To all prospective SyTy Owners

[SyTyJedi]

I see alot of posts lately about wanting to get a Sy/Ty, and I think there is a little bit of explaining to do.

The current SyTy market is CHEAP - and this makes the problem much worse. Buyers are deceived by a cheap price for the truck and they think they can afford it.

Here is an example:

A friend has a Ferrari F355. He's obviously wealthy enough to buy one, but he hasn't been driving it lately - why? His answer: Every time you take it to the dealer for maintenance you are looking to spend at LEAST $3000. His problem is, while he can afford to BUY a Ferrari, he cannot afford to OWN one. See what I'm saying?

You may be able to BUY a Typhoon. But you may NOT be able to OWN one. You are looking at close to $500 to $1000 per truck to bring it back to good running condition and fix any previous mistakes - and that is an average. Some are lower than that, some are WAY higher. Another problem is, just like with a Ferrari, there are very few shops you can take your truck to that know how to work on it. You wouldn't take a Ferrari to City Garage, Pep Boys, etc. and you shouldn't take your Syclone or Typhoon there either.

This is intended to be precautionary and a bit of reality for potential new owners. A few rules you should follow - if you can barely afford to BUY a SyTy, walk away and save yourself some headache. I don't know how you are going to afford the maintenance on the truck. Another - the less you pay for your truck, the more you are going to pay for maintenance and initial tune up, on average.

There are many other affordable options out there. Owning a SyTy is a very interactive experience where participation in a community is almost required. If you want to have a fast car that you can modify on the cheap and go fast for cheap - get something with a V8. If you want to own a piece of history and are prepared to get your hands dirty and don't mind spending money to keep a vehicle running at 100% - get a SyTy and have the time of your life.

 

[Loeryder]

Well thought out explanation Tyler.

I think I have scared off a few potential SyTy Owners by tellign them how it really is to own one.
Everyone thinks it's turn key race truck, and that could not be further from the truth.

If you are trying to come up with a budget to see if you can afford one, double any maintenace cost from any previous vehicle you have owned, also safe to double the amount you'll need to set aside for insurance.
That should keep you in the ballpark of reasonable unexpected costs.

If you intend to use it as a daily driver that risk goes up exponentially.

 

[cartman007]

Well said on both parts. I knew what I was getting into going in, but even expecting maintainence and getting your hands dirty (which I do for fun anyways), you can still never prepare for the fun experience of BREAKAGE. These trucks are getting old, even low mileage well taken care of trucks will still experience some breakage if driven the way they were intended to be driven (c'mon, you know they weren't built to pussyfoot to the grocery store in, they were meant to drive "spiritedly" [I don't mean beat the sh*t out of it, I would never do that to mine, but I do run it at the track and get on it from time to time]). And the cost of REPAIRS on top of maintainence can be quite costly as well. Some of the common breakage/repair problems (like the tranny) can be very expensive to repair. Even little things can be frustrating (like that wonderful tranny shift cable I broke, stealerships want $237.50 for a part they used to sell for $45, GMpartsdirect wanted like $140 plus $25 for shipping that takes 7-10 days before it leaves their warehouse :fist: , etc.) and FORGET IT if you need SyTy specific parts on the weekend. You can't go to your local Autozone or Pep Boys, or even speed/high performance parts store and get parts like you can for say an LT1 Camaro. I will be the first to admit I had a very frustrating 1st full summer of Syclone ownership. I don't mind putting in the wrench time, it is relaxing SOMETIMES, and more fun than working in my office for 8+ hours a day). But tracking down parts and troubleshooting can be a pain in the ass.

When it works, it is the most fun I ever had on 4 wheels.... when it doesn't ..... :fist: :drinking:

 

[skata]

$20,000
- $ your purchase price
_________________________
= $ money you will put in your truck in the next two years


does that sound about right? :lol:

 

[Nasariobv]

good point

good point

I got my sy for 9500 kinda cheap, have put 2500 into it and im not even close to finishing up, but still i love the sy and its a fact if you love something u always pay for it???? ie Women...

 

[J_SULLIVAN]

IMO these trucks are just toys and I know some of you guys have them for daily drivers, and thats cool, but nobody should ever expect long term reliability out of these. Except for me cause I don't treat mine like sh*t and have had it for 5 1/2 years now and only have put around $800 into it. BTW I paid $10,500(cash baby) for mine and looking back I might have paid a grand too much.

 

[TYRODD]

IMO these trucks are just toys and I know some of you guys have them for daily drivers, and thats cool, but nobody should ever expect long term reliabilty out of these. Except for me cause I don't treat mine like sh*t and have had it for 5 1/2 years now and only have put around $800 into it. BTW I paid $10,500(cash baby) for mine and looking back I might have paid a grand too much.

