How quickly does a gasket leak deteriorate a car?

Depends on what they mean by leaking. Is it sucking air, leaking oil, or leaking coolant? or what.

Also. NEVER trust a dealer recommendation. Get a second or even a third opinion.

Ask another mechanic what typically happens with these cars and do they usually have problems in the area of the intake gaskets etc.

Don't tell him what the dealer said, or he may just agree and want to soak you with an expensive repair that's maybe not really needed.

The gaskets in these engines have almost a 100% failure rate. Many people blame it on the DexCool anti-freeze. They're wrong. It's a flawed gasket design.

If you ignore this problem and coolant gets into the crankcase, you can pretty much kiss this engine goodbye.

Either get it fixed or get a new vehicle, but don't ignore it. And NEVER use a different coolant. The Mercedes coolant Robert likes is incompatible with GM seals.

You need to be a little more specific than "upper and lower". But, they're probably just talking about slight oil leaks, which lots of older cars have. If you keep the oil level right, they wouldn't ever hurt. You could re-gasket a 96 engine forever without stopping all of the seepage.

FOR REAL ANSWERS< type "dexcoolosettlement.com" into BING or YAHOO! or WIKIPEDIA and see why GM filed for BANKRUPCY protection! as it turns out, nearly ALL GM ENGIINES made from 1996-2003 suffered from DEXCOOL DILEMMA ( I call it). The coolant will GEL UP in time and melt INTAKE GASKETS and plastic MANIFOLDS! if you wait TOO LONG your engine will destroy itself inside! If TOO MUCH coolant leaks into your CYLIDNERS< it will bend RODS and you are then DONE! My brother-in-law paid out $2400+ to have his BUICK repaired from 2002! GM was SUED GIB TIME for this and denied responsibility! They are NOT JIVING YOU! This is a SERIOUS flaw and will RUIN THE NEIGNE Over time! When I work on ANY GM car cooling system, I FLUSHIT ALL OUT and then use MERCEDES YELLOW or AUDI PINK coolant! NEW CARS from GM NOW come with AUDI PINK coolant ( made by PENTOSIN company of Germany) ALSO if you want MORE POWER and longer lasting CONVERTERS and EXHAUSTS< install a set of BSOCH IRIDIUM or FUSION plugs in there! OLDER GM< AC Delco plugs are USELESS and behind in technology! They are NOT included in PLUG testing any more, they are THAT BAD! Take $20-30 to ANY OIL CHANGE CENTER and have your IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE and THROTTLE BODY cleaned up FIRST, and then install these new "PRECISION TUNING INSTRUMENTS!" Expect a 20% POWER and ECONOMY improvement when you are DONE! ALSO use MOBIL ONE 0W-30 oil in that ol' thing! GOOD LUCK and e-mail me BACK with your results! If you lived in MICHIGAN I would replace your INTAKES for you! IT is SO common now, it is SICK! I would do it ALL for about $650. GM has issues with testing their products BEFORE releasing them to the PUBLIC! They let YOU suffer the consequences! Even the CADDY NORHTSTAR have been sued, and SATURN went down for TRANMISSION WOES and ENGINE faults as well! Once you get over the HURDLE< that engine should be JUST FINE! WHERE ARE YOU on planet earth?

For some reason the Dexcool Antifreeze made the intake gaskets deteriorate and made the intake gaskets leak. It's best to have them replaced ASAP. We have no clue how bad the leak is so it's impossible to determine how much longer you can drive the car.

So they told you coolant is leaking where, into your OIL?

If so, you will know they are right when you have coolant, basically water, lubricating your bearings instead of oil, your engine will die a terrible death.

Did they show you evidence of coolant in your oil?

Are you losing coolant and not finding it on the ground?

If your coolant is down and it doesn't drip someplace you can see, then the only other place it goes is into your oil, with disasterous results.