The Other Showroom: Current / Past Rides (Pt II)

Abaddon wrote:

Ha! I didn't even realize that part of it   

Perhaps another thing to do with it is that this is not a brand new one...it has 4,700 miles on it. I've got it parked for the night as it's starting to rain. Can you believe it ?!?! 

Still raining...

Congrats for not buying Asian.

96riv wrote:

Congrats for not buying Asian.

It's wayyyy more Asian than you think. Most of it comes from Korea. Doesn't change the fact that it's a sweet ride though

ghpcnm wrote:

 Still raining...

Does the Vette come equipped with a mid-life crisis kit? ya know,the blonde and the little bottle of blue pills?   

robotennis61 wrote:

ghpcnm wrote:

 Still raining...

Does the Vette come equipped with a mid-life crisis kit? ya know,the blonde and the little bottle of blue pills?   

Hee Haw...Haven't seen it yet, but there are lots of options.

    

It's mine...whew !!!
If it was a DD, I would have opted for an auto, but since it's only a dry weekend car, I went with the stick although the wife isn't too happy about it. BTW, the Cruiser is gone.

ghpcnm wrote:

It's mine...whew !!!
If it was a DD, I would have opted for an auto, but since it's only a dry weekend car, I went with the stick although the wife isn't too happy about it. BTW, the Cruiser is gone.

Congrats man!

  

I must say this is the most powerful car I've ever owned

427 ci / 505 hp / Dealer claims it will do 190 mph, but I will never see that I'm sure.
It is surprisingly easy to drive and quite docile until you hammer on it. Then, hold on tight because things get moving very quickly.  

*LOL...I just discovered by reading the manual that it's actually 428 ci. Yet it's called a 427...go figure.

Unbelievably...it's RAINING again
I hope this isn't a bad omen.

ghpcnm wrote:

Unbelievably...it's RAINING again  
I hope this isn't a bad omen.

Nope.Just Gods way of telling you to get the lead outa yer right foot   

Wahooo! What motor is in that one? The 3.6 or the 2.0?

I really like the Regals. Was torn about the new GS coming out when I decided on my Volt.

Hey ghpcnm,

You'll be glad you bought the 6-speed over the automatic. IMO a Corvete should be a manual. It's a sports car and should be driven like one. The 6-speed gets better gas milagage too.

I have a 2000 Magnetic Red Coupe. My friend who owns a 2000 Fixed Roof Coupe (predecessor to the Z06). He and I took a 4200 mile trip from Seattle down through the Giant Redwoods to Yosemite, Napa Valley, then over to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and then up through the Silver State Classic race road in Nevada where we got up to 177 MPH. We were on a lot of back roads throughout the trip setting our cruise control at anywhere from 80-95 MPH.

When I pulled into my driveweay at the end of the trip my gage showed 30.4 mile per gallon. Now that's impressive. Or you could own a Prius.

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I'm liking it so far. This is an easy shifting stick shift for sure. I just don't know if I'll ever use 6th gear...LOL

A 427! Hot damn!      

Oh you'll use 6th gear. That's where the mileage comes in when you're cruising down the highway at 1500-1700 RPM.

Nice buy!

ghpcnm wrote:

I guess it's one of the perks of being a senior citizen

The guy did exactly as he should have by letting you bring the car home.

We also said we'd never buy a new car again after the 08 Sky Redline.  Trying to buy a new car when you are (or appear) young is brutal.  No dealer would take us seriously, couldn't even get a test drive.

Here are the following cars I was ready to purchase NEW and made trips to the dealership for:
04-06 Pontiac GTO: Did not come to Canada.  Dealer told me he hoped it would NOT come to Canada as he'd rather sell 15 sunfires than 1 GTO to a "guy like me" because I had lots of questions.
Pontiac G8 GXP: N/A in Canada.  Guy wanted me to buy a G8 GT sight unseen.  Said I could test drive it if I took delivery of it.  Couldn't give me a straight price even though I asked him for a cash price.  All he could do was various permutations of monthly payments, assuming I don't understand how interest works.  Told him to call me when he knew how much the car costs to purchase outright and he told me I was a time waster.
2009 Saturn Sky or Pontiac Solstice: This was for the fiancée.  Couldn't get a test drive even though they had one at the dealerships.  Was told I could test drive it if I bought it.  Sat down with one dealer (a woman) who said there were only 5 new Skys left in Canada (this was late 09 after production stopped) and asked which one we wanted.  We asked what options/colour are they and she said she didn't have time to list them for us (WTF ?). After playing a "guess who" type elimination game that clearly took longer than just telling us what was available we bargained a price, THEN claimed the student AND military discount and she said she had to go ask her manager.  We were sitting in her office facing the window and saw her go outside in her car for a smoke.  Came back and told us the manager didn't want.  Called her manager over to call her on her bullshit.  Manager told us there was no such thing as a student OR military discount and asked where we heard about it.  We showed him the splash page of the saturn page for GM Canada.  He said corporate was probably wrong and that WE would have to call them.  Ended up buying a new 08 from a dealership over the phone.  That specific dealership was ok to deal with but the overall ordeal left a really bad taste in our mouths.
2011-2013 Cadillac CTS-V wagon:  was clearly told by 2 salesmen at 2 different dealerships (once when I was in uniform) right off the bat that I couldn't afford it.  Keeping in mind that they based this entirely on my appearance.  They had no idea of my financial situation.  Brought over the manager both times who apologized, but I wasn't going to buy it from them.  Another dealership told me the pricing wasn't out for the 2013s but I could write them a BLANK CHEQUE and they could order it for me.  Add to the fact that the CTS-V costs about 20-25k more than in the USA and that did it for me.  Never again.

