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Pontiac GTO
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Comments
As for resale, I did a CarMax search out of curiosity and there are two in my area with asking prices of about $24k. They claim the blue book is about $26k. I find it hard to believe that they will move these cars at that price, and I suspect the resale on them will fall very hard due to all the rebates. The cheaper you buy it for, the cheaper you should expect to sell it for. For people who paid $25k or so, a $20k resale after maybe a year is fairly normal. For folks who paid $35k, well it's gonna suck. Though, if you don't sell it, it's really irrelevant.
Edit: Oh, my local Pontiac/Buick dealer sent out a mailer with a bunch of "Red Tag Sale" stuff in it. They didn't have either of the two GTO's listed in it. One time when I went there to see the goats that GMBuyPower listed, the sales guy said they hadn't gotten them yet. Then he said they had been selling them about as quickly as they'd been getting them. I'm not sure if that's true, but maybe they already moved the two I saw there. If so, I hope the buyers know how to work a polisher...
The GM Card "top offs" and bonus offers customers who filled out surveys or requested more GM vehicle information recently could have received a greater $ promotion than others. However, most of those who received higher $ promotions were randomly selected according to the GM Card rep I talked to. Of course your GM Card Earnings amount was a factor too.
I have worked a deal on an '04 gto, 6 spd, silver, red seats, build date 06/04, 160 miles on clock, $25,600 plus tax, tags, and $400 proc fee, 2 free oil changes,
trade in allowance $15,000 on my '05 scion tC 5 spd with 13,000 miles on it, and a few dealer options such as TRD exhaust and strut bar. HOW IS IT?? Should I have been able to do better??
Subract $5500 if you are in the East or South, $5000 if you are in the Midwest, $3500 if you are in the West (see http://www.gm.com for current incentives/geographical breakdown).
Ask the dealer if they have any $500 "Value Certificates" available (they can use up to 3 on a GTO purchase).
The $400 processing/sevices fee is pure profit/completely negotiable.
As to your trade-in, please post complete details in the "Real World Trade-In Values" thread over in Smart Shopper. They will need make/model/year/mileage/color/options/condition/location, at a minumum, to determine what you should be offered...
Hope this helps,
--Robert
--Robert
You don't mention the mileage, but demo = a used car in my opinion. Especially this late in the model year. FYI - someone mentioned earlier that '04s are going for $21K at dealer auctions (wholesale) with less than 5K miles on them.
One other radio trick I learned...when in CD mode, you can switch CD's by holding the up or down arrow on the left switch set on the steering wheel... Your hands don't ever have to leave the wheel (unless you have the 6spd like me!)
The fog lamps are controlled through the same switch as the headlights. pull out gently to turn them on, push in to turn off. you'll know its working by watching the "idiot" lamps on the gauge cluster if you turn the headlights on when you play with the fog light controls. One thing about the head light switch, just leave it in AUTO mode. works great! allows the system to turn the lights on when you approach and use the unlock button on your gargantuan key.
Once you find all the specifics, its a really great car to drive...8500 miles on mine and counting...
With a 6 SP have you gotten used to the pedal setup? Specifically no dead pedal and not enough room between the clutch and the side wall. Do you get used to this over time? In my test drive my left foot kept getting stuck under the clutch when I moved it to shift.
I have gotten used to the driving without the dead pedal. I basically drive with my heel on the floorboard all the time and hover the ball of my foot over the pedal. I use another position if am in 6th gear, which I'll usually do only at speeds over 50mph. Then I'll stretch the left leg out underneath the pedal.
I have only a couple of days left to decide whether to trade my Celica GTS for the GTO as the rebates and GM bonus cash will be gone 1/3. I dont care for the 2005 styling or price so this is the last shot at a 2004 because it does seem like they are movin em now.
Not only that, you won't miss your celica one bit. Wait till you drive it everyday...get used to the passing power - dropping it two gears while doing 70 to get around that semi in front, slipping it back into 6th and letting the car decelerate from 100+ back to something closer to legal, listening the burble of the exhaust...
Yeah, I can't do that in my old 96 GrandAm... or my fiances' '03 civic...
