Considering a 92 Typhoon....

[Tom87GN]

Anybody know if an 87K mile all original 92 GMC Typhoon is worth $12,500? The only mods are a K & N and a 160 stat. Everything else is supposedly stock. NADA site says that it should be worth $11,500 in fair shape and $12,350 in excellent shape.

I have also checked a few of the SyTy sites and the trucks for sale seem to be higher priced than that, even with more miles.

Just looking for some opinions......

 

[Mikemill]

WAY overpriced!!!! Worth $1500-$2000 tops.

 

[turbojimmy]

I let mine go for $8,500 last year. It was a 92, about the same miles (I think - I don't really remember). It had some inconsistencies in the paint (re-painted at different points in its life). Ran okay, rims were beat. Interior was 8 out of 10 (leather was perfect, carpet and console was a little beat). There seems to be a big difference between what people are asking and what they are getting. $12,500 seems on the high side unless it's absolutely perfect.

Check out the SyTy site for what to look for (EDIT: wrong URL in original post: www.syty.net).

Also think about why you want one. If you want a "GN truck", this ain't it. I really grew to hate my truck (but it didn't deserve what ultimately happened to it - see here http://www.turbojimmy.com/typhoon.html ).

EDIT: here's a link to my for sale page (from last year): http://www.turbojimmy.com/ty_for_sale.html

Jim

 

[Gothmog]

When I was looking for a ty, the asking prices were high, and the owners wouldn't budge. They're not holding their value in the market the way the owners think they are. Be patient!!!!!

$12.5 is way too high

$8.5 sounds just right

just my 2 cents..

 

[Tom87GN]

Originally posted by Gothmog
They're not holding their value in the market the way the owners think they are. Be patient!!!!!

$12.5 is way too high

$8.5 sounds just right

just my 2 cents..

So what did you end up paying for yours? Just wondering...

 

[TurboJunky]

I had a completely top-bottom original 1992 Typhoon for about a year. Bought it with 26,000 miles for $19,200 and sold it with 28,000 for $19,200.
Typhoon

I think it may be a tad high but it depends on actual condition and upkeep.

 

[GNocide]

its really hard to say on value. truck condition hs a lot to do with it. i mean their were a lot less produced then buicks and you will not have many to compare and choose against, even less as the years go by. also check syty.net. for more info.

 

[myclone]

Wheather its worth it or not depends on a LOT of factors..

Condition and milage are the two main deciding factors along with color. Needless to say low milage super nice trucks fetch the most but if its one of the common colors like black or white then that doesnt make it as desirable. The red/red, blue/gray, or green/gray demand more money due to the rarity of the color combo.

Prices seem to hold pretty steady for Tys among the ppl in the syty crowd but every now and then you run across one that is cheap/super expensive cause the owner hasnt really checked into what they are selling for on the syty sites and just wants to unload it or is going by the NADA book value.

Another thing is the economy has went in the crapper and ppl just arent buying toys or at least paying top dollar for them right now. That being said ppl that have nice trucks and are asking top dollar either have to sit on them for a while or negotiate on price to unload it. There has been a couple of Tys on the syty board that are in the price range youre looking at and the owners have dropped the price a couple of times to try to unload the truck.

Lastly, the price you quoted seems slightly high to me but Im not in the market for a ty either (my sy is enough of a PIA/money pit and the last thing I need is two of em). If its a REALLY nice truck the price isnt outragious but still slightly high IMO. If the milage was a little closer to ~50k or less then Id say the price is right on the money (no pun intended) for a common color and slightly low for one of the above mentioned "rare" colors. FWIW $8500 will get you a high milage truck or one that needs quite a bit of attention or...... the once in a life time deal that the owner has no clue what its worth and just wants rid of it.

HTH

ps. Did you check out the classifieds at www.syty.net forum? The bulleton board classifieds seem to get more activity than syty.org.

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by myclone
FWIW $8500 will get you a high milage truck or one that needs quite a bit of attention or...... the once in a life time deal that the owner has no clue what its worth and just wants rid of it.

HTH

ps. Did you check out the classifieds at www.syty.net forum? The bulleton board classifieds seem to get more activity than syty.org.

Yeah, I meant syty.net. Brain fart. I edited my post.

My truck fell into the high-mileage (91k)/needs attention category. On the surface, it wasn't a bad looking truck but it had a lot of minor problems that added up to expensive fixes in order to get it back to original running and looking condition. I took a bit of a beating on it financially, but made most of it back selling the aftermarket stuff separately.

