Hi! I am on the hunt for my next car, after 12 years with my 02 Mitsubishi Lancer I am ready for something different and more importantly, something I will enjoy driving and being able to look at an admire. I am 30, work in construction and have an erratic commute, sometimes I drive 5 miles to a job, sometimes like now I drove 50 each way. I have always loved the final gen GTO, love the understated holden good looks. What are these like to drive daily? I am sure there are quite a few people here who do. What sort of mpg do you average, highs and lows? How is the reliability? What are some trouble areas these cars have? How is parts availability now that both Pontiac is dead and Holden on the way? What do you pay for insurance? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated!
A_Locomotive
Average mileage around town will be in high teens. Comfortable car to drive. Not what you want in the winter for daily driving. Parts are an issue, but can be found. Insurance will vary depending on what part of the country you live and will be high since it will be a daily driver to and from work.
Regardless of what rationalization you come up with, an out of production vehicle is NOT a good vehicle to use as a daily driver. Maintenance is only a small part. The more you place that vehicle in "harms' way" the more you risk damage to a vehicle where parts are scarce and expensive when you can find them; both mechanical and cosmetic parts.
What 'ins and outs'? As you say, it's just a car but for the reasons I stated I just don't feel it's a good choice as a daily driver. JMO.....
In Australia, these cars are almost always used as everyday drivers, unless they are seriously modified, and I mean seriously. These cars are from an awesome family of holden vehicles that are brilliant everyday muscle cars. I've had 2 (2002 VY SS sedan and 2002 VU SS ute) over the years and they are just brilliant for enjoying every time you need to get in a car. In fact I recently sold the ute to buy the 69 GTO.
Is it a great car to drive daily? Certainly but I'd avoid anything like snow. A stick can be a pain for some in stop and go traffic. Gas mileage if stock varies greatly with the right foot. Low 20s highway and mid-teens likely in the city. As said parts are expensive and harder to find than in Australia where there are Holdens everywhere. I would guesstimate maybe 20,000 left in the U.S. The first fender bender is likely a totaled car as insurance companies do not seem to not want to fix them due to costs.
I love my '06 as a DD. It's got nice big comfy fluffy seats with high side bolsters that feel great like you're snuggled in. Lots of room in the backseat area unlike the F-bodies from the late 90's. It's got ICE cold A/C. Pretty decent radio and speakers but lacks the new technology commonly found in pretty much all vehicles now-a-days... No blue tooth or Aux input (although there are after market options available). Obviously no nav or backup camera which I could care less about. It's pretty damn quick for a 3,800 lb car, so you don't have to run out and modify the motor right away to make it feel fast or keep up with the newer cars. And it's got independent rear suspension which put it light years ahead of other cars when it came out.
It's a GT cruising car so it's a really decent ride compared to other cars in it's HP range. All in all in a nice car to drive to work everyday. Mine's an M6 but I love the manual aspect of it even in traffic. I've got a Monster Level 2 clutch and tick master which really firms the clutch pedal up but even with that it's still not that bad to drive in traffic. Some people would tire of it quick though. Keeping the stock master cylinder and either a stock type clutch or twin disc after market clutch is the way to go when wanting to keep the pedal nice and light for traffic duty.
But here's the thing with GTO's... It's at least a 10 year old car now... So things will need to be updated (if they haven't already) to make it drive like it should have from the factory. I bought mine in 2011 so it was only 5 years old at the time. Drove it for 3+ years solid without doing a thing to it. But over time ALL the bushings wear out and I've had to replace pretty much everything. And it's safe to say if you buy one today with anything over 50k miles most likely all the bushings are worn out, springs are saggy causing uneven tire wear, shocks and struts will be limp as a screen door, Strut mounts will be shot, motor mounts will be leaking or shot, transmission mount will probably be collapsed to a degree, the driveshaft carrier bearing will probably be torn, ect. (assuming no one has updated any of those things). It's also common for things like like the radiator plastic to crack causing your cooling system to fail, Electric fans may crap out, wiring harness inside the glove box can rub and over time cause your BCM to start acting funny... These are just the typical things you could run into when driving a goat as DD.