Whereas I can whip the Celica around a corner at full speed without even touching the brake.
The hard part is the $5k rebate and $6K GM Bonus = $11K off the car. Makes me wonder though - is the car that bad that they are taking that much off to move it?
Sometimes while idling I am noticing the car "lumping" or shaking with the motor beats. Maybe this is typical of a big time V8?? Has anyone else experienced this? Also, the 1-4 shift "feature" seems to happen only intermittantly.
Had my first "U-turn, punch it, oversteer, up through 2-3-4 shifts and hit 80 before I knew it" tonight. It was absolutely a blast. Overall car feels solid and well built...
As to your question about the car being "that bad", have you driven one? For whatever reason, the styling hasn't resonated with the American public, yet just about anyone who takes a spin in one ends up with a huge grin on their face. The car has clean styling (referencing the common complaint about Pontiac cladding) and one of the best interiors GM's ever made (another common GM complaint), with one of the best powertrains GM's ever made (yet more room for complaints). To get one for $14k off MSRP, plus still at low finance rates, is an unheard-of bargain.
--Robert
Just make sure that your tire pressure is 30-35 psi, not the 50-60 it ships at; that your spare tire pressure is 55-60 psi, rather than the 30-35 it ships at; and that the suspension packing materials (red spring clips) are off the front and rear suspension (can mess up your control arms/stabilizer bars/struts and shocks, as it did with my car)...
What's your build date? Cars built in April or earlier are likely to suffer from lound clunking/thunking in the rear upon hard acceleration (driveline hitting the chassis). There's a TSB out on this.
There's also a TSB which allows the dealer to use his recently-updated Scan tool to dim the brightness of the "MPH" light on the dash.
The stereo can be made to sound better by adjusting the subwoofer gain in the trunk. The woofer is on the left-hand side - you can pull back the carpet, reach in there, and find/turn the dial.
Likewise, one of the common GTO complaints is the low beam headlights being too dim. There are adjustment screws near the lights (have to have the hood open) - pull your car up to the garage, and turn the screws about 2 1/2 turns "up" and your low-beam distance will improve (without other drivers flashing in your eyes). The fog lamps have adjustment screws as well...
--Robert
The skip shift feature is annoying and will not happen on harder launches. There are kits available that will disable it - I plan on getting one very soon.
bought my '04 Silver at Mcelveen 11/30.
What color are you driving and where did you buy?
I think I'd read a post way back about the dashboard going bonkers on startup. I had this happen to me at around 900 miles. I had just gotten out of the parking garage, in bad weather late at night, and was accelerating on 2nd when the needles started dancing, a beeping sound came on, the message 'Engine temp hot' flashed, and the temp gauge flared to the max then dropped back to low, as if broken. It was very disconcerting to say the least, and I had to immediately flash my emergency lights and pull over. Having read the previous posts though, I tried not to get too alarmed. I kept the engine running , carefully opened the hood and checked the coolant for leaks but it was full. I kept the engine running for a few more minutes, hoping it would stabilize, then drove off. It's never happened again.
Hopefully it won't happen to you at high speeds.
Thanks for the tips on the speakers/woofer. I wonder if there is any way to re-program the EQ settings??
Also, this might sound really strange, but has anyone thought about removing the back seats? How hard is it to get the back seats out?
--Robert
Thanks,
Tires from dealer were over 50 lbs, have adjusted to the recommended 35, ride is much better. I will have to check on the "red spring clips" - where should I look for these?
Halfway through 2nd tank, am wondering now about fuel mileage. I have the 6-speed, and computer suggested the 1st tank averaged 16mpg, so far on this tank it is saying 15mpg. I assume it will improve after a few more tanks, but anyone have any real world numbers (is 29 really possible on hiway??).
My build date is 06/04...although one time I have heard a very loud thunk during full throttle acceleration, sounded like I ran over something on the right middle side of car, like a piece of metal, that hit the bottom of the car. Is this the driveline hitting the chassis??
6G2VX12G64L236178
Well, I can tell you that the VIN for my first GTO (built in May) ended in 281821. My replacement car (built in July) is 301xxx. And I've seen some September 2003 cars in the 193xxx range. So, my guess is in the February timeframe - probably needs to have the "thunk in the trunk" TSB applied, among others...
