Not likely. The government and GM are trying to make it a "controlled" and "surgical" bankruptcy.

I think a lot of people are missing an important part. This actually can work to GM's advantage in building consumer confidence. They are showing that the new GM plans to fix past problems and not simply ignore them by letting the old GM take the blame for it. The new GM will be leaner and meaner and build better, safer and more efficient vehicles that consumers want.

 

Whoa their is a lot of opinions flying all over this thread, mostly pro GM etc etc. I am a GM only car buyer and have great things to say about the 3800 engine, of old, but most of the loyalty in this post is misplaced. GM's 3800 has been a grenade from 97 until its redisign a few years ago and GM knows it. Leaking gaskets, lower intake manifolds that leak coolant into oil or oil out of the engine, upper manifolds warping/cracking leaking coolant. This has been a huge issue for GM that they ignored for the last decade!!! Its only been through complaints of loyal car buyers and tons of documentation that this recall got issued. This isnt about the imports or greenys trying to slur GM, its GM not standing behind their product. The 3800 in my uncles impala leaked oil, coolant..basically killing the bottom end, Same with both 01 impalas at my church. My parents 3400 impala had the same problem. My 03, L67 bonny had the same coolant, oil mixing, and oil leaking outside the engine.
They didnt warranty these claims because of the lack of "fire" issue from leaking engines. I remember reading on a different forum that a few people with GP's did come forward with fire issues from leaking oil. And GM released a recall for L36's, or L67s in GPs, ignoring the L67 in bonnevilles.

I will stand behind GM until heaven forbid they do not exist, but they took an engine that I owned in cars from 87-95 (engines with ZERO problems and I would put against any engine as far as reliability) and basically turned its reliability legacy into a time bomb.

 

In 178k miles, I've replaced the water and fuel pumps and SC coupler...period....other than routine maintenance. Her GTP still purrs like a cat and runs perfectly.

 

Which is the exact type of thing I hear from the VAST majority of 3800 owners, myself included.

Nearing 160K and I've had NO major repairs over the 100K I've owned it. It's been all maintenance with the exception of an alternator, which I hardly consider much beyond regular maintenance.

From what I've read/heard I'm around the mileage where I shouldn't be surprised by transmission issues, but so far so good.

I got the recall notice for my Regal GS last year for the fire issue. I know there's at least a couple people on RegalGS.org who had a fire from it, but my understanding is it was an issue that ONLY the SC'ed 3800 had.

 

FWIW, We've had 3 3800's...

The wife's (girlfriend part of that time) 2001 Monte SS, my 2002 Monte SS, and our 2004 Grand Prix GTP.

The 01 SS probably had 90k on it when we sold it... the 2002 SS would have probably had aroudn 40k, and the GTP was a lease and had around 35k.

Never had any problem whatsoever with any of them... granted, the 02 and 04 didnt get up there in miles, but the 01 was starting to get up there.

 

for what its worth, my 3.8L died at 80k... intake manifold leak, coolant in oil, never overheated, then started knocking, milkshake in oilpan, headgaskets fine...

It was my least reliable car I owned. had better luck with GM 60* V6s

 

If leaking oil is a problem, they should probably recall like, every VW ever.

 

Samething happened to my brothers Buick with about 90k on it.

 

I'm suprised.

Mine never leaked, but I think it burned a little upon startup, especially in the cold.

So many FWD cars I see have the oil fill right above the header, dripping oil onto that is very common.

 

Well, I have got to admit that this is a subject that I was totally unaware of.

I never knew there was such wide-spread problem with oil leaks on the 3.8l units. I always thought they were pretty good units. Lord knows there's enough of them out there!

Ford had a similar problem with the 2.9/3.0 V6 units in the late 80's and early 90's. Valce cover gaskets were stronger than the five 4mm bolts holding the covers to the head. You could re-torque them to 10 lb-ft about every oil change and get a 1/4 turn to 1/2 turn into each one as the gasket just kept squishing and getting thinner. I would bet that alf of the 2.9/3.0 engines out here in the world from that era have at least a couple bolts wrung off from people overtightening them to try to stop oil leaks. Difference is, that leaked oil ran to the back of the valve cover, dropped onto the bell housing, and ran around to drop from the inspection plate onto the ground. At 110k miles, I took my covers off and replaced the thick cork units with rubber ones, and siliconed both sides of the rubber. A full day job, but no more leaks for the Bronco II... 370k miles on it now... dry as a bone.

Thanks to all the posters for telling your stories - good or bad. I have learned something from you guys in this thread that I never knew.

 

my winter vehicle is a 98 olds intrigue 3800(obviously) that i have owned since new

it has almost 170,000 miles on it, still original water pump, i replaced the original alternator at 150K, a mass airflow sensor at one time, and the plastic upper intake plenum at about 145,000 miles

the plenum cost me 100 bucks, a 100 dollar torque wrench that could tighten the bolts in three sequences ending up at a whopping 89 inch/lbs and three hours in the garage when i was already drunk (not a big deal at all for me)

it doesn't have any oil leaking problems and other than regular maintenance and the things i have mentioned i have done nothing to this car, one of the most reliable vehicles i've had

still pulls down 31 mpg on the highway going 70-75 as well

 

Highest mileage 3800 in my family so far is my sis's '01 GP GT with 86k. No oil or coolant leaks, but she has had random stupid other issues...MAF died, AIR pump died...otherwise solid.

Wifey's L67 has only 35k on it...I think we're good for awhile. But, the coolant looks a little sludgy, so I should change it soon...

 

Well..I am gonna guess it did not live a pampered life if you were running 14.5's with it..haha.

 

I'm sure GM thought long and hard about going public with this but I'm sure the threat of negative publicity if one of the cars burned was too big of a chance to take.

GM's PR needs to go on the offensive to let people know that these are older vehicles and that the chances of fire/accident are very very low but they stand behind their vehicles no matter what.

We've had several 3800's and I can't think of any real known problem to affect them.

 

So it looks like only W bodies are getting recalled. The Bonneville was an H body.