welcome

 

Thanks to you all for the kind welcome.
We rented a white '05 SS.

see below...
Thanks, I am a little embarrassed I like this corvette as much as I do, no logic to it, I just like it. There is nothing sensible about my keeping it, I just do it anyway. I was not much of a corvette guy but this one just spoke to me. I will try and figure out how to post a picture, I'm not real computer savvy. The LT5 is pretty cool & it pulls hard... even from the basement rpms. The connection to Lotus is a pretty neat deal to me, as well.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it seems the 03 & 04 are similar(engine, susp, available options, etc), the 05 is a year unto itself with the supersharged engine the only option for the SS...while 06 & 07 are very much the same as far as the V8 & possible options.
I have taken a couple days looking the forum over & have narrowed it down pretty well with just info in old threads. Please understand this is is for my wife, the things that I like matter some ....but her wishes decide this deal. The first two sentences in ZIPPY02's thread below cover a lot of what she likes about her 3000gt spyder. She really likes the stance ....& wider is better, we both agree. Since she drives hers every day, a good commuter is a must.
I admit to being the more spirited driver between the two of us but she is no slouch, handling is a real concern to her & like I said, she & I were impressed with the one we rented. We did not abuse it but still it was real peppy & seemed to hold the road well, even in rain which is another concern of hers. With front wheel drive being one of her requirements...I can't think of a better looking front wheel drive in our price range.

Truthfully, she is better than I about keeping her car "on schedule".
I GREATLY appreciate the input about the transmission, that is something I wondered about..I noticed a few threads dealing with it but am unsure if it is mostly just the turbo trans or just certain years or just SS's in general?
We are not big NASCAR followers but have friends who live it. I can respect the links to these cars but that is not our main draw, however "icing on the cake" is always good. I like the looks of Intimidator package and we have noticed a Tony Stewart car that was priced right.
Thanks again for the heads-up on the transmission.
I also appreciate the subtle reminder of being a family friendly forum. I hope to never disappoint.
Not exactly, we got an 05 but she & I test drove an 07 in Knoxville wednesday...they let us keep it half a day but we could not get a deal going with her 3000 as a trade-in & it was out of our reach straight up cash...$18k with 17,xxx miles. I knew that this one might be out of reach but the color & options were good along with the mileage being so low I thought we would try and get the price down to within our reach.

As far as her idea for this car...of course the newer & "cleaner" the better.... but she has set her oldest to be limited at 2003. Sunroof is pretty important to her as well. She has limited her color choices to white, red, black....& some blues. We looked pretty serious at a red one that was COVERED in stickers & after it sold (while we were considering it)....she admitted she might have dragged her feet a little because of the stickers....so she can live with all the racing stuff on it but would prefer not to. If the price & miles are good enough....I think she can overlook most exterior stuff...good maint. records on a car helps too. Heated seats are not a must have for her but she really would like them.

When I step in to spoil the party, I bring to the table.... to stay under 100k miles....hopefully a lot less, but I am realistic. We have seen some really nice looking cars with 120 to 150k but I hate to go in, that far along. I too would like some idea of the maint. the car has had but again, I realize that may not be possible. I just don't want any major issues immediately, normal maintenance does not bother me.....which brings me to another question {and I may need to ask these in the correct forum, I don't mean to be out of place} the front wheel bearings...home mechanic job or big deal....often replaced or long lasting?

The car show thing is more my deal but like I said it is nice to spend a couple hours on Saturday getting one ready then hanging out with some fellow gearheads on a cruise("the Dragon" road is just a daytrip away for us) or at the show on Sunday afternoon. We don't do it much but it is a fun option.

