I jokingly asked my dealer last Thursday (he's a GM dealer) what deal he could swing for my wife's '00 WS6 T/A (all of my vehicles are leased). He came back with a deal that was hard to refuse. For no penalty whatsoever, we could return it. Get something else or walk away. Done!! (In fact just finished ordering a new Pewter WS6 T/A).

Then the bombshell. For one month's lease payment I could also return the Lightning. Ooohhh! Don't get me wrong, I love this truck, but as many of you know, I continue to have vibration issues that Ford doesn't seem to want to address. Add in an upper and lower pulley, line mod valve, chip, and I don't know whether they should have to. Then I got to feeling a little bad about dropping a non-warrantiable truck in someone's lap. Came clean with my dealer, he made the call, and lo and behold if the buyer didn't pay more to keep the mod's in place.

Well long story short, the truck has been stripped of the easy stuff, and now it's gone. (Sniffs back a tear) Oh well. It's been a slice. Now time to select the new vehicle.

What do you think:

1) '03 Cobra (my personal favorite, but leary of Ford, and tight quarters)

2) Mercedes C32 AMG (expensive, probably tight quarters again)

3) '02 H/D F150 (there's that damn 5.4 engine)

4) Lexus GS 430 (quirky looks, but I like)

5) '02 Lightning (buy off the lot so I can test drive before I buy)

Anyway the truck is gone but I'm not. Too much fun around here.


The last drive out of storage:



Stripped and going back (other than the tonneau, this sure looks like the day I got it):

 

I would go with the new cobra or another L.

 

Cobra if your not happy with L's, but I would have to have another L if I was in your position.

 

Sounds like your dealer's cool , so I would go with the 02 Lightning. But hey, that's me

 

What04....Man you go through trucks like I don't know what. Sorry to see your "L" go, did you grab BABolts tips off it? Shoot me a E-mail if ya want to sell them. KGM@LVCM.COM

 

OR, if ya need room, you could wait for the '03 Merc Marauder!

 

the new harley is sweet,theres pics of one that was just
picked up in the h/d section,if i didnt have my L id be
a little confused right now.

 

Did you sell it with the Toneau???? I might be interested in it, and any thing else you might want to sell.

Weep Weep say it ain't so.

Good luck what ever you choose

 

Did you get them to loosen the exhaust system and then re-tighten after the engine was hot? You'll miss the L. Good luck with the WS6.

 

From your list, I'd choose the AMG32 in a second. But, the delivery is long unless you can find one on a somewhere on a lot. With that in mind, the Z06 is less expensive (about $3000 less), and a used clean low mileage Viper GTS (about 5000 miles) is about in that price range. All different personalities and all worth driving to see what fits you.

(I'm still kind of looking).

Spike

 

Thanks all.

So what did I do tonight? Sat and watched The Fast And The Furious! Scenes of a Red Lightning peppered throughout. Man that's a nice looking truck! Doh.

Frank S - Yeah, I was the one who got the recommendation for the exhaust neutralization rolling. Cured that problem, but never got rid of my 65 mph buzz. I'm convinced that it is the aluminum driveshaft changing shape with temperature.

Spike:

List Prices up here in the Great White North (in CDN $'s):

Cobra - $48,000 (estimated)
Lightning - $43,000
H/D F150 - $48-50,000
Corvette - $73,220
C32 AMG - $68,000

I'd love the vette, but I think it's a little small - could be done. But truly, I want to get one for my wife first. But she needs more than one passenger seat.

The C32 works best because it could be an all season (??) vehicle. We already share 4 cars between us and it really doesn't fill the needs, cause we have a nanny that needs to run the kids around while we work. Sounds rediculous, but that's the way it goes. Two winter vehicles and two summer. (My vehicle payments far surpass my mortgage payments)

Anyway, soon we'll be off to the dealerships for some test driving fun. Maybe a Porsche C4. Yeah, that's the ticket!!

 

Well. I'd wait at least a year on the 03 Cobra. They have sort of a bad precedent on first year of new engines what with the 96's and the 99's. Not sure why you'd get an 02 L if you traded in your 01? I wasn't aware of any vibration issue. I think if I had the money I'd go with a Z06

 

What 04 sure going to miss you buddy. I know we shared a lot choosing floor mats, exhaust systems, and alike. Drop by from time to time. Bob.

 

Not sure how much Canadian dollars a new M3 would be, but those are pretty sweet, and have some room. However, I agree with Spike on the Z06/used GTS viper route, but that's just me.

 

sounds to me like he needs something he can drive... not just a toy... a viper is a toy... fun to drive when you want to... not fun to drive when you have to.