[bigbengt67]

Well, after 2 years my lease on one of the original GT's has ended. I turned her in today. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts of the experience for those who may be considering a new or used '05 G6 GT.
Positives:
Very good value
Fairly reliable transportation
Decent performance
Excellant stereo sound (Monsoon)
Good paint (Fusion Orange)
Interior wore very well
Continental tires had at least 10,000 more miles in them after 24K mile lease

Negatives:
6 CD changer broke twice
Headliner rattle persisted despite dealer claiming to have repaired (normal sunroof)
Underpowered compared to competition (Accord, Altima, Mazda 6 etc..)
World's most boring steering wheel (no leather wrap on a $26,000 car !!)
1980's tech 4 speed transmission
Brake rotors warped after ~22,000 miles

Many of the negatives have been adressed, the GTP model gave more HP in '06, and a more refined engine and 6 speed auto helped in '07. So the burning question is would I do this again? I would say yes, but would choose a GTP coupe with a manual transmission due to personal preference.

Now I am going without a car for the next 6 months since I am in school. So far my replacement ideas are: '04-'05 Chrysler Crossfire, '04-'05 Mazda RX8, '07 Cobalt SS SC, '07 Civic Si. As you can see I want some more performance in a smaller package, unfortunately Pontiac has nothing to offer other than a gas-guzzling, expensive GTO and dealer marked up Solstice. I'll still stick around the forum and let you know where my car decision takes me!

 

[Hambone]

Keep in tough. Drive all those cars listed before making a decision though. You listed quite a broad range of price there.

 

[WhoaThereBigFella]

I'm gonna miss her too.......hang in there!!

 

[Kman]

Well, after 2 years my lease on one of the original GT's has ended. I turned her in today. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts of the experience for those who may be considering a new or used '05 G6 GT.
Positives:
Very good value
Fairly reliable transportation
Decent performance
Excellant stereo sound (Monsoon)
Good paint (Fusion Orange)
Interior wore very well
Continental tires had at least 10,000 more miles in them after 24K mile lease

Negatives:
6 CD changer broke twice
Headliner rattle persisted despite dealer claiming to have repaired (normal sunroof)
Underpowered compared to competition (Accord, Altima, Mazda 6 etc..)
World's most boring steering wheel (no leather wrap on a $26,000 car !!)
1980's tech 4 speed transmission
Brake rotors warped after ~22,000 miles

Many of the negatives have been adressed, the GTP model gave more HP in '06, and a more refined engine and 6 speed auto helped in '07. So the burning question is would I do this again? I would say yes, but would choose a GTP coupe with a manual transmission due to personal preference.

Now I am going without a car for the next 6 months since I am in school. So far my replacement ideas are: '04-'05 Chrysler Crossfire, '04-'05 Mazda RX8, '07 Cobalt SS SC, '07 Civic Si. As you can see I want some more performance in a smaller package, unfortunately Pontiac has nothing to offer other than a gas-guzzling, expensive GTO and dealer marked up Solstice. I'll still stick around the forum and let you know where my car decision takes me!

Good luck and go for the COBALT SS SUPERCHARGED!

 

[Sweet98GA]

if you are remotely thinking about a cobalt ss or an si, you might as well go for a srt4. Turbo from the factory, 3 stages of warrantied upgrades, cost is comparable, but the power gains are a lot more

for the record... as you had mentioned, most of the negatives were fixed in later versions... that's why you never get ANYTHING on the inital release... hell look at what they did for the gto between 05 and 06... the only upside is that since no one wants the first year models after the newer ones are released is that you can get them cheap

 

[bigbengt67]

you might as well go for a srt4.

Eh, if we're talking '08 Caliber SRT-4 I wouldn't be caught dead driving that ugly SOB. If you mean the '03-'05 Neon based SRT-4 I am hesitant to buy a used one since mostly young kids get them and beat the crap out of them. But either way they do offer great performance. Unfortunately DC doesn't have any cars, save for the used Crossfire, that appeal to me. Ford is even worse. It seems that 2 of the 3 American companies have kind of given up on the 20-25 year old male that wants a small, sporty, modern coupe.

 

[bigbengt67]

Good luck and go for the COBALT SS SUPERCHARGED!

Thanks! I'll be looking seriously come spring!