# keep 04 or go for 06



## millenium (Dec 20, 2004)

i wanted to get some input on what some members opinion would be about my situation. i have a 04 gto manual with only 1600 miles. its silver with a black interior. my smart buy or 23rd payment is coming due on 12/30/06. the price to buy it is $20,900.00. would you look to keep the 04 or look now to move to a 06. i guess the deciding factor is the $$$$$ amount difference per performance between the two cars.
this is off topic a little but there was the issue of having the dual exhaust coming from only one side of the 04. bad to some magazines. i just seen the new B&W 550i with a v8 and guess where the exhaust exists the car ???? yep, the same as the 04 gto. i cannot wait to hear the magazines justify why they did this and why its ok !!!! 
back on subject of my 04, what would some of you do if it was you. thanks for your input. if i decide to go with a 06 should i waite to see if insentives improve or grab whats out there. i found a black with black interior, 6 sp with the optional 18 wheels. 

thanks

bill


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## Sporaclic (May 6, 2006)

i just bought an 05, buy some scoops, the 06 rear end piece, duals, and a turbocharge, ull make 06s look gay... 06s are 33gz and ull still only pay like 28in the end and ull be making like 500 horse... sickness.... 

its only another 50 horse, hoodscoops, taillights, the rear end facia, duals and a power door lock button on the inside.... that right there would cost you way less than a new 06 ... brakes are bigger too...


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## millenium (Dec 20, 2004)

Sporaclic said:


> i just bought an 05, buy some scoops, the 06 rear end piece, duals, and a turbocharge, ull make 06s look gay... 06s are 33gz and ull still only pay like 28in the end and ull be making like 500 horse... sickness....
> 
> its only another 50 horse, hoodscoops, taillights, the rear end facia, duals and a power door lock button on the inside.... that right there would cost you way less than a new 06 ... brakes are bigger too...


i dont understand some of your words in your post 
ull makes the 06's look gay ???
ull still only pay like 28in the end and ull be making like 500 horses

i dont want to turbocharge but keep the car stock except for maybe some exhaust and diablo programmer change, as well as some aftermarket rims/tire package that will +1 the tires. its going to be a daily driver. was there any change to the 06 shifter being shorter like in the new vette's ??. i guess it comes down to what car of the "new gto" will have more value. i figure these cars dont seem to be going down in value and i have no reason to think the current gto's will either. do most like the appearance package for the 06 ?? i like the grill inserts as well as the change to the rear bumper wrap around with the gto wording. 
i have only 7 payments left at $225.00 . gm will eat 4 of them so all i have to do is pay the remaining 3. i look at this as another 900.00 towards a new 06 plus $250 .00 in credit card money towards the purchase of a new car. total equals $1150.00 by the time i spend the money updating the 04 to a certain degree the 06 seems like the better choice. any thoughts ??

bill


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

i think you can get a good deal on a leftover 05. if you plan on keeping the car for a while I would look into the newer one. the buyout is crazy high, which i like. mine is up 12/07

point to keep in mind, if you "trade" your 04 in, the dealer gives you 20k on the trade and your new financing pays off the 20k. but, you get the sales tax applied to the new car. hence if you get a 05 for say 27k you only pay sales tax on 7k.


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## TulsaGTO (Oct 3, 2004)

Tom said:


> i think you can get a good deal on a leftover 05. if you plan on keeping the car for a while I would look into the newer one. the buyout is crazy high, which i like. mine is up 12/07
> 
> point to keep in mind, if you "trade" your 04 in, the dealer gives you 20k on the trade and your new financing pays off the 20k. but, you get the sales tax applied to the new car. hence if you get a 05 for say 27k you only pay sales tax on 7k.


:agree You are upside down on your current GTO. I would turn it back in and negotiate a deal on an 05 or 06.


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## noz34me (Dec 15, 2005)

I'm confused. Are you saying after making 23 payments on the '04 you'll still owe $20K to buy it? You have no no equity in your car after 2 years of payments? 

I guess that makes sense to some people, and I'm sure it makes great sense to GM, but it offends my sensibilities.

Whatever you do, I wouldn't enter into another contract like that.


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## CMD (Nov 13, 2005)

noz34me said:


> I'm confused. Are you saying after making 23 payments on the '04 you'll still owe $20K to buy it? You have no no equity in your car after 2 years of payments?
> 
> I guess that makes sense to some people, and I'm sure it makes great sense to GM, but it offends my sensibilities.
> 
> Whatever you do, I wouldn't enter into another contract like that.



23 (months) * $500 (est. payment) = $11,500
$11,500 + $20,000 = $31,500

Maybe I am confused but $31,500 seems pretty good to me. How much were the '04's new?


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## noz34me (Dec 15, 2005)

CMD said:


> 23 (months) * $500 (est. payment) = $11,500
> $11,500 + $20,000 = $31,500
> 
> Maybe I am confused but $31,500 seems pretty good to me. How much were the '04's new?


A LOT of people could have bought a new '04 for around $19.5K. GM Card was offering crazy incentives; doubling your points AND giving another $5K on top. 

That's part of the problem here. He still owes more than the car is worth, all that AFTER making 23 or 24 payments, plus whatever he had to put down (I haven't seen that number anywhere)

Also, did I read he had put less than 2K miles on the car? Anybody want to figure the per mile cost for owning that GTO? Your number $11,500/1600 miles = *$7.18 per mile to drive that car.* Not including gas & oil. 

Maybe it's just me, but that sounds CRAZY!!!!!!


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

Noz
If he got the car in december 04 and had the gm card this was the deal

gm card upped to either 2000 or 5000. i got in at 2000 (then got 3000 from gm because it should have been 5000)

then there was the dealer coupon 500, then the 1800 off sticker to invoice. we didnt go into holdback.

total payments before 3000 are 285 a month and that includes 1600 in sales tax transferrable to my next car.

at the end of 3 years i will owe 186XX. i currently owe a little under 23000 but dont forget i got 3000 cash out of the deal.

he may have been upside down on the car he traded in. either way they are letting him out of the car easy and guaranteeing him the buyout number as the equivalent of a trade in value.

nobody is going to get what they are giving him if they went in with a "owned" car to trade. so the zero equity thing means bubkus.


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## noz34me (Dec 15, 2005)

Tom said:


> Noz
> If he got the car in december 04 and had the gm card this was the deal
> 
> gm card upped to either 2000 or 5000. i got in at 2000 (then got 3000 from gm because it should have been 5000)
> ...


In either case, people need to start getting on top of their finances, not underneath, as appears to be the case with so many lease deals. 

He's at $20K plus after 2 years, you will be at $18.6K after 3 years, both for cars that were being sold for less than $20K brand new in late '04, and in reality would only bring around $15-$17K on a straight trade today, if you were able to sift through all the voodoo the dealers throw at you with the new car purchase.

The other factor is 1600 miles on a car in 2 years. Something doesn't compute there. I put more miles on my bicycle than that.


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## CrabhartLSX (Feb 12, 2006)

I say get a cam swap and you won't know the difference. :cool


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

noz34me said:


> In either case, people need to start getting on top of their finances, not underneath, as appears to be the case with so many lease deals.
> 
> He's at $20K plus after 2 years, you will be at $18.6K after 3 years, both for cars that were being sold for less than $20K brand new in late '04, and in reality would only bring around $15-$17K on a straight trade today, if you were able to sift through all the voodoo the dealers throw at you with the new car purchase.
> 
> The other factor is 1600 miles on a car in 2 years. Something doesn't compute there. I put more miles on my bicycle than that.


I think I am about as on top of my finances, and this deal as one could be. I paid 23400 plus tax for my car. two months later i got a check for 3000. my payments are 285 a month to drive a 30k car. at the end of three years it will have cost me about 6600 including tax 8.675% and interest 3.5% to drive a car36k miles. at the end they are giving me (as one way of putting it) 18600 for a car you say is worth 15-17k, and i say is worth less.

at the end of three years my warranty is over, they get my car with the sloppy rattling shifter, noisy rear end etc. 

my mother in law pays 700 a month for a rent stabilized apartment in the city of new york. to buy it would cost her 350k, and the maintenance would be over 1300 a month. tell me again about the virtues of equity!!!


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## Sporaclic (May 6, 2006)

i was being a little crazy when i said youll make 06s look gay, but you know what i mean, You gotta remember that kit that they make for the 06 is gonna cost another cuple grand for it, Im not sure what they charge, and ive never seen one in person, but i know its at LEAST 2000 and i think its more. You figure, the Cheapest youll find an 06 w/ that kit is probably 34,000 (thats if the kits only 2000 and you get the 18 inch wheels ) If your comfortable buying a 34000$ car thats gonna practicly feel like the car your driving now so you dont even get the excitement for a new car, then id go for it. 

Bigger Wheels
50 hp
black taillights
door lock button
rear end dual exhaust setup
and opt sport package
$12-15000 more than what you owe now

12,15000 can do alot to an 04 gto, maybe go for an 05 like some people already said, i just bought one for 26,900 with 13000 on it (same price seen on one with 4000miles but they wouldnt give me good trade in value on my truck)

then your paying $7000 more for dual exhaust setup, hood scoops, 50 hp, and bigger brakes.

