I am interested in buying a 1996-2002 camaro with the 3.8 liter V6. I would like to know how dependable they are and how many miles they will run for if properly taken car of? Any responses will be appreciated.

 

hi i own a pontiac firebird, 2000, V-6 3.8, well the car runs great .. cheap to maintain.... i normally run about 80mph.....

 

How many miles are on it?

 

We have 130,000 miles on the 3800 Series II in our 2000 Bonneville. We don't baby it at all. It runs like it's new!

 

i've got 140,000 on mine and runs great. even take it to the track every once in awhile for fun.

 

ive heard about people with up to 250.xxx+ miles on their v6's. these things are great!
i only have 36,000 on mine, but i havent had any problems (that werent caused by me, haha)

 

During my apprenticeship at a GM dealership, I came across countless 3.8L Series II motors with well over 150K, some even over 200K and they were running like mint. I have a supercharged 3.8 in my Grand Prix and it has almost a 100K on it and you would never be able to tell. I am definitely not easy on that car either.

 

Over 170k on my '96 3.8L daily driver.

Oil analysis shows that the engine is wearing just fine with no problems at all. Just the usual wear & tear items but thankfully she has been near bullet-proof.

 

my is in 50,000 m

 

it's a great engine. runs well! i haven't had any serious problems, just the usual maintenance. I acutally have to replace my spark wires tomorrow. Overall, great gas mileage on the freeway.

 

3800 series II dependability = god like
everything else will most likely break on the car before the motor.

 

Mine has 110K on it and leaks oil like a madman.

Not that it has anything whatsoever to do with the car's dependability, though. I blame every oil leak on the dealerships that performed shoddy work on it. Live and learn.

Otherwise, the motor is near bulletproof. Lifters make some noise and the plug wires don't last very long due to the design of the motor, but otherwise it runs like a top.

 

I sold my '96 V6 Camaro last year with 165k miles on it. Engine still ran perfect, but had some oil leaks and coolant seeping out at the intake manifold interface. I beat the crap out of it for 7 years so I'd say it held up well.

 

So very true. I was hard as all hell on mine before I had to put her in storage Only thing I had to do was replace the plug wires and catalytic converter (was still under warranty thank god.)

 

What problems should I look for when looking at V6 models, and what is most prone to fail other that the plug wires and oil leaks?