GMTruckGuy74

Well, besides you and Oldsmoboi publically declaring your desire for a new Avalanche, Cremazie's Av purchase was a complete surprise. Drew now needs to make his Av purchase without delay to complete the circle

Congrats on the Avlanche purchase. You're getting to own some of GM's nicest vehicles over the past year and a half!! I think the chrome door handles and chrome mirror caps would be a nice addition to the white exterior along with the other chrome trim on the vehicle. As for the interior color, it's a nice difference from the all-black of the G8, but it's funny to see a non-black steering wheel (kind of jumps out at you, in a positive way). I think you'll like this vehicle and nothing beats driving any GMT-900 as your daily driver As for me, it looks like I'm going to have to hold off for now on my purchase quest. I need to sell the Cadillac first and hopefully at a small profit (well, really to recoup some of the repair costs out of my pocket from November) so I have some money for a down payment on a CPO vehicle. For those not in the know, I went ahead to caddycruiser's NJ Pontiac-Buick-GMC selling dealership and selected their summit white 2006 GMC Envoy SLT 4WD. I really like the Envoy the best - not saying the Buick Rainier isn't nice, just that I'm a diehard GMC guy and will always regret not going for an Envoy over any of the other GMT-360s. The monthly payment is coming in too high for my needs, and without the sale of the Cadillac on my own for some down payment assistance money, I'm going to have to back away (trade-in value is not enough to cover the loan, let alone help with some down payment for the new loan, and no where else I took the car to locally helped out). I really can't afford to trade-in the Caddy at a loss (and bury some of its loan into the CPO loan), and with no bites from a potential buyer, looks like I have no choice but to put this plan on hold. If I could get back into leasing, man I wouldn't hesitate for one moment to do that (I hate owning/financing my cars!).

God, now I want an Avalanche!! Though I'd have to find a way to convert the frontend to the Yukon's

+1 on the GMC-Hummer link. GM should not abandon the off-road enthusiast, let alone hand the business backover to Jeep. It's a great idea to sell Hummers alongside of GMCs, and it's a suggestion made numerous times here by others (Camino, myself, etc.). I'd love to see the Hummer Hx Concept come to life, and while it would make a cool GMC to combat the Toyota FJ Cruiser, it would still be an awesome Hummer. GM needs to rethink this idea before just killing off the brand.

I will do that Drew. I get out of work ealry today due to the weather and should be able to do that at home sometime this evening. Do you want me to include pictures, and do I post it here or e-mail it to you? Thank you for offering me this service.

I know, that's my fault for going out and finding the replacement vehicle without actually finding a buyer first!! So I guess I'm acting in haste because I want the new CPO vehicle instead of my FWB. I'll see what I can do. Is there a special format/sample for me to follow that you'd prefer?

And to answer your other question gm4life, I have two children now (Anthony = 15, Justin = 4) and a baby due in July. Back seat room/comfort, warranty protection, and cargo capacity in a newer, safe, and well-maintained vehicle are the features I'm looking for.

Well, I have selected a CPO vehicle, got approved for the loan request I made, and have placed a small deposit to hold the vehicle. BUT... ...I have to sell the Cadillac in order to make the deal work. So far no takers, and I lowered the price to $3,900 (what I need to satisfy my credit union loan on the car and to be able to get into the new vehicle). I'm not sure how much longer past Monday the dealer will hold the CPO vehicle, but I will ask for an extension (seeing as how they got the financing arranged and are holding the vehicle, why would they want to back out so soon?). If it doesn't work out, so be it, but me & the Caddy won't be together much longer anyway. If I cannot sell the FWB for $3,900 now, I have no choice but to keep it. Not that I don't love the car, but I'm at the point that I don't want it anymore as my daily driver (if I could keep it as a 3rd car and slowly work on bringing it back to showroom new, I would - but I can't). So I'll work on an alternate plan where I can find a vehicle to use for work (haven't figured this one out yet, but have a couple of ideas), and in the process try listing the Cadillac on eBay and Craigslist to see if I can get the amount of money I'm asking for. What makes me mad is the fact that here's another vehicle that I've purchased with the thought that it would be easy to sell when the time came XD Boy do I miss the ease of leasing my vehicles!!

I do not want the FWB any longer. I value what the car represents, and love the look of the car. But I am unable to perform the maintenance that the car needs myself, do not have the resources available to send the car to the shop at this time, and cannot be without a vehicle for work if and when problems creep up. The CPO vehicle I'm hoping to buy has a good warranty on it and that helps me to buy time to save up some $$$ again for repairs that aren't covered or when the warranty runs out (the only money I had saved was spent on the FWB's repairs in November). I understand that a low payment and in the near future a payment-free vehicle is the way to go, but when it is not what you want you know psychologically that doesn't matter. My wife, while campaigning for me to keep the FWB, isn’t in love with the car and would rather I didn’t buy it last summer, and at the same time she doesn’t like us relying on a 14 year old car that can see 12-14k miles per year of use (older things tend to break down, especially if they’re original parts, as they get more usage). I don’t have the money to pay shop rates for labor, and I don’t have a shade tree mechanic living next door to me. Sure there’s always someone willing to help, but can I expect them to be ready to come to my house at my beck and call because I need to get to work? Chalk it up to owning only one used vehicle without a warranty, one CPO-like used vehicle with a great warranty, another used vehicle with a decent warranty and only one out-of-pocket small expense, and then a ton of vehicles that were leased (a few financed) and covered by the factory warranty that never had any major problems - they were ALL GM vehicles to boot. Those that say they'd love to drive the 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood as your daily driver, all I gotta say is you're very welcome to put your money on your word

Of course, because I get to drive the 14 year old car and she gets to drive the year and a half old car But if the shoe was on the other foot... XD

http://www.hummerstuff.com/catalog/ - I guess we need to keep an eye out on this website for great clearnace deals!! Now I'm really tempted to search out a leftover 2010 Hummer H3T pickup

@#$%&* credit union's terms were not to my liking, so that option is out the door. No hits on the FWB yet, will try Craigslist tonight. I never have any luck when it comes to selling an owned or financed vehicle caddycruiser - we'll see how good of a recommendation the "finance" people at your preferred place. It's in their hands now. BTW, their trade-in offer came up ($800 more than what I told you in the e-mail; not enough still nor what I want to get, but they're showing some sign of wanting to deal with me ). And if their efforts don't get my approval... ... the wife is now trying to talk me into KEEPING the FWB! Most of it deals with the fact that the loan payment is low, and the other part is that the car will be paid off in a little over a year (unless I work something else out with my finances this summer). I told her about the issues that need repair and she said if I find out the cost for each, we'll budget each week and knock them off one at a time. This from the woman who loathed the car the first three months I owned it, telling me I should have looked at a newer CPO/used vehicle instead So it's up in the air as to who will buy first!!

Here's your Car Flaps...

Went to check out the Torrent GXP (2008) and Envoy SLT (2006), in addition to a few other vehicles per the wife's request. I didn't bother with the '06 Buick Rainier CXL AWD V8 because I won't be towing anything and don't want to feed a V8 habit. As nice and unique as the Rainiers are, there are no others that impress me as much as the silver 2006 one that sold last Thursday night (the downside of not finding vehicles locally). Moving on... I did select a vehicle tonight and placed a deposit on it to hold it for the next week. My credit union called me today and left a message regarding my request for a loan; I need to call the loan officer back tomorrow to find out the result. All I need to do is sell my '96 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. The dealership I'm planning to buy from gave me a horrible trade-in appraisal and were not interested in improving on their offer before I left. I told the owner of the dealership that to make the deal go through a much better trade-in offer would seal the deal on the spot, but his reply was "that's my wholesaler's best offer". So I'm not saying anything about the vehicle I selected today until (A) I know what my credit union is offering and (B) I find a buyer for the FWB (I am motivated to move it quickly).

I'll post in my thread Just FYI... Kevin had a couple there on the white Solstice roadster tonight

[quote name='ShadowDog' date='21 February 2010 - 04:37 AM' timestamp='1266745070' post='579035'] While this wasn't about my car, I got thinking of the ol' days when managing a crew of gas jockeys. One dim bulb walked around an 80's Grand Prix and couldn't figure out where the gas door was. [b]I told him it was behind the plate[/b], so he promptly yanked up on it so hard he bent the plate right off its two upper bolts. Instead of saying sorry, he says, "It's not [b]my[/b] fault they put it in the wrong place." All I could reply with was, "Does that mean it's my fault [b]you[/b] work in the wrong place?" [/quote] That happens to me all the time with the '96 Cadillac FWB!! If I use a gas station where the attendant is older (remember in NJ, it's the law that we don't pump our own gas! ), they know exactly where to look. If the attendants are younger, especially at newer Wawa gas stations, they look at both sides, then approach the window with a confused look on their face. When I tell them it's behind the plate, I also tell them the plate is hinged at the bottom so they don't break the damn thing!!

Not really a fan of a Saab "truck/SUV" or Saab in general, and I'm reaching at the Buick too (when I think of GM trucks, I think GMC first). I'm leaning more towards the Torrent GXP because if I was going with a new purchase, it would be for a GMC Terrain and the Torrent is pretty much the same size. I looked for 2005 & 2006 GMC Yukons, but none were equipped the way I want, had too high of a selling price, or had high mileage. The only reason I'm not ga-ga over the red '06 Rainier is because it has the 5.3L V8 - I know how thirsty the 4.2 Atlas I-6 is, I can only imagine me with a V8!!

When I had the 2007 Saturn SKY roadster, I entered it in a local car show for the fun of it (May, 2006 when it was still pretty new). Several people asked what engine was under the hood and were surprised when I replied, "2.4 liter 4 cylinder". One guy approached me and asked if it has a 12 cylinder under the hood!! When I told him, 'No, a 4 cylinder', he gave me this awful look and said I had to be wrong because the car had the look that it was very fast. I don't think he was joking around, could have been drunk or high, but not joking

In town next to mine, a woman who was going into foreclosure on her townhouse did a similar thing in the middle of January - she set it on fire (and what a jo she did too - the entire end unit is gone). She also tried to commit suicide at the same time, by dumping the leftover gasoline all over her SUV and herslef, but was pulled out of the SUV before she could light the match. While I understand that people's state of minds are not in the right place during these hard financial times, her effect had negative causes on her neighbors - the unit next to her's was severely damaged (unlivable), and the unit next to that one has damage but they were unable to return. The opposite end unit is still inhabited, but I think they'll have to tear the whole structure down and rebuild (an inconvience to the other homeowners, but they'll make out in the long run with a brand new unit vs their 15-20 y-o unit now). These are desparate times we live in for sure.

'06 Buick Rainier CXL AWD (silver, 24k mi) sold Tursday night (deal was signed Friday), salesman e-mailed me to let me know and to tell me about another Rainer they have - '06, AWD, 5.3L V8, Nav - 36,3xx miles, Red Jewelcoat Metallic. Not sure if I will check that one out. Any comments about teh V8 engine and/or the Nav radio? Still thinking about the '08 Pontiac Torrent GXP AWD, though I am concerned about the overall size for family duty after reading gm4life's post.

So the plan is to see the Buick Rainier Saturday morning, and if I like it more than the Torrent than I will proceed from there. If I'm not satisfied with the Buick, then the wife and I will stop back at CarSense to check out the Torrent. I've ruled out the Envoy, as I've already had one and would like something a little different this time around.

