Resale? Don't feel so bad

[edram454]

my buddy had a m3 bmw that was going out of warranty. He was going to keep it until his mothers 1 year old mercedes needed a transmission replacement...7K.. under warranty but a ridiculous price. m series bmw have 5 year warranties so i convinced him to chuck it and buy a new 2006 GTO. He loved it with the ls2 drove it trouble free for 4 years, put 60k miles and bought a new 392 Hemi Challenger.

The only disappointment with the American cars was the service at the stealerships. Very disappointing and so much so that it could be a deal breaker for his next car purchase.

I had a audi a4 that when it was time for brakes it was 2400.00 because you cant turn audi rotors, the calipers must be replaced, pads etc... labor is expensive etc... I had a small hose that clogged causing hesitation which was a known factory defect... final cost after disassembly was 2k.... clogged oil passages etc.... technical terms ends with big bill. sold that lug also. Everybody says they are such great cars.... I dont think so. A great car is a car that can last, ride nice with a level of performance and not empty you bank account. German cars are throw away cars after the 3 year warranty is over. Everybody knows that. Mecum auction yesterday had a 2003 sl500 with low miles sell at 12k. too many horror stories from friends with german cars and huge repair bills. It makes our cars seem like dime store performance cars, cheap to maintain and drive.

edramos #3028

[rhipsher]

The only things I've had to replace on the 07 530i is two coils. An alternator and the radiator hose assembly. The car has 145,000 miles on it. Has a 6 speed manual transmission. Not much can go wrong with a 6 speed manual and will still do 155mph. So I'm only speaking for myself but I'd say that's not to bad. I bought a warranty on the car so incase something major does go wrong I don't have to foot the whole Bill. So when I have had to take it to the BMW dealership I am treated like a king. They even have a pub with a gourmet coffee bar in there while your waiting.
And on the other hand I bought my wife and brand new 2013 Chevy Cruze LTZ fully loaded. That thing has been in the shop 5 times since I bought it. Buying brand new is not a guarantee that you will get a trouble free car. Within a month the turbo actuator Rod clip came off and I could barely make it up a bridge. Then the transmission had a leak after 5,000 miles. The damn sun visors are so cheaply made that the hinges to the sun visor mirrors broke on both within a year just like they did on my mother in laws Kia. And Chevys Mylink navigation takes me to the wrong address 30% of the time. So I don't even use it anymore. And everytime I take it to the Chevy dealership it's a ghetto experience. But like I said. I'm only speaking from my own experiences. Yours may be different.

[BigJohn]

Yep!

[edram454]

[Q
I agree with everything you said. You got a good one and a manual tranny is much better than the paddle shift electronic disasters. The stealerships are much different. I was treated like a king when I bought my a4 audi at the collection... wine, coffee, snacks,,, loaner car... nothing like the American car stealerships. It is a difference maker. If you buy right presumably a euro car without high tech options, you chances of doing ok are greatly increase. You got a good car and are able to keep it on road for low costs. btw, I only buy used cars now. I love low mileage American luxo barrages. I love my low mileage Lincoln Town Car. Looks like new.. has 46k and havent done a thing since I got it 4 years ago. I bought it with 16k miles and paid 9k.

edramos #3028

UOTE=rhipsher;244221]The only things I've had to replace on the 07 530i is two coils. An alternator and the radiator hose assembly. The car has 145,000 miles on it. Has a 6 speed manual transmission. Not much can go wrong with a 6 speed manual and will still do 155mph. So I'm only speaking for myself but I'd say that's not to bad. I bought a warranty on the car so incase something major does go wrong I don't have to foot the whole Bill. So when I have had to take it to the BMW dealership I am treated like a king. They even have a pub with a gourmet coffee bar in there while your waiting.
And on the other hand I bought my wife and brand new 2013 Chevy Cruze LTZ fully loaded. That thing has been in the shop 5 times since I bought it. Buying brand new is not a guarantee that you will get a trouble free car. Within a month the turbo actuator Rod clip came off and I could barely make it up a bridge. Then the transmission had a leak after 5,000 miles. The damn sun visors are so cheaply made that the hinges to the sun visor mirrors broke on both within a year just like they did on my mother in laws Kia. And Chevys Mylink navigation takes me to the wrong address 30% of the time. So I don't even use it anymore. And everytime I take it to the Chevy dealership it's a ghetto experience. But like I said. I'm only speaking from my own experiences. Yours may be different.
[/QUOTE]

[rhipsher]

