[poncho-mike]

My daily driver has over 300K miles on it, but I've been working from home since the pandemic I haven't been driving that much. I'm starting to look for a replacement. I'd like to find something American made with a manual tranny. I've looked at CTS-Vs before, but they have a horrible reputation for electrical gremlins.

A friend told me about his neighbor who is planning to sell a 2013 Regal GS. It has a 2.0L Ecotec 4-cylinder mated to a 6-spd manual transmission. Mileage is less than 100K miles. I've got that same engine in a Sky Redline, but I've only put 2K miles on it over the last few years.

Does anybody have any experience with these cars? If so, I'd like to hear your opinion. The car is about 2 hours away, and I plan to try to get a price and a look at the car after Thanksgiving.

[ssj71]

I had a white 2014 GS with the chrome wheels.

Beautiful car with a lot of great features, but my biggest gripes would have to be the buzzy, creaky, rattling interior. It drove me bonkers.

Also, in 2014, there were some piston/bearings issues known to GM.

Lastly, that front nose wanted to catch on everything, namely curbs and parking stops.

A great handling and performing car, but like anything, they do have their issues.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

My daily driver has over 300K miles on it, but I've been working from home since the pandemic I haven't been driving that much. I'm starting to look for a replacement. I'd like to find something American made with a manual tranny. I've looked at CTS-Vs before, but they have a horrible reputation for electrical gremlins.

A friend told me about his neighbor who is planning to sell a 2013 Regal GS. It has a 2.0L Ecotec 4-cylinder mated to a 6-spd manual transmission. Mileage is less than 100K miles. I've got that same engine in a Sky Redline, but I've only put 2K miles on it over the last few years.

Does anybody have any experience with these cars? If so, I'd like to hear your opinion. The car is about 2 hours away, and I plan to try to get a price and a look at the car after Thanksgiving.

A 2.0 in the Sky would have a Turbo charger, does the Buick? or is it a super charger?
For some reason the 2.0 and 2.4 in a transverse configuration seem to wear rings and run much hotter than your sky ( we have a Solstice) .
I would Highly recommend using "motorkote" in that engine and make sure it does not run low on oil.
If I owned it I would put a 180 T stat in it like the Sky has from the factory.
Good luck!

[RocktimusPryme]

I had a 2012 with the 6 speed. Not sure how different from 2013. It was a good car. Fun for what it was.

Parts were expensive because they were essentially European Opel parts. The clutch went bad and just the parts were like $800 at the time.

[poncho-mike]

It has the 2.0L Ecotec with a turbocharger. As far as I know, it is the exact same engine. It is rated 260HP in the Sky, but 270HP in the GS.

I looked at a 2007 CTS-V a couple of years ago. I had read about issues with gremlins in the electronics. While I was driving it, the dash lights lit up and the check engine light came on. The owner said it did that occasionally, he just reset the computer and cleared codes. That was obviously a deal killer.

So my big concern with the GS is whether or not it has similar gremlins roaming around the electronics. The handling is selectable, which means computer controlled, which kinda makes me nervous.

Mike

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

A 2.0 in the Sky would have a Turbo charger, does the Buick? or is it a super charger?
For some reason the 2.0 and 2.4 in a transverse configuration seem to wear rings and run much hotter than your sky ( we have a Solstice) .
I would Highly recommend using "motorkote" in that engine and make sure it does not run low on oil.
If I owned it I would put a 180 T stat in it like the Sky has from the factory.
Good luck!

[Mr_GTO]

I had a 2013 Verano with the 6spd manual and Turbo 2.0
I had mine for a few years. Put about 80K miles on it. Sold it because it sat in the garage after my wife lost her vision and couldn't drive anymore.

Never had 1 issue with it. Changed the oil and the brakes. That's it. Keep the oil changed at 4K miles with good oil. I used Mobil 1. Never broke down, never at the dealer for service. Great car.

[jerry455]

My son had a 2012 GS with a manual trans and he loved it. He drove it for a few years until they had too many kids to fit into it and he sold it. Another young guy was excited to buy it. As far as I know it is still running fine. This was in 2018 timeframe. I had a 2016 GS automatic. for a couple of years before I bought my Colorado. I really enjoyed driving it. It drove and handled great.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

My daily driver has over 300K miles on it, but I've been working from home since the pandemic I haven't been driving that much. I'm starting to look for a replacement. I'd like to find something American made with a manual tranny. I've looked at CTS-Vs before, but they have a horrible reputation for electrical gremlins.

A friend told me about his neighbor who is planning to sell a 2013 Regal GS. It has a 2.0L Ecotec 4-cylinder mated to a 6-spd manual transmission. Mileage is less than 100K miles. I've got that same engine in a Sky Redline, but I've only put 2K miles on it over the last few years.

Does anybody have any experience with these cars? If so, I'd like to hear your opinion. The car is about 2 hours away, and I plan to try to get a price and a look at the car after Thanksgiving.

Timing chain tensioners tend to give issues around 150-180k and it doesn’t end well. If you get it replace it before those miles.