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Coupes & Convertibles Pontiac GTO Ford Mustang 2005 vs 2005 Pontiac GTO
2056 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:34 PM
You are in the Pontiac GTO Forum. Your Host is claires
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Compare and contrast these two competitors. ClaireS, Host |
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These cars truly don't compare as much as many may suggest.The GTO is a premium mid-size coupe that quite simply outclasses the Mustang in every regard except the very subjective issue of styling.
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Replying to: tripowergto (Apr 12, 2005 12:20 pm) |
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Replying to: tayl0rd (Apr 12, 2005 12:39 pm) Primary difference is GTO is more of a heavy, but refined sport, luxury beast w/ European flair and roadmanners (think poor mans bmw 6 series). Mustang is lighter but cruder american muscle car. Interior is much cheaper. Solid rear axle. But it's got that silly "gotta have it" factor.
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I have to say I do feel badly for those that have purchased the GTO for no other reason than Pontiac and GM has left them flopping in the breeze since the GTO will be, at most, a 3 year model run (maybe two years). GM certainly didn't style it correctly, and they certainly didn't market it correctly. All of that has to leave owners with an understandably bad taste. It's clear that GM tried to make the current GTO something it's not. If they indeed tried to make it as some sort of premium sports model to go up against the likes of BMW or Audi, the marketplace disagreed. If they were trying to market it as some sort of all out performance muscle machine, then they styled and priced it wrong as the customers have stayed away from it. The marketplace is always the final judge. It's also clear, at least from the posts I've seen in the Mustang thread, that there are some who have ill feelings for those of us who preferred the Mustang over the GTO. That's too bad, as I've always thought that a good healthy GM vs Ford rivalry would be good for both models. That is not to be, though. As much good as Lutz did for GM (thinking the Solstice, here) he did many things wrong. The GTO is one of those (along with the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet SSR and the Pontiac G6). He positioned the GTO wrongly. He tried to make it something that it wasn't. As much as he should have known what the GTO and its legacy was, he ignored it. Why he thought a derivative of the Grand Prix style (which was long in the tooth to begin with) would ignite sales, is beyond me. Why he thought that a mediocre platform for the GTO would pass mustard, is also beyond me (GTO is built on the widely dismissed Catera platform, which was also long in the tooth). Clearly, Ford got the formula right. They put a high performance machine into a stylish, great looking, very well built package (both inside and out), blessed it with great switchgear with great handling, shifting, braking and acceleration. Then they priced it right. Ford marketed it as a cross generation car (which it is). It's appeal is universal (just heard that they will be shipping the Mustang to Europe) across age groups, social classes and geographic boundaries. Ford was rewarded with universal praise from the media as well as wildly successful sales from the public. We, those of us who bought a Mustang, have been rewarded with a car that will probably go down as one of the great ones of at least this decade. For all intents and purposes, the '05 Mustangs in GT and convertible guises are just about sold out (most of them at MSRP or higher prices). Even the V6s are selling well. '06 models will be sold out, for at least the first several months of the '06 model year based on talking to others on othe Mustang WEB sites. My dealer is happy because he's sold every Mustang he can get his hands on. He's also frustrated that even though Ford upped production, that he sold out again with extra allotment. I've even seen used ones in my 'burg sell for MSRP. I don't know if GM is paying attention or not. Or, maybe they are in such financial and management turmoil, they just don't care. What is clear is the Mustang will be alone in the marketplace once the GTO goes away either this year or next. I doubt very seriously the Charger will be much competition since it's a 4-door, available only as an automatic trans. But, maybe it will replace the GTO in the market since it seems more GTO people actually like automatic trannys. Who knows........?