If you like working on a car and don't mind researching and buying parts then this car would be suitable for you. If you've never picked up a wrench it's most likely not a car you want to fool around with. I love this car and love DD'ing it, wrenching on it, updating it, upgrading parts, researching stuff, and being part of a small community of people that actually have this car.
When I first bought mine, it rode like an older Lincoln, that is to say it felt more like a boat. After upgrading every bushing underneath it, upgrading the suspension and upgrading the brakes it feels more like an m3 (obviously not one but good comparison for the change I experienced). It carves corners now, stops really well, and still has the suppleness of a GT car.
This isn't to scare you off, just a realistic expectation of what you're getting into. Other things to remember... It's got small wheel wells so you can't put big fat tires on it. It's got little to no trunk space due to the gas tank being in the trunk (and no fold down seats with pass thru). It's not the best gas mileage car out there (but I love the LS2 and expect it to be where it's at MPG wise). It's easy to break something at the drag strip because of the IRS (although I raced mine on street tires for 4 years and didn't break anything until I put a set of drag radials on it). It's a super fun car and puts a smile on my EVERY time I drive it
My best advice is to find one that's been extremely taken care of. Already has the typical things replaced without having too many engine/go fast mods done (then you know it hasn't been beat on at the track forever), and has low miles with documentation. Stay away from 4 or 5 owner cars as who knows how all of them treated the car. And be ready to have some backup money ready to go encase something goes wrong because eventually it will.
Good luck to you sir!
It's a GT cruising car so it's a really decent ride compared to other cars in it's HP range. All in all in a nice car to drive to work everyday. Mine's an M6 but I love the manual aspect of it even in traffic. I've got a Monster Level 2 clutch and tick master which really firms the clutch pedal up but even with that it's still not that bad to drive in traffic. Some people would tire of it quick though. Keeping the stock master cylinder and either a stock type clutch or twin disc after market clutch is the way to go when wanting to keep the pedal nice and light for traffic duty.
But here's the thing with GTO's... It's at least a 10 year old car now... So things will need to be updated (if they haven't already) to make it drive like it should have from the factory. I bought mine in 2011 so it was only 5 years old at the time. Drove it for 3+ years solid without doing a thing to it. But over time ALL the bushings wear out and I've had to replace pretty much everything. And it's safe to say if you buy one today with anything over 50k miles most likely all the bushings are worn out, springs are saggy causing uneven tire wear, shocks and struts will be limp as a screen door, Strut mounts will be shot, motor mounts will be leaking or shot, transmission mount will probably be collapsed to a degree, the driveshaft carrier bearing will probably be torn, ect. (assuming no one has updated any of those things). It's also common for things like like the radiator plastic to crack causing your cooling system to fail, Electric fans may crap out, wiring harness inside the glove box can rub and over time cause your BCM to start acting funny... These are just the typical things you could run into when driving a goat as DD.
If you like working on a car and don't mind researching and buying parts then this car would be suitable for you. If you've never picked up a wrench it's most likely not a car you want to fool around with. I love this car and love DD'ing it, wrenching on it, updating it, upgrading parts, researching stuff, and being part of a small community of people that actually have this car.
When I first bought mine, it rode like an older Lincoln, that is to say it felt more like a boat. After upgrading every bushing underneath it, upgrading the suspension and upgrading the brakes it feels more like an m3 (obviously not one but good comparison for the change I experienced). It carves corners now, stops really well, and still has the suppleness of a GT car.
This isn't to scare you off, just a realistic expectation of what you're getting into. Other things to remember... It's got small wheel wells so you can't put big fat tires on it. It's got little to no trunk space due to the gas tank being in the trunk (and no fold down seats with pass thru). It's not the best gas mileage car out there (but I love the LS2 and expect it to be where it's at MPG wise). It's easy to break something at the drag strip because of the IRS (although I raced mine on street tires for 4 years and didn't break anything until I put a set of drag radials on it). It's a super fun car and puts a smile on my EVERY time I drive it
My best advice is to find one that's been extremely taken care of. Already has the typical things replaced without having too many engine/go fast mods done (then you know it hasn't been beat on at the track forever), and has low miles with documentation. Stay away from 4 or 5 owner cars as who knows how all of them treated the car. And be ready to have some backup money ready to go encase something goes wrong because eventually it will.
Good luck to you sir!
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