Anyone got a Goat?

I test-drove one, a leftover '04 in early 2005. The best color--purple with PURPLE(!) leather-- and a 6-speed. I scared the crap out of the salesman, but discovered it can spin the tires at speed!

Not a realistic option now. With little one(s), I really should have a 4-door. Does anyone know if there Pontiac G8 GT 6-speed is similarly well-made, comfortable, reliable and such?

I think I'll add the GTO to my shopping list. I'm probably not going to go looking for a new car until spring at the earliest ('13 Genny Coupe and FR-S aren't even on the lots yet). I rack up the miles quickly on my everyday commute and would probably kill myself if I drove something as narcolepsy-inducing as a Camry, so I find myself leaning towards GT-ish cars for a DD. I know the GTO is heavy, but it can't be worse to drive than the new V-6 Camaro and Challenger, can it?

go back to 1981........I am working with a gearhead at Kmart paying my way through college......

coworker Dave: "I am going to get my engineering degree, buy a new Mustang, and get an old goat"

me: "cool"

older guy listening: "that guy is an idiot; what's he going to do with goats?"

Tony the barber near Villa Park, Illinois mentioned to me he might be selling his GTO.

Red, lowered, custom wheels, stick, rolled fenders because of lowering.

If you are interested I could let him know since I should be getting a hair cut next week. (I might get them all cut)

In reply to Clarty:

The G8 is the Holden Commodore, which is the 4-door version of the Holden Monaro (which is the GTO). So yes, basically a G8 is a 1-generation newer GTO with 4 doors. That said, they never made the GT with a stick. The only way to get a factory manual in a G8 is the top-spec GXP, and even then production was about 50/50 with the 6M auto's. A 6-speed manual GXP is a rare beast and commands serious money.

RexSeven wrote: I know the GTO is heavy, but it can't be worse to drive than the new V-6 Camaro and Challenger, can it?

GTO is ~3700Lbs and change dead stock, some 400Lbs lighter than the V8 Camaro and on par with the V8 Mustangs from 05-12. A ton of weight (and trunk space) is taken up by the factory subwoofer, and the skid plate is a giant metal piece (which you have to unbolt to change the oil). Pulling the sub and replacing the skidplate with a lighter aftermarket version (with oil trap doors) drops between 75-100Lbs.

Purple GTO Goodness!!!!!

Javelin wrote: In reply to Clarty: A 6-speed manual GXP is a *rare* beast and commands serious money.

Yeah, I'm finding that out as I research G8s. Saw a GXP in really great shape, skip-shift delete, other nice improvements. The owner was asking nearly $35,000 for it.

Well, I did find one downside to the GTO, and that is that it eats through tires quickly (and I don't mean of the smokey fun variety). Apparently, the stock bushings have a E36 M3-ton of slop in them, which causes weird, uneven wear patterns, even on tires that are rotated properly. And worse, the 04-05 models had front struts that were too close to the rear of the tires and could cause shredding. Not enough to take it off my list, but definitely something to watch out for, and maybe budget for some bushings.

forzav12 wrote: The only idiot here is the shop owner. Street prices for those parts are much cheaper. I converted mine back to Holden body parts-wasn't near that expensive.

Thanks for that not-so-useful perspective, because true or not, it is meaningless on an insurance repair. It's got nothing to do with the shop owner. It's got everything to do with GM's head-up-ass part pricing. On an insurance claim we have 3 options: OEM, aftermarket or used. There is zero used available for this car on car-part within hundreds of miles. Aftermarket makes zero due to it's limited market (and I'm not talking about Chinese pseudo xenon headlamps). If I can't locate alternatives that can be delivered to the shop, the parts don't exist in our world. With a guy in a rental car, every day counts. While a person building a project can wait 6 months for a container from Australia with non-DOT compliant Holden parts, an insurance company cannot.

Got a call yesterday that the thing has some billy-bob bad prior repairs to the front rails so I may actually do the guy a favor by junking it.

dculberson wrote: How does that compare to any other modern car? I've heard a Viper hood costs over $10,000, but I don't think that means I should never own one. Hell, a new hood for my Volvo costs more than I paid for the car... replacement body parts are always absurdly expensive, and the newer the car the more expensive they get. Just don't wreck it, and if you do, make sure to have it insured.

