Took the plunge

[TripleTransAm]

Weeks of posts from me begging for opinions and information have finally come to fruition. Armed with all the info gleamed off this site over the past 2 months, I embarked on a 4th and final assault of the evil empire known to the free world as the Ford Dealerships.

After some frantic calls to a half-dozen final-round contestant dealerships, I had them firing off competing bottom lines at me... it was pretty bloody, some dealerships didn't make the cut (although most were pretty good losers and bowed out of the race with the utmost grace).

$29500 US... that's what it boiled down to. 2 dealerships, one price. Not much of a chance of dragging them down any further. So I took the humane road and gave the nod to the dealer droid that I had been dealing with since January (the same one putting the pressure on me late last week). 60 miles on the black one, the earlier one with no heated seats and before the 'decontenting'. *shrug* I guess I'll learn to live without the heated seats... I'll end up running the car for 10 minutes to warm it up before bringing out my kid(s) anyway, in subfreezing weather, and I park in a secure garage at work... so....

One condition, though... I have to take a test drive with THAT particular car. I mentioned the calibration issue and he promises it will be equal to the blue car once I show up to test drive it. Hopefully it will match the blue car's performance in everything else. Then it's a done deal.

So, if y'all have any other helpful hints and suggestions to look at before signing over my left testicle tomorrow night, let me have it. I'll be most likely going with the Ford remote starter, unless anyone else has reservations about this. For some reason, I feel a Ford-specific remote starter might better integrate with the electronics than some aftermarket unit, but I'm open to debating this.

Alrighty, again, thanks for all the guidance over the months. I'll be digging into this car as much as possible once I get it, and hopefully I can repay this group with as much helpful info as I can, as I come across it. If there's one thing I enjoy doing, it's researching all I can about a car I really like.

By the way: why did I go with this dealer? Well, the guy really did go to bat for me with the sales director, and he did seem authentic and honest (I have a good sixth sense when it comes to getting a 'feeling' for someone). I told him I gave him the 'win' based on our 'history'. He seemed genuinely pleased by that comment. Fair enough, my contact with new car dealers never ends at the point of sale, anyway, so I expect him to help me out now and again throughout my ownership of the car anyway.

[prchrman]

TTA...4992 on the OD and it just keeps getting better...performance, mileages and knowing I got a truly great car...congrats and enjoy Grand Touring at it's finest...

[RF Overlord]

Well, it's about f*¢&ing time... :rolleyes:

J/K, 3TA... :up:

Way to go, I'm sure you'll be as happy as we all were (are) with ours... but: you OWE us, now...

Do the mods, do the mods, do the mods... get rid of the wife, if you have to, but DO THE MODS! :D

[WolfeBros]

^^^ What RF said ^^^^ :D

[prchrman]

RFO...marriage counselor extraordinare...:argue: :shot:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RF Overlord
Well, it's about f*¢&ing time... :rolleyes:


Shouldn't I be ignoring you, according to LML?

:)

About the mods: gonna have to wait (well, maybe not the chip! ;) ).
But I will wait a few thousand miles before doing it, since I gotta recover financially first, and also perhaps get used to the stock power. Then enjoy the surprise! ;)

[LincMercLover]

I have to reiterate what RF said.

How's she feel? :D

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
Shouldn't I be ignoring you, according to LML?

Damn kids...

[Macon Marauder]

That's great news! Can't wait to hear your report after the test drive the black one.

[RCSignals]

Way to go! You won't regret it

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by LincMercLover

How's she feel? :D

The wife or the car? ;)

I stopped by the dealer today for a good daylight look at the black car, since I haven't actually seen it since January.

Bad news: scratches. Lots of little ones, some a little deeper. None that can't be buffed out, but what a bummer. On the trunk lid, three or four painted-over dust particles. WTF? Overall very weak looking paint job. I'm sure it looks better when shined up, since it did look kickass in January in the showroom, even after being outdoors a few months.

Good news: I got a call from another dealer who managed to drop yet another $200 Can off my current sale price. Since I'm a man of my word, I had to immediately decline since I promised the deal to the other guy. However, my acceptance was conditional on final inspection and the test drive. If tomorrow night the car does not meet my expectations, I am going to give the business to the other dealer, who was kind enough to keep researching me a better offer even AFTER their "final" offer couldn't beat my best offer. (this is the dealer I referred to as being the 'graceful loser').

So, I'm going to scoff down some dinner, throw mama and junior into the Honda, and we're gonna drive 1 hour to this 'graceful' dealership to have a closer look at their MM. If it's good, well then the situation's settled.

Man, this $#!t is complicated!!!

And for this much money, what's up with the crappy paint????? I thought my WS6 was so-so, with all the orange peel, but DAMN this is bad...

[TripleTransAm]

It just doesn't get ANY easier...:help:

The MM at the 'graceful loser' dealership was a later decontented model. No heated seats, nonetheless. The car was indoors, and the paint was pretty good. In fact, it looked plain gooey! I swore it had more paint on it than the earlier cars. It appeared to 'puddle' (for lack of a better word) on the door edges, like when you overpaint something. This was confirmed when I found dried DRIPS of clearcoat on the passenger's side door lower edge!! (Hey, I told you I was thorough!). Okay, not drips... huge DROPLETS! Hanging right off the bottom of the door!!! The paint looked richer, nonetheless (probably because there was so much on the damned car!! ;) )

And the people... being a small dealership in a more remote area, there were 2 salespeople present and no customers (8 pm). Just as they were on the phone, in person they were just as nice!