Jim

 

[Vendor Defendor]

Originally posted by TT/A1233
I had a completely top-bottom original 1992 Typhoon for about a year. Bought it with 26,000 miles for $19,200 and sold it with 28,000 for $19,200.
Typhoon

I think it may be a tad high but it depends on actual condition and upkeep.

thats a beatiful truck, i need towin the lottory, and buy that..

-Neil

 

[myclone]

Originally posted by turbojimmy
Yeah, I meant syty.net. Brain fart. I edited my post.

My truck fell into the high-mileage (91k)/needs attention category. On the surface, it wasn't a bad looking truck but it had a lot of minor problems that added up to expensive fixes in order to get it back to original running and looking condition. I took a bit of a beating on it financially, but made most of it back selling the aftermarket stuff separately.

Jim

Glad you got most of your $ back.. It seems to me that the Tys are much like vettes.. Once they hit the ~80k mile mark the price ppl will pay for them drops like a rock.... unless of course the truck is mint and/or is one of the rarer color combos.

Ive seen red/red Tys with ~60k miles that were stock and looked like they were never driven go for $18k+ but I also know of a red/gray ty thats somewhat local that the guy would prolly take $8k for. The only problem is his has ~140k on it. He's had plenty of tire kickers but no one will step up due to the milage and it needs some minor TLC (a professional cleaning and detailing would make a world of diff in that particular truck).

Anyway, heres is (IMO) why Tom87GN could prolly haggle over the price on the truck hes looking at to get it lower.

1. Its a 92. Most ppl want the 93s with the lazy boy leather seats. Not that you couldnt swap the 93 seats into a 92 but itd be expensive and/or a PIA.
2. The milage is just a tiny bit high for the asking price. I think the owner might need to be willing to negoiate ~$1000 or so.
3. If its a common color combo the haggling amount could prolly increase to ~$1500 or so and be a little more acceptable. If its a more rare color the haggling amount could decrease to ~$500-~$1000 since the rare colors command more money.

Lastly, IMO a syty for a daily driver is setting yourself up for a headache. They arent rock solid drivers like a Buick can be. You MUST tinker with them constantly to keep them happy. I mean every week or so if its a daily driver to keep them in tip top shape. They eat ignition components like there is no tomorrow, boost control on the stock turbo is almost non existant, they detonate even if you look at them wrong, the anti lock is hit and miss on getting it to work correctly after you change the brakes, bump into something with the cladding doing damage to it and youve just spent a pile of money as the stuff is hard to come by and super expensive when you do find it.

To sum it up Ive seen several Buick owners that tried the syty + Buick thing to only get frustrated with the amount of work and attention the cars needed to keep them in tip top shape. One or the other always seemed to be broke down, needing something, or not running correctly. They soon tire of the non stop repair/attention and sell off the syty or even the syty and the Buick so they can do something other than automotive up keep. I consider myself pretty hard core when it comes to cars and I wouldnt have both myself just one or the other.

Just my .00002.

 

[Tom87GN]

Originally posted by myclone
To sum it up Ive seen several Buick owners that tried the syty + Buick thing to only get frustrated with the amount of work and attention the cars needed to keep them in tip top shape. One or the other always seemed to be broke down, needing something, or not running correctly.

Thanks for the opinion, myclone! That is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for here. My goal with this truck (if I get it) is to leave it alone and keep it as stock as possible. I don't plan on having two turbo V-6's to modify all the time, as my GN is my money pit for now.

Do you drive yours daily? Give me an idea of how a stock unmodified Ty would fair against one that has been modified as far as driveability goes.

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by myclone
To sum it up Ive seen several Buick owners that tried the syty + Buick thing to only get frustrated with the amount of work and attention the cars needed to keep them in tip top shape. One or the other always seemed to be broke down, needing something, or not running correctly. They soon tire of the non stop repair/attention and sell off the syty or even the syty and the Buick so they can do something other than automotive up keep. I consider myself pretty hard core when it comes to cars and I wouldnt have both myself just one or the other.

Just my .00002.

Perfect summary. Sounds EXCACTLY like my experience.

Jim

 

[TurboJunky]

I didn't have any problems or maintenance issues with my Typhoon. I put 2,000 miles on it in a year. I didn't race or tinker with it so maybe that helped. The Ty is great for all around use. It has lots of cargo space, rides nice, plenty of room for 4 adults and pulls like a bitch from the stoplights with the AWD. In stock form they fall on their face after 40mph which is why I sold it for my GN.

