a local Chevy dealership has just aquired a mint 7400 mile 89' Turbo Trans Am. theyre selling it for $13000. think thats a deal? im considering trading in my bolt on 89' Vette for it. what would you guys do?

finally, my Corvette has run 13.2s consistantly in the quarter last winter. which car would win between my Vette and a bone stock Turbo T/A?

 

i say go for the tta. they are some really sweet cars. i believe that they run a 13.4 or so at 104-105 stock.

check this thread out it has some good info on those tta's.
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=198283

 

I would trade your '89 vette in a heartbeat. I think you will be much happy. No offense but an '89 vette isn't the most athletic of the recent vettes. The cool factor of that car will skyrocket. I know your vette runs 13.2 (which should put you neck and neck with the TA) but for under $1000 you can make HUGE power out of the TTA and run serious numbers before you even touch the stock turbo's.

 

Helloooo? I hope you traded that vett already.

 

Vette's are cool and all, but this is a TTA!!!!! If you don't trade your vette for the Turbo bird, you will be sorry. Besides, TTA's have the potential to go way faster than your vette does and for much less money.

 

i would deff trade it in.

just wondering what dealership in DE???? if it is in DE

 

omg trade it if you havent already, theres what 1500 TTA's ever made.

 

its Porter Chevrolet on Kirkwood Highway. they dont have a pic on their website yet (www.porterchevrolet.com) and the price i quoted is from the local classifieds... for some reason they have it listed for $15k on the site.

a few things have me worried about the car, and all of them have to do with the extremely low milage:

1) im afraid the cars various seals and gaskets have dried out. it could have oil leaks, leak in wet weather (or when im washing it). the tires could have flat spots, the calipers could be siezed, etc.

2) with this kind of milage, i would be afraid to drive it and put additional miles on it. its got well under 10k right now, and you wont find too many more in this kind of condition. i mean, how many members even on this site can boast of a TTA with this kind of milage? my Corvette i can take out whenever i want and have fun with it, but i feel with a car like this, its pretty much regulated to garage duty and car shows

3) i also feel that its too rare a car in this kind of condition to be modded. anything i do to it will decrease its rarity and value. if its removed from stock, it will never be as special as it is now. i can mod my Corvette to my hearts content, and it will probably gain value because of that. but with this low milage example of a TTA, modding it will destroy what it is

if this car had more miles on it, i would pick it up in a heartbeat. but right now i just dont have the space or time for a garage queen. if it had 20/30k or something i would have bought it today, and started modding it right away... but i feel its just TOO nice a car as it sits to do to it what i would want to. this car belongs to a collector, not a hot rodder

 

just buy it and drive it.. have the dealership put a 1 yr warranty if they'll d the dealership warranty. baby it for a year but drive it then mod it..

Even if you modify it who cares.. A tta is one of those cars, you'll never get another chance at it... Imagine how rare the GN and GNX are and the TTA is even better.. vette for tta do it... just think of it as you're buying a new car you'll mod it eventually..
Shawn

 

If you don't, someone else WILL, and then you'll have plenty of time to regret your hesitation.

 

I would trade it in w/o thinking twice....
How do you figure modding your Vette increases its value?

 

I'd trade it and get the TA.

Your concerns are valid but not really warranted. All turbo Buicks leak at the rear main. My GN did it and the TA did it when I bought it. They aren't that hard to replace the rope seal and put a neoprene one in. Couple hours and that's taken care of.

As for low mileage, mine had 17K when I bought it a few years ago. The only fluid that was changed was the oil. I changed all the fluids within a couple of months. No problems.

As far as modding, the low mileage ones are the best IMHO. They are in better shape and don't need to be fixed up. I have everything I have taken off the car. All in perfect condition.

The first things I'd do if I got another one:
Change fluids
Change valve springs--been sitting for 14 years with some open and some closed. Plus they weren't that strong to begin with.
Change fuel pump. Walbro 340, nice and cheap.
Do Spring Cleaning as outlined at gnttype.org
Buy new tires and put the Gatorbacks away. They'll be useless and unsafe.
Get a scan tool. I use Direct Scan but TurboLink and Scan Master are good ones also.

Take it to the track for a baseline. It should run mid 13's.

After that start modding. 160 thermostat, K&N, chip(I like the Thrasher 92 for stock injectors), cat pipe, and Nitto Drag Radials. You'll be running mid 12's with those mods.

With those mods and mixing my own gas, I ran 12.15@111. That was stock injectors, turbo, intercooler, down pipe, cat-back, etc.

Hope that helps

 

tpivette89, dont even reply to this anymore until you go out and get that TTA. I honestly don't want to hear that you passed it up. That would **** me off to no end!

 

You'd be a fool to drive and/or mod a sub 10k mile TTA. If you're looking for a beater there are always a few on eBay that aren't in that condition.
There is no street racing content here so I'm going to have to lock this.