Buying a 08 STS V tomorrow

**pj96ss** · 12-11-09 11:09 AM

I'll be getting a 2008 STS V Thunder Gray with ebony interior with 6000 miles tomorrow morning. I've been reading threads and there is a ton of great info about these cars here.

I've already got the GM clear 3rd brake light and clear taillights to install once I get home with her.

My only plans are: exhaust, D3 stage 1 & 2 intake, and D3 chip.

I've talked in length with Borla and will be installing their cat back and if the drone is too bad (I've got bad hearing as my fun summer car is Shelby Cobra replica that I built with 475 rwhp (or selective hearing as my wife says)) they'll send out some sort of insert to fix the drone. I did question why the fix isn't part of the exhaust kit and their response was that the drone can be different car to car and that some people don't mind a little drone all that much and the fix is easier to install than uninstall.

I can't wait till tomorrow morning at 9am est when the dealership opens up to take her home.

P.J.

**CIWS** · 12-11-09 11:24 AM

Good luck and welcome to the

**inurok** · 12-11-09 08:15 PM

Awesome cant wait to see pics of it...congrats and welcome.... lots of very knowledgeable people here thats for sure.

**Gusteve** · 12-14-09 09:26 AM

Do you mind sharing the cost with us? There's quite a few people (myself included) that are interested in watching the depreciation curve.

**pj96ss** · 12-14-09 01:31 PM

2008 STS V thunder gray chromaflair/ebony interior with 6000 miles on the odometer. The car is absolutely spotless inside/out. I paid $43,000.

**PGA2B** · 12-14-09 02:40 PM

Congrats!!

**StealthMan** · 12-29-09 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by pj96ss

2008 STS V thunder gray chromaflair/ebony interior with 6000 miles on the odometer. The car is absolutely spotless inside/out. I paid $43,000.

Well how do you like it?? Any pics?? Was yours a CPO car at that price?

Thanks!

**Gusteve** · 12-29-09 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by StealthMan

Well how do you like it?? Any pics?? Was yours a CPO car at that price?

Thanks!

FYI - the CPO warranty is actually better than the original factory warranty. You can usually get it for about $1k, although I'm told its negotiable. You get 6yrs, 100k miles bumper to bumper (!!!) from the original in-service date. So if now, you buy an '08 that has an in service date of, say, June '08, you still get a 4.5 yr bumper to bumper warranty. And - its transferable to the next owner.

So you could drive it for 4 years, and sell it while it still has a warranty (which should make it easier to sell). I hate to say it, but these would probably be real expensive cars to repair 6 years from now, with 100K+ miles on them.

**tmartin63** · 12-30-09 08:39 PM

I'm so jealous. This is exactly the car I am looking for. STS-V's are not sitting around for sale on every other corner. Can you share your search strategy? I've used autotrader, everycarlisted, etc, but still only find a few 2008s with low mileage.

**pj96ss** · 12-30-09 10:02 PM

I primarily used AutoTrader. I found several cars that fit the bill. I had no problem driving up to 500 miles one way to get one. One of my neighbors is a manager at a dealer in town and he ran all the vin's thru CarFax and thru GM's internal site to show every last detail (selling price/all service (including oil changes)/etc). If the car was bought at GMSmartAuction, he knew the dealers buying price (therefore I knew it

). I made a bunch of phone calls and after 2 weeks of negotiations, I ended up with exactly what I wanted for the price I wanted and only had to drive 450 miles each way to get her. My neighbor has sold me all my cars over the past 9 years and has given me the 'neighbor discount' each time (the neighbor discount was better then employee or 'X' plan pricing (which I qualify for due to my employer)). It was rather fun telling dealers 'here is what this other dealer is offering, bet his deal or so long'. On cars like this, it's a buyers market (just like homes), especially in the north going into bad weather.
My neighbor's dealership did not want to acquire a used one for me due to the little to no profit involved with this car. Depreciation is so bad for a 1 to 2 yr old STS V that I paid less that half price for a 2008 with 6K on the clock. Still has the new car smell until I go to Skyline Chili for lunch tomorrow.

P.J.

**tmartin63** · 12-30-09 10:55 PM

Sounds like you got a really good deal on a car that stickered almost twice as much when new. Enjoy the car and let everyone here know how you are getting along with it. Thanks for the advice!

**corvette00** · 12-31-09 04:46 PM

I wish I could remember the dealer in the east that had some new 08's. Anybody aware of any 09's still remaining?

**silverws6ta** · 12-31-09 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by pj96ss

My neighbor's dealership did not want to acquire a used one for me due to the little to no profit involved with this car. Depreciation is so bad for a 1 to 2 yr old STS V that I paid less that half price for a 2008 with 6K on the clock. Still has the new car smell until I go to Skyline Chili for lunch tomorrow.

P.J.

You did a good job! I had been looking around for MONTHS last year when I found my V; I started out looking at silver, '06 that wasn't what I considered immaculate and the dealer wanted 42k for it with 21k miles!!!! I passed on that one although it was close, but found my Stealth Gray 2006 with 12k on the clock at Carmax in Columbia, SC, they transferred it to Greenville for no charge and I brought it home for $39k (it had just been marked down) It hasn't been CPO'd (yet - I won't get into the intricacies of that.. hehe) but it wasn't purchased until June 2007(a stock ordered car from Coral Cadillac in FL, then brought to Miller Cadillac in Mt Pleasant SC where it was titled here in SC. I didn't want a car that had been up north (although with such low miles it was a little stringent) but its amazing with some patience what turns up.. It just had its first set of new tires put on today -- surprised the others hadn't dry rotted by now! I picked it up this morning and they had moved it out front of the service dept and the service manager told me it was the conversation piece of the day and it had its share of admirers as always when its there..

**silverws6ta** · 12-31-09 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by corvette00

I wish I could remember the dealer in the east that had some new 08's. Anybody aware of any 09's still remaining?

Kevin Whitaker in Greenville, SC had a new BLACK '08 ..

**pj96ss** · 01-01-10 11:53 AM

There is a dealer in the Cleveland, Ohio area that has 2 brand new silver STS-V's. Both only have a hundred or so miles. Last asking price was around $56k each.