I almost sincerely regret having 'given the nod' to the other dealership, and will most certainly go over that early MM tomorrow with a fine tooth comb. If something doesn't check out (or the imperfections aren't dealt with), it's no sale for them, and I'll be saving yet another $200 Can.

Now, did y'all think it was really THAT easy for me to settle on ONE darned MM so quickly???:rolleyes:

[CRUZTAKER]

You did good........

And I learned over the years when searching for the right buy:
It's not over 'till the fat lady sings, make the first dealer match the other's price...after all, YOU are the buyer, and it's YOUR money as well. Do not be embarrassed to walk, they would do it to you....no hard feelings you know.

My salesman knows I backed out on his a-plan for a 26-5er, but my mechanic doesn't. Nor would he care!

[Macon Marauder]

Bottom line is: you gotta be happy. Be a man of your word - yes, definitely. But also be open with the dealer about the problems with their car and the $200 better deal. It they are the stand up guys you think they are, then they'll do the right thing.

I'm really bummed to read about the bad paint (the one you're looking at and others.) So much of that has benn posted on this site. It's sickening.

Sad that such a nice car can be ruined in that way. Luckily, the paint my old 300A is beautiful - except for the swirl marks that were on it when I bought it.

[TripleTransAm]

I appreciate all your words of support. 5-10 more minutes of agonizing over the paint differences and I'll make my final decision.

No flames, please, over all this crap. Having 3 black cars already, I know the headaches I'll be in for if I don't get a car with a satisfactory finish. I think in my mind the decision is already made, but the actual step will be difficult indeed.

[prchrman]

TTA...my car had been on lot for 5 months outside...had some bad places...told them I would buy if fixed...man o man did they fix it...thing looked like glass...you have not because you ask not...get them to fix the paint...bet they will want to deal...good luck...

[Bigdogjim]

TTA: Go for it!!! As for the remote I have the Ford system (gold) on my MM also had it on my F-150 that I traded and no problems what so ever. Heated seats have also be installed on the MM. Switch for mine is on the side of the seat whereas the factory put it on the door. Small trade off. If the dealer does remote and heated seats then you are cover if you have any problems down the road......
Good luck, you won't be sorry
Big Dog

[Bigdogjim]

TTA: An after thought..... Get the remote and heated seats put into the deal before you sign????? They may "through you a bone".
Big Dog

[TripleTransAm]

First dealer calls me, tells me he has a proposition. He'll buff and compound the car, put it in the showroom, and I'll judge whether I want to take it. Meanwhile, I still need to test drive the other later car.

*sigh*

The deciding factor in the end, after consulting some knowledgeable paint dudes who know my expectations in a car, was that mucho paint would have to be removed from the MM's trunk lid to remove the dust particles. I couldn't live with this. If this was my only black car, maybe... but not as a fourth black car.

So, after a test drive of MM #2, handshakes occurred and lots of signing took place. I am now the proud 'conditional' owner of a 2003 MM, taking possession of it on Thursday conditional on the dealer monkeys not swirling it up during the cleanup. I'm not too worried... they washed it before I dropped by and it looked great.

Issues: vibration at 60-65 mph during cruise. Tires flat-spotted? Need balancing? Dunno, don't care... this will have to be addressed before Thursday. Also, alignment seemed off (vague) but service manager was unreceptive to any suggested alignment specs from me. Was very aloof about it... it's an attitude I've grown to dislike A LOT. After 4-5 minutes of realizing he wasn't taking me seriously, I had to pull 'rank':
"Listen, the MM's biggest tire is the same width as the SMALLEST tire of all of my Trans Ams!" before he at least paid attention to my complaints about the wandering. Score -1 for that service department. Time to look for an SVT dealership.

Took the remote starter, and that's all.

Looking forward to Thursday and putting some mileage on it. The test drive showed a distinctly soft low end... hopefully that will improve with mileage and eventually, a chip.

[Macon Marauder]

Man, that's great news! You won't regret it.

Yes, the car WILL get stronger/quicker off the line after a few thousand miles. Mine feels completely different now (with 3600 miles on it) than when I bought it. Then the chip adds a whole 'nother level.

Don't let the bastiges in the service dept. get you down. Hopefully you can find another that is more customer service-oriented.

[TripleTransAm]

Okey dokey, there's a shiny new black MM in my driveway... how did it get there???? :P

It's finally over... since I started this thread, I figured I'd end it. After a long drawn-out afternoon, I finally took possession of my MM. Surprised the heck out of my parents when we went to go pick up my son after work (too bad it was dark). My 17 month-old was totally surprised to see us arrive in this car instead of our dark green 4-door Civic! He just kept staring at it instead of the usual hyper jumping-for-joy at seeing us arrive to pick him up.

He approves, though. He was making grunting sounds every time I took off from an intersection.

Driving impressions: it's a REAL NICE big car. I like the tightness, I like the ride (smooth, soft but controlled), I like the engine response, and the exhaust note is nice although it needs to be cranked up a notch. My Civic kicks its ass in terms of fit and finish (remember, I'm REALLY picky) but the overall package is very nice indeed.

I still have the old s/w in the PCM, which probably accounts for why the blue one from last week ran much nicer. We'll schedule a visit to the dealer once they receive the new s/w.

As for the exhaust, well I was considering a pair of electric cutouts to enhance the sound content 'on demand' (the plug for the 'missing' fuel door release would serve just right for the switch) but Sarge seems to have had unsatisfactory experiences with his open exhausts. I'll settle for 'pre-production style' tips to begin with.

Let the break-in begin...

[jgc61sr2002]

Congrats on your new ride. Good luck. John:up:

[Beadhead]

Glad to see you F-I-N-A-L-L-Y got one. What took you so long, anyway? :lol:

[LincMercLover]

About damn time! Congrats man! :up:

[Slowpoke]

now you need some pens and pads to go with that ride!

[WolfeBros]

Congrats on your car Triple. The exhaust note will improve some as you get some miles on it. Welcome to the owners club. :up:

[RCSignals]

Congratulations!

If you finally discover what the calibration code of that Blue car was, let us know

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by WolfeBros
The exhaust note will improve some as you get some miles on it. Welcome to the owners club. :up:

I second what Mr. Wolfe said...I was a little disappointed with the exhaust sound at first, but after a few thou, it was right about where I wanted it...you may want to hold off on the pre-production tips until you see how it shakes out...

Of course with FOUR performance cars to choose from, it may take you 2 years to put any miles on it... :rolleyes:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RCSignals

If you finally discover what the calibration code of that Blue car was, let us know


Not likely. I don't think I want to set foot in another Ford dealership for a while.:(

I'm bloody burned out. For the next few weeks, I'm just going to enjoy the car and take note of what needs addressing:

1) I already experienced the 'rough operation when cold' aspect of my current (old) programming. I will call the dealer and ask them to hurry up on the new calibration.

2) I did hear ONE minor clunk from the rear passenger area... probably one of the control arms. I understand it's been mentioned on here before... I'll do some forum searches to see what came out of that issue.

3) Very minor tick from the base of the driver's A pillar inside trim. I fiddled around and can pretty much blame cheap materials/parts for this noise. *shrug* oh well, it's not like this is the first car I buy from a North American-based car company, so it's not going to kill me (I think). My '98 Civic has had ZERO rattles or squeaks so far, no matter what the road surface.


Low-end torque report: you know, when I drive it 'normally' in crowded city traffic, I can't say I notice the soft bottom end all that much! It's only when I really get on it that the disparity between low-and high- RPM power becomes evident. So I'm actually pleased... for 99.9% of my driving situations, I'm sure it'll be just fine. For that 0.1% where I'll need more firepower, I'll just go home and bring the heavy artillery instead.
:D

I do wish they would have put a mute button on the steering controls for the radio, though. On my WS6, I use it often and will miss it on my MM.

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm


I already experienced the 'rough operation when cold' aspect of my current (old) programming.

Low-end torque report: you know, when I drive it 'normally' in crowded city traffic, I can't say I notice the soft bottom end all that much! It's only when I really get on it that the disparity between low-and high- RPM power becomes evident. So I'm actually pleased... for 99.9% of my driving situations, I'm sure it'll be just fine.

3TA: What is the current code on your car?

As for as the low-end, you're right...it seems like most of the power comes on in the first half of pedal travel; pushing it down further doesn't add much until the revs build. As you said, for most around-town driving, it IS fine...

This car probably won't be as much fun for you as it is for the rest of us...we don't have 3 other fly rides to choose from every day!

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RF Overlord

This car probably won't be as much fun for you as it is for the rest of us...we don't have 3 other fly rides to choose from every day!


Au contraire. I think it was you who said I really do research the $#!t out of a car before buying. Well, if anything, it proves I knew exactly what I was getting into (I think). If there's anything I've hopefully proven to you all through the various threads I've participated in, it's that I appreciate a car for what it is and what it tries to do. A Honda with go-fast appearance parts does not impress me... if I was expecting this car to be a 13-second 1/4 mile screamer from the factory bone stock, I'd be disappointed... but a 14-15 second 1/4 mile time with decent fuel mileage and good driveability and a satisfying ride and great comfort is exactly what I was after. And based on my first 70-80 miles behind the wheel, it's delivering just fine.

Some of you may have grown tired of my odd and long detailed questions along the past few months, but all the feedback did help me in knowing exactly what I was getting. For this, I profoundly thank you all.

I'm blessed in that I am fortunate in being able to choose between 4 ultra-cool (in my humble opinion) rides each day (except in the winter months), and it looks like whatever choice I may make that morning, I will be rewarded with a most excellent (although possibly different) driving experience!

And on that note: I proudly proclaim my PCI (Personal Cylinder Index) is now at an all-time high of 36! :D
(4x V8s + 1 L4)