I came back today from test driving a 2003 Daytona Blue Touring 6 speed MT. with 45K miles. Wow, it was real bad!..I experienced the horrible rumble and rattle noises you guys said when the car slows down...and it's loud! Also, the transmission grind on me going from 4th to 5th on the highway, it did it all the time..I had no problems(grinding) going from 1st through 4th. However, the shifting was not smooth at all, you had to give it some effort. The power windows on the driver side when powering it up to close would not stay up. It would go back down half way!....you had to hold the button up for a sec so it would stay up.

It also looked like the previous four(4) owners(as per CarFax) did not take good care of the car. The leather seats were in pretty bad shape and there were a few noticable dings by the driver and passenger doors; a few scrapes here and there. This didn't bother me so much, it's a 3yr old car and wear & tear is bound to happen. But the way it drove, and the noise and grinding of the the 5th gear is what was diconcerning to me.

Like I said in another post, I test drove a 03 Base BrickYard (I thought is was the Enthusiast at first) with 15K miles and the car drove perfect!. No shift grind or noise rattle when slowing down shifting was smooth as butta..it was a nice sports car ride...But this touring was like driving a Mack Truck!..terrible.


It's too bad, the car looked nice from the outside, the Daytona color blue is sharp! Now, I've experienced what you guys were talking about...I told the sales man, thanks for letting me test drive the car..., but no thanks,...I say as is, it's prob worth maybe.. 15K? as a fixerupper?.....Ernesto

 

Yeah, some 2003's have problems. I have a 2003 that hasn't had any problems but it has no where near 45K miles. That Brickyard car sounds sweet. With the '06 intro being so close, why not wait just a little bit and make a good deal on a low mileage used '05. Someone is bound to trade one in on an '06.

Good luck with your decision.

 

bought my used '03 DB touring 3 months ago..only 20k miles on it and it's in perfect cond. i couldn't be any happier w/ it...just depends on who owned it first. guess i was lucky heh. damn this car is SOO fun to drive

 

I have 22,000 on my 2003 DB . . . no problems! Love it!

 

My 2003 has just over 14K, and is fine so far (some of the things you mentioned are TSBs, not sure why they never took care of it). The thing you have to realize (that I realize) is that these cars aren't going to get *better* (applies to any car). Sadly, time and wear and tear only creates problems. Hopefully it will age somewhat gracefully.

 

I've had mine since December of 2002 ('03 model) and 44k miles later, i love it as much as i did the first day i drove it!!