Originally Posted by edram454

[Q
I agree with everything you said. You got a good one and a manual tranny is much better than the paddle shift electronic disasters. The stealerships are much different. I was treated like a king when I bought my a4 audi at the collection... wine, coffee, snacks,,, loaner car... nothing like the American car stealerships. It is a difference maker. If you buy right presumably a euro car without high tech options, you chances of doing ok are greatly increase. You got a good car and are able to keep it on road for low costs. btw, I only buy used cars now. I love low mileage American luxo barrages. I love my low mileage Lincoln Town Car. Looks like new.. has 46k and havent done a thing since I got it 4 years ago. I bought it with 16k miles and paid 9k.

edramos #3028

UOTE=rhipsher;244221]The only things I've had to replace on the 07 530i is two coils. An alternator and the radiator hose assembly. The car has 145,000 miles on it. Has a 6 speed manual transmission. Not much can go wrong with a 6 speed manual and will still do 155mph. So I'm only speaking for myself but I'd say that's not to bad. I bought a warranty on the car so incase something major does go wrong I don't have to foot the whole Bill. So when I have had to take it to the BMW dealership I am treated like a king. They even have a pub with a gourmet coffee bar in there while your waiting.
And on the other hand I bought my wife and brand new 2013 Chevy Cruze LTZ fully loaded. That thing has been in the shop 5 times since I bought it. Buying brand new is not a guarantee that you will get a trouble free car. Within a month the turbo actuator Rod clip came off and I could barely make it up a bridge. Then the transmission had a leak after 5,000 miles. The damn sun visors are so cheaply made that the hinges to the sun visor mirrors broke on both within a year just like they did on my mother in laws Kia. And Chevys Mylink navigation takes me to the wrong address 30% of the time. So I don't even use it anymore. And everytime I take it to the Chevy dealership it's a ghetto experience. But like I said. I'm only speaking from my own experiences. Yours may be different.

[/QUOTE]


I actually bought the car from another good friend that is also a ZR-1 owner. He ownes a 93. So I knew I could trust him. He is totally anal about his cars. Unfortunately he was going through a divorce and had to sell it. He sold it to me for $12,500 cash. It had 80k miles at that time. Now has 145k. Runs perfect in every way. No regrets.
And the navigation always takes me to the right place.

[Hog]

Originally Posted by rush91

I'm surprised the LT4 Camaros from about 1998 to 2002, with the Corvette motor, haven't exploded yet. I think our Beast will always hold a very special place, they were iconic between 1990 and 1995. And still are to all of us who know that magic after 3000 RPMs.......

The 1997 LT4 SS Camaro yopu speak of is a very special car, esp. engine wise. The car gets its 285hp (305hp with SS package cold air intake hood/specific exhaust) LT1 removed and gets the 1996 Grand Sport/Collectors Edition/standard Corvette so long as it was a 96 Vette with the 6 speed LT4 engine in its place. But its not just a standard Vette spec LT4, it had to be a bit special in order to output its advertised 330 sae net hp @ 5800rpm when installed in an F-body. To save money, and avoid a full emission recertification, you will find that all 106 1997 LT4 Camaro SS and 29 1996 Firehawk LT4 cars will carry the OEM 5800rpm rev limiter that all the LT1 F-bodies had, rather than the 6412 rpm rev limit the Corvettes PCM calibration entailed. Chev engineers went with extruded aluminum roller rocker arms with roller fulcrum and roller tips. The first and ONLY OEM GM V8 engine to be a full roller design. There were 2 recalls regarding these rocker arms for the 1996 Corvettes with LT4's. The engineers found that over 5800rpm that the standard stamped steel rockers would exhibit galling, and this wouldn't do with the 6400rpm redline. The rockers are pretty much Crane Gold roller rocker arms with a Chev bowtie on them. These OEM roler rocker arms necessitated a specific LT4 knock module so that the noisy rocke arms ouldnte consfused with engine knock and hence have some ignition timing pulled.
Every 5th of these LT4 powered 1997 F-bodies were chassis dyno tested and every LT4 was engine dyno certified. A standard Vette spec LT4 was disassembled and balanced and blueprinted by SLP(including a torque plate squareup of the block), used specific stainless steel exhaust manifolds that had a visit at Extrudehoned, and fed a specific exhaust assembly.

The Firebird of 1997 stickered at $23,000 with the LT4 Firehawk package adding another $17,023.

The LT4 SS Camaro would tag high 12 second quarter mile ET's , but I'm not so sure about the 109-110 mph spec that I cant remember 100% accurately.