 

[myclone]

Originally posted by Tom87GN
Do you drive yours daily?

My Sy stays in the garage and only comes out in nice weather. Not that Im affraid it wont get me back home its that the gravel driveway I have (and HATE) right now makes a mess of it when its raining/been raining. Its black so keeping it clean is a losing battle (you GN owners can feel my pain ). On the other hand Ive driven it 22hrs non stop except for gas at 90+mph and it didnt mind one bit.

Ive put under 10k miles on my sy in the ~three years Ive owned it. Its been troublesome at time but then again when I do take it out for a spin I show it no mercy what so ever and the troubles Ive had have usually been due to me racing it or modding it. I bought it to have fun at the track and the stop lights so it gets the loud pedal squeezed when I feel the urge.

Give me an idea of how a stock unmodified Ty would fair against one that has been modified as far as driveability goes.

Thats a hard question to answer really. If one vehicle was the reason for the phrase "no two are alike" then the sytys were it. You could literaly take two trucks that came off the assmebly line at the same time and they would have totally different personalities. One would go 100k miles with only minor maint while the other would be a nightmare from the time it was first started until the last owner got fed up and pushed it off a cliff.

So, to say wheather a bone stock truck would be a nightmare or not would be about as accurate as me predicting the weather. All I can say with confidence is the number of daily driven and mostly trouble free sytys is extremely small.

Examples:

The combustion chamber design is horrible. The trucks will detonate at the slightest urging. Detonation kills the weak factory rods in no time. Trucks that do last a long time are never/rarely subjected to detonation IMO.

The electrical system is a nightmare on sytys so if tinkering with electrical systems and/or understanding their function is intimidating to you Id have to say youd be better off to pass on the vehicle for your sanities sake. Im an electronics tech so the electrical stuff doesnt bother me other than the hassle of fixing GMs screw ups from time to time.

The stock boost control (or lack there of) is another nightmare. The stock WG configuration is pathetic. Without some serious re-engineering and work the stock boost control just doesnt work effective due to its poor design. The small mitsu turbo is at its limit at stock boost levels also so anything above 15psi is just beating your head against a wall. I gave up and went to a Garrett hybrid turbo and an external WG with its own electronic control..... and I dont give up easily on mechanical issues. The boost control issue kicked my hind end. Period.

The trans..... The trans is a 700R4 that is actually rated for less hp than a stock syty truely puts out. GM "officially" rated the hp level right at the trans hp level for what Id assume would be to protect themselves from warranty nightmares. To sum it up other than a hand full of trucks its not a matter IF the trans will need gone through its WHEN. My trans lasted a couple of dozen 15psi launches/high 11 second runs before eating itself and thats with me doing every strengthening mod that could be done without going into the trans itself (bigger TV boost valve, increase line pressure, HUGE trans cooler, etc). The really bad part is that most shops cant build a 700 to take the torque coupled with the AWD that these trucks can put out. A bunch of ppl have tried to have shops that claim to have built a 700R4 "that stands up to our ~600hp insert car of choice here" and they last no time. A few individuals can do it but they get premo prices for the bullet proof trans builds ($3k+ for a syty proof 700R4).

Now that Ive sufficiently scared you off I wanna say that as long as you KNOW that sytys require LOTS of care and feeding they can be a blast to own/drive. You wont likely see another around every corner and NO one that arent into turbo GM stuff knows what they are. Thats kinda cool but does it outweigh the hassle of keeping said truck in tip top shape? Thats what you'll have to decide for yourself. As I mentioned ppl have tried the Buick + syty thing and hated it eventually. You may be different and I would hope you like tinkering with GM turbo stuff a lot as you will more than likely get that chance.

 

[TurboJunky]

Here's my experiences with public reaction with the vehicles I own/owned:

GN - Awesome. Turns damn near every head in the general vicinity. Most know it's performance potential and engine.

TTA - Luke warm. Only the serious turbo Buick enthusiast knows what it is. Most don't think twice about it and think it's just another old 3rd Gen F-body with an anemic 5.0 TPI.

Typhoon - Warm. Wasn't allowed into an "open" car show and got funny looks at the Woodward Dream Cruise. It resembles a "punked out lowered truck" to most people. I found only a nitch group of enthusiasts knew what a Typhoon was. Most don't know about it's performance and found some who thought it had the LC2 engine.

