VERY Surprised by GM Quality...
 

I picked up a 2003 Tahoe LT a couple of days ago, and every time I drive it I am impressed with the build quality. It has 98,000 miles on it, but very few squeaks or creaks. Both A/C systems blow ice cold air that you can't stand to run on high even when its 106 outside. The steering wheel doesn't shake at all, it tracks perfectly straight, and rides surprisingly smooth. I can't feel the transmission shifting at all.

From 2007-2009 I had 3 different, brand new, Mercedes Benz vehicles, C350 Sport, ML350 and GLK350. The Tahoe can stand next to any of them on build quality, power, luxury options and durability. That says a lot considering the Tahoe I'm comparing against them is 7 years old and has almost 100k miles on it.

Everything works like it was new. Power windows, wipers, heated seats, stereo...there don't appear to be any electrical gremlins, which is more than I can say for the ML350 I had.

This is my first Chevy, and I am very pleasantly surprised. Tomorrow I take it up to my local mechanic to give it a thorough inspection and do any pre-emptive maintenance just to be safe. I've owned quite a few vehicles in the past decade....this Chevy is by far my favorite.

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2WD eh?

Yea, I had to choose between a 2003 2wd or a 2004 4wd, and obviously I went with the 2wd.

My wife's getting a Wrangler, that'll be our Zombie Apocalypse escape vehicle most likely. I won't need heated leather seats when the zombies come.

Good lookin' truck.

Congrats on the new ride.

What was the $ damage?

Will make for better fuel mileage. You don't get the snow we get so a 2WD in your area should be good enough.

Yea, it snows twice a year max. I got to drive it in the rain yesterday and found traction to be far above that of a standard 1500 Chevy truck....due to extra weight in the back I suppose.

I was torn to be honest, but I chose the 2wd because of the gas mileage and I liked the color/interior better.

Oh God dude, we got raped so bad. We paid $19,000 plus tax. Our total note is $30,000 if we make minimum payments.

That Tahoe is probably worth $14....$15 at the max....even as nice as it is. The two positives are that A) It is a very nice vehicle and is in excellent shape and B) We were able to buy down to a true 9% interest rate.

Congrats, but be sure to say a small prayer for continued low oil prices.

Its not that bad. I got 13 out of the first tank...and that included a lot of "just seein' what she can do honey!!" moments. That's better than my ML got when gas was $4.50 a gallon. :lol:

I expect to get 14 average, I can live with it.

That's what I get out of my V6... :td:

I had a V6 Jeep Liberty for a few years that only managed 15-16...and it was weak.

3.5L V6, Honda Ridgeline. I drive like a fucking animal though... my old man has the same truck (2 years older) and he gets 16 around town, nearly 20 highway.

The best I've done is just shy of 19 highway over one tank coming back down here from Ohio. Most of the time I was just shy of 18mpg.

very sharp ride indeed..

congrats on the purchase. 19K does seem a bit painful but if you're happy with the quality that's all that matters. I do like the Tahoes.

the Wrangler will be better of course in my opinion. LOL (yeah just because I have one)

That's about what I get out of my V6 Liberty...maybe 1 mpg better or so.



Nice Tahoe.

Yeah well, I'm 2 mpg worse than that...

Wonder what Dlit is getting out of his Ridgeline...

The Ridgeline is one of the vehicles I was considering...nice little truck.

I've been in a few Tahoes from that era and from what I have seen they do hold up well when treated right. The leather in particular stays nice even with high mileage, especially when compared to a Ford Expedition.

It's light on balls and heavy on gas mileage... The only things I don't love about mine...

If Honda put a fucking V8 in this truck, it would be perfect.

Clean

Chevy trucks arnt bad, their cars suck ass, andnone of their vehicles seem to have a soul, they are like the red heads of the auto world. I drive a chevy colorado and it is bland, but it gets the job done, and asside from having to clean the throttle body every 20k miles I havnt had any problems with it

Nice looking. :D
That gas mileage makes me love my zippy little four-banger though. :whistle:

My dad bought a 2009 or something impala with around 3k miles. In two years he's almost at 100k with no problems other than a cracked windshield.

