Gen 1 CTS-V Competitors?

budget76

budget76

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Debating swapping the C5 Corvette + civic combo for a single fun daily. the Gen 1 CTS-V has sat high on the top of the list unless I go back to a BMW

Looking in the <$15k range, what would you consider competitors for the Gen 1 CTS-V in both comfort and performance? Not a fan of the GTO styling. Same for the generation of mustangs in that range. Volvo S80v8 and S60r are out there, but are are they mushy or fun, and are usually up there in miles? G8 GT or others seem to be priced a little higher, and styling again not quite there. Newer bodied Camaros are higher priced for the v8's.

what am I missing? Plenty of German options but I've played the maintenance game on them in the past. Doing 3-400 miles/week commuting which is why i bought the Civic to begin with
 
Could you get into an SS for that price? I doubt it but my buddy had one and it was super rad.
 
If you can live with an auto, Mercedes E55 or E63. Nicer all around car, quite a bit more power than a CTS-V.
 
come back to kraut land.

there's no better place to be.

I say as I spend money on kraut car parts.....


s60rs are a good time, and I love me a hopped up volvo whiteblock, but I'd not. 4c suspension shit is dumb expensive, and since it's a volvo there's not much in the way of aftermarket solutions to buying $400 struts when they leak.

I would not anything volvo t6 or v8.
 
I had one for a year before I decided it wasn’t worth sitting in the driveway and I’d rather have money. I love the looks but interior killed it for me. Have you looked at SS sedans?
 
335d sub 10k car. Prolly the most fun car I have driven in a while. Do the delete and 100+ go tune and you will not stop smiling from 375hp and 620 torque. Best thing is it will still get 30+ miles to the gallon.
 
budget76 said:
Debating swapping the C5 Corvette + civic combo for a single fun daily. the Gen 1 CTS-V has sat high on the top of the list unless I go back to a BMW

Looking in the <$15k range, what would you consider competitors for the Gen 1 CTS-V in both comfort and performance? Not a fan of the GTO styling. Same for the generation of mustangs in that range. Volvo S80v8 and S60r are out there, but are are they mushy or fun, and are usually up there in miles? G8 GT or others seem to be priced a little higher, and styling again not quite there. Newer bodied Camaros are higher priced for the v8's.

what am I missing? Plenty of German options but I've played the maintenance game on them in the past. Doing 3-400 miles/week commuting which is why i bought the Civic to begin with
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I looked at M3, GTO, CTS-V and STi, all used and wound up with the STI.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
335d sub 10k car. Prolly the most fun car I have driven in a while. Do the delete and 100+ go tune and you will not stop smiling from 375hp and 620 torque. Best thing is it will still get 30+ miles to the gallon.
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Or a 535d if you want more space.



How hard would it be to get your hands on the Holden front bumper for the GTO?
 
https://jalopnik.com/oh-boy-you-can-...car-1796585246


LS2

AWD

Under 15K

Chevrolet-Caprice-PPV-eBay-White-632x340.jpg
 
You had me until you said $15k. That's not much money for one of these unless she's got a ton of miles.

One of the older SRT challengers would be fun....it's not as fast, but it's bigger and more confortable.
 
sounds like several hit the radar, keep them coming. Would love to LS swap XYZ, but need to wrap up the house projects first.

Looked up the SS's, those are still $$$. must be the scarcity driving it up.

Auto isn't desirable, but the Merc AMG's did hit the radar. The unknown of the Merc makes me hesitate though, I'd probably go BMW just because I've been in that world. Panzer & DozerDan keep pimping the BMW Diesels, I'll have to see what's out there around here.

Volvos - the V60R suspension & parts is what made me stop looking at them last time I bought a daily. And most around here already have 150k+ miles, or are a price where I can get into something else

Holden GTO bumper - that does make it look alot better. It's still not making me love it overall, though they do sound good with exhausts. Leaning towards a sedan though, been driving coupes for 10+ years now.

STI - buddy had a semi-built WRX. 300ish HP at the wheels. Never got to drive it before something let go in the engine, but it felt fun. Maybe I need to go price one out, plus parts for new head gaskets / timing belt etc.

Caprice - didn't know those things existed. talk about boring looking though, might as well drive slower and get a crown vic. I like sleepers too, but not for $15k.


maybe I'm just a cheapass who dreams but won't pull the trigger on anything :laughing: I loved my e46 M3, but prices have gone up and a nice sorted one is getting towards $20k for manual coupes. Some 07-09ish M5's in the price range, but history/maintenance is questionable. Never had a car payment, never spent more than $10k for a car, etc
 
D-Rat said:
You had me until you said $15k. That's not much money for one of these unless she's got a ton of miles.

One of the older SRT challengers would be fun....it's not as fast, but it's bigger and more confortable.
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found a Gen 1 CTSV in RI for ~$15k with 60k miles. Doesn't look as clean as another one with ~95k miles for the same price which also looks to have at least exhaust, suspension & audio work to it. LS miles don't scare me as much as AMG or M cars do. That being said, I agree I'm limited, don't want something with 150k on the clock when I'm doing 20-30k a year just commuting.
 
DirtRoads said:
Could you get into an SS for that price? I doubt it but my buddy had one and it was super rad.
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X2 on the SS, Wife has one and loves it, 4 doors good legroom and comfort, a mustang or Camaro will never fit 4 comfortably
20160614_151915.jpg
20160614_151852.jpg
 
For that price you could get a nice G35 Or G37 Sedan or Coupe with a 6 speed and still have money left over to turbo or supercharge it. Stock the 6spd G35 cars are 300 the G37s are more not sure how much more. But with a turbo/supercharger bolt on kits are 400-500hp.

They are pretty much 4door or 2+2 350z/370z. Same drivetrain and suspension.

The 05+ Infinitis have nicer interior than the CTS-Vs I looked at a CTS before I got my G and the interior of the Caddy seemed super cheap. Plastic everything.

The 05+ had real wood and aluminum instead of 04- had plastic lookalikes.
 
my 04 e55 was an absolute beast... sweet fucking car. and safer than any of the other choices mentioned here.
 
budget76 said:
Looking in the <$15k range, what would you consider competitors for the Gen 1 CTS-V in both comfort and performance? G8 GT or others seem to be priced a little higher, and styling again not quite there.
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I know styling is objective but I swapped from a built 05 CTS-V to a 09 G8 GT. I prefer the G8 to the CTS-V except for 2 things. Id rather have the manual trans and my V was a 550whp car so it was a downgrade to a stock GT Hp wise. The V1s have a number of downfalls including drivetrain mounts, weak differentials (my car had a very $$$$ Ford 9" setup in it when I bought it). The G8 interior is nicer, aftermarket is actually better for the G8s, lots of camaro parts like rear diffs, brembos ect swap over to the G8 for cheap. The power potential with a G8 is higher for less money, LSA blowers are a direct fit. About $4k for a LSA blower setup will net you in the 600whp range. They are a big car which I like since I have 2 kids, so that may be a downside or upside vs the bmw 3 series or some of the other cars your looking at.
 
budget76 said:
found a Gen 1 CTSV in RI for ~$15k with 60k miles. Doesn't look as clean as another one with ~95k miles for the same price which also looks to have at least exhaust, suspension & audio work to it. LS miles don't scare me as much as AMG or M cars do. That being said, I agree I'm limited, don't want something with 150k on the clock when I'm doing 20-30k a year just commuting.
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To give you some perspective I sold my Built car with 40k miles 2 years ago for $18k, you should be able to get a 100-120k mile car for 12-13k
 
Raise your price range up a bit and get a Lexus IS-F
 
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Stingray said:
X2 on the SS, Wife has one and loves it, 4 doors good legroom and comfort, a mustang or Camaro will never fit 4 comfortably
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These cars are just more proof of what a piece of shit company General Motors is. They discontinue production in Australia and end the SS. If it wasn't for the LS, GM would be by-far the worst piece of shit car company on Earth. Corvette is protected from the madness, but they couldn't keep Cadillac going. Their sole profit-center in the US is fleet sales and selling pickups to Flyovers.

When China slams the door on Buick, GM is finished.
 
evernoob said:
These cars are just more proof of what a piece of shit company General Motors is. They discontinue production in Australia and end the SS. If it wasn't for the LS, GM would be by-far the worst piece of shit car company on Earth. Corvette is protected from the madness, but they couldn't keep Cadillac going. Their sole profit-center in the US is fleet sales and selling pickups to Flyovers.

When China slams the door on Buick, GM is finished.
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General Motors was not the only ones pulling out of Australia, Ford and Toyota were ahead of GM, there is much more to it, the SS cult guys know much more.
but for a car with zero marketing ever from GM, and only 3k a year imported, every one sold,. it was never a "they didnt sell" issue.

But that's for another discussion, not here.
 
Stingray said:
General Motors was not the only ones pulling out of Australia, Ford and Toyota were ahead of GM, there is much more to it, the SS cult guys know much more.
but for a car with zero marketing ever from GM, and only 3k a year imported, every one sold,. it was never a "they didnt sell" issue.

But that's for another discussion, not here.
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"Wuh-what should I buy/hire?" threads are universally, universally useless and nothing more than people expressing their opinions about cars they like. These threads are always shit and produce NO useful information. There is a computer website called Google and a network of dealers that function for choosing a car.

So back to the useful subject:

Ford and Toyota did not produce a car for Australia that meaningfully crossed over to the US market. The US market doesn't have much room for rear-drive V8 sedans, but Australis because of its peculiarities has a market for it. For all intents, it never snows in Australia and rarely freezes. The roads are huge, not tiny little Yuro-roads. And Australia has a huge and long-standing love affair with the V8 that is only exceeded by the USA because of its size. No, the Barra is not a great engine for the US market as it's duplicated a million times here. Sure it would sell, among a very, very small crowd.

But not the SS. It is hugely applicable tot he US market but probably can't stand on its own. Then there is GM's abandonment of the platform which was selling, as you pointed out. The Aus + US market can and did support it, GM just ended it because they are a poorly managed company that makes shit products. Literally the only thing that non-Corvette GM has done right in the last 10 years is dump LSs into as many shitboxes as they can, so that people can snag them out of a junkyard and strap Chinese turbos on then blow them up rinse and repeat.
 
DirtRoads said:
Dayum. My buddy came out of a G8GT into the SS. It's basically everything the G8 wanted to be. Unfortunately I don't see them depreciating much.
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When I threw it out I didn't realize they were holding value so well. so my suggestion was a wasted post.
the $15K budget is not in that car yet.
 
They sold the Holden Commodore all over the world for years. US got it late in the game under a dead brand, then a handful as the SS. Lame.
 
realsquash said:
They sold the Holden Commodore all over the world for years. US got it late in the game under a dead brand, then a handful as the SS. Lame.
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Also, No wagon, No Ute, No LSA version.

Even the Cadillac got the wagon version
 
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