In the market for new vehicle...opinions wanted

[DR. WU 2000]

Need some opinions. I will be in the market for a new ride in the next couple weeks, and it wil not be a Mustang. I have pretty much narrowed it down to 3 cars. All will have about the same mileage (25K-30K) and will cost about the same, roughly between $20K-$25K. Cars > 04-07 Acura TL, 02-05 Lexus IS 300, and if the wife allows me possibly a 05-06 GTO....which I will probably mod because I will not be able to help myself. This will be my only personal vehicle that will be driven a couple thousand miles a year...company vehicle will get most of the use. By the way the GTO will have to be an auto...I have one I kinda want more than the others but just want to see what you all think.op:.

 

[SVTORANGE]

Go for the goat I am sure you can find one for an awesome price.

Plus you can't beat the power for the money just make sure it is the 6.0L:beer:

 

[DR. WU 2000]

....I like the way you think:dancenana:

 

[SVTORANGE]

....I like the way you think:dancenana:

:burnout::burnout::burnout::burnout:

ALL DAY LONG AND HECK SHE MIGHT EVEN ENJOY A FEW PROSTREETS HERSELF:rockon:

 

[1slohawk]

I had an 03 IS a few years ago and loved the car for a daily driver, but performance wise they handle well they just don't have a lot of power stock and cost a lot to mod. If your looking at GTO's I would say for a little more money look into the G8 GT's there just all around nicer imo and the can be bought new for high 20's and I believe GM is still offering the 0% on them.

 

[GTSSTANG]

I would go with the GTO.. Has some good amount of power and got to love the interior..

 

[Cookieman00x]

get the is300, great balance of "get up and go" and comfort.

TL's are also very nice cars..

 

[badsube]

I can only speak for the GTO. I bought a new 06 GTO M6 for $27,000 in February 2007.
The only drawback that people really saw in the car is that they weren't flashy enough. This was the one main reason why they didn't sell as well as GM would have liked. I didn't mind the looks at all. The performance to dollar ratio really couldn't be beat.

Some of them had a few problems such as the front struts leaking, and some of them had a problem with the 17" tires rubbing the front drivers side strut, but not the 18"'s. Oh and some of them had a slight problem with the plastic engine cover rubbing through the fuel line on the drivers side and catching the car on fire. I never ran mine with the covers though, so I never had that problem, nor any of the others. If you can, try to find a late run 06. The problems were sorted out by then.

I added Kooks 1 7/8" LT's into spintech's uncatted and holy crap they were loud. I also had a Volant intake and MSD wires which you should get if you go with the LT's. I also had Jeremy Formato throw a ported intake and TB on it which made throttle response much more crisp. With one of his tunes it put down 379/375 with only about 1200 miles on it. A cam would have been my next choice, but after that, staying away from nitrous, you're really looking at spending thousands on any type of forced induction if you want more HP.

I really liked mine, just moved back into a Cobra. You should be able to get an 05 or 06 with the LS2 for VERY cheap. Good luck to you. Feel free to pm me if you have any ?'s. Sorry for the long response.

 

[DR. WU 2000]

I can only speak for the GTO. I bought a new 06 GTO M6 for $27,000 in February 2007.
The only drawback that people really saw in the car is that they weren't flashy enough. This was the one main reason why they didn't sell as well as GM would have liked. I didn't mind the looks at all. The performance to dollar ratio really couldn't be beat.

Some of them had a few problems such as the front struts leaking, and some of them had a problem with the 17" tires rubbing the front drivers side strut, but not the 18"'s. Oh and some of them had a slight problem with the plastic engine cover rubbing through the fuel line on the drivers side and catching the car on fire. I never ran mine with the covers though, so I never had that problem, nor any of the others. If you can, try to find a late run 06. The problems were sorted out by then.

I added Kooks 1 7/8" LT's into spintech's uncatted and holy crap they were loud. I also had a Volant intake and MSD wires which you should get if you go with the LT's. I also had Jeremy Formato throw a ported intake and TB on it which made throttle response much more crisp. With one of his tunes it put down 379/375 with only about 1200 miles on it. A cam would have been my next choice, but after that, staying away from nitrous, you're really looking at spending thousands on any type of forced induction if you want more HP.

