The dashboard on my 2002 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo glowed like a Christmas Tree last Wednesday when along with the omni-present CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, the "ABS" and "SERVICE TRACTION NOW" dingers came on. Merry Christmas to you too, Dale.
To make matters worse, my gas gauge was stuck on full despite more than two-hundred fifty-miles driven since last I filled up. It's since "fixed" itself but we know these things only get worse. Along with my soggy rear struts, creeping rust issues and staring down the barrel of two-hundred and forty-thousand miles on the digital ticker, it got me thinking about how long I can keep this twenty-year old good old boy rolling.
Like someone who won't change their fashion sense or hairstyle, I did a quick search on Facebook Marketplace for, you guessed it, Chevrolet Monte Carlo's. I found several in varying degrees of distress within 500 miles of my home on Cleveland, Ohio's west side but this one outside Dayton was the most compelling. General Motors hasn't built my vintage of Monte Carlo since 2005 and none since 2007 so ones in decent shape or are fixable at least are getting harder and harder to find. Us beggars or those looking for a solid bargain can't be too choosy.
It was far from perfect but with just under one-hundred and twenty-eight thousand miles on it I could do worse. Especially for $3,100. The seller said the only major issue it had was that it needed an oil pan gasket. No big deal given that I'd done the one of my car myself at the start of The Pandemic thus side-stepping an absurd repair tab; it was at least $800. It's not a complicated job but because the passenger side engine mount is in the way of getting the pan out, it's a fairly labor-intensive one. Messy too.
I don't mind so much that it wasn't a "Dale" but I chaffed somewhat at no sunroof, no heated seats, the lack of a cassette deck and no power passenger seat. I could swap everything over from my car, save for the sunroof of course. Still, it was an SS with the F41 suspension and 3800 Series II V-6; despite the oil pan issues, I believe it to be one of the best engines GM has ever built. Right up there the lordly Chevrolet small-block.
The very responsive owner of the car and I messaged back and forth several times late last week and we left it that I'd be in contact with them after Christmas. If it wasn't so far away I probably would have made the trip but a four-hour if not four and half hour drive to kick the tires of a car I was luke warm about from the start didn't seem to me to be the best way to spend my time.
My wife also had a pearls of wisdom. Yes, my "Dale" has a significant amount of mileage on it but I've put all but fourteen-thousand of the near two-hundred forty-thousand miles on it over the last eleven going on twelve years. Who knows how the one-hundred twenty-eight thousand miles or so were put on this car. On older cars, seriously, it's not so much how many miles are on them, it's more like, "how were the miles put on?"
"Better the devil you know", she said. And I couldn't agree more. I'll swap the wheel bearings if and when the ABS system becomes a recurring issue on the Dale. Same with the gas gauge relay. Rear struts too.
Better the devil or Intimidator you know.
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