Werd,
My Typhoon is my daily driver and I love it enough to not knock the shit out of it at every streetlight. Yes, these trucks are maintanance nightmares, but if you stay ahead of the problems, and not run it ragged, they can be *pretty reliable. Also My truck is stock and that prolly has a lot to do with the reliability.
Something Ive noticed about some of the newer owners.....they seem to be getting younger. I was 18 when I bought my typhoon, so I too was pretty young, but I did have mechanical experience and knowledge about vehicles. It seems like the younger people buying these have no idea what they're getting into (or their parents for that matter )
In all Ive spent about ~$1200 on all the nitpicky things to get it running great, so really not too bad for a 12 year old truck! :wink: [/i]

 

[Jimmy]

Just be prepared to spend. Speed=$

 

[THEMADTYPH00N]

Just be prepared to spend. Speed=$

Best piece of advice in here.

 

[blk00z28]

Nice write up...

I know what I'm getting into. But they are like anything thats over 10 years old. They WILL need some work.

I'm kinda sticking up for the rest of us that want one. I know I can find one, maybe I should say that in a different way. I know I can GET one. But at the current moment I know its not the best idea. Which I know I'm going to kick myself in the ass because of it too. :roll:

 

[mattw]

I really don't think they are that much work or that hard to work on.. They just take a little getting used to... If you pay attention to them and fix everything that you notice before it becomes a big problem they really aren't bad at all...


-Matt

 

[Syclone#1992]

Well here is my take on these trucks.

I bought Red/Grey #2288 a couple of months ago. So far in order to get it right, I have dropped at least $1500. Here is the list, upper balljoints (both sides), brakes, new tires, rims refinished, radiator flush (the right way with the machine), new ATR exhaust (truck now has totally stainless from turbo back), oil change, wheeled the truck out....yada yada yada. I still want to up grade the CD player, replace the speakers and do the shock upgrade.

I believe these trucks will run forever if you keep them up and maintain them correctly. Many of these trucks are now past the 100+ thousand mark. I rarely launch my trucks, but I still occasionally get into the boost. They are not the easiest to work on, but I try to do stuff right the first time, so I am no messing with it again.

 

[CavScout]

Sticky, sticky, sticky...

 

[SY2932]

Bottom line is if you aren't willing to get dirty YOURSELF, a syty isn't for you. Unless of course you have deep pockets. In that case, your patience will run out LONG before the never ending bills do from paying someone else to *try* and make it run right.

These trucks can be VERY tempermental at times. Those who are true to the syty "religion" research the problem and tackle it themselves. At times, it can be a very frustrating plight. However, the acceleration of a truck in perfect working order helps you leave all your previous problems behind...

 

[92BlkTy]

i concur. while ive spent very little on my Ty for requried maintence (maybe $1000 in the last 1.5years, including all my oil changes with mobil 1 oil/filters) and its been very reliable, i have spent some bucks to make it run right. granted if i hadnt spent the money, it would still run, but not as well as it does.

about working on your own truck... you have to. its the only way to truly appreciate these trucks and the people that drive em. you know the headaches everyone goes through trying to get the air bubbles out of the IC, and that if you take out the inner fenders, a spark plug job will only take 10-15 min instead of the 4 hours with them in :lol: just little things like that. i didnt even consider myself a real SyTyer till a couple weeks ago when i busted my propshaft. :lol:

im one of those helluvadeal owners. i got my factory freak for 12K, and its been very reliable and extremely powerfull for just having exhaust work. so they are out there, but they are few and far between.

 

[Timbo]

If you are trying to come up with a budget to see if you can afford one, double any maintenace cost from any previous vehicle you have owned, also safe to double the amount you'll need to set aside for insurance.
That should keep you in the ballpark of reasonable unexpected costs.

If you intend to use it as a daily driver that risk goes up exponentially.

Mine hasn't been near as bad as my Fiat X1/9 as far as maintenence and repairs. Insurance on my Ty is also considerably less than on my Saab. I bought mine with the intentions of driving daily, but thank God I haven't had to. It's a great feeling to own one of your dream vehicles and have the option of not driving it.

 

[92BlkTy]

once i get a syclone the Ty is getting retired.

t minus 86,000 hours and 16min until i have a Syclone...
i cant wait.

 

[TrboSy2051]

These vehicles are 13+ years old................. expect things to be going or gone when you get or maintain it....... things go bad over time (driven or not.....no starts or drives for months on end) and our trucks are getting old . ...................A weather change? It'll act funny :-?.
It's not a good "first" vehicle IMO, but it can be maintained if you keep things in check .............. And there's always some new idea coming from someone (which is good) and helps this community.

I do race my truck from time to time, but I also keep up w/ the maint............They do take some tuning to run at the strip/street (almost everytime out). I've had mine for 7 yrs... always been a daily driver (it's good to have a back up though), just drove from CA to IN w/ no probs, so I guess it's reliable .

If you want to push it w/out maintaining it........... it'll run like shit :x

Buddy

 

[racinreaper]

As the saying goes-- THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MAN AND A BOY IS THE SIZE OF HIS DICK AND THE PRICE OF HIS TOY'S LOL

 

[J_SULLIVAN]

Well that must mean I don't make enough money! :lol: