A New, Modern Project (for me and the boy)

[njsteve]

Well, as you may have noticed from my want ad, me and my son were looking for a modern project car: a 1998 to 2002 Trans Am WS6 (because he likes how the hood scoops look - hey, he's 13 he doesn't need a real reason).

We found one today and picked it up.

Amazing to say the least - After searching through weeks of Craigslist and ebay ads I narrowed it down to half a dozen cars. It was really difficult to find an unaltered original car in the Northeast, all the stock ones seemed to be out west.

The really weird thing was that there seemed to be two specific types of people that were selling these.

1) Young men who's wives just told them they were having a baby, and that they needed a larger car.
2) Older women who were the original owners of the cars.

It was three of each situation. Very strange to say the least.

Well, I found a car listed on Craigslist here in NJ that belonged to the latter group. She was an older woman (a former over-the-road truck driver) who bought the car new in 2001. Wonderful lady to say the least. The ad had no pictures and very limited description. So, after a few days of texting and photos being sent, me and the boy went down to Southern Jersey and picked it up today.

The lady was fanatical about maintenance. She has over an inch thick stack of invoices for oil changes every four months. Sadly it seems that the GM dealers were taking advantage of her and doing every crazy fluid flush and cleanse just about every time the car showed up in there service lane. They would perform the $169 "6,000 mile service" every 2,000 miles. The car only has 61,000 miles on it.

The absolutely amazing thing is that she bought three extended warranties over the past 13 years! The car's mechanicals are still covered until late 2016! In fact the GM dealer just rebuilt the noisy rear differential in late 2013 and she only paid a $50 deductible for a $2,200 repair.

So here are some photos:

The window sticker: Bought from Triboro Pontiac in Cinaminson, NJ. Came with the optional Hurst Shifter for the 6-speed, and the rare traction control option.

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Here's the pile of paperwork, and the inch thick stack of invoices from March 2001 to a early 2014. She paid full sticker for the car when new, plus the GM Mastercare extended warranty plus another aftermarket 60 month warranty when the GM one was about to expire in 2011.

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And the door tag with the WS6 Ram Air option prominently listed:

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