I really liked mine, just moved back into a Cobra. You should be able to get an 05 or 06 with the LS2 for VERY cheap. Good luck to you. Feel free to pm me if you have any ?'s. Sorry for the long response.

No...thank you....I appreciate the feedback. I feel if I go with the GTO I can still have a little bit of the enjoyment of what I had in my other cars (Terminator, Fox) and still accomplish what I want with the car. Like I said it will not be driven that much so the miles will stay low on it...if I put 3-5K miles on it a year I would be surprised. The only drawback would be it needs to be an auto but that is fine...I don't plan on racing it and my shifting skills are far from spectacular so no biggie....shifting sucks anyway..haha.

 

[TRBO VNM]

if it were me, it would be the IS or the acura. I personally don't like the looks of the GTO at all. I haven't seen the interior, but why bother if I don't like the exterior. I have some friends with them and their big beef is not being able to get a wide tire under the back. other than that I don't know much about them.

my brother had a IS300 and it was nice. I drove that and it had pretty good pick up for what it was and handling felt nice. some friends have had the TL's and loved them.

between those and the GTO you are looking at totally different cars. figure out what you want to use it for and that may help your decision. IMO, the lexus and acura are more a daily car unless you wanted to really heavily mod them.

 

[coopercobra03]

Sucks it has to be a auto.:nonono: Why does it have to be a auto?

I was looking at one of these as a daily driver: Bmw M3.. I think they only come in stick?

I don't really like the looks of the Gto. I would go lexus or TL..

 

[playwithmysnake]

thats looks like my friend ryans car ,, has 19s and ton of work to the suspension

 

[badsube]

Sucks it has to be a auto.:nonono: Why does it have to be a auto?

I was looking at one of these as a daily driver: Bmw M3.. I think they only come in stick?

I don't really like the looks of the Gto. I would go lexus or TL..

I could have sworn M3's come with an auto stick.:shrug:

Actually, speaking from the GTO perspective, alot of guys wanted auto's and preferred auto's for drag racing. Most of them changed the converter and possibly some other small things and had the transmissions they desired specifically for drag racing.:beer:

 

[TGS2]

If you're thinking about a GTO (LS2) also look at 04-07 Caddy CTS-V (LS6). A friend of mine opened my eyes to them, very nice cars and you can get a low milage one for in the low 20's.

I can tell you for sure that the TL is a NICE car. My mom had one that lasted for ever and I drove a trade we took in (an 05 I think), very very nice.

 

[DR. WU 2000]

Sucks it has to be a auto.:nonono: Why does it have to be a auto?

I was looking at one of these as a daily driver: Bmw M3.. I think they only come in stick?

I don't really like the looks of the Gto. I would go lexus or TL..

Just in case the wife needs to drive it...she can't drive a stick

 

[DR. WU 2000]

If you're thinking about a GTO (LS2) also look at 04-07 Caddy CTS-V (LS6). A friend of mine opened my eyes to them, very nice cars and you can get a low milage one for in the low 20's.

I can tell you for sure that the TL is a NICE car. My mom had one that lasted for ever and I drove a trade we took in (an 05 I think), very very nice.

CTS-V would def be on the short list...but again needs to be an auto...I believe they only come with the 6-speed

 

[SVTORANGE]

CTS-V would def be on the short list...but again needs to be an auto...I believe they only come with the 6-speed

You are corect. Do the GTO:beer:

But the IS300 and ACuRa is bad azz too:burnout::burnout:

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

GTO is my choice for ya, performance means more than looks, the GTO is not ugly its just simple

 

[01Lowboy]

If you're thinking about a GTO (LS2) also look at 04-07 Caddy CTS-V (LS6). A friend of mine opened my eyes to them, very nice cars and you can get a low milage one for in the low 20's.

CTS-V's were 405hp 5.7 LS6 cars for 04-05. The 06-07 are 400hp 6.0 LS2 cars just like the GTO and good luck finding one in the low 20s...

 

[Evan5469]

How about the Pontiac G8? Family friendly and modable.