Some of this is stuff I think I might should ask in a more specific part of the forum but it is hard to get very exact in our desires without exposing some things I am still a little uninformed about.
We both prefer the SS, the LT is a possibility but the price, miles, and condition would have to be awful tempting....BUT with the slight savings in insurance, it is hard not to hold out for an SS.
The supercharger version makes me a little uptight. We stayed away from the supercharged version of her spyder mostly because they were not available with an automatic...... but the upkeep & my lack of knowlege about supercharged engines added to reasons to stay away. The 2005 Monte Carlo is ten years more advanced than her car is so maybe they are bulletproof, IDK but I still think we would be more comfortable with the V8. I am open to suggestion though.
I suppose that really limits my year choices to 06 or 07 but I am not sure we will spend that much. We just started getting fairly serious so my idea of correct price range has not been set in stone .....but the one in Knoxville at $18k is more than we want to go. She hopes to get 9.5k out of hers in trade and or spend 7-11 plus or minus the trade in. We are all for being frugal but try to be realistic too. One(04 or 05, I think) just no-saled on eBy, it had a buy it now of $7500 & if it had not been so far away .....we probably would have considered a bid of 7...it had right at 100k on it but supposed to have all good records. The way it was, we were watching it till closer to the end & it was delisted....no big deal, we keep in mind, we have time. I figure they will list it again but meanwhile maybe one closer or better will pop up. We considered the one in Louisiana with a rebuilt title @ $5000 & decent miles but the rebuilt title was just to big of a chance to take for us. It would be great to find a decent one with maybe anound 75k miles for well less than ten thousand....but I don't have a lot of hope for that nice of a deal...maybe I'm wrong but spending 7k I'm guessing the 100k mile 2004 is closer to what we will be able to find.
Am I even in the ballpark or are my hopes too far out of line?

PS. she is a smoker so no dealbreaker over a smoker's car but we would like nothing too overpowering
probably not everybody ... but thank you for the compliment. I figured how to put a picture from my phone as my profile picture but it is not a good one, I will do better when the weather straightens out.

 

welcome . im new to this monte carlo thing also . just recently snagged a 2000 ss in white with all the goodies and a black leather gut. the 3.8
motor is bullitproof . and great on gas which is a good thing since gas prices are starting to go up again .

 

Front hub/wheel bearing is an easy job.did both of mine at home isnt that bad to do as long as its not 101 when you do it outside at noon:p hahaa

 

welcome

 

...on an '03.

Just checking back in to report, & better yet..give thanks to those forum members whose advice we got through PM's and threads.



The better half just made the deal on a one owner '03 SS. Black with around 120k mi. on the clock. We looked it over last weekend & are going back to pick it up Sunday. I'll be back around with some pics if I can figure out how to post them, sadly I still have not made the effort to get picture posting down.

 

A Black SS, what a great choice!

 

almost as good as a red one!

 

Welcome. Guessing you're close to Knoxville based on your earlier comment.

The Supercharged 3800 (L67) was available in 04 and 05 in the Monte. In 05, the SS only had the L67 whereas in 04 the SS could either have the L67 or the Naturally Aspirated L36.

The 06 and 07 had the 3.5L v6 (the 06 also had an available 3.9L) or the SS model with the LS4 5.3L V8.

Good luck on your search! I generally prefer RWD myself (it's actually all I've ever had in the snow) but I've had a handful of FWDs in the past. It's just a hard pill for me to swallow knowing that I'm losing close to 30% of the power from the motor in driveline loss in a FWD and upwards of 40% in an AWD.

 

You are correct, we are an hour & a half west of Knoxville but we bought her one this last weekend. Thank you for the info though...I have a feeling this is not our last MC experience...she was loyal to her 3000spyders for more than 15 years after the last one was built. I'm just thankful she is choosing a little more accessible marque this time. One thing we are both excited about is ease of finding parts, etc. It was a real pain almost anytime parts were needed with the spyders.

We had hoped to stay a little lower on the miles & a somewhat newer ....but This one had exactly the color & options she liked & the price was fantastic compared to what we have been seeing. It being a (meticulous)one owner with complete records put it over the top for her. We brought it back at a good clip(not too crazy...those Carolina troopers looked serious) and she ran the A/C most of the way back even climbing up the hill by Maggie Valley with no issues. She REALLY is happy with her choice so far. I have to admit after following her home for 5 hours....the car IS very pleasing to the eye. It has a really nice shape to it.

I do agree with a preference for RWD myself ....but this is hers' so what she says goes... I have to say I really like this one so far, even if it is FWD. And again, I can't think of ANY FWD in this price range I like (in theory/looks-wise)as much as I like this Monte Carlo.