[KSZR]

Originally Posted by TAKerry

I am seeing that the owners of these cars speak positively. Any negatives?
My son is looking to buy one now. Let me know if anybody has one for sale.

There is a pretty good buyers guide for them on Hemmings website.

[Bill S]

Originally Posted by TAKerry

I am seeing that the owners of these cars speak positively. Any negatives?
My son is looking to buy one now. Let me know if anybody has one for sale.

I love my 04, but I think of it like a fine crystal glass. One small accident and it is totaled. Collision parts are getting extremely hard to find, and / or expensive.
Maintenance stuff not an issue as of course the LS engines are common.
It is funny I can still get just about any repo part for my 1967 Firebird, including an entire body !

Do not get a beater. Get one well cared for.

[Sirrotica]

In my area you can find whole cars being parted out that the drivetrains were taken out of for swaps. it's pretty common to find parts cars in roller form, many not even wrecked. In a few years the parts are going to dry up though. I can see that day coming soon.

My complaint was the leather interiors didn't hold up well if exposed to the sun, and the stitching rotted, as well as the leather shrunk. That is the biggest complaint I have, my seat covers all need replaced.

[KSZR]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

In my area you can find whole cars being parted out that the drivetrains were taken out of for swaps. it's pretty common to find parts cars in roller form, many not even wrecked. In a few years the parts are going to dry up though. I can see that day coming soon.

My complaint was the leather interiors didn't hold up well if exposed to the sun, and the stitching rotted, as well as the leather shrunk. That is the biggest complaint I have, my seat covers all need replaced.

Yep, my back seat is splitting at the seams. Like the comfort of the fronts.

Too bad they are parted out or totaled out so quickly. I wonder how many are left? Half?

I looked at an 05 with 65,000 miles. Front rad support was bent, front and rear bumpers were a little goofed up and the rear quarter had a small crinkle. I assume it had been airborne and come down hard. Didn't even make an offer on that one.

[XLR8STEVE]

Bought an '04 GTO for my son when he was 14. Stick. He loved it so much he smashed it. Sold the carcass for $$ and put the drivetrain in the woody Safari and and last year we turbo'd it. Still stock LS1 engine never been cracked open. Has at least 150k on the motor.

For myself, i bought a 16 Hellcat stick shift and have put 80,000 on it so far.

[mzbk2l]

I've never considered one mainly because I couldn't get past the appearance, but there is some connection between the "new" GTO and Pontiac cars of old... I believe Wayne Cherry was a designer on the 1st gen F-bodies, and was later head of design for Europe when Opel designed the Omega platform that eventually became the GTO.

This is an interesting thread, as I sometimes wonder what enthusiasts of old Pontiac models choose for their new cars now that Pontiac is gone. (I guess the "new" GTOs are almost old enough to fall into that category now, too.)

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by mzbk2l

I've never considered one mainly because I couldn't get past the appearance, but there is some connection between the "new" GTO and Pontiac cars of old... I believe Wayne Cherry was a designer on the 1st gen F-bodies, and was later head of design for Europe when Opel designed the Omega platform that eventually became the GTO.

This is an interesting thread, as I sometimes wonder what enthusiasts of old Pontiac models choose for their new cars now that Pontiac is gone. (I guess the "new" GTOs are almost old enough to fall into that category now, too.)

Exactly why I'm able to put in my signature "100% Pontiacs in my driveway" !!!

The 2008 Vibe that is my wife's car, the 2005 GTO, and the 1999 Grand Prix that I inherited from my parents when they passed. I'll continue to drive Pontiacs for the rest of my life. I'll be the second generation that exclusively drove only Pontiacs.

I'm still toying with trying to find a low mileage Solstice, and possibly a G8 GT to add to the stable......

[keith k]

I got a fair amount of seat time in 04/5/6 GTOs when they were new. They were/are very nice driving cars. Fast, with comfortable ride.

[younggto]

I have an 04; fun summer driver and it beats driving a pickup year round. Import, yes technically; bland and ugly to some, absolutely; some weird little quirks, oh yeah. Like said; the seat stitching is garbage, differentials develop a clunk, all of the suspension bushings and driveshaft carrier bearing go bad, some goofy random electrical issues arise, and parts replacement is difficult. And, from an insurance standpoint a totaled vehicle is very easy these days as likely all dealer stock has been depleted and minimal used parts are in databases.

