What is up with that gas mileage .. That is absolutely atrocious.

If you're really set on a Bonneville, you should look into any incentives the dealers may be giving to get all the Pontiac inventory off their lots.

One of the board members over at PTCrew was saying part of the reason is the Chrysler engineers purposely made the fuel ratio on the turbo cars pig rich in an effort to get them to run on lower octane fuel without melting themselves down. The fuel curve could be changed with a custom tune but the long haul comfort of the car is as much an issue to me as the mileage. The car is still in great shape with low miles so it seems like trading would be the best option rather than just "living with it" for two or three years.

Theyre arent any incentives on Bonnevilles since they went out of production in 2005 but I have seen some hefty discounts on G6s and G8s. Both of those could be possible options but I would much rather have the Bonne and less overall debt with lower payments. I have found a couple of Bonnes, one 05 and another 04 which are red and white respectively, both SLE models with leather, sunroof and chrome sawblade wheels...I may know something by the end of the week.

Well if you do get a bonnie be sure to get the SSEI facias. Those make the car look good.

Tbat if you want big comfort why not look a little farther back and go for a Buick Roadmaster?

Trading down is always a tough sell so the less year difference the better. The Buick has no sporty flavor at all which is a quality the Bonne has in spades. The SLE basically has all the top level options save the bigger engine, but exterior wise it looks just like the GXP or SSEi depending on if your talking 04 or 05.
If that doesnt pan out I also have my eye on a couple of leftover 2008 Dodge Magnums which the dealers are offering some pretty heavy incentives on. The 3.5 SXT model with leather and sunroof is pretty nice.

Magnums remind me of hearses.

A sporty, performance hearse maybe, but a hearse nonetheless.

Sounds like you're leaning pretty heavily towards the Bonne. All you'll have to do is avoid modding it, but I know how it will go!

"I like this car but if I can fix just this one little thing .."

I'll be forever bitten with the mod bug so there is no denying that fact...the benefit of the Bonne would be that as I upgrade the T-Bat to a blower setup, all my L36 mods will fit the Bonne engine.

I know I'll do exhaust but I learned my valuable lessons with the GP about muff selection.
Even my wife says "You cant own a car without decorating it"...I never really thought of it as "decoration"

I am sad to admit the last couple of days of car shopping has not gone well. First big disappointment was that the 05 Bonne I had my eye on up in Maryland got yanked away by a very over zealous buyer who drove all night all the way from Arkansas to purchase this car (cant say as I blame him)

Bummer no.2 was to find out that the 08 Magnum I had called about was actually not a new car even though it only had 48 miles on the clock (yes, 48...not 48k) It seems the car was purchased from another dealer that went under so it was considered used, thus no factory incentives were offered for its sale.

Today I made the rounds to several local dealers in the area only to find no one offering the kind of incentive money that was previously offered on the Pacifica that my wife gave the thumbs down to.

As a result I was given lowball after lowball trade-in offers for the PT which ranged from ridiculous to insulting. I actually told a used car manager at a Chrysler dealer today when I got the ineviatble question of "What do I have to do to earn your business?"
I replied by saying "Stop screwing everyone...I'm not at all surprised that the car business is tanking. When people buy cars and in ayears time they become devalued by 50% it creates a downward spiral that wards people off from buying new cars. Why should you waste your money on something you know will be instantly worthless? It no big surprise that Honda and Toyota are kicking your butts since the prices of used cars on their lots is much closer to the cost of new ones, hence people opt for the new one for little more money."
Somehow I dont think he liked my response. At any rate I'm basically in the pickle of needing more cash before I can bust my way out of this car.
My wife said she couldnt understand how may attitude could have changed so drastically about the car in such a short time. I then asked her if I cheated on her for about two weeks if her attitude towards me would drastically change. She burst out laughing saying it was impossible for car to cheat on me.

All depends on your point of view now doesnt it? The car has been cleaned up and de-modded back to its stock form with its only telltale sign being its aftermarket wheels and tires...so now its pretty much like driving a glorified rental car...and I have just about that much emotional response to it as well.

A few convertibles to consider:
solara
mustang
350z
vette
f-body
Bug
mini cooper
03+ viper srt10

No offense, but you seem to be a bit fickle with your cars and their appearances. Have you considered leasing?

Tbat has a problem with fitting in cars as well. He's a bit on the lanky side. He's not comfortable in an Fbody otherwise that woulda been purchased long before the sebring. I think the Z would be the same. Not sure on his mindset of the stang. Cooper could be an option.

There ya go, T-bat. That is what you want.

Comfort and room are issues with me. So is a level of practicality and the majority of convertibles on the market have little to no trunk space so that rules them out altogether. We never could have made our vacation to Florida with the likes of a Solstice(maybe I could just UPS my luggage to my next hotel)

Several of the other cars on the aforementioned list will never be in my driveway on the basis of price alone. I'm sorry folks but I have no intention of giving up vacations or weekend things I do with my wife because all my spare change is going to make some gigantic car payment on a $30k plus automobile.

I do like the restyle of the new 2010 Stang, especially upgrades they made to the interior, but I may wind up giving up the convertible thing altogether. Its been nice for the past couple of years but it doesnt feel as "needed" as it used to. I think I'm more ready to focus on really getting the T-Bat where I want it to be instead of playing the game of modding two different cars. I just need to find a DD that I like pretty much "as is" or with very little changes.

You really seamed to enjoy your Intrepid. I know they're on the older side now but for a DD that will allow you to concentrate on the GP...

2010 camaro would be good as-is.

23k base price, not 30k+. :rolleyes: