That has been my experience with this car, the motor and tranny are good for a lot of miles, but the rest of the car, it leaves a lot to be desired as far as build quality goes. I have had to get the intake manifold gaskets replaced at 53k. This was my mother's car, and she didn't drive it much, and never changed the anti freeze in it. It came to me b/c my mother was sick and she wanted me to check her car out b/c she was smelling anti freeze all the time. It was leaking out and getting on top of the motor, and the oil got in the radiator, etc. It was a mess but the car only had 53k miles on it when it was 11 years old, which was about the time I started driving it. When my mother passed away 5 years ago my Dad said he was going to quit driving and gave the car to me. I thought it was worth fixing with only 53k on it, so I took a chance on it. I have had to fix a few things, mostly due to it sitting all the time, IMO. It has really good power and pickup, and it gets mid 20's MPG, which for a big car like an Impala that was pretty impressive I thought. I have 120k on it now, and it still gets mid 20's mpg. thanks for all the input.