Traded in one car, got a new one
#1
08-09-2009, 12:12 AM
Traded in one car, got a new one
Time for a switcherooo!
Here are a few pics of the GTP's last day with me
Anyways, about the old GTP; she was just getting too many little things wrong with her. I mean nothing by itself was all that big of a deal, but everything together was really adding up (keep in mind, I'm still between houses as we're still attempting to relocate, so I don't have a garage of my own). Here is a brief list:
-HUD occasionally would stop working (had to keep resoldering the eye)
-HVAC lights flashed from dim to bright, strobe style
-Sunroof leaked if you didn't frequently blow out the drains, many times it would leak through the interior lights
-Trunk randomly leaked; never did it consistent enough to find where it was coming from
-Passenger floor leaked pretty bad a couple of times leaving over an inch of standing water; I did the fix as mentioned online, it still got soggy two more times after that, but nowhere near as bad
-Passenger tie rod worn out (drivers side had no slop for some reason)
-SC coupler sounded like it was wearing out
-#3 head gasket blown into the valley (lots of carbon buildup on those two pushrods)
-Oil pan gasket leaked from about 40% of its edge- very slow, maybe 5-10 drops a day, but it was all soaked
-Tranny kept going into rock hard shift mode after ~5-10 minutes driving
-Airbag light came on a couple times randomly, then stayed on permanently the last month
-Headlights cutoff was too low and they were shakey (the aftermarket projectors- I know, my fault for buying them)
-MAF had died, so I was running an LS2 MAF, using the stock MAF to plug its hole
-Oil drain plug pan threads very damaged- looked like someone almost stripped a plug in one time, and they just cleaned up the threads a bit and used a new plug
-Shifter U clip wouldn't stay locked into the shifter, so sometimes when you hit the button to shift, it would lift the whole **** up
-Rear tint bubbling (was done before I got the car)
-Front left speaker blown
-Passenger rear trailing arm slightly bent (looked like someone started jacking under it, then thought better of it; only maybe 1/8"-1/4" out, but very noticeable with a straight edge laid on it)
-Drivers side taillight liked to collect water inside
-Lots of very minor dings and scrapes
-Clear peeling on drivers door, especially around where GTP logo was (I'm assuming it was a spot repair, and the door was recleared)
-Rust spot on passenger door, under bumper trim (fixed once with touchup paint, but obviously didn't get it all- it was spreading just below)
-Lower door trim on passenger side loose- back 1/2 of sticky tape no longer stuck, and bottom kept poppign out (enough you could stick a finger in the hole between the door and the trim at the back)
-Passenger side fog light height adjuster stripped from rust
-Small chip in windshield, and many scratches from wipers (looked like someone let the wipers run dry for 5 mintues with sand on it- not noticeable at all until the light hit it, then it was almost unbareable).
-Noise from drivers strut under hard bumps
-Both windows very slow
-Having no cat always scared me going through emissions (I know, also my fault- but the place that deleted my resonator welded the catback straight to my 3" downpipe, so I could no longer just swap downpipes)
The car had a couple of the problems when we bought it, but it was just getting worse. As I said, nothing was major at all- but all together it was a real heap of problems. We decided to start looking for something new. Looking at the brand new 09/10 cars, these are all I liked: Solstice (but didn't feel comfortable to me, especially for a DD- a little girly too), Cobalt SS (too kiddish, and $25k for a Cobalt is too steep for me), new Malibu (nice looks, but you're talking $25-30k to get a V6- which is too steep for me), G8 (too pricey, and I do not like the interior- specifically the dash, new camaro (stripped V6 would be nice, but all the local dealers are still either throwing $3k+ wheels and stickers on them, or are hoarding them for people willing to pay way over sticker).
So I expanded my search to the slightly used market. First one I test drove was an 07 Grand Prix GXP with 4000 miles, and it was everything I wanted. It had the horsepower of the camaro/G8 with a butt ton more features for the money (and still practically new). The power is impressive all through the powerband- at WOT it doesn't seem much faster than my GTP was, but my GTP was a dog at part throttle, it liked to be babied or at WOT- it never liked medium loads. But the GXP would run circles around the old GTP in handling and braking. So thats what we ended up with. I liked the styling and pop of my old GTP better, but it was more kiddish- I felt like a teenager driving it; this GXP is more subtle and mature, but still packs a punch- and is more of a complete package.
Here are a couple pictures the first place we took it- over to my parents house (pinstriping, emblem removal-except the V8, and front plate removal coming soon)
Features I like so far:
-Leather/suede insert seats feel great, and fit snugly
-New HUD setup is far better
-Accel/Decel/Turning G meter
-Staggered tire sizes (feels much more neutral IMO)
-Drilled rotors, stops very well
-Tap shift up & down (push for up, pull for down)
-Light rumble, just a hint of performance sound
-Gas mileage with the DoD seems great from what I've seen
Well, I guess I need to start looking into some basic bolt ons
She'll make a great DD for me for sure.
