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Traded in the Grand Prix

WickedGoat

WickedGoat

New member
Well folks, I had fun while it lasted. I wasn't planning on getting rid of the car but the torque converter had other plans. Two weeks ago I left work to head up to Kansas City to pick my friend up at the airport. 3 hour drive and about an hour into it the car starts to stutter upon light acceleration. I am like WTF? So I get him picked up and halfway home, the car decides it doesn't want to move forward anymore. Break down about a 100 miles from home. Eventually get it towed to the trans shop that did my rebuild 2 years ago. It felt like a trans problem so that is where I sent it. Turns out the torque converter took a **** and sent metal shavings thru the trans which necessitated a rebuild or for me to walk away and part it out...

Meanwhile, my best friend is in town because we got Chiefs tickets and tons of things planned out. Luckily I have the GTO tucked in the garage. Trans shop doesn't even get my car into the shop until 5 says after tow in. He drops the bomb on me... He admits that the torque converter should not have failed like it did but has no sympathy and wants a rebuild. I was pissed. Warranty was up and didn't matter much anyway since it was a 1 year, 12000 mile warranty. I burnt that in 6 months since I commute to work 460 miles a week. So I stewed for a day and have my wife even more pissed off ready to rip my head off... After I cooled off and ripped the trans shop, I told him to rebuild it right and that I was getting rid of the car.

Traded it in yesterday on a 2014 Impala LTZ Limited. Price on the car was a grand more than I wanted to pay but they were very generous on the trade in, so in the end, my payment is $40 a month less than budget and my interest rate is 2.99%. Impala is silver on black with 32430 miles on it. I didn't want to finance a car with so many miles to commute but in hindsight now, I should have. I put a lot of money and time into the Grand Prix and I am loosing my shirt and shorts on it. Live and learn I suppose.

I saved some parts from it and will be swapping them to the Impala soon. I removed the Kenwood double din I just bought and that will be going back to Crutchfield. I planned on sending it back as wasn't really happy with it anyway. There will be a for sale thread shortly once I have good pics and the parts packaged up and ready to ship. Immediately off the bat the 2003 limited edition instrument cluster and spoiler will go. Have to look and see what else I have sitting on the shelf. I enjoyed learning about the Grand Prix and seeing what some of you have done to your cars. Already over on Impala Forums reading and learning...
 


Mod plans for the implala? My friend at work has an LTZ and loves it....ahots of the engine bay?....
 
Mods are gonna be short and sweet for the time being... 20% tint all around, swiping BMR trailing arms from GP, Addco rear bar and Moog endlinks from GP, ZZP strut tower braces from GP, Kenwood sub and amp for now... Further stereo mods will wait until next spring/summer. A catch can and tinted tails are on the short list too.
 
I will get more pics when I bring it home Tuesday or Wednesday. Deal and paperwork are done, dealer was nice enough to give me a ton of time to strip the Grand Prix.
 


Other than typical W-body problems like bearings, camber wear on the rear tires and that sort of stuff.

Oil filters suck to change, I suggest you do it when the engine is cold. Easy to get at but spills over everything. Those engines also have no exhaust manifolds, the cylinder head is the exhaust manifold.
 
I noticed that with the oil filter... Easy to get at but looks like it will make a mess, even with the plastic tray underneath it to channel the oil down. The car has about 1.5 year old Cooper CS5 tires on it so I will have to live with them for a bit. Hopefully going to pick it up today so I can transfer my Addco sway bar and BMR trailing arms from the GP to it.
 
Picked up the Impala today... It was stock for about an hour. Addco rear sway bar and Moog endlinks are in. Decided to skip the BMR trailing arms and order new ones in Spring. For $90 it wasn't worth my effort. Stay tuned to the for sale section... Will put some goodies up over the weekend.
 
What rental company/business owned this before you bought it?
The ninth generation model remained in production in LS, LT, and LTZ trim until the 2016 model year as a rental, fleet, and police car only under the revised model name Impala Limited.
 


2014 was still sold to regular customers because that was the change over year for the new body style.

I believe once the stock ran out, they went straight to fleet/business related customers only.
 
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