Test Drove An Rt Today

[Kaervek71]

By better car, I mean a 3/s that is in better condition. You probably won't touch a vr4/tt for that price, maybe a trashed first gen, but then you'd be in the same situation and that's a whole other story.

Try looking on www.autotrader.com for a better car. There is also ebay, but I've found most vehicles there to be rather over priced. $4800 isn't a bad price, but I'd make certain that the rest of the 60k service is performed as well as the body work done and the tranny problem fixed. As I said before, the dealer probably doesn't have even half of the asking price invested in this car, especially since he got it at an auction.

If you mainly want the car because of the body style, then don't count out the stealth base model, even though it doesn't have the dohc engine in it. There's a base stealth for sale near you for like $2500.

[3siwannabe]

kaervek- i know 4800 isnt a bad price, but i had him talked down to 3500 as/is. i was thinking if i could do the tranny for 200, then the bodywork myself, i would save alot of money. did you see the pics? it isn't bad at all. but my concern is if it isnt the clutch thats bad. like i said, i could smoke the tires in 1st, but i had to granny shift in 2nd and 3rd. the dealer said it must have been my driving, but i had a mechanic drive it, and my dad (whom happens to be a truck driver...he should know how to drive a 5 speed since hes used to driving 10/15 speeds) and they both had the same problem. it also "slipped when we would downshift from 2nd to 1st. so i dont know what i should do...

[3siwannabe]

i was just looking at this site http://www.stealth316.com/2-trany.htm now as far as doing this job on an n/a, how much dif't would it be? thanks

[gavric]

It should be almost the same except that you would not need to take driveshaft out.

[Stealthee]

You dont have a transfer case to worry about and theres alot les stuff in your way. Seriously if have the least bit of mechanical skill you can probably have the tranny dropped in 2-3 hrs at the most. Once out the cutch itself is pretty simple then reinstall. Sometimes the tranny lines up perfectly and falls right into place, other times you have to fight it. But once its lined up it pretty easy from there on out.

[Kaervek71]

Sorry, not trying to talk you out of buying the car. $3500 isn't a bad price really, but that would be only if you knew exactly what was wrong with it. I've never seen a bad clutch that would grab well enough to roast the tires in first gear, never. I've burned up several clutches and it's always been the same result, barely takes off, if at all. I'm not a mechanic, so I honestly can't tell you that it's a clutch problem. I would take the car to a mechanic who knows our cars very well and is very knowledgable about trannys.

My point is that while a new clutch may not be expensive or difficult to do, what if it's not the clutch? What if the synchro's are gone, or the bands are shot? It could be a number of things. Maybe a previous owner ran the hell out of it and grinded through the gears and destroyed the tranny completely? It's not impossible to do. This dealer probably knows exactly what's wrong with the tranny. It's just to fishy to me that he would drop the price by $1300 so easily if it were really just the clutch.

I did look at the pictures of the car and also checked out the dealers site. The pics don't look bad. I see he also has a 2nd gen gt for sale as well. Ultimately it's your decision whether to buy the car or not. I wouldn't buy it until I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. If the tranny is shot, you will pay a good chunk to get it rebuilt/replaced. Perhaps there's a member that lives nearby to you that could go and look at the car for you and give you more insight into the true value and condition of the car.

[3siwannabe]

kaervek 71- thanks alot for the input. i don't believe that i will end up getting this car, but it just puzzles me as to what is wrong with it. when i was talking to the dealer on the phone, he said the clutch is fine, he burnt rubber an 1/8 mile with it ( ) then i proceeded to keep telling him how it slipped. he said there might be something wrong with the syncros, but not the clutch. so i am thinking the sycros may be shot.

what would be worse, a toasted clutch or bad syncros?

p.s- the gt is pretty nice, however, it is an auto

[Kaervek71]

I'm not sure what the problem is either, but like I said earlier, I'm almost positive that it's not the clutch. I'd hate to see the condition of the tranny now if the dealer is out burning rubber for an 1/8th mile in first gear, lol. I wouldn't count out the gt just because it's an automatic. Being 16, you're really limited to what kind of car you can get if you don't want to spend a fortune just to drive.

Good luck on car shopping, I hope you find a good deal for a 3/s soon.

[EVILTWIN]

Originally Posted by gavric

Please tell me who can change a clutch in ONE HOUR. If you look in most service manuals it states that clutch job will be around 6-8 hours. Do you know what exactly is involved in changing the clutch. Stuff like getting axles out and droping tranny out will take half a day for proffesional and that is why they are charging like at least $400-$500 + parts. You know if changing clutches was that easy anybody would do it all day long-like changing oil.

HIs name is MOPAR JIM.....an hour to an hour and a half. Happy now?

6-8 hours on a NON TURBO? LMFAO i see you get raped on labor too!

[EVILTWIN]

For the doubter: http://www.milwaukeemopar.com/S3%20Services.htm

hell, he only charges between 240-320 for a TT clutch job. his record on a Twin Turbo is 2 hours 15 minutes start to finish. I dont mind advertising for him, he knows his stuff.

If your paying 6-8 hours labor for ANY clutch TT or not, your crazy!