caddycruiser

I thought that...but had to reinforce. Even I'd look, just out of curiosity! It's fascinating, sometimes, to see such cars at such prices and really explore just how BAD they really are...never ceases to amaze. And you always wonder, what the heck did the previous owner(s) do with them...or just not do...reminds me of stories my brother working in a collision shop always retells of seeing few year old at most X_____ come in for repairs and in just moving them around the lot, etc. get to see how trashed the interiors are, how (this one ALL the time) many have the Change Oil light on and are running rough, etc. People and their cars, yikes.

You can get a MUCH, MUCH better beater than some monstrosity like that. Even liking LH cars, I'd not recommend another as a beater, just for things like powertrain, etc. after a lifetime with who the heck knows driving & not maintaining...yet at the same time there are a lot of other choices that even if not necessarily treated well still have a better track record & less issues. Just not at all something I'd even look to, right price or otherwise. They're meaty cars but require continued effort going over their weak spots to keep them as such, for years. One of them as a project is fine, but you know :AH-HA_wink: Amazing how awful shape a lot of LH cars of similar vintage are in now, a lot due to their various owner's, but even that. I guess nearly 9 years ago now, when my mother had to have & finally got her Deep Slate '00 300M someone down the road had just gotten a new Stone White '00 LHS earlier in the year and I remember actually trying to steer her to one of those, for some reason, I think looks. She refused and then ended up getting rid of the 300M in 18 months after problems, an accident, and more problems, but that white LHS remained and I still saw it often. Didn't seem to change too much over the years except for the "they all do it" headlights turning solid yellow and some of the black window trim going gray, but then I just saw it recently and it's now parked across from the house, looks like someone scuffed the front corner on a pole and from fascia to the chrome wheels to otherwise it just looks like it's had a full 9 years and is done. Probably isn't, but later on in life it hasn't aged well and looks ragged--their Ram of the same vintage is still in use and seems A-ok. Long story short...it's still amazing the condition, and not in a good way, all of the '99+ LH cars I see are in, even at times more so than the earlier gens. Then hit a salvage yard and keep counting how many of the 2.7L variety, still shiny and all, are lined up. Ideas... -Subaru Legacy/Outback or even Impreza hatch/wagon -'97 or earlier Accord wagon -'95-99 oval or '00-05 Taurus/Sable wagon? Always solid, always cheap and not a bad choice for practical beater... Wow...I just can't think of much in the way of GM...or even domestic in general. Taurus could be good, though, in an '00+ wagon...maybe...

I have yes...I'm a big fan of the 19" GT wheels and at this point, although I've casually looked for a set of GXP polished wheels to pick up at a decent price, it's nothing I "have to have" like other mods. The GT Sport wheels often get as many questions and compliments as the car itself...or should I say "those rims" do :AH-HA_wink: Oh, so more to come. The only visual thing I think will be the car raising back up a bit, but we'll see, and then more of something. Underhood and exhaust in some form. I just have to give myself a reality check sometimes and realize it doesn't even have 10k on it yet and there is that warranty thing...though it's great, hah, it has no care yet for it yet. Keep it slim, keep it slim, Derek...well, sorta. Next, I think, it just needs an exhaust change. With AFM/DOD you have to be very careful, but Corsa is the ticket at the moment for a catback and headers, too, at some point. By the way, though I'm still now just used to it, having a car that scratches into 2nd and 3rd under moderate/harder acceleration gives you a skewed perception of everything "else" if taking another car out, hah. Any next cars I think about are going to be interesting in this regard...I already can't drive the 4-cyl '08 Malibu anymore because the lack of any power scares me. It revs but doesn't go anywhere, the complete opposite of this small block Aussie.

You got it :AH-HA_wink: It's just a Garmin and the start up screen can be changed to any .JPG your heart desires...in this case, given the integration, this Pontiac background that's almost identical to what the lower radio/climate screen starts with, how could I not? Now, if only it didn't still initially light up the Garmin logo for a few seconds beforehand Here's the Omega dash and the basic screen it does use in that spot:

Thanks...GPS and GXP bits...those 2 areas always get the most

Aye, YES. One in the driveway and I forgot about that. My previously GM everything father replaced his Roadmaster with a '96 Legacy wagon for $1k (needed cleaned and some dents removed...a week later, huge change and 0 mechanical issues at 184k) and he loves the thing. Gets good mileage, is peppy (I was overly surprised by this when I took it out a month ago) as could be and performs very well. Solid and rattle free at 13 years and 184k, too. Again, he loves it and it was a great move on his part because he can carry anything and everything like he used to with old vans, but still get good mileage and toss the car around more. Then again...THERE's a good idea for me too if I move and can't bear to put the G8 to the elements all year...

7) Other stuff… …there’s been so much and I still have so much in boxes, or at least little things, I often lose track. AMEX likes me, I can say that, hah. Tune, cold air intake, removed & changed some emblems (no more GM chicklets->Holden VE 6.0Litre fender badges, no more “Pontiac” on trunk & GT<->G8 swapped order), all existing Pontiac arrowheads are now silver vs. red…lots of little things. Coming up I’ll say more to the suspension as noted above, in some form, I have new Holden 2-piece engine covers still to install (vs. the big stock 1-piece thing I put in a closet), a Corsa exhaust, etc., etc. Should still keep me going for some years, hah, and without any problems to worry about it’s easier to keep it out of the dealer’s hands…imagine that, after my 2 consecutive “WTH is going?” on rides :AH-HA_wink: Oh, and I still need to get a new sig that's not just a fuzzy resized picture...something Pacific Slate color themed and with a G8 in some form...have to hit up DodgeFan or otherwise, at some point. We'll see.

6) Still outside…now the nose. I like to say this one was because I scraped the original fascia underneath ever so lightly on a curb post lowering, but really I just liked the look of the GXP fascia a lot more once I saw a few AND as it became known, the parts were both not expensive and even cheaper than the other fascia. Knowing how GM was very quickly trying to dump parts stocks and the car was at the end, I bought as soon as I could and then just had to arrange the install and such. So, now, it has an entirely new GXP fascia. Love it. I dropped it at the body shop the day it came in, they painted it and let it sit in storage for a month or so, and then the install. As I had a full clear bra installed on the car (funny, that cost more than all of the parts in making this swap themselves…) I had to have that re-done and since the original still could go to so much use, I sold it to another Pacific Slate G8 owner in VA looking to get rid of his ugly front plate bracket and have a spare fascia. Perfect. Before: After:

5) Onto the outside…rear first. This car is gorgeous, if not thought by me, but evidenced by the attention, questions and “can I see” “what is that?” every single day. That said, there’s always room to improve :AH-HA_wink: This time the inception of the GXP brought some nice pieces to the party, at least front & rear. At the back, the base and GT models have a “smooth” rear diffuser with a honeycomb grille of sorts on top to match the fronts. Looks nice, fits the car, etc. but the honeycomb with a black back gets annoying with dirt collection and the GXP got a new design that was both all smooth, ridged, and looked meaner without being gaudy. For not much, I had to have one. Before: After:

4) I always have all season mats in every one of my cars, because I loathe the look or feeling of constantly stepping with dirty shoes onto just another piece of carpet. No molded Weathertech or other mats for this car as others I’ve had, so I kept looking and found the perfect match—stock Holden accessory rubber floor mats, Holden lion logo and all for the VE cars. Didn’t cost anymore to get these DHL’d over from Oz in 2 days than any others I’d buy, and they’re an OEM part. Great.

3) Another, around the time of the GPS, was a change to the center console armrest. Especially after my Malibu and the Fleetwood before that, I just could not stand the plasticy, rubbery, eww of a rubber console lid under my elbow. The fact that it felt cheap and rickety and wobbled all over the place didn’t help matters. So in came again another Holden piece, this time the thicker, padded, and upholstered center console lid used on stock Calais, Caprice, etc. models. Feels more solid, is much nicer to my elbow and is taller AND like the Malibu and others now, it slides forward to completely cover the cupholders or back, depending on what I want at anytime. So much nicer.

2) From there, the interior is great and I still love how insanely huge it is inside and with MUCH better seats than my previous vehicles--especially the Malibu that gave me neck & shoulder aches at more than 15 minutes--and how solid, quiet, etc. it is. There are some hard plastic sections that seem out of place with the rest with the rest of the dash and the soft, stitched door panels, all mainly around the center stack--but it didn't bother me much. I was, however, always looking at that dead spot cubby on the top of the center stack where a set of gauges used to be in '08 models, and it never did anything but collect dust. Always had or wanted a Nav beyond Onstar or just stuck to the window and though other G8'ers were coming up with ways to mount them in front of the shifter, on that top hole, etc., I can't stand "tacked on" even if it's well done. In came a kit made of parts from the bread & butter Holden Commodore Omega model and its different but still the same underneath center stack. It uses a different center strip, radio surround and a top pod with a 4.3"ish screen for the clock & radio readout. One of the suppliers of Holden & other parts for these cars worked on making a kit that took all of the same parts and then had a custom bracket in place of the stock screen to that fit a 4.3" GPS perfectly and...wa-la. Stock looking Nav, different vents, different center stack trim, and no more dusty black hole. Everyone thinks it's stock and anyone who was in the car before is baffled how I did it...love it, even though I now realized I don't use the Nav much at all except for another gadget to look at. Before: After:

