First I guess Ill say that I am reaaallly wanting to pick this car up mainly for the fact that ever since I was in college and it came out I have wanted one.. Now I think I have found what seems to be a pretty good deal on a 2 owner ( current owner has owned it since 2007 ) with lots or general /required maintenance done as well as paperwork for many other things..

FOr the most part the car is stock, and is I would say an 8.5/10 exterior and 8.5/10 interior.. Nothing major on the inside or outside, just a few minor swirls, scratches etc... I have the cahnce to pick this up for around $7500 , and am ready to go.. I probably would have already had it, but my bank was closed


SO.... WHat should I be looking for when inspecting it? any common or problematic issues, or something to be aware of? Its the 4 speed auto, and am wondering how good that trans is, and what upgrades should be done to ensure a long lifespan while slowing modding the car... Just looking for opinions, suggestions and advice on the car..


Thanks everyone



http://duluth.craigslist.org/cto/4608690148.html

 

Nice looking car, I love that color. Throw a tranny cooler on it asap

 

Sorry mods.... Im blind and was overly excited, and put this in the wrong section, Sorry!!

 

Thanks! Another MN member!


Im really excited for this , so as you just did if there any ANY easy access parts or things that should be put on it right away to help or benefit the car lease let me know!!

 

Where ya at in Minnesota? I struggled a bit to understand the wording of the rest of the message

 

Sorry , Im in Duluth..


What I meant to say is Like the trans cooler you suggested, are there any other parts that should be checked or modified at all? Its a stock motor, but Ive been told to look into a difference converter ( 3000 stall) and possibly a trans go shift kit..


Also being extremely new to the platform, Is there a good reputable shop in MN with a good reputation in tuning , once I get to that point

 

Tranny cooler, throw some long tube headers and ory pipe on there, nothing lower than a 3600 stall converter, Carl Thomas at Lancer is by far the place to go. He is very good

 

awesome, thanks for the heads up.. so how are the stock trannys with the auto? pretty stout?

 

In general pretty lame, ha, I just pulled mine out this spring to have it rebuilt and put in a yank 3600 converter, they can handle a bit you just have to keep them cool, a deeper tranny pan is not a bad idea either

 

If you keep the tranny cool it will last

 

good looking car

 

Thanks much! She will be home Monday. I have a lot of research to do on this car. My last cars I modified were just a 2006 grand Prix supercharged with bolt ons. That was gonna be the project but the HP/$ wasn't something I wanted to do. Before that I had a 500whp srt4 on e85 that was a blast to drive. Which ended up running 11.26 @ 125 , but had to sell due to a longer than expected layoff. The hatw i got in that car was worth it as it was probably one of the best most stout "tuners" ever made. so this is a whole different world to me and I have to catch up on a lot of things.


So what do we need to do in these cars for 450-500 whp? The build won't be til next year and I will alot myself $5000 in mods. I'll do most of the work, but will bring it elsewhere for a good tune.

Thanks again everyone

 

For $5k and 450whp... well a Procharger kit or a Huron Speed turbo kit would be the easier, and you can make past 500 with either very easily. Even stock internals, 600rwhp can be had with those kits. But the trans is going to hate that kind of power.

Otherwise, heads/cam/headers/converter would get you well over 400 and be in that neighborhood of 420-450. Stock trans won't love that either, but might last. RPM and heat are the enemy of the 4L60E. So anything where you can build power at lower RPMs... like a turbo or supercharger will actually let a stock trans live a bit longer. That 125 you made in the SRT4 can be done with just heads/cam with the right setup...

Otherwise, nice looking car.

Btw, if you were to throw some serious money at the car and put a 370/390 in there, heads/blower cam/headers/true dual exhaust/fuel system upgrade/rearend upgrade/trans upgrade and something like an F1A Procharger or step up to an F2... you can make 1000rwhp on pump gas safely. That'd push a fullweight car into the 8s at over 150mph. So you've definitely stepped up to a different platform from the SRT4.

 

Nice car!

Honestly, I'd try to get him a little lower than $7500, but that's just me. More money to mod is never a bad thing...

Check the undercarriage for rust. Check for signs that the car was previously modified. These are items that can potentially save you a few grand if you can identify them and are still interested in the car. I only ask because his wording was very weird in stating "last dyno was..." Last dyno??? How many times was it dyno'd, and why?

My car had BOTH rust, and was de-modded prior to me purchasing it. I was blinded by the idea of LS power I suppose. Check the dash and door panels for cracking, check the passenger window to make sure it goes up and down at the same rate as the drivers side, check the headlights to make sure they make no grinding noises - and ask if the owner if he had ever replaced the motors, or gears inside of them. Make sure you hear no strange noises from the rear while driving, these 10 bolts are easily the weakest link of the entire drivetrain, although it could be fine behind a A4/340rwhp setup. Check fluids and all the obvious items, make sure the thing has been properly cared for.

He'll know that you have a good idea what you're looking at after you look at these items, or at least, he should.

Good luck man!

 

Thanks to both of you for the advice! I did drive it and the only thing I noticed is that when ibturn left while driving it makes a grinding sound. On the right side Like a bad wheel bearing , but he replaced that and the shop said it has something to do with the rotor rubbing. Doesn't make sense to me.

Is there a common issue with the rear end? Can it be easily repaired? He said he replaced a drivers side rear axle cuz it was vibrating. But I didn't notice anything in the test drive. Also when repairing or rebuilding the rear end , what do you want to do? What needs replacement, upgrades or changes?

I will have to check the car for rust. Underneath and on the pinch welds. He said its been stored every winter and garaged in summer since 2007.. The body was clean for a 01, but I would like to get it on a lift.

I really like the car and just hope my excitement doesn't make me rush in and buy before I get it checked out. I tend to do that and have been bit in the butt on more than one occasion.

 

The "rotor rubbing" makes absolutely no sense to me. Grinding is never a good sign in my experiences. Do you have a mechanic that could go over the car for you, and is that something the seller would be worth doing? If he says no, I'd think twice...

These cars can be had ALL DAY LONG in this price range, so be picky, and make sure you get what you want.

 

I will check over everything you mentioned and will bring it to my mechanic tomorrow. If he allows it. Not knowing about the car and how it should drive, doesn't do me any good. My mechanic built his wife's 98 trans am so he has a good knowledge of how it should feel...


I couldn't tell if it was a vibration, or noise or just the exhaust but it did catch my attention. This is why I hate being new to a platform. What might sound fine to me , may be concerning for a trained ear.

 

What do you guys think the car is worth if all checks out good? A lot of ppl seem to think $7500 is still to high. As long as the weird grinding issue gets fixed and everything else checks out, what would be a fair price? Most of the ones I see are really priced high. Yes they might only have 50k miles. But still I've seen them for $10k-20k


Going to look at it again tomorrow and have a good list of things to check over , but just dont want to overpay as well...

 

In my opinion I think $7,500 is a fair price judging by the pictures

 

thank youI'm really excited to get this, so I hope everything goes smooth tomorrow.I hate getting all excitedto have something bad happen.which is usually what my luck is with cars