Over the weekend, my wife was going thru the Saturday mail. In it was an unsolicited offer from a local Buick/GMC dealership saying they'd give me $1800 in trade for my 2008 GMC Envoy Denali with 203K miles on it. She came to realize that I've driven the wheels off of it and I should replace the car with something newer/less miles on it rather than put money into the Envoy. This means I have permission to shop for a newer vehicle. So the question becomes, what do I get next?

My criteria is as follows:

1. Must a RWD vehicle platform - preferably 4WD or AWD.

2. V8 powered prefered but high output V6s would be acceptable if that is all the platform comes with.

3. Vehicle must be under 100K miles

4. Must have SiriusXM capable radio

5. Bluebooth capability to interface with my iPhone would be desired but not required

6. Probably needs to be a 4-door for the family

 

So here is my current list of possible vehicles:

GMC -  Sierra pickups, Yukon, Canyon, another Envoy Denali

Chevy - Tahoe, Avalanche, Trailblazer SS

Buick - Rainier with low miles

Cadillac - Escalade EXT (AKA Avalanche), CTS (AWD)

Hummer - H2 or H3/H3 Alpha

RAM - Pickup

Ford - Explorer

Lincoln - Navigator

Chrysler - 300 AVD (with preferably a Hemi)

Dodge - Charger AWD (again with a Hemii), Durango

Jeep - Cherokee or Grand Cherokee 

 

As a whimsy - a Pontiac G6 convertible or a G8 GT - even though they do not match all my criteria.

 

That's my current list - so I ask you? What other vehicles should I consider - given my criteria?

I would go for the G8 but my needs are a bit different  

Why no Chevy Silverado?

Two reasons: I prefer the GMC version over the Chevy in most vehicles - I've owned 3 GMC S-10 Jimmys over the years and only bought the 2003 Chevy Blazer because they had already stopped making the Jimmy version by then. Second, being the president of the GMC Truck Specialty chapter of POCI, I probably shouldn't drive a Chevy truck unless there isn't a GMC version available (aka the Avalanche).

Now if there is a smoking deal on a Chevy that I can't get anywhere else on a GMC.....well money talks. A Trailbalzer SS with an LS3, hmmmm.....tough one.

Edited June 20, 20187 yr by Frosty

Makes sense. Ultimately, my suggestion of the Silverado was the money factor (as you mentioned). I would prefer a GMC myself but a comparably equipped Chevy for deal ain't bad.

1 hour ago, Ringo64 said:

Makes sense. Ultimately, my suggestion of the Silverado was the money factor (as you mentioned). I would prefer a GMC myself but a comparably equipped Chevy for deal ain't bad.

I understand the money thing for sure. What makes this more complicated is my brother-in-law/ex-brother-law is a salesman at the local Chevy dealership. 

Nothing wrong with a Chevy.....keep seeing all those commercials about all the awards Chevy is receiving over the past few years. My son just purchased a GMC Terrain Denali and loves it so far. Lots and lots of options on it. I would think the Acadia Denali would be nice also and a little bigger in size for you. Need to get used to the toggle type transmission selector on the dash. Good luck with your search!

1 hour ago, 74Esprit said:

Nothing wrong with a Chevy.....keep seeing all those commercials about all the awards Chevy is receiving over the past few years. My son just purchased a GMC Terrain Denali and loves it so far. Lots and lots of options on it. I would think the Acadia Denali would be nice also and a little bigger in size for you. Need to get used to the toggle type transmission selector on the dash. Good luck with your search!

I agree. I am not trashing Chevy, I am just avoiding the overlapping vehicles between Chevy and GMC. Where they overlap, I would choose the GMC over the Chevy. I checked out both the Terrain and Acadia Denalis at the North American International Auto Show back in January. They are well optioned.

There is two problems with the Terrain and Acadia - for me. First both are FWD platforms and I prefer a RWD platform instead (I'm a dinosaur I know). Second, my wife already has a Chevy Traverse, the sister vehicle to the Acadia. We don't really need two of the same vehicle.

 

I just thought of another requirement - refrain from black exteriors. I've owned four black vehicles already - two Trans Am, a Jimmy, and the Envoy. They look super when they are clean. Not so much when they are filthy. I currently own two black vehicles - the '86 Trans Am and the '08 Envoy. I'd like something different and requires a little less maintenance to look nice.

Edited June 20, 20187 yr by Frosty

10 hours ago, Frosty said:

Over the weekend, my wife was going thru the Saturday mail. In it was an unsolicited offer from a local Buick/GMC dealership saying they'd give me $1800 in trade for my 2008 GMC Envoy Denali with 203K miles on it. She came to realize that I've driven the wheels off of it and I should replace the car with something newer/less miles on it rather than put money into the Envoy. This means I have permission to shop for a newer vehicle. So the question becomes, what do I get next?

