It's time to say Goodbye...

[morepowerjoe]

Sorry to hear, best of luck in the future.

[PDXSSCE]

Originally Posted by TastyBake

Well it happened.

Long story:
Originally, I had a '99 Grand Prix GT. Fairly extensive mods including an '05 GTP engine swap and it made 300 lbs at the wheels. Kept it for 12 years with 247k miles but I got tired of looking at the same interior.

In 2011, I traded it in for a new 2011 Camaro LT/RS. I got onto this forum a few days before I purchased this for mod research.

Mods:
- Ported Throttle Body
- Cold Air Inductions kit
- LED Side marker lights (loved them but pain will occur if you stare at them)
- ZL1 Upper Grille (Best mod)
- Radio Screen Protector (stayed scratch free all those years)
- Red leather stitching and red Camaro badging (same as the GP).

No engine lights. No accidents. Clean title. Yes, rust bubbles were starting again at the rear quarter panels due to the way the rain flowed. Fixed it one year and they came back stronger.

Unfortunately...I hydroplaned on the highway during very heavy rain and I hit the guard rail pretty hard. I knew it was bad on the 1st hit but when I bounced on it again, the air bag to deployed. I knew there was no repair for this. Thankfully, it parked itself on the side and in parallel to traffic so I wouldn't hit on-coming traffic.

911 called the city's tow company which was a huge mistake as they charged me $350 to get it out whereas I could have called someone else for way cheaper. I helped pick up pieces of it and put it onto the tow truck.
Visiting it at the impound lot to clean it out was an ultra sad experience as it looked fine everwhere until you see the missing, pushed in front end and scratches in random places. All the claying, ceramic coating, and waxing...and it is now this. My car. Sitting amongst the destroyed daily driver like it wasn't special. I kept thinking "aww man, this is mine! It shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be here!".

It only had liability (rats!!) so no payout for it being totaled. Copart is buying it for $1200 which is the best deal I can get for it. Other places wanted $400. I could have parted it out and gotten a bit more as its an RS package with leather and 20" rims but it would be a tremendous hassle to store it.

I've had it for over 14 years and it was officially the most reliable car I've ever owned. I was thinking something random has got to go wrong soon like an alternator or rubber piece but it never happened. It did had pretty serious wheel rash, rust bubbles on both rear quarters, and rust at the bottom of the doors but I was going to fix those next April as I was going to try keeping it for another 10 years. However, I saw rust holes in the front bumper frame so realistically it wouldn't last too long anyway.

Because of this, I got to say good bye. I wanted to officially thank everyone here for the solid advice on what to mod, showing me how cool it can look if I modded it further (Black Camaro forum), and for the hillarious comments.

I won't get another Camaro. and I honestly don't know what I will get. I have snow wheels and tires for sell.

I will stay on a bit more and maybe jump in here / there but its time to take my memories of having one of the coolest cars around into the sunset.

Thank you for reading.

As much as we love our cars, ultimately, they're material objects. What's important is that you're alright and able to tell the story.

I'm curious, what's up with all of the rust? I hadn't heard of a 5th generation with that many rust issues.

[Moto-Mojo]

[QUOTE=PDXSSCE;11510237]As much as we love our cars, ultimately, they're material objects. What's important is that you're alright and able to tell the story.

I'm curious, what's up with all of the rust? I hadn't heard of a 5th generation with that many rust issues./QUOTE]

I suspect it's this lovely cocktail the state puts on their roads.

"Ohio uses a combination of road salt (sodium chloride), often mixed with calcium chloride for colder temperatures, and salt brine (a saltwater solution) as pre-treatments (anti-icing) and de-icing agents, alongside plowing, to combat snow and ice on its roads. ODOT and local municipalities apply these materials to lower the freezing point of water, preventing ice from bonding to pavement and making snow removal easier."

[MSgt O]

Now Im curious, has anyone in a northern climate fluid filmed or wool waxed their car? I dont drive my garage princess in the winter and not until after the second rain in spring, but just was wondering

[acutron42]

Hey Tim, there is a local company here that does fluid film & I get my truck done every 2 years. That stuff works great.