ChipG
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2021
- Threads
- 32
- Messages
- 515
- Reaction score
- 566
- Location
- Nashville TN
- First Name
- Chip
- Vehicle(s)
- '20 GT350/'95 F250/'65 Fastback/'96 Cobra Project
- Thread starter
- #1
Yeah, including hail dent in the title is a bit ominous, I know
So, hi all. Been reading this forum for months as I've been prepping to buy a new GT350. Lots of great info that has been very helpful (and has resulted in me having a long, expensive intended mods list, d'oh!). I have finally pulled the trigger, and I was able to buy a new '20 GT350 (L0424) for MSRP, Oxford White with black stripes, tech package, sofa seats, and carbon fiber dash. I located the car in OKC using the handy dandy google docs spreadsheet, Autotrader, and lots of phone calls. There are very few new Oxford White cars remaining, and I had more than one I called about that "just sold." One impact was that I really wanted blue stripes, but nothing was available, so switching them out with Big Worm Graphix replacements will be an early mod. Another was more interesting - this car was apparently built over a year ago. The dealer wasn't able to (willing to?) tell me anything about it's history, but it's a different dealership than was listed in the spreadsheet. Why it went unsold so long and switched dealers is a mystery.
Being that I'm in Nashville, I arranged everything by phone and flew out Saturday with my daughter to inspect and buy the vehicle and have a daddy-daughter road trip home. Paperwork at the dealer went smoothly, but I found a couple of things on inspection. First, given the vehicle's unsold time, I wanted to be sure it had no lot rot. Inspection went well, vehicle started easily, no low battery, no sign of bad gas or dried out seals, no flat spots on the tires. The first thing I did find was that underhood was very dirty. It certainly appears this sat outside and got some Oklahoma dirt blown into the gaps. I had them clean out the engine compartment and will need to do the same with the door jambs and around the edges of the trunk. The second was a bigger concern - several small hail dents. A couple on the hood on the stripes, at least one on the roof, and a small cluster on the trunk. Somebody who wasn't looking carefully wouldn't have noticed (which I'm sure they were counting on). On pointing them out, they very quickly agreed that they would pay for the shop of my choice to do PDR for all they find and I got that in writing, so ok. So, first questions are about this. First, anybody know or recommend a good body shop in middle TN? I will likely talk to them about other things as well like paint correction and PPF. Is there any reason I should be concerned that paintless dent removal will be insufficient to properly repair small dents?
Once settled on that, I asked the sales person about the owner's supplement and he was clueless there. Is this something I need to call Ford Performance to request, or will it auto-magically appear?
Finally, my daughter and I did get to have a lovely road trip home and very much enjoyed the car. In construction areas the famous tramlining was very evident, and I made it home just before cold weather hit and brought a little snow here. So, my next task is to swap out the tires for something cold-weather friendly. I've read up on the various threads and since I won't be driving in ice/snow (the old F250 is for that), I'm looking to put Pilot A/S 3+ on all four corners. The only question I have is whether to go with 275/40 or 285/35 sizing. The former will give me less tread width and slightly taller effective gearing, the latter a touch more width but slightly shorter gearing vs stock (though not to R-spec levels).
In any case, I'm very excited to finally get this vehicle and will update occasionally as I mod. Thanks for all the knowledge already shared in this forum and any thoughts on the above. Here she is in her first stock photos in OKC.
Chip
So, hi all. Been reading this forum for months as I've been prepping to buy a new GT350. Lots of great info that has been very helpful (and has resulted in me having a long, expensive intended mods list, d'oh!). I have finally pulled the trigger, and I was able to buy a new '20 GT350 (L0424) for MSRP, Oxford White with black stripes, tech package, sofa seats, and carbon fiber dash. I located the car in OKC using the handy dandy google docs spreadsheet, Autotrader, and lots of phone calls. There are very few new Oxford White cars remaining, and I had more than one I called about that "just sold." One impact was that I really wanted blue stripes, but nothing was available, so switching them out with Big Worm Graphix replacements will be an early mod. Another was more interesting - this car was apparently built over a year ago. The dealer wasn't able to (willing to?) tell me anything about it's history, but it's a different dealership than was listed in the spreadsheet. Why it went unsold so long and switched dealers is a mystery.
Being that I'm in Nashville, I arranged everything by phone and flew out Saturday with my daughter to inspect and buy the vehicle and have a daddy-daughter road trip home. Paperwork at the dealer went smoothly, but I found a couple of things on inspection. First, given the vehicle's unsold time, I wanted to be sure it had no lot rot. Inspection went well, vehicle started easily, no low battery, no sign of bad gas or dried out seals, no flat spots on the tires. The first thing I did find was that underhood was very dirty. It certainly appears this sat outside and got some Oklahoma dirt blown into the gaps. I had them clean out the engine compartment and will need to do the same with the door jambs and around the edges of the trunk. The second was a bigger concern - several small hail dents. A couple on the hood on the stripes, at least one on the roof, and a small cluster on the trunk. Somebody who wasn't looking carefully wouldn't have noticed (which I'm sure they were counting on). On pointing them out, they very quickly agreed that they would pay for the shop of my choice to do PDR for all they find and I got that in writing, so ok. So, first questions are about this. First, anybody know or recommend a good body shop in middle TN? I will likely talk to them about other things as well like paint correction and PPF. Is there any reason I should be concerned that paintless dent removal will be insufficient to properly repair small dents?
Once settled on that, I asked the sales person about the owner's supplement and he was clueless there. Is this something I need to call Ford Performance to request, or will it auto-magically appear?
Finally, my daughter and I did get to have a lovely road trip home and very much enjoyed the car. In construction areas the famous tramlining was very evident, and I made it home just before cold weather hit and brought a little snow here. So, my next task is to swap out the tires for something cold-weather friendly. I've read up on the various threads and since I won't be driving in ice/snow (the old F250 is for that), I'm looking to put Pilot A/S 3+ on all four corners. The only question I have is whether to go with 275/40 or 285/35 sizing. The former will give me less tread width and slightly taller effective gearing, the latter a touch more width but slightly shorter gearing vs stock (though not to R-spec levels).
In any case, I'm very excited to finally get this vehicle and will update occasionally as I mod. Thanks for all the knowledge already shared in this forum and any thoughts on the above. Here she is in her first stock photos in OKC.
Chip
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