Ive never driven an 04 though, they could be a much differant driver than the ls2, why dont you test drive an 06, pulling up with an 04 they wouldnt have a problem letting you drive one. then you decide if its worth 10-15000$ more 

I did hear the problem with the 04 rear end hop was fixed for 05+


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## millenium (Dec 20, 2004)

*04 or 06*

i " smart buyed " the goat. at the time you could not lease in new york state. the car retailed for $33190.00. i put no money down and was at $225.12 for 23 months and the dealer cut me back a check for my 04 acura tl a-spec for $29,000.00.( this was $4000.00 more than the acura dealer would pay me wholesale. ) at $225 month for a corvette engine and tranny i wanted to see if this was the car i wanted . i hated the FWD of the acura and love the v-8 and rwd. i know you never make out buying after you lease or smart buy but on this car with the miles, what would you sell a 04 if it was yours and you put no money down like i did. basically i would be at the selling price from 2yrs ago if you add the 23 payments already made. to me it looks like its a break even or i could dump the car now and gm will knock off 4 payments which saves me another $1000.00 to look at something else. there does not seem to be big incentives on the 06 and most likely never will. with that is $20,900 to much to pay for a 1600 mile car and no taxes on top of the buy price.

bill


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## millenium (Dec 20, 2004)

*04 or 06*

i just wanted to clarify when i say 23 payments i mean when the 23rd is due in nov 06. the $20900.00 is the payment due in the end of dec06. at the time i bought the car i recieved $7000 in incentives plus another 2120.00 off the price of the car plus the $29,000.00 check from the dealer i used as trade. with the tax savings of 8.25% i would of had to get $31392.25 selling my car. outside the acura's a-spec package i put on, the car in plain tl form would retail for around what the gto listed for. not having equity after 2 yrs is very common. the average person does not get equity in a car until about 4yrs or more when they buy it. is the gto NOW the great car it was compared to the deals gm had on it before. i would love to see someone selling there 04 gto for 17-18 grand !!!!!! i looked around and noticed a much higher price for gto's especially after the car was cancelled. all we have now is a bunch of empty gto rumors to look to spend your money on. when it comes to value of cars two things can happen. one is to much incentive. it drives the resale value down. with the 04 gto came out dealers were asking adjusted sticker prices up to $5000.00 for CURRENT MARKET VALUE. when i recieved mine every area had different incentives in rebates ,plus dealer cash. hold back and model change money. the real question is what car can i buy out there if i keep the gto for the price i am paying for it. with the announcement of the cancellation i believe it will drive up the price on new and used ones. look at edmunds and put in a 04 gto in excellent shape with 1600 miles and tell me what you come up with in selling price. incidently the miles is correct as i have had a back problems that limits my time in any car. the gto is more comfortable then my 04 acura tl. i also have had 2 oil changes with synthetic oil of course for my gto. did everyone with a 04 goat recieve the special silver brochure ???

bill


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

bill,
you buying or leasing the next car? if you plan on buying take the 21k they are offering you and put it towards an 05 or an 06.

in a few months you have to get financing for 20k to keep the GTO.

if you trade it in now and have a non gm in your household you may still get 1000. thats 22k, the 05s are in the mid 20s from what i read. what is GMAC financing them at?

i would go into an 06 if i was you and planned on keeping the car. i was offered 18500 on a trade for my 04 with 8 or 9k a few months ago.


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## GTO_Gregory (Aug 5, 2005)

I'm wondering about the same thing especially with the 0% financing currently offered this 4th of July weekend. I would make the purchase, but my car is in the shop and probably won't be out before the sale is over. I say it's an emotional purchase, but if you can keep the payments about the same, then go for the '06. If you decide to keep the '04, then put a 383 stroker engine in it and you'll have more performance than the LS2 offers. 



millenium said:


> i wanted to get some input on what some members opinion would be about my situation. i have a 04 gto manual with only 1600 miles. its silver with a black interior. my smart buy or 23rd payment is coming due on 12/30/06. the price to buy it is $20,900.00. would you look to keep the 04 or look now to move to a 06. i guess the deciding factor is the $$$$$ amount difference per performance between the two cars.
> this is off topic a little but there was the issue of having the dual exhaust coming from only one side of the 04. bad to some magazines. i just seen the new B&W 550i with a v8 and guess where the exhaust exists the car ???? yep, the same as the 04 gto. i cannot wait to hear the magazines justify why they did this and why its ok !!!!
> back on subject of my 04, what would some of you do if it was you. thanks for your input. if i decide to go with a 06 should i waite to see if insentives improve or grab whats out there. i found a black with black interior, 6 sp with the optional 18 wheels.
> 
> ...


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## Holden (Sep 10, 2005)

I would get the 06 fast, if you prefer the changes. 0% till 4th. Some people prefer smooth lines of 04. The 18s are a good value and seem more common on 06s


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## BostonF4$ (Jun 21, 2006)

Keep the '04 save yourself the habssle and put some rims on that badboy


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## Holden (Sep 10, 2005)

Cost to keep 04 is to high. If you prefer 05/06 I would step up.


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## rickbrick (Jul 6, 2006)

*Get the 2006!!*

The 2006 (or 2005) is a way better car than the 2004. The biggest difference is the engine. The LS2 is AWESOME!! The LS1 was a great motor but the new LS2 is way better. Plus it sounds like you are upside down on the 04 so if you can get out of that one you should. But shop the heck out of an 06 there should be some great deals available. Look for GMS certificate - that eliminates all the haggling. Good Luck and Enjoy!!


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