After eight years and a lot of miles (477,383km 298, 364 miles) my 2004 Sunfire is being replaced. A few notes about it's life are listed below. The Sunfire was my third J. I had a '84 Olds Firenza, '90 Z24 and the '04 Sunfire, all bought new.
About this forum and the people on it - I very seldom post, but I've always been impressed by the knowledge, ambition and ingenuity of the members here. There was and is some great work being done. My favourite is still John Piparo's creation. To me it just looks good. My Sunfire has only very minor mods, rear window all-the way-down, shortened auto shifter, just little stuff. I'm an old fart (67) and don't play around with the car much. I'm single and retired so I get to do all the visit the nieces, nephews and assorted relatives trips. This car has made three trips from Southern Ontario to the West Coast of Canada, two to the East Coast, a three week around the US trip (down the West Coast from Washington State to Texas, across to Florida, up to New York State) and it has never let me down.
I'm a firm believer in good maintenance and I deal with an independent garage that takes good care of me.
-Oil change and tire rotation every 10,000km (6,250 miles)
-I use a high quality oil, Castrol 0-30W, a true synthetic (made in Germany and fairly expensive).
-At about 150,000km my brother (really nice '82(?) Camaro IROC Z) pointed me to that thread about TCW3, so I started using it.
-Power steering fluid was replaced with Royal Purple PS fluid, again, a true synthetic.
-Oil and air filters used were NAPA Gold.
Highlights of the Sunfire's life:
-Purchased new Ultra Silver Metallic Sunfire SE 4-door in April '04
-Options: power windows, auto transmission, Sport Appearance Package (which I guess was the spoiler on the trunk)
-Thanks to a friend, undercoated with the same stuff the dealer uses and charges some huge amount for at the cost of a few beer.
-No problems for first 96,000km (60,000 miles)
-At 96,000km (60,000 miles) Torque converter was failing to lock up, but showing no codes.
-After several attempts at fixes, the dealer replaced the transmission (no charge). Three cheers for 100,000km warranty.
-At 230,000km (144,000 miles) both front wheel bearings replaced.
-Battery replaced at 308,000km (192,500 miles.)
-Yesterday the fuel pump failed at 477,383km ( 298,364 miles).
-Still running on original exhaust system, alternator, A/C still works, etc.
-Very little rust on the underside,has developed a rust spot on the drivers' side rear door.
-I decided to treat myself to a new car, a distant descendant/replacement, I guess, of the Sunfire.
-The Sunfire is being bought by a mechanic who works at the garage where I get all my work done.
As of 10:30 this morning I'm picking up a new 2012 Buick Verano in sh*t brown, or as GM prefers to call it, Mocha Bronze Metallic. I'll still drop in occasionally to see what's happening.
---Dave.
I am jealous that you had an Ultra Silver Metallic Sunfire Sedan with an
ECOTEC engine!
298,364 miles is extremely impressive!
Enjoy the new Buick
!
I see you gave it a long run.I can understand buying new and not keeping it as a kick around.I bought my 2nd new ride in 2011 and I have only owned 3 rides now.I drove my 1st ride bought new in 87 and still keeping it just replaced it as my daily,and the cav well got 3rd hand from my sister and keeping it forever.I went literally 24 yrs (almost 2days short) between buying my truck in 87 versus my new 11 civic.Sorry for the long story but glad you had good service out of your old ride.
BTW, my user name refers to my trade (Radar Technician) in the Royal Canadian Air Force, not the engine of nearly the same name.