[carbking]

No

Jon

[ScumOne]

I have a 69 Firebird 400, and a 98 Trans Am vert as well. Original 400 in the 69, original LS-1 in the 98.

[Trevor78]

I have the 78 Firebird Formula but also an 02 VX Clubsport, a sedan version of what the GTO model was. The Pontiac offerings were never as good looking as the local models.

[SRR]

I've always want one but paying $10,000+ for a beat to death pile of crap just isn't on my menu. That 3rd one seems like a a keep though...

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/...602596154.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/...597406815.html

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...605324806.html

[Sirrotica]

The 04-06 GTOs are nearing the same fate as their predecessors did at nearly 20 years. There are some low mile, well cared for examples, but there are also the more common appliance owner examples, that were owned by people that treat automobiles like a stove, refrigerator, or washer, and dryer. Use it up over a period of years, and discard it for something newer. These are performance cars, and were designed to be driven like a race horse, but they still need some care taken to keep them around for any length of time, by the owner.

Even though my car has 145,000 miles on it, it was cared for from day one. Other than the interior seams splitting, the car hasn't been beaten like the proverbial red headed step child, and has had synthetic wax applied to the finish from day one. It does have some spots where the clear coat was thin, and is slightly discolored, but you'd have to look closely to find them. Mine still draws people over to look at it, and it still gets compliments from people.

I had no intention of ever getting rid of the only new car I have ever bought, and tried to do my best to keep it as nice as possible. It's not perfect, but I hope to spend some money on the interior, and paint to keep it near new condition.

The second example that SRR posted shows the seat seam problem very well.

[Skip Fix]

I still have my 04 I bought new in 05 for a pretty good price. Special edition Pulse Red. Crappy Aussie paint the clear delaminated before the red '97 Chevy truck I have. And the darn rear seat top threads! Main LED screen in gauge cluster went almost dark while parked in the shop for 6 months!

Drives nice handles decent. Picked up some 05 brakes to put on otherwise other than a slight computer tweak it will stay stock.

[KSZR]

Would like to think If I had bought my 06 new it would be in similar shape. I think its a pretty good car. 86,000 miles, stock.

Was knee deep in tires but they were dry rotting on the tread edge.

Maybe the seats wouldn't be pulling apart because it would have been inside more.

[Lee]

I was considering an '05-06 a couple years back. Looks are subjective, and to me the "looks" of those models fall pretty much in the middle of how "I" view GTOs.

I came across a low-mile hardtop (no T-tops) '01 Formula, for less than what a comparable mileage GTO would cost, and bought it. Trying to decide if I'm going to do anything with it, or not.

[KSZR]

Drove mine last night 50 miles. So much fun. My 72 may not get driven much for a while!

[KSZR]

There sure hasn't been much for sale in my area. I think they are getting harder to come by.

Either the few I see have a ton of miles and are bea,t or overpriced low mile cars. Not much in between.

[TAKerry]

2023-05-29_08-11-14 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr
Drug this one home a couple of weeks ago. Its my sons car. He has never been a car guy, but has loved the GTO since it came out (hes 30). Only car he has ever really expressed an interest in. He started looking for one last Jan and it finally paid off. He was kind of specific, he wanted and 04, and an oddball colour. Found a nice purple one but just couldnt work out the deal. This one is a one owner car, with about 50k miles on it. Beautiful condition, looking it over you would never know its a 20 yr old car. 6 speed manual. He had no idea how to drive a stick. The day after we got it home, he said he made a huge mistake. Since then he goes out every morning to 'practice'. He pretty much has the shifting thing down pat now. Absolutely loves the car and has immersed himself into Holden and the GTO's.

They are out there, finding a good low mile one that hasnt been mucked with too much is hard. I think they bottomed out a few years ago and the prices seem to be on a steady rise. He figured if he didnt get one now, he never would.

As for the car itself, It really is a good automobile. I am very happy with everything about it, the handling, the power, the comfort, the style etc.