My father in law used to sell cars, and he has plenty of stories of guys (including him) ignoring customers who don't "look" like they have money and passing the buck to the most junior guy only to have the folks (lots of farmers) buy loaded pickups or caddies with a shoebox of musty bills.

Interesting story and I don't doubt one word of it.  Age and appearance do make a difference when you visit the dealership.

For what it's worth, FL is full of ol' geezers like myself who have a 'Vette or some other sports car of that genre on their bucket list. I think the dealerships are aware of that and cater to us somewhat. The dealership also knew that I am somewhat of a collector. Additionally, they ran my credit before, I ever drove it. While it's not perfect 800+ as some have, it's what I would call very good. All of those things play a factor, I'm sure.

robotennis61 wrote:

A 427! Hot damn!

However, it's not the 60th Anniversary Edition. I kinda wish it was for the collectible value, although I'm not fond of the 60th Anniversary Striping.

Yup,thats a hot car and no doubt.

My 20 year old nephew has been home here in Buffalo on Christmas break since early December. He heads back to North Carolina State tomorrow morning. He tells me this morning that his '97 BMW 540i is running rough and his check engine light has been on for some time. He wants me to check it out before he makes the 11 hour road trip back to school.
No problem I tell him. I pull it in to the shop, hook up scanner, read codes. "EIGHTEEN!" codes. a few were doubles, but 18 non the less.
So after some testing we narrow down the possibilities. Both upstream O2 sensors were shot, MAF sensor shot, spark plugs were shot and plug boots shot. Replaced all and fired her up.
Took it for a nice spirited test drive and it performed like a Beamer should. Gotta love when a repair goes well. Never in a million years would I have thought I would have this car ready for a road trip tomorrow morning. I think I just pulled a muscle patting myself on the back!

CONGRATS, Dave! Of all your recent purchases, this one is my favorite BY FAR. Good call on the 6-speed manual, too. SO... is this a de-badged Z06 or a swapped LS7? I don't think it's a Z since the brake cooling ducts are absent. Just looked up the 427 - it's like a convertible Z06. Never knew these existed!

I have been joking that my GTO is really just a plain clothes Vette with an extra 500 lbs, that doesn't handle quite as well. There's a lot of truth in that, I guess. Most GTO owners eventually upgrade to Vettes (the previous owner of mine bought a C5 Z06 the following week).

Interesting you say the shifter moves easily. The gearbox in my GTO is like shifting a truck; the clutch pedal is no easy task, either. Definitely get a work-out driving it. Now I want to try a Vette to compare. Uh-oh... what am I saying?!!!

Thanks AA.
I admit, the manual was not my first choice, but quite frankly, I just fell in love with this car and the 427 version is not available with an auto. I love the color and the fact that it appears to have some collectible value for the future. Yes, it is the easiest shifting stick I've ever driven and that played a major factor. Surprisingly docile...It's obvious the power is there, but it's not a brutish feel by any means. However, my wife still hasn't tried her hand at it. BTW...This was the first decent warm, sunny day we've had to enjoy it. The weather has been unusually cold and rainy here in FL.
(Thanks for moving this to the showroom. When I initiated the thread, I didn't know I would be buying a new car)

So I just wanted to share that after 4 years I have been reunited with my Eclipse which I have had for many years before the riv. After sitting for almost 4 years  while stationed in Cali I came back to the east and took the cover off her, charged the battery and after some sputtering she started right up! The interior is trashed by mildew and mold but I took her around the block and this thing still absolutely rips! first gear I completely loose the tires, and with some break-boosting in second gear the tires melt away as well ( 16psi ). I forgot how fast this thing was and even with the old gas its clear this car has a will to live. I'm thinking about removing all the interior ( already stripped the carpet) and making it a purpose only "fun car". However the riv is still going to be my DD. But this Eclipse has to much potential to pass up.

That's awesome! I would love to have a track-only car for fun.

Glad it survived, the engine bay looks immaculate(relatively)!

IBx1 wrote:

Glad it survived, the engine bay looks immaculate(relatively)!

Yea it looks good for the most part but alot of the rubber hoses have mold on them