Hello all. One car that I really liked since they started producing them in 2004 was the Pontiac GTO. Prefer the 2005-2006 because of the more powerful LS2. Have been looking for one in good condition for a good price for awhile. Now I am having second thoughts. Question: Would replacement parts be hard to find for this car since it is basically a Holden vehicle (which is now kaput)? Would I have to get parts from Australia?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
I have a 2004 GTO Yellow Jacket with the 21st Century Muscle Cars 550HP Judge Package. I absolutely LOVE it. I also had a 2004 GTO Impulse Blue back in the day and it was a great car.
Parts are harder to find than other cars, yes, but they are out there. For example, I recently had to replace the passenger side door lock actuator assembly and tag light fixtures. Found both on eBay pretty easily. The fuel door rubber gaskets are also prone to going brittle, but they are on eBay as well.
The expensive parts to these cars are body panels. They have to come from Australia, so they cost a fortune. Get one that is straight and you'll be ok. The drivetrain is solid and easy to get parts for as it is just a LS motor with a 4L60E auto or T-56 stick.
The first thing to go on these cars is the suspension. They are long and heavy, so parts wear out pretty quick and aren't cheap to replace. I decided to just do full Pedders competition suspension on mine instead of replacing with the same OEM stuff.
These cars are going up in value if they are in good shape. Mine has just under 50k on the clock and if it were stock, book would be $21k. As sits, with $50k in modifications, yeah....worth a pretty penny as someone else said.
Just make sure you take your time and find a good one. These are mostly beat up and abused so they are in need of serious help by 100k miles. The good ones are out there, but the owners know their value and price accordingly. Hope you can find one though because they are a fun, comfortable drive.
They have GM's LS V8 in them, so practically everything under the hood can likely be replaced at some point or another if need be. That powerplant was in the Corvette in those years, some trucks, and I believe the Pontiac G8 as well. Not much brings a bigger grin to GM fans' faces than telling them you're "doing an LS swap." Parts are everywhere. I work with a lot of car guys and they dream of this kind of thing.
You're probably going to pay a pretty penny for this car, only 41,000 examples were made. They're probably going to become collector's items. Likely the most difficult parts to get a hold of will be body panels, since the cars had low production numbers and it's based on an Australian car. Have a mechanic look the car if you find one. People beat the hell out of those LS V8s.