The Viper isn't a valid comparison. If you can afford a Viper (which frankly is a toy; you're not going to drive one every day) then you can afford the expensive insurance that will replace the 10 grand hood. The caution I'm putting out there (and I had no idea myself until this past week) is that a GTO is a very tempting purchase, now that they are only worth 10 or 15 grand. But they are the equivalent of buying a used 911 when it comes to body repairs (worse, actually, because I can get used 911 parts). They are nice cars, though I still think they are too heavy, and I'd have considered owning one. But good golly, if someone taps your corner in a parking lot and takes off you can be out 4 grand in no time. Better carry full insurance on one if you buy.

ddavidv wrote:

forzav12 wrote: The only idiot here is the shop owner. Street prices for those parts are much cheaper. I converted mine back to Holden body parts-wasn't near that expensive.

Thanks for that not-so-useful perspective, because true or not, it is meaningless on an insurance repair. It's got nothing to do with the shop owner. It's got everything to do with GM's head-up-ass part pricing. On an insurance claim we have 3 options: OEM, aftermarket or used. There is zero used available for this car on car-part within hundreds of miles. Aftermarket makes zero due to it's limited market (and I'm not talking about Chinese pseudo xenon headlamps). If I can't locate alternatives that can be delivered to the shop, the parts don't exist in our world. With a guy in a rental car, every day counts. While a person building a project can wait 6 months for a container from Australia with non-DOT compliant Holden parts, an insurance company cannot. Got a call yesterday that the thing has some billy-bob bad prior repairs to the front rails so I may actually do the guy a favor by junking it.

First, I'll never let whether or not I purchase a car, depend upon my expectation to crash it. Second, there are many options for obtaining used factory parts on the GTO as many thousands were produced. Heck, I've got factory front and rear bumpers, lights,deck lid and hood for a GTO-great shape and you can have it all for 500.-How's that? Third, the stuff ordered from Oz, usually arrives here in socal in a week. Try again.

ddavidv wrote:

dculberson wrote: How does that compare to any other modern car? I've heard a Viper hood costs over $10,000, but I don't think that means I should never own one. Hell, a new hood for my Volvo costs more than I paid for the car... replacement body parts are always absurdly expensive, and the newer the car the more expensive they get. Just don't wreck it, and if you do, make sure to have it insured.

The Viper isn't a valid comparison. If you can afford a Viper (which frankly is a toy; you're not going to drive one every day) then you can afford the expensive insurance that will replace the 10 grand hood. The caution I'm putting out there (and I had no idea myself until this past week) is that a GTO is a very tempting purchase, now that they are only worth 10 or 15 grand. But they are the equivalent of buying a used 911 when it comes to body repairs (worse, actually, because I can get used 911 parts). They are nice cars, though I still think they are too heavy, and I'd have considered owning one. But good golly, if someone taps your corner in a parking lot and takes off you can be out 4 grand in no time. Better carry full insurance on one if you buy.

I drove my Viper every day for a year or two-no issues. It was also cheap to insure-less than my Tahoe. Of course, I'd carry full insurance -who wouldn't? Buy an old Crown Vic if you expect to crash.

ddavidv wrote:

dculberson wrote: How does that compare to any other modern car? I've heard a Viper hood costs over $10,000, but I don't think that means I should never own one. Hell, a new hood for my Volvo costs more than I paid for the car... replacement body parts are always absurdly expensive, and the newer the car the more expensive they get. Just don't wreck it, and if you do, make sure to have it insured.

The Viper isn't a valid comparison. If you can afford a Viper (which frankly is a toy; you're not going to drive one every day) then you can afford the expensive insurance that will replace the 10 grand hood. The caution I'm putting out there (and I had no idea myself until this past week) is that a GTO is a very tempting purchase, now that they are only worth 10 or 15 grand. But they are the equivalent of buying a used 911 when it comes to body repairs (worse, actually, because I can get used 911 parts). They are nice cars, though I still think they are too heavy, and I'd have considered owning one. But good golly, if someone taps your corner in a parking lot and takes off you can be out 4 grand in no time. Better carry full insurance on one if you buy.

I agree that you better carry full insurance on one. But I disagree that a Viper is not a valid comparison; they're quite affordable now and there's nothing keeping them from being a daily driver.

There are plenty of cars that are unreasonably expensive to repair. Lots of us drive old luxury or (borderline)exotic cars here, we accept that this stuff is expensive to fix if its wrecked. Try buying body panels for a 6.9. It's not gonna be cheap.

All told, though, I think you response was reasonable, I just think it's not a huge deal. Good to keep it in mind though as we do usually expect a GM to be cheap to fix.