Here are a few pics of the GTP's last day with me
Anyways, about the old GTP; she was just getting too many little things wrong with her. I mean nothing by itself was all that big of a deal, but everything together was really adding up (keep in mind, I'm still between houses as we're still attempting to relocate, so I don't have a garage of my own). Here is a brief list:
-HUD occasionally would stop working (had to keep resoldering the eye)
-HVAC lights flashed from dim to bright, strobe style
-Sunroof leaked if you didn't frequently blow out the drains, many times it would leak through the interior lights
-Trunk randomly leaked; never did it consistent enough to find where it was coming from
-Passenger floor leaked pretty bad a couple of times leaving over an inch of standing water; I did the fix as mentioned online, it still got soggy two more times after that, but nowhere near as bad
-Passenger tie rod worn out (drivers side had no slop for some reason)
-SC coupler sounded like it was wearing out
-#3 head gasket blown into the valley (lots of carbon buildup on those two pushrods)
-Oil pan gasket leaked from about 40% of its edge- very slow, maybe 5-10 drops a day, but it was all soaked
-Tranny kept going into rock hard shift mode after ~5-10 minutes driving
-Airbag light came on a couple times randomly, then stayed on permanently the last month
-Headlights cutoff was too low and they were shakey (the aftermarket projectors- I know, my fault for buying them)
-MAF had died, so I was running an LS2 MAF, using the stock MAF to plug its hole
-Oil drain plug pan threads very damaged- looked like someone almost stripped a plug in one time, and they just cleaned up the threads a bit and used a new plug
-Shifter U clip wouldn't stay locked into the shifter, so sometimes when you hit the button to shift, it would lift the whole **** up
-Rear tint bubbling (was done before I got the car)
-Front left speaker blown
-Passenger rear trailing arm slightly bent (looked like someone started jacking under it, then thought better of it; only maybe 1/8"-1/4" out, but very noticeable with a straight edge laid on it)
-Drivers side taillight liked to collect water inside
-Lots of very minor dings and scrapes
-Clear peeling on drivers door, especially around where GTP logo was (I'm assuming it was a spot repair, and the door was recleared)
-Rust spot on passenger door, under bumper trim (fixed once with touchup paint, but obviously didn't get it all- it was spreading just below)
-Lower door trim on passenger side loose- back 1/2 of sticky tape no longer stuck, and bottom kept poppign out (enough you could stick a finger in the hole between the door and the trim at the back)
-Passenger side fog light height adjuster stripped from rust
-Small chip in windshield, and many scratches from wipers (looked like someone let the wipers run dry for 5 mintues with sand on it- not noticeable at all until the light hit it, then it was almost unbareable).
-Noise from drivers strut under hard bumps
-Both windows very slow
-Having no cat always scared me going through emissions (I know, also my fault- but the place that deleted my resonator welded the catback straight to my 3" downpipe, so I could no longer just swap downpipes)
The car had a couple of the problems when we bought it, but it was just getting worse. As I said, nothing was major at all- but all together it was a real heap of problems. We decided to start looking for something new. Looking at the brand new 09/10 cars, these are all I liked: Solstice (but didn't feel comfortable to me, especially for a DD- a little girly too), Cobalt SS (too kiddish, and $25k for a Cobalt is too steep for me), new Malibu (nice looks, but you're talking $25-30k to get a V6- which is too steep for me), G8 (too pricey, and I do not like the interior- specifically the dash, new camaro (stripped V6 would be nice, but all the local dealers are still either throwing $3k+ wheels and stickers on them, or are hoarding them for people willing to pay way over sticker).
So I expanded my search to the slightly used market. First one I test drove was an 07 Grand Prix GXP with 4000 miles, and it was everything I wanted. It had the horsepower of the camaro/G8 with a butt ton more features for the money (and still practically new). The power is impressive all through the powerband- at WOT it doesn't seem much faster than my GTP was, but my GTP was a dog at part throttle, it liked to be babied or at WOT- it never liked medium loads. But the GXP would run circles around the old GTP in handling and braking. So thats what we ended up with. I liked the styling and pop of my old GTP better, but it was more kiddish- I felt like a teenager driving it; this GXP is more subtle and mature, but still packs a punch- and is more of a complete package.
Here are a couple pictures the first place we took it- over to my parents house (pinstriping, emblem removal-except the V8, and front plate removal coming soon)
Features I like so far:
-Leather/suede insert seats feel great, and fit snugly
-New HUD setup is far better
-Accel/Decel/Turning G meter
-Staggered tire sizes (feels much more neutral IMO)
-Drilled rotors, stops very well
-Tap shift up & down (push for up, pull for down)
-Light rumble, just a hint of performance sound
-Gas mileage with the DoD seems great from what I've seen
Well, I guess I need to start looking into some basic bolt ons
She'll make a great DD for me for sure.
Last edited by bumpin96monte; 08-09-2009 at 12:15 AM.
#9
08-09-2009, 10:00 AM
I'm going to remove it; I hate pinstriping personally. They had put it on just about every car on the lot.
#10
08-10-2009, 08:50 AM
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Southeast PA
Posts: 25,136
When I first saw your thread about getting rid of the GTP I was a little sad..
..Then I kept reading!
very nice
..Then I kept reading!
very nice