I've been shopping for a 2005 or 2006 GTO andI thought I had found THE one but crawling under the right front side, I saw many problems on the passenger--right side--that caused me to ask for a refund of my earnest money. The engine was pushed to the right and many unibody pieces simply went to the right. When I drove the car on the freeway, it pulled to the right and that told me to check out the suspension. The paint job is good but many other clues told me to go elsewhere and find another GTO if I still wanted one.
I asked the owner (it is a small dealership) for a CarFax and he couldn't find one in his files. I'll talk to him Monday Feb 4 and get my deposit back. Silly me, I used my debit card.
Funny, but the owner tried to tell me that the car is worth $35,000 and he's selling it because he needs to clear out his lot.
On the way home, I'll probably stop at another dealer who has a clean 1963 Nova hardtop with a 283 engine and four speed shift. He wants around $8000 for it but it is in great shape.
He's going to have a hard time clearing out his lot if he asks 3X the retail value on cars. Even if it had a clean carfax, he sounds like the type of dealer that would do all types of shady things.
It's a dealer, they had it up on the lift when the last guy traded it in for next to nothing because it had previous accident damage, they know perfectly well what they have.
My little brother tried to buy a Subaru Outback a few months ago from the Subaru dealer, he took it down the street to a Subaru specialist because he also thought he found 'The One', a fully loaded 6 cylinder LL Bean edition, it had a laundry list of problems including blown head gaskets.
I'd be all over that Nova. The new GTO is a cookie cutter car that looks like many other GM car . The Nova is so different and (my opinion) unique from anything out there. Older is way better.
I think I found the car for me. It is a '62 Nova with a 383 V8. 18-Grand is a bit steep for me but I really want this car. The owner said the rear wheels rub on the inner fender because the previous owner put the deep dish wheels/rims on it but otherwise, it is very nice. No heater, though.
You should be able to massage the inner side of the rear wheel openings and use a bottle jack and some wood to slightly push the outer body panel outward to provide clearance.
I did this on a 81 Malibu with no problems, you couldn't tell I had done it unless parked beside another Malibu.
Just work slowly and in small increments and the paint will not be damaged.
Nice Nova, I love that year but not a fan of the paint colors.
The heater is totally gone so if this is going to be a driver keep in mind you will have to find those parts or make something else fit and look good.
A friend had the same issue with his dodge and deep dish wheels, ended up replacing the tires and fixing the body when it snagged and pulled the sheet metal out of shape. Looking at the body lines you wont be able to flair the fenders without noticing. You could roll the inside lip some but I would just sell the rims and tires for some better fitting ones.
I am the world's worse procrastinator and I have sat on the fence (figuratively) about buying the car. Now I am back to liking the car despite the wide rear tires and no heater. The car is in the outskirts of Houston and having lived there for a number of years, I know the weather isn't too cold and could do without a heater. Unfortunately, I moved to Colorado and the weather here is a bit cooler (15 degrees yesterday morning) so I have found a good heater and will have it installed if I decide to buy.
Ten years ago, I could easily install the heater but my age--81 years--has reared its ugly bad neck, back and leg and I'd need help getting from underneath the dash. The tires are good but the rims are too wide so said the owner. He said he took three friends for a ride and all are on the heavy side--very fat--and that is when the rear tires rubbed against the inner fender. I only weigh 145 lbs and hope the tires don't rub.
I am the world's worse procrastinator and I have sat on the fence (figuratively) about buying the car. Now I am back to liking the car despite the wide rear tires and no heater. The car is in the outskirts of Houston and having lived there for a number of years, I know the weather isn't too cold and could do without a heater. Unfortunately, I moved to Colorado and the weather here is a bit cooler (15 degrees yesterday morning) so I have found a good heater and will have it installed if I decide to buy.
Ten years ago, I could easily install the heater but my age--81 years--has reared its ugly bad neck, back and leg and I'd need help getting from underneath the dash. The tires are good but the rims are too wide so said the owner. He said he took three friends for a ride and all are on the heavy side--very fat--and that is when the rear tires rubbed against the inner fender. I only weigh 145 lbs and hope the tires don't rub.
Life is short, the only reason I would want to have a heater would be to defrost the windows on a chilly morning. I like the cold and drove without a heater for almost two years. It gets old chipping ice off the inside of the windows lol If I had the money I would buy it, drive it everywhere. Enjoy and be safe.
I have never had any good luck with used cars. Watching the various shows on Velocity TV, I see the crew rebuild a real POS car and when finished, it looks good, but I always question was it up to good standards.