My criteria is as follows:

1. Must a RWD vehicle platform - preferably 4WD or AWD.

2. V8 powered prefered but high output V6s would be acceptable if that is all the platform comes with.

3. Vehicle must be under 100K miles

4. Must have SiriusXM capable radio

5. Bluebooth capability to interface with my iPhone would be desired but not required

6. Probably needs to be a 4-door for the family

 

So here is my current list of possible vehicles:

GMC -  Sierra pickups, Yukon, Canyon, another Envoy Denali

Chevy - Tahoe, Avalanche, Trailblazer SS

Buick - Rainier with low miles

Cadillac - Escalade EXT (AKA Avalanche), CTS (AWD)

Hummer - H2 or H3/H3 Alpha

RAM - Pickup

Ford - Explorer

Lincoln - Navigator

Chrysler - 300 AVD (with preferably a Hemi)

Dodge - Charger AWD (again with a Hemii), Durango

Jeep - Cherokee or Grand Cherokee 

 

As a whimsy - a Pontiac G6 convertible or a G8 GT - even though they do not match all my criteria.

 

That's my current list - so I ask you? What other vehicles should I consider - given my criteria?

I would go for the GMC or the GMC, but you could consider the GMC instead, but that’s just me!😁 The G8 old be nice too, but you have Lucy and the TA.

So I should just get the GMC, that’s what you are saying, right? 

Edited June 21, 20187 yr by Frosty

6 hours ago, Frosty said:

So I should just get the GMC, that’s what you are saying, right? 

Yes I think that’s what I’m saying, though I tend to repeat myself sometimes!🤓

kidding aside I think GMC makes a hell of a vehicle. It’s never been just a Chevy with a name plate change. Good quality added.

The wife and I talked a bit last night. She doesn't like the idea of a full-size pickup because she sees it as a gas guzzler. She likes the Colorado/Canyon. Durango and Cherokee were also good possible vehicles. She doesn't like the idea of a Chrysler 300 since she blew one up in Florida a few years ago. The Tampa area was getting a lot torrential rain at the time. She drove through a few inches of standing water. The air intake is so low on the 300 that it sucked up water and hydro-locked / destroyed the engine.

Edited June 22, 20187 yr by Frosty

Well the weekend took a turn I was not quite expecting. We went to a mega-dealer's used car lot. On the lot was a 2018 Chevy Colorado with 4100 miles on it. Asking price was $33k. It was loaded. We test drove it and liked it very much. We also test drove a 2015 Dodge Durango Citadel (with a Hemi). It had 87K miles on it and the price was $17.7K. We drove it around the lot since the dealership was closing for the day.  We decided that the Colorado would be a better deal but they were only offering $1600 trade-in for Black Beauty. 

My wife suggested we go back home and check out the used car lot of our local Chevy dealer, where Tim, our ex-brother-in-law, works. They had a few pre-owned Colorados on the lot too. The prices were similar. One had 26K miles but was a Z71 package. The other was an LT with about 6K miles on it. All of these were 4x4 V6 vehicles except the Durango. Tim's dealership is currently offering $2k over appraised trade-in. So that got us thinking about getting one through Tim instead of the mega dealer. Granted it is not the Canyon I would have prefered but it is close.

So I maybe the owner of a Colorado before the week is over or we might wait some more. It's going to be a very screwy week for me.....I am also on jury duty this week (doing my civic duty) and my dad is back in the hospital again - this time with double pneumonia.

Well take it easy with everything going on. Hope your Dad gets better!

The ex came through. Offering $4k on trade for BB. The kid is swapping BB for the Colorado for the evening so we can test drive it tonight. Who knows, I might be a Colorado owner by the end of the week.

Edited June 25, 20187 yr by Frosty

Nice! Got pics?  

Nice ride!

Good lookin' truck!

Me and the bank will prolly own this before the end of the week.

It has 9600 miles on it.

Edited June 26, 20187 yr by Frosty

I’m at the dealership now!!!!

 

I like the live play-by-play! Good luck!

It’s a done deal. It’s now mine! My bro-in-law gets the commission too. Sweet! 

He told me this was also a GM executive driven vehicle too. He showed me the original title, it was in GM LLC’s name.

I got a crap load of electronic gadgets to learn play with too. Bluetooth, traffic, navigation, OnStar, and more. Should be an interesting drive to work.

Oh and I’ve been dismissed from jury duty too. Cool!

Edited June 26, 20187 yr by Frosty

Double the awesomeness with the jury news!

Wish you many miles of safe and fun driving! 👍

10 hours ago, 74Esprit said:

Wish you many miles of safe and fun driving! 👍

Thank you my friend!