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Pontiac Grand Prix: Test Drives & Rentals

12 messages,  Last post on Mar 16, 2006 at 7:54 PM

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#9 of 12 by kauzins Mar 05, 2006 (10:05 am)
Yesterday, I was lured to the Pontiac dealership to test drive a 2005 GTO. After reading so much about the GTO and hearing about all the current discounts, I though I better give it a test drive. All I can say about this car is oh my god… what a joy it is to drive (both stick and automatic).   My current daily driver is a 200 E430 Mercedes with 67K miles and in need of a few thousand dollars worth of suspension repair (while I love this car, it seams to be falling apart). Between this and my previous Cadillac STS, V-8’s have become a prerequisite for any vehicle consideration.   Sitting in the showroom trying to justify purchasing the GTO, I noticed the V-8 logo on the GXP, but was still focused on the GTO. Then I started asking questions. Could I get navigation system, xenon headlight, how about heated seats, what about automatic climate control, do the rear seats fold down, rear view dimmers, and so on. Much to my surprise, none of these are available… not a single one! I didn’t care I still had adrenaline pumping in my system was trying to justify these short coming away.   While they were appraising my Mercedes, just for giggles I asked the salesperson if we could take the GXP for a spin. I was pleasantly surprised with the performance. While it’s not GTO acceleration especially while corning, it was beginning to grow on me. Both cars have mediocre stereo systems, but after that the GXP really begins to shine with lots of bells and whistles. Other than xenon, the GXP has most of the features I like. One other missing feature I noticed was the lack of power adjusted seat backs. Which I like to tweak around a little on longer drives.   Then, being a gadget kind of guy, I asked if they had one with navigation. Just so happen they had a red one sitting out back. So I asked if I could take a peak. This one had nearly zero miles, but was dirty as all get out. After sitting there playing with the GPS, I realized that another test drive would be need to truly evaluate the system. The salesman got paged and asked if I would want to drive it by myself. I said sure.   First thing I did was figure out how to set the regional setting so I could enter a destination. With a few minutes of fiddling, I felt like a pro and set the destination to my neighbor’s house. I called my wife about half way home and asked her to get ready for a test drive. I was completely floored when the street names started appearing on the HUD (probably the defining moment for me… maybe I could possibly live with FWD with all these other features to keep me occupied).   Two of my neighbors saw me in driveway and stop by to see what I had. I took one for a quick drive and he was very impressed. I forgot his wife drive the previous model GP and he thought this one was a big improvement. Then my wife and I drove it back to the dealership and she was very pleased as well. That’s when the wheels fell off the wagon.   When we returned to the dealership, I was ready to take this puppy home, but wanted to sleep on it so I drove it back to the back lot and started to back her into the original parking spot. That’s when I found out that reverse didn’t work. How could that be I thought, I see ‘R’ and the car is rolling forward. Then I gave it some gas and something click and we where thrown backwards.   I told the salesman about my experience, and he wanted to see for him self. He then showed it to a few of the other salespeople. No one could figure it out, so now it’s in the service department. Unfortunately that the only one they have with NAV.   Monday I will see if any of the other dealers in my area have any, but I’m still having a little trouble getting over the transmission failure. I’ve read discussions about 4T65 vs. 4T80 and am beginning to wonder if there is some merit there.   Has any GXP owner’s experienced similar problems related to the transmission. This is the second time I’ve decided to buy a new GM vehicle only to have it fail the same day before signing the papers. Replies to this message: rmozol (Mar 05, 2006 9:52 pm) rayainsw (Mar 06, 2006 12:51 pm) jktk (Mar 16, 2006 7:54 pm)
#10 of 12 Re: [kauzins] by rmozol Mar 05, 2006 (9:52 pm)
Replying to: kauzins (Mar 05, 2006 10:05 am) I didn't think that there were any problems with these transmissions. That's why they have them in so many cars, for so many years. The 200-4R was borderline in some cars, but starting with the 700-R4 in the 90's, they seemed to be pretty bullet-proof from then on. I'd think that this was some kind of fluke then. I have absolutely no qualms about the trans in my GXP.
#11 of 12 Trans. Reverse Re: [kauzins] by rayainsw Mar 06, 2006 (12:51 pm)
Replying to: kauzins (Mar 05, 2006 10:05 am) “Has any GXP owner’s experienced similar problems related to the transmission.”   I did not experience this sort of issue. I did have issues (documented above) that resulted in a new transaxle installed. My ** guess ** is that there was some sort of linkage issue with the particular vehicle – that would (or should) have been addressed by technician(s) when it was prepared. Shortly after delivery to the Dealer. And certainly before anyone was allowed to test drive it.   - Ray Otherwise, enjoying the 10,000+ miles . . Replies to this message: jktk (Mar 16, 2006 7:54 pm)
#12 of 12 Re: Trans. Reverse Re: [rayainsw] by jktk Mar 16, 2006 (7:54 pm)
Replying to: rayainsw (Mar 06, 2006 12:51 pm) i own a 2006 gxp never had any problems with trany or hissing sounds and now have 6500 miles on car i do alot of driving for work it has been more reliable than my 2002 seville many elec problems with caddy and trany no out on car will not shift do to electrical problems as fare as garage door opener i thought that was realy cheap too and passanger seat not elec gm should make nav upgrade able so you could get latest up dates?

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