I'm all over the place anymore, and don't post an excessive amount, but having met up with Roger to check out his Fleetwood a few weeks back he did encourage (or just remind... :AH-HA_wink: ) me to get some updates of my G8 posted, because there have been quite a few changes. All in all, as I also intended coming from my leased G6 and then Malibu, both with problems but alas, was something I could play with as much as I saw fit (i.e. own this time) to keep myself interested--the G8 has done that and more for me. About 500 miles short of 10k and 7 months in, still has never been in for anything beyond an initial alignment & XM reflash, an oil change and the recent recall reflash for something lights/TPS related. The exception to this would be the suspension which I knew going in, was a splendid performer but sadly like the GTO, comes off the boat with some not so nice issues. Front strut mounts that are excessively worn & sloppy from some weak spots in the design and then exacerbated by the strapped down boat ride, being the main one. 1) Had that fixed with Pedders parts and while in there, of course, got the inkling to do more while it was apart, so in came a few more upgraded bushings front & rear (the single biggest change, period, without much $$ or parts...still, wow) and then completely new struts, shocks and sport coils with a slight drop. This car naturally sits high, especially in the rear, and bringing that down just a bit (to the extent without telling anyone, no one could point out the car was lowered after) even without a sway bar upgrade or otherwise really changes the handling. But, still, I've found I'm a 7/10ths driver except for the occasional acceleration burst and miss the stock "hovercraft" ride it used to have, plus ended up scraping the bumper on a curb after the drop, among other things...so more in store here, soon. The current stance, for the time being at least...then we'll see:

I've thought about it, a little, alongside my "move north" semi plans. I started thinking about the ole G8 and worse roads, an actual winter, etc. and had scary thoughts, just because it barely gets dusty let alone sees a bump in the road down here in beach land. Without any other plans figure out yet, however, the farthest I've gone with my thoughts is some kind of basic FWD mid-size sedan, dime a dozen but not necessarily crap on a beige boat, but who knows. Now, back to those plans in the first place...

It was for 2011, not 2010--just a few more typical model year updates this go around, then a newer car. Well, if it doesn't get pushed off further, as the Fiat guys were not impressed with the 2011 300/Charger Chrylser had done and wanted something more different...so...we'll see. As for the lack of 2010 GM's...yeah...cars and crossovers have been pumping, but selling decently enough, and there's still no 2010 full size truck or SUV production going, so there's a big spot of empty on all the lots.

Still one of my favorites, owned by a friend who moved from VA Beach to Chicago (and was also the one who bought my Fleetwood for a new DD)...if anything, it's allowed him to get some of his best shots ever, full of skyline.

Sounds great...and I'll put the eyes out for a Roadmaster CC unit, for cheap, too. It takes a little customizing of brackets, but otherwise is easy. We'll chat :AH-HA_wink:

No problem... Heck, I've had my G8 with the 19" summer Bridgestones out in snow, slush, and solid ice for a few days this past March...no problem. I wouldn't recommend snowy mountain driving with my configuration, but flat & straight around here I was fine, especially with ESP and near 50/50 weight distribution. Like with my Fleetwood, as well, before, I'll take a RWD car that by nature handles 10x better than a front heavy FWD'r that can "dig" through better any day in the elements. As much better as it handles on a sunny day and is easier to control, the same holds true in snow/ice aside from basic traction to get going at times.

Yes...absolutely. One of the first mods I did and the biggest and best change, period, for the 2.5 years I had mine. Otherwise, Roger, sounds like quite a bit of developments though mostly good (or great, really) aside from the windows. Not sure what's going on with me yet, but we'll get in touch.

This new Inferno Orange 2SS Camaro at my car's 2nd home, Rocksand Racing in Bethlehem, PA: Had essentially no miles but was just tagged & they trailered it over to the shop from Jersey for a list of things...cam, new coil-over suspension, etc... I like orange and this is a hot car, but the orange+black+stock 21's just are a little too much for my tastes. But still.

Exactly. And even more exactly the reason my father and I first searched, searched, and searched some more for a triple black one like this back in 2003 but ended up with a white/red Brougham in better shape than any we had seen. Still, condition aside, the coloring is a big reason why I don't think it's ever been special to him...it just sits there. Another reason why I haven't shown him Roger's new ride OR the price he paid, especially given what he just dropped on the back yard's new project, a 1968 Dodge Coronet...cool, I guess, but a full on project, not a driver. As even he'd say..."but black just MAKES this car..." Black on black on black Fleetwood, south Jersey, etc...Roger...your cool factor just called, it has a new agent :AH-HA_wink: Hope I can still help out with this in time to come, albeit my extremely limited schedule more and more...professional mechanic check--good, tires we'll figure out, some of the little odds & ends I have, a proper cleaning & detail--this beast will be stunning, etc.

Sounds good Roger. I've been tied up with other things all week, but we'll chat.

Ah, yes, Hankooks. Not a bad choice, but given your review of them on the Aura, probably not the best either. I'm still checking around to see what I can find myself, in addition to whatever you might be able to find with tire stores up there once you have the car for a little while. As for the '93...not an LT1 car...but looks very nice nonetheless. Nothing says Fleetwood like black on black, however

Awesome! What a good feeling, finally. I hope I can have a similar turn around before long, and "get outta Dodge" soon. Hope this goes very well for you!

All black and rated to tow 7k pounds...I swear, if he ever has second thoughts, I'll be at his door like... :AH-HA_wink: Get prepared southern Jersey: that 3-note train horn you hear is just a warning...there's a big black locomotive with an LT1 underhood and Roger at the helm coming through