Thinking about buying 06 Relay with 100k miles for $1800

[lukem5]

Take the risk? I heard these things have great engine and transmission which is why I like them. Will be using for Uber/Lyft driving which it is great for (easy back row access, roomy interior) but I have spent the last 3 days reading horror stories here.

It seems that the 06 and 07 are alright cars once the electrical issues are figured out and its not a lemon (which it seems half of them are)

[onefunkar]

I agree. almost all relays are 05s. the 06s and 07s seem better. you know they made changes. the 06 and 07 have 6 lugs compared to 5 on the 05s. they are a very nicevehicle. great ride, room mileage etc. too bad so many problems.

[lukem5]

Originally Posted by onefunkar

I agree. almost all relays are 05s. the 06s and 07s seem better. you know they made changes. the 06 and 07 have 6 lugs compared to 5 on the 05s. they are a very nicevehicle. great ride, room mileage etc. too bad so many problems.

I mean, what are the odds of me getting a vehicle with a bad tranny or engine? Pretty low right?

If the engine and tranny are good, how long does the tranny usually go? 150k miles or so? I know these engines can go 250,000 plus miles

I am just wondering, if I buy this 06 relay, how much of a nightmare will it be? Flickering headlights, radio burning out and doors not closing correctly are all minor issues I can fix, however warped/broken rotors/shafts/moving parts that make cars true lemons are what scares me. How often is this seen in the relays?

[herp444]

all i can tell you is the 06 my family has is great. approaching 190k and still rides good and smooth. we have not had anything bad go on with it except every once in a while the rear door chimes thinking it is open while driving. this usually only lasts a min and then goes off by itself. no problems with radio or lights flickering. i know if i had the opportunity to pick one up at the price you said and mileage i would.

[macarose]

You'll shoot your eye out kid!

But seriously, there are far worse desires and fetishes. If a Saturn Relay is how you get your rocks off then go buy one.

[billysvue]

Originally Posted by lukem5

If the engine and tranny are good, how long does the tranny usually go?

They'll go much longer with regular fluid changes- which ought to be first thing on bucket list of maintenance chores for a new( used) car( change all fluids)...

[onefunkar]

engine and tranny on these were great. other little problems common. probably one of the most unfixable problems is problems with the power doors. gm bought alot of them back even when they were newer because they could not be fixed.

[fdryer]

^ That seems to be a challenge for anyone with skills to determine why the electric doors failed. First year teething pains for Relays like other models debuting new things that weren't proven in real world use?

[onefunkar]

i remember when relay came out saturn rep came to show salespeople how the power door stops if something gets in the way. he had a board he put in the way of it closing. door closed on it so hard the board snapped in half. actually was pretty funny but not a good thing. probably by now the bad doors would have one bad already.

[john95SW2]

You only have to ask yourself 2 questions if you are thinking about buying a Relay/Uplander/Montana (they're all the same)

1 - Are you a mechanic?

2- Do you have a pot of $ buried in the backyard?

If the answer to either of these is no...keep looking.

We had an Uplander for 8 years and about 100K miles - I can't count the number of things that we repaired over and over...but it did have manual sliding doors...and even one of those had to be repaired. I think my Mechanic was sad to see it go.