--Robert
Why did you get a replacement?
My original vehicle was making loud groaning/creaking noises from the dash area, which, after much dash disassembly/windshield removal/dropping and realigning the engine and tranny, turned out to be an improperly-assembled firewall (polymer material glued to metal channels - kind of like a Saturn's body panels). Once that repair was done (after 20 days in the shop), the car had major-league suspension issues/really loud "clunk" noises that anyone in the car could hear and feel (front control arms/stabilizer bar messed up), among other things that happened (scratched/chipped paint, improperly assembled dash/steering wheel, et. al.) that weren't repaired after a couple more service visits. After 35 days and a bunch of complaints by me (to the dealership service manager AND general manager, to the Pontiac regional rep, to GM Executive relations, and the GTO Brand Quality Manager), they agreed to exchange my car. Just wish it hadn't taken GM seven weeks to do the paperwork - can't wait for Wednesday...
--Robert
Today is the last day supposedly for all of the incentives. And I still cant pull the trigger and trade my GTS so I guess I will wait until 2005 or 06 and gamble that they wont be able to sell at sticker again. I dont think the GTO is a good car to buy used so new is the way to go.
And now, GM is telling me Friday will be the day. Geez, get it over with already! :-)
--Robert
onto Calhoun St. a couple of weeks ago.
It had a big orange Clemson license plate on the front.
Was that you?
I was in my black SRX so you wouldn't have noticed me.
Good to know there are other GTO peeps from Charleston on edmunds.
There is a black/red that is parked on HWY17S all the time.
sentry buick has sold 2 blacks and 2 reds.
mcelveen by far had the best choice. I am glad I didn't have to do business with senty even though they are just down the street from me.
they wanted 5K markup when I talked to them in Feb.
I am looking at an autocross spoiler and the gravana tuning GTO baddges for the side skirts. Also the K&N filter kit.
Sticker: $33,485 (Invoice -holdback is roughly $31,000)
Negotiated Price: $29,000
2 Dealer Certs: -$1000
GMAC rebate: -$5500
Total before GM card incentive: $22,500
GM Card roundup: -$5200
Grand Total after all incentives/rebates: $17,300 +TTL
TTL in PA was: 6% sales tax: $1038, Papers were $155
Out the door price: $18,493
I easily could have put 0 down, but since I felt like I was already stealing it I put $1493 down($493 cash, $1000 on my GM card, gotta still use it, lol!!), financing $17,000 @ 2.9 for 60 months with GMAC. Payments are $304, full coverage Insurance is $822yr. and I OWN IT, WOO HOO!!
It took 2 weeks to finally make this deal, losing out on a few in the process but ultimately made my very best deal on the last possible day only 50 miles away. My dealer in northeast PA still has 3 Torrid Red 04's and a slightly used yellow one.
Welcome, and hope you enjoy it. Be sure to keep us updated.
That's simply insane.
According to Edmund's, private party sales price for a used GTO in immaculate condition is over $23k. Hell, tradein is over $21k. You potentially could turn right around and sell the car for a healthy profit.
Congrats on the smokin' deal.
YTD = 13569 + 79 (sold December '03) = 13648
15728 - 13648 = 2080 still available
Happy New Year and bring on the 2005!
Unless it is the Monaro wheels (18").
The yellow car you saw was at mcelveen when I bought mine.
Autocross spoiler, chrome wheels and autocross grille painted flat black.
I am in west ashley and downtown so my opportunity to see performance cars is less than you guys in the North area or Summerville.
So i don't see a lot of GTOs or even Mustangs.
The interesting thing is that the Mustang guys won't race.
It is only the Neon SRT, WRX and EVO guys that want to have a go.
Also many people don't even know what it is.
I feel like I am flying below the radar.
I kind of like it.
Right now, there are no dealer certs available/the program is on hiatus for January. Not to say it may not be back next month, but who knows?
--Robert
I figure I should be able to drive it for 1-2 years and still get close to what I paid as a trade-in. It's a GREAT car!!