Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California So I bought a GTO today - and I don't want it

Strange but true. I won a 2004 Pontiac GTO in a local (San Francisco area) online auction at a really good price. Went to the dealer today, test drove the one they had on the lot, and ordered mine (Quicksilver Metallic with black interior and 6-speed, if you must know).

Car was a kick to drive in a way that is WAY different from ours. Endless torque. Felt like I never got the engine above around 3200 RPMs. Great interior but boring exterior. Better build quality than I've seen from GM.

Anyway, I really only bought it because of the great price - I still like my SVT. So, if you happen to know anyone who wants one, send them my way - I'm going to list it for sale when it comes in (should be a month or so). I'm not going to put this in our classifieds - because hey, it ain't a Contour - but thought I'd mention it in the local forum, as someone here might know a car nut looking for one. If so, please PM me. If not, take some enjoyment from the fact that large companies do sometimes make mistakes on things like auctions - to our potential benefit!

Fuuny - I'm watching car and driver, and they just said something like "so they send us an australian import, slap a GTO badge on it and expect us to jump for joy?"

They were critical of styling, handling, lack of options and braking - other than that they liked the engine.

There are, in fact, NO options - which is kind of weird. All you can choose is which transmission and which colors. You can't even get a sunroof, or satellite radio, or, well, anything.

I didn't really wring it out on the test drive, but I thought the handling was fine, although perhaps biased a bit toward comfort. Brakes were not special but not bad at all - just not what I would have done had I been outfitting the car!

They (Car and Driver) gave it a good writeup in the magazine.

Styling is by far its Achilles' heel.