CL21376 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I thought you wanted a manual? Nice car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks. Well, I thought about it and after feeling how horrible the stock shifter was, driving it and feeling how far away the shifter is from you in the driver's seat, my lack of confidence driving manual, and my laziness, I decided it would be better to go with the auto. For me, I think I made the right choice. It is obviously not the right choice for everyone though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geminimech Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 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 put my LGT on the lot with 3 bent wheels, torn LCA and RTA bushings, an exhaust weld that was about to come apart, and interior trim pieces missing, with a tear in the door card and broken seat heater. The first trip to service, they addressed the wheels, and the hole in the door. But they joyrode my car. 40+ miles and the trip computer read 12.8 mpg...If you're going to joyride someones car at LEAST reset the trip odometer. Granted, they did fix the problems, but only after I presented them with an estimate from a third party. The problem is that they took close to 3 weeks to do it. They had me bring the car in on a Wednesday and didn't look at it until the following Tuesday. Their promised delivery on the car was that Friday 5:30pm, all work including alignment finished. I get a call on Friday at 7pm, telling me the alignment wasn't finished because the rack was broken. I was done giving them the benefit of the doubt, and I assumed (maybe wrongfully) that the tech wanted to go home. They told me to bring it back on Monday, because by then the rack would be fixed, or to get it done by another shop and they would reimburse me. So all told the first month of ownership, CarMax had it for 2 and half of those weeks. To be fair, their head tech and service manager did seem really accommodating and genuinely interested in trying to help me out after they found out how long they had my car and the issues with it. I was certainly appreciative of that. My best friend was a service adviser, and gave me a peek behind the curtain. I don't want to generalize because obviously not every example is this way, but in my experience most techs that have to crank out a ton of work at mass dealerships are lazy and some incompetent, and the service advisers lie their asses off. I felt like that was going on at times in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geminimech Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 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://img546.imageshack.us/img546/922/005oinj.jpg Congrats! I really love these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 It's finally got plates and I drove it to work this week. I hadn't driven it much since I got home just because I hadn't gotten the title yet and had paper Florida plates. It seemed easier to let it sit until I didn't have a ton of reasons to pull me over. I've discovered that it has pretty much every single common problem the GTOs are known for with the exception of strut rub (at least I don't think it does) and the rear seat stitching. But it has sagging rear springs, needs lots of bushings, the headliner is falling down, and it's difficult getting the key in and out. It shifts hard, but I'm not sure that's a problem or not. Overall it doesn't FEEL faster than the Legacy, but glacing at the speedometer tells another story. It doesn't handle as well as the Legacy with basic mods. I think once I do some upgrading it'll sharpen right up. Despite the risk of seeming like a douche I decided to take a family portrait and share. These are mine http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1651/thefamily01.jpg And these are my wife's http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5923/thefamily02.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Nice collection. You need more garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 I figured I'd update. No problems since I bought it, and my license is still in good standing. It sat all winter under a cover in my driveway - I definitely do need more garage. So far I've removed the spoiler, installed SAP grilles, got VX tail lights, and (today) replaced the rear shocks with Konis and rear springs with Lovells. I've been keeping a record of every dollar spent on it excluding insurance and gas - I wouldn't recommend doing that. http://imageshack.us/a/img10/562/006zsj.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img824/1429/005wcw.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img189/6560/012beyr.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img703/1489/015jhd.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tytek Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Looks good. I like the tails. Why did you just replace the rear suspension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landark Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Suspension woes are the biggest problem with these. GM clearly went with the low bidder to get them down to the price point. Your typical GTO on stock suspension today needs: radius rod bushings, front end links, upper shock mount bushings, rear springs, and rear shocks. And parts aren't cheap. I spent more on the rear springs for this than I did for all 4 for the LGT. And that's why I haven't done the front yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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