New motor for a 1996 grand prix?

Should you buy a rebuilt motor or have someone rebuild the one you have for a 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix Se?

• Answer:

  buy a rebuilt engine that the mechanic will be willing to guarantee for 90 days or maybe even 6 months. Stay FAR away from dealers. Dont buy ANYTHING from a GM dealer. I had a choicde to buy an engine made by some company out in Arizona that had a 12 month warantee, the engine was a better design than the original but the price was around $5000. The other choice was my mechanic found a junkyard block with only 38,000 miles on it{and one with 68,000 too] He asked me one question--How long do you want to keep the car? 5 years or less or 5 yrs plus? For me it was 5 years or less{its coming up on 6 years next fall with NO probs} Anyway-the question was suppose to help me figure out if I should spend the 5g's for the performance engine w/ th 1 year or $1200 for the salvaged rebuilt w/ 3 months. The dealer had their own version of a rebuilt "new" engine that they were selling for $2500 plus but my guy swore there was not a lick of difference between the salvage yard and the dealers except the $1300 bucks. Hope this helps. I may have been really lucky but my engine is still running like a champ after 5 yrs. the lesson is-there is always someone ready to take a LOT of our money for not much more than we could have for a lot less. Now if youi want a high-end performance block-well that's a different story.