Thinking about buying a gtp

[usetaboost]

Wasn't planning on it, but I found one that is exactly what I want. It's dark blue (don't see that color much around here), sunroof, chrome wheels, fully loaded. It's got good tires, no major scratches or scuffs that i could see, driver side new window regulator. Car has 90k on it and it's an 02. Seems to be very well kept. THe guy's asking price is 6900, which is what private party value is. Sorry for not having any pics, but we all know what a GP looks like. Is 6900 too much for this car? What would be a good price to get the car for assuming nothing is wrong with it?

 

[2QUICK2B6]

5k seems resonable to me because the car could have been patched up ... just have to give yourself some room if needed

 

[gs462]

Assuming its in good shape and has no mechanical issues Id say its worth 6k up to 6500 if its mint.

 

[chitownz87gn]

That's way too much for that car. Has the coupler on the supercharger been changed? Supercharger oil topped off? Trannys are weak on those cars. That t65e could be a ticking time bomb with that mileage

 

[BGNeXtreem]

Trans def won't last any time

 

[usetaboost]

Most of the older gtp's around here are beat to shit or got a ton of miles on them and still askin 4500 for most. Didn't see any obvious signs that it could have been in an accident. I haven't looked at it that close yet, just did a walk around. Planning on checking it out thoroughly on friday, I'll try getting a few pics.

This is pretty much what it looks like, except this one doesn't appear as nice and the one I'm looking at has black leather. http://www.goodcarco.net/2002_Pontiac_Grand Prix_Fenton_MI_155321354.veh

 

[murphinator]

that is a lot of dough for an 02 gtp.

dont be scared of 90k or 90k on a 4t65e-hd , My 2002 gs (essentially the same as a gtp) I bought in 06 with 96k , it currently has 220,000 miles on it all stock internals on engine & transaxle driven aggressively daily while I have owned it , made literally hundreds of track passes in the 13's when I used to commute within 15 minutes of 1/4 mile track daily , 13.5 @104 on minor bolt ons (vid in sig) and 13.1 @109 with a small shot on top of it.

realize this is a premium fuel only engine and it will get considerable KR if you try to cheap out on fuel grade , beat on it with low octane fuel in it and it will pull enough timing that over time the retarded timing will cause enough heat events on your pistons to chip above the ringlands , keep KR away and these little motors will get the mail pretty well for you while pulling down 30mpg hwy.

stay away from smoky burnouts ,spinning around corners , spinning with traction control on and dont 60 foot the car any quicker than 1.9's and the trans will hold up just fine - its not a bulletproof trans but there are plenty of them that do survive too , with what I have put mine through I feel some people have to be doing some rough stuff to them to break them

 

[usetaboost]

Trans def won't last any time

my mom's gtp has over 150k on it and shifts just fine

 

[usetaboost]

Not worried about the premium fuel. I'll just have to drink one less 20 oz mt dew every week Yeah it seems like a lot of money, but newer ones with more miles get the same if not more money. Similar cars to the one i've found have double the miles and have some type of issue with them. I'm thinking if everything works and it runs and drives good the car is worth 6500, but I'd like to get it for 6k. The ones I've found for 3-5k, most are all jacked up

 

[charlief1]

Just keep the elky and fix it up Jesse.

 

[usetaboost]

Nope, I've made my mind up. If I finished it, it would just end up sitting anyway so it's best it goes to someone that really wants it. I already have a potential buyer.

 

[2QUICK2B6]

i need to hyjack my dads elky almost have everything to make it a buick lol

 

[fast86gn]

Usetaboost you won't get better info on these cars than what Murphinator gave you. When it comes to the GTP's and GS' there is no mind that is better! If it's nice I would consider 6K, make him an offer it is a buyers market.

BTW what were you looking for out of the car? Daily driver? Track use? Both?

 

[usetaboost]

Daily driver, trying to convince the wife to make it a 3 season car cause it's so clean. I don't mind doing mods, but I just want to do ones that combat kr, add mpg, and increase reliability. I would be up for junkyard oe pieces for upgrades though.

 

[BGNeXtreem]

my mom's gtp has over 150k on it and shifts just fine

Guess I should have asked if its going to be a driver or moded because I know first hand how weak trans is when moded all I was saying

 

[BGNeXtreem]

Usetaboost you won't get better info on these cars than what Murphinator gave you. When it comes to the GTP's and GS' there is no mind that is better! If it's nice I would consider 6K, make him an offer it is a buyers market.

BTW what were you looking for out of the car? Daily driver? Track use? Both?

And this guy can tell ya how weak the trans is too keep it stock it you will be doing a trans build

 

[usetaboost]

Trans coolers or shift kits help any?

 

[murphinator]

if your running 13's and not hooking super hard (1.8 or better 60's) they will tolerate that a long , long time , if your trying to run 12's or quicker and have the trans last adding a 300m input shaft and 7/8" chain would greatly increase its chances of lasting , looking to go 11's orquicker theres a lot of parts you better be looking at.

a guy on the regal forum went 11.9's last summer on a stock trans - $400 car with $500 & change total in used mods (weight removal , nitrous, minor bolt ons) , yes 11.9's for $900& change total investment !! but it was the trans that took the car out

I wont dig in my heels on these being strong trannys that would be foolish of me but to advise a stock or near stock 90k car has a ticking timebomb for a trans is just not true . If you start noticing strange errattic behavior in the trans the smartest thing you can do is replace the solenoids as most failures on non or lightly modded cars are not hard part failures but are usually traceable to a solenoid issue as the root cause , pcs ( pressure control solenoid) tcc ( torque convertor clutch solenoid) and shift solenoid are the 3 you want to replace , they are all acceesed via the side cover by dropping the drivers side of the cradle , while in there you could also replace the drive chain with a gemini chain from the LS4 303 hp impala/gxp/ lacrosse super etc... which only comes in 293 ratio ( same as a stock L67 car so no tuning necessary) this one upgrade makes them generally reliable to high 12's for a couple hundred bucks spent on chain and solenoids. My car I referred to with 220k and a lot of track passes has not had these upgrades as of yet...

A great source for info on these trannys as well as source for parts is triple edge performance , Dave Norris is a member on here too http://tripleedgeperformance.com/

 

[usetaboost]

sounds like a good thing to do just for reliability. So I take it a shift kit and cooler aren't necessary?

 

[murphinator]

sounds like a good thing to do just for reliability. So I take it a shift kit and cooler aren't necessary?

opinions differ on those , I dont have either on any of my current l67 cars but do on a 3600 stalled Z28 , I had a gtp that went 12.2 @118 ( poor traction) that had a built trans so I amsure a shift kit was part of that ( trans was in car when I bought it) some swear by coolers but if you read up on 4t65's they arent known for heat related failures , theres some write ups around on making your own shift kit with parts from any hardware store , I have always gotten nice firm shifts by increasing line pressures and shortening shift times with my tuner so I havent felt the need to spend the $$ I am a cheap prick lol , same with convertors and gears I dont see guys with those any faster with the same mods in place than my car and the 3800 crowd accepts that traps will drop with lower gears , anywhere else lower traps = less power, convertors are great if you turbo a 3800 I imagine but the sc makes plenty of power right from off idle , I cant see why you want skip past an area your making good power , I also have several ls1 cars they need a convertor badly to get up to where they make power - 3800sc with bolt ons makes more power under 3500 in my opinion , above that you better have some mods to hang with an ls1 in an l67 car