GTO

Buddy of mine had one, bought it new. He let me drive it a few times. It was pretty quick and actually handled halfway decent. Thing that spoils it for me is its looks don't match its performance. It looks a lot like a Grand Prix, which was a total POS. If you like the understated looks and can find one for a decent price, I'd go for it. Pretty fun.

I've got one, OP. They are pretty fun. It sits in the garage a lot because it's not my DD. When I do take it out it's mainly for hectic skids.

I don't like the looks, but I do like that it's nondescript enough to make a pretty good sleeper.

My parents own a manual 2006 that they bought new. It has 50,000 miles on it.

>water pump died at 34,000
>radiator started leaking at 45,000
>the seams on the seats have been ripping since 20,000 miles, even in the back where no one has ever sat
>pops out of 1st gear sometimes under moderate load
>windows constantly come out of the track
>window bracket came un-stuck from the window pane on the driver's side window
>power lock on the passenger side doesn't work from the central switch or the fob
>lock the car with the fob and the passenger door doesn't lock and the car starts HONKING at you

Common issues that they haven't experienced:
>fires from poor fuel line routing
>sub frame bushings prematurely shitting the bed

With all that said, it's a lot of fun to drive.

ive seen 4 in the last month.

this
I hate it when people put these ugly as fuck front ends on monaros

Everyone always makes the assumption that they're refined and reliable but Australians actually do a shit job building cars. They're not bad when you go into it remembering that it's a cheaply build muscle car and it's going to fall apart here and there.

They're built in one of the worst parts of South Australia. What do you expect?

That being said they're fairly reliable, just nothing special as far as the build itself goes and what not.

That being said it's hard to go wrong with an LS1 and I imagine they aren't super common in the US.

Holdens are built by Holden, doesn't need further explanation than that

>Holdens are built by Holden
Not for much longer.

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Yeah they are cool. Kind of have their own niche market though. A guy I used to work with had an ls2 goat. Was fairly fast but yeah I remember he complained about the wheels. Also swore he mentioned you really can't go bigger than 275s under there.

I had an 04 GTO and it was a great car. Problem is you can't get a decent size DR on the rear and the normal parts that wear out (door lock actuator, window regulator, etc) cost a fortune.

Every review i have seen for a monaro ever has always been good news for people that want a car for driving not for looking at.
youtube.com/watch?v=YG5PX587ydw
Hektik skids uleh

My parents had a 2005 hsv gto coupe, Went through 4 diffs within 65,000km (they kept putting shitty diffs in under warranty) so id recommend getting a heavy duty diff in the thing but other than that great car

Im an aussie and ive never fucking seen one of these cars...

>the closest I got to seeing one in the flesh (pic attached)

Why don't Americans import the Monaro front-end? The Pontiac one is dogshit ugly.

Why don't Americans export the Pontiac front end? That one is homely.

they're basically a 2 door version of our aussie commodore, which is like a real everyday sort of general purpose family/work car. In fact, if you factor in all types of this era (the 2 door, 4 door, station wagon and ute or pickup as you guys call them) they were the best selling thing at the time and were the go-to car for something reliable with decent power.

As for power, c'mon man, its a chev ls, it's whatever you make it. you're lucky to be in the US with all those cheap performance parts. But off the shelf it wont be a world beater by todays standards.

They're getting a bit dated now, but they're a really all round decent car for everyday use. They're comfortable, have decent legroom, they go sideways if you want them to.

Im not certain if this applies to the US gtos, but the 5.7 litre here motor had issues with piston slap early on in the model run. Another common problem is the heater tap at the back of the engine bay leaks. we had a 3.8 litre v6 based of old buick motors too, and the coil packs were a common issue on those. but, yeah every car has its pattern failures.

tl;dr: good car for everyday use, and you can make it as fast as your budget allows you to.

I used to see them around a lot when they were new, but I think now they're all wrapped around trees and locked up in garages for people to know what they got in 30 years time.

Why don't they export the HSV gto body kit if they want an aggressive look?