DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

After a 4 hour debacle debating with the consignor over the price, I finally closed the deal and brought the GTO home last night. The owner of the car was trying to get $28K out of it.

Who is gonna pay $28K for an '04 when you can get an '06 for that kind of money?

Anyway... I ended up paying $23K for it, instead of the original $22K I'd agreed upon. I just could not get the consignor to budge... the salesman and I were sitting there beating our heads against the wall over this guy. At one point it was looking like I was going to bail on the deal and buy the blue one at the Chevy dealer next door... I was getting pretty pissed with the consignor. So I got the two dealers with GTOs to start fighting with each other, and the Chevy dealer was REALLY trying to snipe at the Pontiac guys.

So the dealer with the purple one started making some calls, and talked the lender into dropping the interest rate on the loan another 1%, which lowered the payment enough on the car at $23K that it was going to cost $7 more a month than the original deal I was ready to walk out the door with, $420 more over the term of the loan. I decided that was an acceptable compromise and that it wasn't worth fighting another few hours over $7.

I'm gonna take some pics after work... but it's dirty and will be until the rain lets up. Love the car, though.. this thing is ******* sweet. It's like driving an F-body with manners.

VIKING

He wanted $28K? What a dreamer! Glad you got the car and for a more reasonable deal than what he had in mind.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, and the sad part was that he really thought he could GET $28K out of it if he just stood his ground on the price. It took over an hour just to get the guy down into a price range that I'd even consider reasonable. The salesman and I were just sitting there going "WTF!" every time they had to go deal with this guy.

Love the car, though. I'm convinced now that all the people who hate on the GTO are just delusional or something.

WAHUSKER

iTrader: (4)

$28K?! Yeah, that's a little high.....

For the most part, I LOVED our GTO! One of the nicest cars to drive we've ever owned. There were little things that irritated me about it, like needing to use the power-seat motors to get into the back seat, and not being able to manually lock / unlock the doors. But I wish I could have found a way to keep it for my DD.....

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

I agree with the back seat access, I think that's probably the biggest annoyance of the car. What a PITA. Fortunately I will only use the rear seat once in a blue moon, so it's not a big issue for me. The door lock thing doesn't bother me at all, I always use the remote so I hadn't even noticed that one to be honest.

I also wish it had a dead pedal, and that the clutch pedal was slightly narrower... wish it had an oil pressure gauge. But yeah, these cars do make an outstanding daily driver. My commute just got about 10 times more relaxing by switching cars.

CHarris

iTrader: (5)

If I didn't have to give up the GTO to get the CTS-V... I'd still have the GTO and keep ti for a long time. Those seats were the best!

silverbullet02

iTrader: (2)

I agree with that. Didn't realize how much I used the one in the T/A until I drove Ryan's from Michigan to the other side of Ohio and then from Ohio to out here. My left foot kept getting antsy cause there was nowhere to rest it up there. Those cars do rock tho, if I had a lot of money for another car, I'd have one.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Agreed, but the CTS-V is just freakin PIMP all around, so it's a better choice. I just didn't have that kind of green to blow on a car.

I did notice that on my way to work this morning it was really refreshing to be able to not be wishing I was driving one of my Firebirds. The GTO feels so smooth and luxurious compared to the Firebirds, but it has all the power. It's really kinda cracking me up... I'm sitting there at a stop light, and it feels like I'm just driving a good commuter car, but I can feel the V8 rumbling the car while I'm sitting there. That's kinda cool.

It's almost as if I sat down and purposely built 3 LS1 cars for 3 different purposes, and each of them is best suited for the purpose I use them.

But yeah I think I got my bases covered for cars now... I could occasionally use a pickup, but it's tough to justify the expense for as little use as I would get out of it. I think if my car situation changes, I would probably drop a car before I added anything else. My parking situation would be out of control otherwise.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Congrats. I think you will love this car and its cool that you were able to get the purple one. I didn't care for the dead pedal thing when I first got mine either, but you'll get used to it. I find myself kinda hovering over the clutch pedal with my left foot now - especially in traffic - unless I'm cruising in 6th. I, like you, never use the back seats for anything so the motor speed isn't a big deal for me, but probably would be a PITA if you regularly carried rear passengers. Also, lots of complaints about the trunk size, but IMO the volume that's there is small, but its nice and square so its quite useable.

My biggest complaints with mine were that the stock shifter was a little too rubbery, the stock suspension was a little too compliant, and it had to have wider rear wheels/tires. These are all easily fixed, though, and it does make an awesome driver. Sometimes I find myself cruising along at 80mph on the highway and it feels like I'm just strolling down a backroad somewhere at 30mph. Its definitely a different animal than the F-body.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, I agree about the shifter, but I didn't put too much thought in that because I'm replacing it anyway. I'm gonna buy the PMM shifter everyone seems to be raving about. I got so used to the B&M Ripper on my WS6, I feel like I'm trying to type with boxing gloves on or something when I'm using the stock GTO shifter.

And yeah, the trunk size is too small... but I rarely use the trunk anyway. It's plenty for me.

WAHUSKER

iTrader: (4)

Hey Zeke, don't hesitate to throw a K&N on that baby. It netted me 30rwhp + 1mpg!!! I'm not talking a CAI kit either, just the filter. I got one that's 6 months old.....

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Cool I will have to do that...

I still wanna shake the cobwebs off the car, it's been sitting there idle for months. I took it out and ran it through the gears a bit... I kicked off the traction control in 3rd gear.. hehehe.

In all seriousness, I can't for the life of me figure out why so many people hate on these cars, they are incredible. I could not have picked a better daily driver.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Here's pics of the car... it's dirty, but you'll get the idea..

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

The interior isn't as bright colored in real life as it appears here... it's actually very subtle.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

And of course, as requested.. I could not finish it off without a picture of the complete Trifecta...

aja342

iTrader: (1)

Love that color, remindes me of grape soda! it looks like the GTO is cleaner than the birds! If you have never sat in the back seat of a GTO you realy should...they are more comfortable then the fronts of all most any car.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

The Formula is spotless right now, it just needs to have the duster run over it.... The WS6 is friggin filthy, though. I've been driving it daily for the last 2 weeks, and my driveway is dirt / gravel.


I'm gonna have to try that, I've never say in the back... man it is a pain in the *** to get in and out of there, though.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Get that front license plate off there!

turbo50

Car really does look sweet in that color. I like how they did the purple in the interior so tastefully. You would think that would be tough to pull off. But they did it quite nicely.

My1st Truck

iTrader: (8)

Congrats! Good luck with it Zeke!

I still can't believe 28,000 dollars!?