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by TT/A1233
Typhoon - Warm. Wasn't allowed into an "open" car show and got funny looks when at the Woodward Dream Cruise. It resembles a "punked out lowered truck" to most people. I found only a nitch group of enthusiasts knew what a Typhoon was. Most don't know about it's performance and found some who thought it had the LC2 engine.

My experience was the same unless you ran into someone who actually knew what it was - then they were ecstatic. I actually ran into more people who knew what they were than I had anticipated. Most people, however, thought it was a punked out truck. I actually had punks ask me where I got the lowering kit, the ground FX, rims, etc.

On the '92 vs. '93 desirability thing (a few posts back), I'd tend to think that the '92s would be in more demand because of the embroidered seats. The '93s had the "regular" Jimmy leather seats. The '93s had the overhead console, though. All things being equal, I think the '93s will garner more money because they're 1 year newer.

Jim

 

[Twins]

I bought mine 7-3-02 with 104k for $9500.00 I think the $ was a little high but what you can actually find and what you should pay are to diff. things.

My truck needed a tuneup-shocks-and the wheels redone. The paint was a 7.5 so it did get re-sprayed this winter.

In 6k of driving I now store my GN 3 miles away and keep the Ty here in my garage at home.

Real space for four. AWD makes it a stop light hero. Although it is a ****ty '80's GM design it doesn't rattle or creak as bad as my GN. I put 1k on it in a three day weekend last month. I would never try that in my car.....the girlfriend loved the space for three bags. 18.5 mpg not being easy on it.

Maybe they break parts but if you spend any time on the SYTY board there seems to be a lot of 17-to whatever year olds that don't understand that a 11 yr old vehicle is going to need some attention. I don't care if you have a 92 accord if.....you are putting 300 hp to the trans it's gonna break things.

Keep in mind I have a hot-air car and have another in my care......maintaning and understand these has been a 7 yr crash course in piss poor GM engineering I wouldn't wish on anyone.

With that said if I had to sell one it would be the GN. I waxed a full rice probe at the track last week. You could see him smirk as we pulled up to the line. By the '60 mark he was able to read my plate "PDQSUV". By the end I was to far for him to see it anymore!

I have people ask me questions about it everytime I'm at the track....not the case with the GN.

My daily commute involves walking down a flight of stairs, and I have another everyday ride, but I have more faith in the TY to go on a 1k weekend trip than I've ever had in my Buick.

Maybe I've been lucky but you might be too. Buy it and enjoy...........I sure have.

 

[myclone]

I get the same reaction at times with ppl wanting to know where I got the ground effects or how I lowered it. Its highly annoying but I just cringe and live with it.

I kind of consider ppl not knowing what it is as an advantage though. Trying to drum up some races at the local grudge night is kinda tough when you say those two letters "GN" as your average Joe Shmoe doesnt want any part of it. Point to the little truck with "ground effects" and they think easy kill. Ive made a couple of bucks more than once cause of that. Same goes for some knot head that is out cruising his BB Chevelle that happens on the little truck with ground effects at a light. Launching on him at 12psi while he lights the tires up and watches me walk... no run... ahead of him will have him wanting to know whats up with the little truck at the next light..... or he just has this look on his face . That my friends is priceless IMO.

So, I guess it depends on your perspective. Yes, I absolutely hate the "where'd ya get the ground effects" questions but I use it to my advantage which kinda makes me feel better when its time for the same person to pay up.

 

[QWIKTURBO]

Well....

I had a 93 Typhoon(all black..matched the T) and sold it a while back (divorce) for $16,500 and it had 47,000 on it. Now my father still has his 92 Phoon. It only has 17,000 on the clock! He said he'll never sell it because he wouldn't get what he "feels" it is worth.

I dont know if you care or not...but from I remember...the 92's had the off color greyish ground effects and the 93's had the effects the same color as the rest of the truck. Also...I believe the 93's rode a lil less harsh than the 92's. My dad's rides like a lumber truck and mine rode quite a bit softer.

If you get one...or you are testing one out...do this: Find a vacant road somewhere. Then bring it to a complete stop. Put it in nuetral and pump the brakes 3-4 times. Hold on the last pump and put it back in drive. build the boost up to 5-6 pounds and let it go!! If you're wearing a hat you wont be after you do that! It will jerk it clean off your head and throw in the rear stowage area! Dont ask me how I know... You have to do that whole Neutral and pump thing because of the ABS. It will just "push" right through the brakes if you dont. That procedure just allows you to "override" the ABS system.