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Chevrolet Impala Forum : “My son has a 1997 Chevy Blazer with 95000 miles on it. ”

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06/30/2008, 10:10AM
About: 2000 Chevrolet Impala
My son has a 1997 Chevy Blazer with 95000 miles on it.  

He wants to trade it with his friend for a 2000 Chevy Impala with 180,000 miles.  The Dad bought the car new and kept up with all maintenance.  Is this a good idea?

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06/30/2008, 10:31AM

In a word. No...  Even maintained the Impala is 8-9 yrs old with a lot of miles.  Stuff has to give...no matter how well you maintain a car stuff WILL fail.  At 180,000 miles your to a point where many ancillary components are going to begin to fail.  Even if the motor keeps running sensors are going to start going bad, ignition coils are going to build internal resistance and/or crack, shocks are going to be worn, suspension fatigue, valve train fatigue(springs and retainer loosing strength and/or failing), worn CAM, ect...  There is a long list of problem even a maintained engine can be facing at this point in its life, I personally would not take the gamble of getting rid of a car the potentially has a lot of life left in it for one that may conk out in a month.

Besides I would prefer the Blazer in the first place.... Or this one of the 'Gas is too high must get rid of SUB' trades?  In which case, I would bet, the cost of maintenance is likely going to overshadow the decreased cost of fuel.

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07/01/2008, 10:19PM

NO! the S Blazer has less miles an will be more dependable. the motors in the impalas ar known to throw intake gasets around 100,000 miles, so its about due again.

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07/01/2008, 10:20PM

I agree with everyone else. The miles are just too high on the Impala. Stick with the Blazer

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07/01/2008, 10:47PM

I have a friend that has a 1996 Chevy  Blazer with 232,000 miles and still running good.  I will not trade it....

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07/01/2008, 11:20PM

Having worked on both vehicles many times over, it's a tuff decision.  the 3.4L motor which is most likely in the impala is a strong motor, but leaks like a stuck pig.   Good chance the intake, oil pan, rack, axle seals, and trans lines are all leaking.  Not counting the strut mounts, and flex coupler that are probably making noise.     But on the other hand if the blazer wasn't maintained,  you probably need ball joints, pitman arm, idler arm, oil cooler lines, intake, oil pan.   What i would do is take the impala to a mechanic,  have him take it on a test drive and rack it up and check for leaks.    95000 is alot of miles on a blazer,  they run longer but its gonna cost alot of money in reconditioning.  The impala will get better gas mileage.   We all know how important that is these days

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