I am totally at a loss over which vehicle I want and for what reasons. The 2008 Pontiac Torrent GXP AWD is great because it is 2 years newer, has the balance of the factory warranty in addition to the warranties CarSense gives, the CarSense dealership is close by if needed for warranty repairs, it is a decent sized family hauler that offers both utility and performance, it has enough options to make me happy (namely the factory remote start, heated cloth seats, and 6-disc CD radio with AUX INPUT jack), being a GXP I love the sporty look, lowered suspension, and the fact that it is not as common as the regular Torrent (and silver isn't as common as black), and the fuel efficiency it affords because of the 3.6L V6 and being a lighter vehicle over the GMT-360s. Of course if I was able to afford a brand new vehicle, it would be the GMC Terrain which is the same size as the Pontiac Torrent. Also, being a Pontiac enthusiast this is the closest I can get to buying a nearly new Pontiac to boot. BUT, the wife likes the 2006 Buick Rainier CXL AWD the best out of all three choices. The luxury afforded by the Buick (and the GMC to an extent) beats out the Pontiac hands down. The Buick has 4-5k more miles and is 2 years older, but is priced $600 less than the smaller Pontiac. The Buick has a GM warranty in effect until August of 2011, and I'm sure it can be extended longer if I;m willing to pay for it. The Buick sits higher than the Pontiac, and being larger overall allows for more comfort for all passengers (family of 5, one child in a booster seat & another on the way for an infant carrier). No factory remote start and no AUX INPUT jack for my iPod are disappointments, but not really dealbreakers. The biggest hurlde though for me is the fuel consumption due to the heavier weight & the 4200 Atlas I-4 engine. Having leased a 2005 Envoy SLT 4WD, I know how these things like to gulp gas on trips and feeding a 22-gal gas tank is not a fun task to afford. But the size, features, and packaging of the Rainier are all plusses for me (I like the Envoy and really, really want to own a GMC most of all, but I can't pass up the better equipped and more luxurious looking Buick Rainier - plus it has 10k miles less than the GMC). So, do I go for the newer vehicle with the better fuel efficiency and driving performannce in a smaller, sporty package ('08 Pontiac Torrent GXP), or do I go for the older & larger vehicle that I know can fit my family well, is more comfortable, and is better equipped, but at the expense of a higher fuel bill ('06 Buick Rainier CXL)?

Driving home yesterday the wind was blowing up a lot of snow onto the roads (snow drifts) and it was getting slippery. I was approaching a slight curve and noticed an older Nissan Quest minivan slide off the road and was stuck on the snow bank sideways... I slowed down as I got closer and watched a late '80s/early '90s Olds Cutlass Ciera going too fast into the turn plow into the snow bank and get stuck. Driver looked about 18-20 years old and clueless as to how to get his FWD car unstuck from the snow bank

*UPDATE* So two vehicles weren't enough for me apparently, so I have to add in another to mess things up. There is a CarSense dealership 1.5 miles from my house (extremely close). I checked their website last night and they recently got in a 2008 Pontiac Torrent GXP AWD, similar to this: 20k miles, same price as the Rainier (2 years newer, 5k miles less), 3.6L V6 engine/6-speed auto trans, factory remote start, more fuel efficient than the Envoy/Rainier, a little less roomy on the inside for a family of 5... I went and test drove it tonight and I do like it, though I'm not sure I want to give up on the Envoy/Rainier yet (though the Torrent is closer in size to the vehicle I wish I could afford, a 2010 GMC Terrain). So, given this new addition, would you still recommend the Rainier over the others???

whiteknight, is there a process I should instruct them to follow, or ask if they do it? I truly don't like pinstripes on my vehicles!! 5 to 1 for the Buick... my instinct tells me to go for the Buick too, since it has the G80 locking rear differential and the head curtain airbags (Envoy doesn't have either), the QuietTuning insulation, and the rear air suspension. BUT, being a GMC fan, I'm drawn to the Envoy and that was what I was searching for in the first place (I really do like it's styling overall the best). And though the wife and I leased a 2005 Envoy SLT, I would have purchased it had I forseen the financial crisis that hit in 2009 (I was expecting to be able to finally get a Sierra, but between the '08 gas crisis, the '09 financial crisis, and then my own job crisis in '09, I had no other option but to let that plan go by). The 10k more mileage does also raise a flag, especially since the price of the Envoy is barely a $1,000 less than the Buick. I plan to test drive the Buick on Saturday, and if all goes well, I may choose that over the GMC.