test drove a gt3 - questions
01-03-2008 | 08:42 PM
#31
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 239
Likes: 37
From: Mass
Stedge,
Sorry I haven't responded until now.
I test drove a 2004 GT3 twice. The drives we're about 10-20 miles each. At the time I had an 03 996TT X-50 with a short shifter. It was quite notchy but smooth. Loved it. The GT3 initially felt much stiffer (both clutch and shifter). I had driven another 3 prior and it felt pretty much the same. I actually never noticed anything "odd" about the tranny. After the 2nd test drive my salesman called saying that while bring the car back to their off-site storage he noticed some bite while down shifting from 3rd into 2nd. He asked if I had noticed it. I said not really but I really didn't do any real hard 3-2 downshifts during the test drive. Well he said something wasn't right and they'd like to check it out. Well the opened the tranny and found that the 2nd gear synchro was spun. Car was in pieces obviously.
I decided to go take a look and discuss options. Not very comforting seeing the engine out and the whole rear-end in pieces on a car I was thinking about forking over a bunch of bux on. The tech showed me all the bits of the tranny (and everything else) and explained what everything was etc. Got a nice undercar inspection as it was on the rack. I wanted a new tranny, but PCNA said no way. We ended-up rebuilding the complete thing. The car was out of commission for almost 2 wks. Which was killing me as this was around Thanksgiving and the driving season here in Boston is short enough already.
So it got put back together and I drove it again and everything felt great. I decided to buy it. I put about 1000 miles on it before the snow really hit us hard and it's hibernating now. The car is CPO'd until the end of 2010. I would not have bought the car without a CPO and a dealer and saleman that has dealt straight with me over the years. If this was a private party car I would have run fast. But in reality it was my salesman that alerted me to the problem. I'm sure I would have discovered it and it would have been dealt with to my satisfaction as well.
Good luck with whatever you decide! You'll love the car.
-Rey
Sorry I haven't responded until now.
I test drove a 2004 GT3 twice. The drives we're about 10-20 miles each. At the time I had an 03 996TT X-50 with a short shifter. It was quite notchy but smooth. Loved it. The GT3 initially felt much stiffer (both clutch and shifter). I had driven another 3 prior and it felt pretty much the same. I actually never noticed anything "odd" about the tranny. After the 2nd test drive my salesman called saying that while bring the car back to their off-site storage he noticed some bite while down shifting from 3rd into 2nd. He asked if I had noticed it. I said not really but I really didn't do any real hard 3-2 downshifts during the test drive. Well he said something wasn't right and they'd like to check it out. Well the opened the tranny and found that the 2nd gear synchro was spun. Car was in pieces obviously.
I decided to go take a look and discuss options. Not very comforting seeing the engine out and the whole rear-end in pieces on a car I was thinking about forking over a bunch of bux on. The tech showed me all the bits of the tranny (and everything else) and explained what everything was etc. Got a nice undercar inspection as it was on the rack. I wanted a new tranny, but PCNA said no way. We ended-up rebuilding the complete thing. The car was out of commission for almost 2 wks. Which was killing me as this was around Thanksgiving and the driving season here in Boston is short enough already.
So it got put back together and I drove it again and everything felt great. I decided to buy it. I put about 1000 miles on it before the snow really hit us hard and it's hibernating now. The car is CPO'd until the end of 2010. I would not have bought the car without a CPO and a dealer and saleman that has dealt straight with me over the years. If this was a private party car I would have run fast. But in reality it was my salesman that alerted me to the problem. I'm sure I would have discovered it and it would have been dealt with to my satisfaction as well.
Good luck with whatever you decide! You'll love the car.
-Rey
01-04-2008 | 12:09 PM
#33
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 239
Likes: 37
From: Mass
No problem. Keep us posted on what you do.
By the way I'll have the car down in Blowing Rock at the end of may into the 1st week of June. We do this every year for an event called the Blue Ridge Boxster Summit. Been going down for the last 5 years and it's a blast. Usually about 100 cars. Mostly Boxsters but many have moved on to other models. I know there will be at least 2 GT3s there. Come join us for fun on the parkway!
-Rey
By the way I'll have the car down in Blowing Rock at the end of may into the 1st week of June. We do this every year for an event called the Blue Ridge Boxster Summit. Been going down for the last 5 years and it's a blast. Usually about 100 cars. Mostly Boxsters but many have moved on to other models. I know there will be at least 2 GT3s there. Come join us for fun on the parkway!
-Rey
01-06-2008 | 01:48 PM
#34
2nd Gear
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
I had this same issue in my '02 Turbo. The person who drove it before my apparently didn't know that a grinding sound was bad. 2 weeks after I bought the car it wouldn't go into first. He/she must have been trying to jam it into 1st while still going too fast. It was a synchro and it was covered by my Mercury extended warranty (which is the BEST extended warranty ever). Interestingly enough, I was told it would NOT have been covered by the manufacturer warranty. It cost $7000 at the dealership to get fixed. Be warned!
