landark Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I've been car shopping for a weekend toy and on Sunday noticed a 2006 GTO at my local Carmax (strike 1). It is automatic (strike 2), black on red leather, and has.... 7,100 miles. And after the test drive and then walking out the door my wife stopped me and convinced me I'd regret not buying it for that kind of mileage. I went back and even after the resulting insult of an interest rate (8.1%!?) I agreed to buy it knowing I had time to get my own financing in order. I wanted the rear bumper adjusted and noticed a clunk in the front suspension that turned out to be the all too common premature front strut failure, so I left it there to get fixed up. I didn't sleep that night and after realizing I wasn't going to get a check from the credit union before the financing from Carmax kicked in I started to feel awful. And finally, the 3rd strike finally sunk in. The $25k they wanted is $2500 more than book value and I decided that money would be better used elsewhere. So, I "returned" it this afternoon. "Return" even though I never drove it off the lot after buying it. For as much as I hate Carmax for selling cars for way over market, I have to say the whole experience, including the return, was very easy. And if anyone is looking for a low mileage automatic GTO, I know where you can find one. http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/6699/gto2x.jpg http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3103/gto4d.jpg Warning: NSFW http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/422/gto7t.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cseagle08 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 If only it were a Pontiac G8 GT and not a GTO, haha...I went to carmax once looking for an SUV, everything I drove had the check engine light on or was falling apart in one way or another. Also everything was a smoker's car. I swear it was like everything on the lot was. So I said screw that mess and went and bought a brand new Legacy Their return policy / 30 day warranty is at least nice. They probably jack up the price knowing that they'll be spending some of that in repairs after they sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuskiTrombone Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Ever hear of market adjustment? A six year old car with hardly any miles is not something that is common to "book value". CarMax buyers work very hard to price the cars correctly and many are my best friends (especially at the store you visited). The clunk could've been fixed. Maybe it had aftermarket suspension or a bushing issue? Either way, they would fix it for you at no charge for 30 days. The interest rate from the bank is outside of their control. They use 7 lenders and they gave you the best one that came up. You can refinance through your credit union at any time at all. If you do you within 5 days the bank you financed through doesn't even see the paperwork. If you do it after the 5 days, you just refinance directly with the bank that is holding your paperwork and just pay the interest adjustment for the few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Actually, I'm pretty sure this one was smoked in. It didn't smell like smoke, but there were ashes in the tray. Yes, I've heard of market adjustment, but financing and real value is based on a set book value. If I wrecked it driving off the lot I'd get the book value of the car to pay the financing company. I'd either have had to get gap coverage or pay the difference between the cost and actual value. I know how it all works. I didn't intend to sound like I was bashing Carmax. They were replacing the strut (clunk), which is why I had never picked it up. All GTOs had that problem and I knew to listen for it. I had a good experience, the reason I didn't buy it was all on my end. They were very courteous and took good care of me. Carmax consistently prices their cars over market value. The sales guy I worked with and I even casually talked about that. Some people prefer to pay for the ease of shopping there. I'm typically not willing to pay for that, this was an exception I was willing to make for the miles. And the paperwork I had said I had 3 days before the financing kicked in. Anything after that would be a refi, which would be at a higher rate. All in all though, I think my cold feet contributed as much as the slow financing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuskiTrombone Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Carmax consistently prices their cars over market value. Depends on the car, but they don't price their car based on what KBB says. They buy cars at black book prices, sometimes more if the car is clean and there is a bidding war for a clean car. They put their cars through an inspection process and guarantee everything they sell for 30 days. If it's broken, they'll fix it. What other car dealer does this? What was the sales guy's name? Sounds like he had no clue why CarMax prices are higher than competition. You pay for quality service. If you are comfortable saving money and taking on unknown problems, then more power to you. Their business model is good. I enjoyed working there and like the products they put out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I would actually think there would be a lot of low mile GTOs, as they were probably purchased by an older demographic and used as toy cars. Hold out for a 6spd if you want a GTO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolksey85 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 FYI, if you plan on running the car hard, the auto is the way to go. Sticky tires and a stick on the IRS never work together very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Correction: