To Buy or not to Buy

Hello all, big fan of the forums. My aged stratus (97 2.4L) is nearing 100K miles and I feel its time to put it out to pasture. I know from the 3+ years that I owned it that it was a GREAT car, no maintenance other than oil changes, yet it is very POORLY rated all over the internet. Seems the Malibu comes in the same flavor.
I'm looking at purchasing a 2000 Malibu that I test drove today. It is an LS model, with only 30,700 miles on the clock. Everything electrical worked on the test drive, AC worked great, all power options in normal order. Oil looks clean, no buildup in the top of the motor or leaking of any kind, motor compartment looked clean (though it could have just been steamed by the dealer), no funny sounds, good acceleration. I'd like to hear from anyone who thinks positively of this car? I'm a shade tree mechanic, and do all my own repairs, so none of the common issues scare me (brakes, resistors, minor tinkering, etc...). If I can pick this car up for around 6Gs, would it be worth it? I owned a 97 Lumina with the same 3.1 engine previously and ran it to 97K miles (from 60 when purchased) without so much as a hiccup. So for the price, my options have basically been narrowed down to this or a ford focus (also MANY bad things written about that car). I'm sure the Malibue is alot easier to work on (even for say the intake manifold gasket repair) than a focus and definitely better than doing it on my stratus or Montana van. Just wanted to see if there were any positives about owning one of these cars, specially if I get in on one with such low miles.

6 g is too much, trustme, i love my bu but 6k no, offer likt 4500

I agree, offer $4500 to start. I got $4500 trade-in for my '98 LS in June 2004, with the 3100 and just under 30K miles. My guess is that $6K is at least $500 too high.

You can run a report on www.edmunds.com for free to get a pretty close true value.

Since you so succinctly described your background, choose the Malibu over the Focus.

Well, you better save some of that $4500 because you will definitely need it for manifolds, brakes, etc. My point? Save your money and buy a newer model or one with 90K miles that has been through these issues.

i would run fast the other direction..unless you want to pay big bucks to fix these things...because unless you're lucky, they (chevorlet) will make you pay saying it is an error you somehow caused.

actually depending on the dealer and whether or not you get a warrenty, you may not have to pay for your intake problem. also you may be able to deal with them and have it taken care of right now before you buy it.

as soon as i read about the problem with the intake manifolds on bu's i called my dealer and they replaced it for a $100 deductable, pretty much payed for my warrenty by doing just that replacement.

other than that i havent had any problems

well, i have a warranty too...it was a buyback one where if i didnt have to use i got back 2k of my premiums..so if i dump the car right now i would only get $686 of it...i just think that chevy is shady cuz you know they know this car is not a good car in way shape or form