2005 Pontiac GTO Consumer Reviews

This car was built by Holden of Australia. It has a ton of power but has it quirks. The trunk is small because the gas tank is behind the back seat. The back seat is large but it is awkward getting into it. It has 350 HP and purrs at 2000 rpm at 65 miles per hour.

love this car the only thing i hate is that it doesn't keep the battery charged if you do drive it for a while.

As an Aussie expat in the US, I really wanted to own a Holden out here. I tried importing one but US laws were a bit nuts. So, I found a GTO nearby and ordered and installed a front-end conversion kit from Australia to give it the original Holden Monaro look. Long story short, you get a beast of a car that's fun to handle for not too much money. Mine has 450hp, handles very well and stops quickly. It doesn't look too conspicuous and I guess you can call it a "sleeper", but for me, I feel that I own a piece of Aussie motoring history.

I own mine for almost 10 years. It has a lot of torque and straightline speed. I don't race but I can beat a lot of cars out there, especially when I hit 3rd gear. You can drive it like a beast or drive it gentle and like and everyday car. The engine is strong but its not very loud. I have 17" all weather tires but when I used to have racing tires it was faster. Unfortunately fewer parts available and you will have to get custom work on it. So while it is not a relatively expensive car, repairs will be expensive. One of the things that may go wrong is the 6sp transmission. The throw on the shifter is long so you will have to willfully work on changing gears with purpose. The car is also rear heavy so you need to control the traction. Also these cars are known to have the leather on the seats fray apart , the manual door locks break off, and the sun visors break off easily. The stereo environment systems styling is outdated. Also there is a sensor that freaks out when you go past 100mph where it beeps out and raises your stereo volume annoyingly like some sort of parental control. "Hey don't speed" lol. I have to remember to bypass that one of these days.

There's a saying in the car world --a single car can be at most two of the following: fast, cheap, good. After daily-driving this car for 2.5 years (sold it recently), I think it's very close to being all three. With 400hp it's quick even by 2021 standards, it's affordable on the used market (not Honda-Accord-affordable, but still) and it's a great all-round car. I'll start with the cons. Mine wasn't problem-free -- I had to replace the slave cylinder, water pump, starter motor and front struts. It also had too much body roll, too much pedal spacing, cheap-feeling HVAC controls, a tiny trunk and terrible gas mileage (11-14 city). But the worst thing was the shifter -- it was super sloppy and had a long 6.5in throw. You can rectify this with the MGW-P short shifter, but I sold the car before I had the chance to try it. Now for the pros. It was SO. MUCH. FUN TO DRIVE! The LS2 is a fantastic motor -- gargantuan torque all the way to 6500rpm, sounds great, and is highly receptive to mods (though I kept mine bone stock). The handling was also quite good, aside from the body roll. It was very easy to slide and highly controllable once you broke the tail out. I never did burnouts in mine, but by all accounts GTOs are burnout machines! The seats were glorious too -- power-operated, excellent comfort and ample side bolstering. The bucket seats in the back were also very comfy and there was lots of legroom. And the ride was incredibly smooth, which made it ideal for road trips. As for the looks -- the GTO got a lot of flak for this when it came out. It certainly has an understated, Cavalier-like quality to it. But even in stock form, it has far more road presence than a normal car. And EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON I know thought mine was a great-looking car. Part of this might have been the Cyclone Gray paint, which really popped on a sunny day. I imagine the brighter colors like Impulse Blue or Brazen Orange would get even more compliments. GTOs have held their value better than many contemporaries (S197 GT, G35, 335i etc.), and I perfectly understand why. Their prices are already on the up, so pick one up while you still can!

2nd GTO I have had....1st was taken out by a drunk driver at 99k miles. This one bought 5 yrs ago with 20k. You have a great combination of interior comfort, tremendous performance, sleeper styling. It has normal for muscle car maintenance requirements, but nothing that would be a cause for concern. very comfortable to drive around town or long trips, although trunk is small for this size of a car. Normal people can sit in the rear BUCKET seats without trouble, but getting into the back can be interesting. Only word of caution is to ensure you leave traction control on, car has A LOT of power and will slide out from under you if not paying attention, which is why so many have been turned into drift cars. Hardly see any on the road, but those who have had them, say nothing but great things!.

Love, love, love, love this car! make sure you get a 2006 w 6 spd. Unless you need a minivan, get one of these!

Been one of my better cars. Computer went out had it replaced this past year. Really hard to get it but bought a used one for 100 bucks and sent to me. It works fine now but my car set 3 1/2 months waiting to locate one. Other than this I really like my car.