The shortest time you rented a car from the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tytek Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Depends on the car, but they don't price their car based on what KBB says. They buy cars at black book prices, sometimes more if the car is clean and there is a bidding war for a clean car. They put their cars through an inspection process and guarantee everything they sell for 30 days. If it's broken, they'll fix it. What other car dealer does this? What was the sales guy's name? Sounds like he had no clue why CarMax prices are higher than competition. You pay for quality service. If you are comfortable saving money and taking on unknown problems, then more power to you. Their business model is good. I enjoyed working there and like the products they put out. They don't buy cars at 'black book' values. Carmax has two methods that they use to value a trade-in: they look up the average wholesale (auction) price on Manheim's web portal and they check their own system to see what equivalent cars were bought and sold for on their lot (all Carmax locations). In fact, most dealers use Manheim's wholesale pricing to ensure that if the car does not sell on their lot, they won't lose their ass by dumping it at auction. If a car is desirable, or they have money in the new/used car they are selling, they may increase the value of your trade to 'sweeten' the deal and close the sale. But that is neither here nor there. Nice story with the GTO. I am impressed with how easy it was for you to cancel the purchase contract. I guess their service is really that good. Their prices are often high, but one can find deals after a car sits on their lot for longer than a month. And there are manager's specials and last chance buys too, that are closer to real auction price/value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mass-hole Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 FYI, if you plan on running the car hard, the auto is the way to go. Sticky tires and a stick on the IRS never work together very well. Truth, my '06 6spd wheel hopped SO bad it made me fear for my life. I had done every single rear bushing with poly(subframe and control arms) as well as an HD diff cover that pretty much was metal to metal contact with the body and it barely did anything. However, you can get a set off unequal diameter halfshafts which, by all reports i had read, entirely cure the wheel hop. It was a sick car and I really do miss it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Truth, my '06 6spd wheel hopped SO bad it made me fear for my life. I had done every single rear bushing with poly(subframe and control arms) as well as an HD diff cover that pretty much was metal to metal contact with the body and it barely did anything. However, you can get a set off unequal diameter halfshafts which, by all reports i had read, entirely cure the wheel hop. It was a sick car and I really do miss it a lot. Ever hear of drag bags? Anyone who drags there GTO puts them in because they eliminate most of the wheel hop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeNH Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Very nice looking car. Seeing the prices of them now makes me wish I had the cash to buy one when they were going for dirt cheap. Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them -Ronald Reagan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mass-hole Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Ever hear of drag bags? Anyone who drags there GTO puts them in because they eliminate most of the wheel hop. I had heard that they didnt help at all for a lot of people, others it did. I saw thread upon thread about people trying every trick in the book to get the wheelhop to go away. . . . . diff cover, springs, bushings, bags, etc. So many threads came to the same conclusion in the end. Unequal driveshafts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I had heard that they didnt help at all for a lot of people, others it did. I saw thread upon thread about people trying every trick in the book to get the wheelhop to go away. . . . . diff cover, springs, bushings, bags, etc. So many threads came to the same conclusion in the end. Unequal driveshafts. I have heard mostly good things about them, never been part of a discussion where the cons outweighed the pros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark5032 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 A nice interior and a serious powertrain, but I still think the exterior styling of the GTO is a good example of why there is no more Pontiac. The G8 and perhaps a coupe version of it were the car the GTO should have been, but it was too little, too late in 2009. I think I heard the G8 was being reintroduced into the US market as the Chevy Caprice for police use only. Now that I think about it, I think I will investigate that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 A nice interior and a serious powertrain, but I still think the exterior styling of the GTO is a good example of why there is no more Pontiac. The G8 and perhaps a coupe version of it were the car the GTO should have been, but it was too little, too late in 2009. I think I heard the G8 was being reintroduced into the US market as the Chevy Caprice for police use only. Now that I think about it, I think I will investigate that now. Its been almost 5 years and still no caprice SS. If they are going to do it they are sure taking there time even more so considering it was supposed to be the same car but with a different body and interior. I thought pontiac has some pretty good looking cars. They were usually more agressive than there chevy counterparts. The GTO was a hit or miss kind of look... mostly miss. The Trans Am