Nice lookin ride. Why did you though pay so much over what you KNOW it's valued?

Had to make the sacrifice to build my wife's credit, and still manage to get a nice car. We could've gotten a cheaper Tahoe at a Mexican tote the note lot...but they were rough, and don't report to the bureaus.

Yikes... sucks to not only pay more for the unit but also take it on the interest rate. But hey... ignore that for a bit... then try to refi the car later with a credit union or something.

Actually that was one cool thing about Drivetime. We were able to go back up a few days after we signed, put more money down that comes straight off principal, and buy our way down to an 8% finance rate.

We still paid too much, but we're not getting raped on financing, and we're only making payments on what the vehicle is worth, so we're not upside down.

Congrats, Josh!

If it's worth $2k less than what you paid for it. How are you not upside down? We can disregard my ? as I'm not trying to jack your high. It's a nice truck.

I know my local LEO dept is going to all Tahoes now..

No man its all good. On the way to pick it up I told my wife "I bet nobody has ever been this excited to go get ripped off." :lol: We got a good laugh about it.

The only reason I'm not upside down is because I put $6k down. But hey, at least if we total it we can get right into a new vehicle and won't owe. We might even get a couple bucks back. :lol:

$20,000 for a vehicle with near 100,000 miles KBB has it for 13,000 retail price. No thanks, but I hope it works out for you many years man.


http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search...=1282334534668

I test drove a 2010 Camaro V8 6-speed a few weeks ago. That was fun! It was like sitting at the bottom of a bathtub though after being used to the big windows in my Camry.

It didn't rattle like I thought it would and was fairly quiet. I rode in a friends Mustang GT about a month ago and the rattles in that thing were nuts..

Great lookin truck, Josh. I would rather pay a little more for something that I am happy in and with then pay book for something I hate. Glad you found something that you are happy with and looks like a great vehicle.:rockwoot:

Yup, I researched all that, knew the numbers, and did it anyway. Still pretty damn pleased about it too. :lol:

Right on man, thanks for the referral!

2wd will probably last longer. If I had a dime for every 4wd from the south that made it's way up here that ended up shredding itself after being engaged for what was probably the first time ever after being sold up here, I'd be rich.

104k on mine and running smooth as ever. Change the plugs, it's due. And make sure to flush the trans / diff fluid regularly. Check for any weeping out of the steering box.

Dad always said 4wd ate up tires faster too, even when not engaged.
Maybe they've fixed that in more modern vehicles.

I believe that - not sure why it happens (never bothered to look but I assumed it was because of additional drag caused by the 4wd parts even when not engaged and the additional weight of the drive components that a 2wd vehicle doesn't have)

Yep more parasitic loss in the drivetrain causing slightly more resistance when driving.

Nice truck...not so nice price. lol

Dude did you get the PDF file I emailed you about the service history?

I like the GMT700s (yours), but the GMT900s are so much better (2007 and higher) and the 5.3L will get up to 21 on the freeway.

Does that have the 4.8L?

Yes I did, thank you very much for going to the trouble to get that for me.

Mine is the 5.3L.

I just realized that whichever remote you use to unlock it automatically sets the seat, a/c, mirrors and radio to the driver 1 or 2 setting...that is ultrapimp.

Technically the high price includes a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty that covers the drivetrain and a/c....we'll see how useful that is if I ever actually need it.

My mountaineer did that. Used to screw with me when I grabbed the wrong keys :lol:

My 08 STS did that Driver 1, Driver 2 as well. Shit was tight. But the Caddy had the engine start button and automatic unlock. With the remote in your pocket you just walk up to the car and open the door, get in, foot on the brake and hit the start button. No hitting any key or sticking a key in the ignition. Would have been neat if they had a card you could put in your wallet.