Long term report 2004-2006 GTO

[pont3]

I don't care what people have to say about these car's styling but they are good reliable cars. I bought my 2004 in August 2004. It spent most of its infant years in the garage----until my wife decided she no longer wanted to lug around in the 2003 Z71 Tahoe. So in July 2006, she started driving the '04 and I traded the Tahoe for a 2006 GTO.

She daily drove the '04 until March 2010 when I bought her a new 2009 CTS. The '04 GTO currently has 34k miles and I rotate it with my '71 lemans sport for daily use. The '06 GTO still has less than 5k so my impressions are based on the '04.

In over seven years, the car still has all of its original parts except a tie rod and a battery, and, of course, tires. It has had ZERO issues, NO warranty claims or otherwise. It still has wicked acceleration and handles like new. There are no rattles and nothing is falling apart. The car drives and steers as new. The interior is like new and the paint has held up. Only one small door ding from a parking lot.

One thing I did find when I replaced the tie rod was that the sway bar link bushings were incorrectly installed. Perhaps a reason why these cars got a bad rap in the handling department. Other than that, the car is still dr jekyll and mr Hyde. It won't really grab your attention until you piss it off, then it's on. Too bad GM couldn't build on these cars.

I know this is a boring report, but I can't report anything other than the car has been overwhelmingly enjoyable. The only other car that came close was not the Toyota Supra, but the '89 supercharged Cougar, but I never could get the brake rotor problem to go away on that car

In the end, forget that you don't think this car should be called a GTO. If you want a solid reliable capable car that will still dispatch 99 percent of the cars on the road today, the GTO is still a good choice. Sorry, mine aren't for sale.