gasket for leaks it should be a very solid vehicle.

 

[Huie83]

All I can say is good luck, hope it serves you well. I had a newer impala (2010) from almost new, purchased it with under 30K on it. it started to fall apart around 130K. The trans was slipping bad by 110K despite me maintaining it properly and installing a shift kit. The power steering pump failed and blew out the rack at 146K which was the nail in it's coffin. It had too many other electric gremlins etc to dump that much money in.

It had some leaks but the 3500 V6 always ran great and was smooth. Did just fine on Synthetic oil, AC Delco filters and changed it by he OLM. Typically that was every 6-8K miles. Pretty much the only thing that never gave me any issues!

 

[sw99]

Yea really check the transmission. They had some pretty bad issues. My 05' had all sorts of shifting and clunking issues.

 

[Duffyjr]

That 3800 should get some good milage, my 99 LeSabre consistently got 29-30 mpg and 15-16 around town.