was better looking than the camaros IMO, the sunfire while more aggressive than the cav was still ugly. The grand am and grand prixs were more aggressive than the impala or monte carlo. In the end GM just had to many brands and had to drop a few, I was sad to see pontiac go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark5032 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I was sad to see Pontiac go as well; I always did like the Trans Am more than the Z-28 too. Weakly designed sister cars and generally bland styling towards the end was just too much. Honestly I would have preferred to see either Chevy truck or GMC go before Pontiac because they have made only sister cars as long as I can remember with the exception of the Syclone and Typhoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark5032 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 And what the heck is the deal with Buick anyway? Since GM axed Pontiac they keep tapdancing around a new Grand National. They have the new Regal which is pretty sharp. Put a twin turbo on a DI 3.6 with some heavy duty forged components, put a decent AWD system on it, an aggressive hood and bodywork and get it over with. Then maybe we won't miss Pontiac as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I was sad to see Pontiac go as well; I always did like the Trans Am more than the Z-28 too. Weakly designed sister cars and generally bland styling towards the end was just too much. Honestly I would have preferred to see either Chevy truck or GMC go before Pontiac because they have made only sister cars as long as I can remember with the exception of the Syclone and Typhoon. GMC makes a lot of money for GM on the commercial side of things. They don't really make sense as a company that sells trucks to private owners since you can buy the same shit but with a chevy symbol on it though I agree. I have seen so many fights between GMC and chevy truck owners.. "My chevy is better".... "Nuh uhhhh my GMC is better" hey assholes there the same truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 And what the heck is the deal with Buick anyway? Since GM axed Pontiac they keep tapdancing around a new Grand National. They have the new Regal which is pretty sharp. Put a twin turbo on a DI 3.6 with some heavy duty forged components, put a decent AWD system on it, an aggressive hood and bodywork and get it over with. Then maybe we won't miss Pontiac as much. I don't know if they will ever do a GN, if they do it won't have the impact the original did, everyone is used to turbos now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark5032 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I don't know if they will ever do a GN, if they do it won't have the impact the original did, everyone is used to turbos now. I'm not sure if they will ever bring back the Grand National name again either. It could still be be a significant car now even though turbos are more common, they would just need to up the ante a little. 400 hp from the factory and lower weight to crush the overweight, overpriced Taurus SHO, and 450+rwhp with bolt ons. The Legacy GT is gone, and it seems like a good pipe dream to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I'm not sure if they will ever bring back the Grand National name again either. It could still be be a significant car now even though turbos are more common, they would just need to up the ante a little. 400 hp from the factory and lower weight to crush the overweight, overpriced Taurus SHO, and 450+rwhp with bolt ons. The Legacy GT is gone, and it seems like a good pipe dream to me. It would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Its been almost 5 years and still no caprice SS. If they are going to do it they are sure taking there time even more so considering it was supposed to be the same car but with a different body and interior. I thought pontiac has some pretty good looking cars. They were usually more agressive than there chevy counterparts. The GTO was a hit or miss kind of look... mostly miss. The Trans Am was better looking than the camaros IMO, the sunfire while more aggressive than the cav was still ugly. The grand am and grand prixs were more aggressive than the impala or monte carlo. In the end GM just had to many brands and had to drop a few, I was sad to see pontiac go. Chevrolet "SS" is supposed to come out next year. It's basically Chevrolet's G8 replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mass-hole Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 The GTO was based on the Holden Monaro. All they did was swap the Monaro badges for GTO badges and put a crappier bumper on it. I owned a GTO and if i see a G6 or an older Grand Prix/am from more than 50 yrds away I always think its a GTO for a split second, then im like, damn it! I thought it was a classy looking car, it certainly didnt make any statements though. the G8 was a sweet car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 A bit of an update. Last week I won an eBay auction for this. I flew to Florida yesterday and drove it back to NoVa. It took 2 days and just got back after 16 hours on the road. It... is.... so fast. But I was responsible, spent most of the time cruising along 95 in the right lane. Lots of plans once the money hole fills back up. But for now, I need to make sure it gets registered properly and passes inspection. http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6859/002oyg.jpg http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/4196/007esx.jpg http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1331/008vgb.jpg http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/922/005oinj.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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