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Replying to: graphicguy (Apr 12, 2005 2:34 pm) |
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Sales of the GTO have improved since it came on the market. Of course the Mustang is selling well. It has two engines and two body styles. The bottom line is that the more rwd, V-8-powered coupes, the better. Even if they aren't American like the GTO. |
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Replying to: graphicguy (Apr 12, 2005 2:34 pm) Yes the GTO as you already know is sold in Austrailia and Europe already! As for a bad platform? The GTO platfrom is pretty decent and is a good seller in Austrailia. You do realize that your supposedly all new Stang is based on a 5 yr old 2000 Lincoln LS chassis? Yes the GTO beat the Stang in almost all performance tests as per Car and Driver, including braking, steering etc. I can't imagine anyone spending nearly $28k+ for a car with a solid rear axle these days, but to each their own. Yes the Interior in the GTO was rated as BETTER in both C&D and Consumer Reports then the Stangs. As for MSRP...I would NEVER pay MSRP for a used Stang. Smart people don't. the Mustang will depreciate, tell me 1 or 2 yrs from now? All cars depreciate today, no car is an investment unless it's an old antique etc. Try taking your stang back to the dealer and getting back what you paid or more, WON"T HAPPEN! By the way, the Automatic tranny GTO outperforms your manual shift Mustang, LOL! PRetty funny! You fail to mention that GM will only import 12k to 18k GTO's a year. Very limited production car to begin with for the USA. Which is good, you won't see GTO's a dime a dozen like the likes of the ACcord, Camry, Mustang.
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Did anyone read the May 2004 Motor Trend rated the $35,000 2004 GTO vs the $70,000 Mercedes Mercedes CLK55 AMG, the GTO did very well and held it's own. Motor Trend said the GTO provided 90% of the goodness for 50% of the price. Less can sometimes be more. I think that was pretty impressive for the GTO. As for pricing, I got the GTO for the same price as stang and got 100 more horsepower and independent suspension and not to mention better interor/seats |
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Replying to: brushbandit (Apr 12, 2005 3:13 pm) Don't know what you mean about putting gas in my car???????? If you mean the rise in gas prices, yeah that sucks. But, I didn't buy a V8 powered car hoping to get Prius MPG. I am thankful that, at least, I'm getting around 18 MPG in the city and about 24 MPG on the highway (but not totally broken in yet) by using regular gas. I can live with that. I do think you got a whale of a deal on your '04 GTO. That's a hell of a bargain in my estimation. You done good. I'll assume that you paid somewhere around $22K for your GTO (that's $6K less than a comparably equipped Mustang GT MSRP)? But, that Mustang price is with side airbags, too. Drop another $400 off the Mustang's price to match "like for like" equipment levels of the GTO. MOD away. I didn't notice a perfromance advantage of the stock GTO over the stock Mustang GT, in either '04 or '05 iterations of the GTO. That said, I've never driven an automatic version of either the Mustang GT nor the GTO. Plus, I'm not modding the Mustang. I'll wait for the Shelby Mustang. I do feel badly how GM has left the GTO folks who forked over $31K+ for their cars hanging, with GM abandoning it in short order. That said, I could have bought an '04 GTO for right around $24K-$25K. That's for a new, last year's model GTO, though. I still took a pass for all the reasons I stated before. I paid $25.5K for the Mustang GT, all loaded up (but no automatic). Just yesterday, the Pontiac dealer called me to tell me of the $1,000 rebate. Could have bought an '05 GTO for right around $29.3 Still don't find it interesting. Nice dealer, but as I told him, the GTO is going away. I'd make a bet that by the time summer rolls around, the rebates will get deeper for no other reason than GM has left current owners holding the bag. Interesting guy, my dealer. I bought a GTP from him about 8 years ago. Great car, at the time. He's been having a hard time with the GTO. This is in OH, where there are a couple of GM plants and a couple of Ford plants (as well as a Honda plant). You'd think just the employee customer base alone would have snatched up the GTOs. He still has 3 '04s left. He's got about 6 '05s (he's got a blue on blue one that might be tasty if someone wants it). The '04s have been on his lot for at least 4 months, probably more. He has sold 1 '05. The rest have been sitting there for a couple of months. He's really caught between a rock and a hard place. GM has rebated the '04 into oblivion and they're still hanging around. The '05s aren't moving with the $1,000 rebate. Plus, the dealer HAD to take the GTOs to get his allotment of G6s (which he said is selling well). Tough position to be in. As we were talking, he's got high hopes for the V8 GP that's coming out next year, though. He's really worried about what's going to happen in the next couple of years, since he's a Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer. The prospect of GM dropping Pontiac or Buick (maybe both) would put him out of business.....and he's a big dealer. Gunit....clearly, you and I are going to have to agree to disagree. You keep stating the same tired stuff. I'm not going to repeat myself. You're going to have to tuck your review stats into your glovebox and be happy with them. They aren't going to make the GTO any better for the C&D testers, or any other of the media that has overwhelmingly given kudos to the Mustang.
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