the biggest issues i have been having is how to find a true value of the truck – any pointers ?

Thank you

Your mileage should go up, though I don’t know if the Z71 adds weight or not. At first, I got 14 or 15 mpg, but since it’s leveled out at about 16 or 17 mpg consistently, mostly city driving. My only highway trip yielded just 19 mpg, but I drove 75 and 80 most of the time.

And I just filled up yesterday in Austin for $2.47 a gallon!

Steve

but this monday (10/20/08) the camaro broke for the 4th time in 6 months…
off to the stealerships as the wife is fed up with the car breaking down….

so I was torn… I wanted a silverado….
but I kept looking at a dark blue malibu ltz… sweet looking and costs the same as the silverado but 30mpg…

I sucked it up and bought a
2008 Silverado 1500 crew cab z-71 with the optional 5.3L

well I just drove about 130 miles…and gas is starting to go back up…. but the 1 station I know about was still lower so I filled up…

calculated 13.2mpg!!!! GAHHHH that is not good…. I didnt expect that…

yeah I got a $35,900 truck
dealer dropped msrp to $31,400
mess of rebates to get down to $25,497….

we told them drop the $497 and we will buy it.. no matter what we have always been able to get them to drop a small amount like that.. but not today… they wouldnt do it…

then $1100 in gm card rebates (never got it back up from the $3000 we used to buy our trailblazer)

so at $24,397 plus tax and tags…
the payment for a 72month loan is still pretty high…..and I hope that gas mileage gets better!!!!!

“Triple Net”, or “Net Net” were terms my dealer used. It can also be referred to as dealer “dead cost”, or dealer “true cost”.

I think the best price can be had by following my method outlined above.

Step 1) Get to a point of knowing exactly what you want to but.

Step 2) Make sure you know of all incentive, cash back, dealer cash back or other marketing specials that are available. In my case, it happened that trucks that had been delivered before Jan 22nd 2008 were receiving the $4,500 dealer cash back to buyer. Had I not known that, I could not have effectively asked for what I wanted.

Step 3) I don’t know if this is the very best way, but I submitted my request online through Edmunds for price quotes from multiple dealers. The internet sales people apparently have more authority to bargain than the guys on the lot.

Good luck,

Steve

You’re right about my math error. Comparing to a 30mpg vehicle, it costs me an additional $173/mo. to drive the ruck.

Steve

More realistically, it might have made sense to keep the old pickup for occasional cargo transportation, sold the 1996 Saturn, and bought an efficient new vehicle for driving clients around, maybe a hybrid Camry at 40 mpg with plenty of passenger space. With gas at $4 and still rising, the math looks more and more compelling each day. Not to mention that whole business about keeping the earth’s environment habitable for your children and grandchildren.

Well, at the risk of sounding out of step, the gas prices don’t really mean that much to me. I drive about 1300 miles a month in the truck. It gets 15 mpg so far (same as the old one). That’s 86 gallons of gas per month. At $4 vs. $3 per gallon, I’m paying an additional $86/mo. over last year.

Had I purchased a smaller car that gets 30 mpg, I’d be saving $43 per month. That’s not enough savings to forfeit the advantages of driving a truck.
Steve

What I am curious about is that this full size pickup is not going to be very comfortable ride in since it’s essentially a box on frame type especially for the passengers in the back seat. I wonder if they can feel comfortable after a long drive.

The Chevy had the best back seat room. Toyota’s biggest cab had more room, but it felt too big to me driving it. I did look at smaller trucks. They are too small and the back seat too cramped for transporting clients in comfort.

Yes, a 2 year old truck would be the smartest buy from a financial standpoint. I did look into that, made a few calls and emails from Craigslist, but the purchase process is time consuming and frustrating as one has to contact each seller individually and make an appointment.

Buying used from a dealer was an option, but the savings on a two year old truck wasn’t enough to beat the clearance pricing available on new ones. Also, Chevy updated the truck in 2007, so a 2006 or older would be the older style and not have the most modern technology.

I also thought of keeping the old truck and buying a Honda Accord or something like that. But then I’d have a fourth vehicle (I have a 1996 Saturn I buzz around in on errands sometimes) and would still be stuck without a truck when I needed it unexpectedly.

In the end, I like trucks also. It’s the most versatile and useful vehicle for me personally. I’ll drive this one 8 years probably, maybe longer. Tomorrow I’d be moving some old desks with it. Monday I need to pick up a new shower door for a rental property. Later next week I’ll be driving buyers in it and they will be comfortable with plenty of room.

Steve

Also, how come you never considered a Tacoma Quadcab which is about the same price but somewhat smaller and more fuel efficient?

Again, comparing home sales to auto sales is Apples to Oranges.

Automobiles are homogeneous consumer products that are easy to compare and research. I can find reviews and opinions on the specific make and model I purchased and compare it to reviews of similar vehicles. I can obtain opinion and feedback from other people who have already bought and driven my exact make/model of vehicle.

This is not possible with homes under any circumstance. Once a make and model of auto is decided upon, it matters not from whom the purchase is made, they are all the same vehicle, and the procurement process takes literally an hour or two compared to 30 days for most homes.

Each home, on the other hand, has an individual owner/seller who’s negotiating behavior and bottom line is not easy to ascertain or predict, as it is with car dealers.

A purchaser cannot find other owners of “that” make and model of home to provide feedback and reviews. “That” home has not been independently tested and evaluated by Consumer Reports and auto trade journals. One cannot “test drive” a home – once you close, it’s yours. An auto can be returned and traded (in most cases within a week) if buyer’s remorse sets in.

So, even if all sales data on every home were to be openly provided to all prospective home buyers, it would matter not due to the uniqueness of each individual home and seller. The research methodology is not the same. It’s easy to see a lot of autos on your own. You cannot effectively see a lot of homes on your own without a Realtor and the cooperative Brokerage system.

The narrowing down of candidate purchases is not the same. The negotiating process is different. The procurement/closing is different. The risk level and commitment level is different. The financing process is different.

Buying an automobile is simply not comparable to locating, evaluating and purchasing a home. Parallels can be drawn, for sure, but the purchase of a home will never be like the purchase of a car, no matter how much data would become available to the home buyer.

Steve

Also, its pretty darn hard to negotiate commission with a Realtor as a buyer or seller. Buyers will fair better, but they will be lucky to negotiate down to a 2% total commission for their Realtor. Sellers have it even worse, since they are “paying” both sides. If they try to use a flat fee lister, they very likely will be black-balled (remember the case from a year or two ago against the ABOR).

Realtors can be helpful, but they definately do have an entrenched business model that many agents probably won’t change readily.

A vehicle is an investment if one thinks in terms of the opportunity cost of NOT having one, or the right one.

It’s also a depreciating asset, thus not an investment from a pure financial standpoint.

Steve