GMTruckGuy74

Me, the wife & kids got in the AURA yesterday around 2:15 PM and decided to head-up to NYC. We usually go before Christmas every year and typically for the whole day, but as we're getting older and have more to do, we're finding it harder to make the time to get there before the holidays. A very long 3 hours later (normally a 1.5 hour trip - too much traffic on the NJ Turnpike, a 40-minute wait to get into the Lincoln Tunnel, and traffic backups on all NYC streets should have made me turn around!), we're parking the car and walking around Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and on Fifth Avenue (a stop at the World of Disney NYC was a must). We ate at Planet Hollywood (the wife's favorite spot as far as francished restaurants go) and ended our night in Times Square. Pontiac has a red with a single black racing stripe & customized rims G8 GT sedan on display in the middle of Times Square, and I'm guessing it will be seen on some of the networks filming during New Year's Eve. My 13 y-o step son "Anthony" asks where the ball drops from and as we turn around to show him - there's the ball all lit up!!! I'm scrambling to get the camera out to take a picture, but by the time I do the ball has dropped all the way down and the "2008" sign was on. I guess they were doing test runs for tonight? We were very surprised to see that, as I figured they did their testing during the daylight hours. Not too many people around us noticed, and I'm sure we wouldn't have either if Anthony didn't ask us. Seeing how I've never been in NYC on New Year's Eve and never seen the ball drop other than on TV, it was an interesting experience (I'll still elect to watch it from the comfort of my couch!). 1.5 hours later (traffic wasn't too bad leaving NYC around 10:00 PM), I'm pulling back into the garage, ready to relax and give the AURA a break from the drive.

makfu, I truly understand where you're coming from. If I had the cash, I'd like to pickup a 1991 GMC Syclone and restore it back to factory-spec condition, just because it was the one GMC truck I was most in love with from the time it debuted and that I test-drove, but never got to own. Would it be worth the money I spent? Probably not, although they are still selling for a pretty good amount today (especially for it being a 17 year old truck to boot!). But I'd have a truck that I totally love and have always dreamt of owning.

Maybe I better look into getting rid of the AURA lease sometime before the end of 2008 if I want to get myself a GMC Sierra Crew Cab Z71 4WD?

Oh Cort, you missed the biggest 30th anniversary event of them all: May 25, 1977 - Star Wars opens in theaters!!! Well, at east to us Star Wars geeks that was the most important anniversary of 2007 Pro: I celebrated my 10th anniversary of graduating from college (Rider Univdersity) this past month (December) Con: December, 2007 also marks the fact I had to sell my "baby", my 2007 Saturn SKY, due to financial debts

Not true. Starting in 1990 and lasting until 1993, Chevy offered the 454 V8 (7.4 liter) engine in the Silverado trim, regular cab, short bed, 2wd configuration known as the 454 SS. This spawned the muscle truck era of the '90s, with the GMC Syclone (1991), GMC Typhoon (1992-1993), and Ford Lightning(1993-1995) following on the heels of the 454 SS. Chevy's big mistake was by offering a "poor man's" Denali with the Silverado SS a few years ago. That truck should have had AWD as an option, not standard, been offered in both regular and extended cabs, and been standard with a premium cloth interior and not leather. However, it's not too late for Chevy/GM to do this, although they should act quickly because of all the CAFE crap. They could cash in on those wanting a modern-day muscle truck and do it before the government intervenes with the CAFE regulations.

Good news, good news! Please post a pic or two soon!

You got to have the best luck of anyone I know, in real life or online, when it comes to getting injured!!! Here's to a speedy recovery, AGAIN.

K.C., I'm sorry that you're family members were rude to you and your children this past Christmas. There is no excuse for anyone acting that way at any time fo the year. At least you know how they are, and the other family members present at the time do to, and it gives you a reason not to invite them back ever again. I am heterosexual, but I am an open-minded person and as long as a person doesn't push any of their agenda/issues onto me, I'll get along fine with them. I'm told by many of the people I work with & for that is what makes me to be one of the better teachers where I teach at (all students are welcome in my classroom). To make you feel better, I'll arrange this to show up in your driveway soon: (btw, I still haven't received the red Sierra you sent me for my birthday!!!)

So are you saying that GM will be sweetening the deals to move product in 2008 to those that will be in the market? Because if that's true, I'm hoping to cash in when the Envoy lease expires on or before the summer!!!

lol @ WMJ!!!

Remember the general rule of classic car restorations - Buy and restore what you like, not what you think will give you the most money on resale. If the Aurora is a car you really like and want to keep for as long as possible, then by all means go ahead with your plans and perserve one while you can. Years from now you'll be a an auto show showing it off and people will say "I remember when my <neighbor/friend/relative/etc> had one." Since Olds is no longer in production, all years have to be preserved so that the name doesn't go away. Crazy for spending the money? Maybe. But people have spent their hard-earned money on worst things than this type of a project!

And then the consumer market will follow, with enthusiasts who want the beefed up car too. Much like the Caprice did in the '90s with the 9C1 police & taxi package. Of course a milder version (LS, LT) could be offered along with the beefed up version (LTZ, SS), making the car more likable to the mainstream market. Enthusiasts want RWD, but will the Average Joe really want it too? And the argument "if they don't want RWD, the always have the FWD Malibu to choose from" really doesn't hold water, because some people will always perfer size over drive configuration. I remember selling a couple a 2000 LeSabre Custom - the husband was too large to fit comfortably in anything other than the LeSabre, even though the wife really wanted a Century. For the price they spent on the LeSebre Custom, she could have had a Century Limited with upgrades. However, the husband couldn't get into & out of the Century like he could with the LeSabre. I'm 5'8" and weigh 236 lbs; I just fit comfortably in my AURA, but prefer something larger (hence while I drive the Envoy more). While I really like my AURA, I kinda wish I looked into the Lucerne CXL a little more last November because of the size upgrade

Being that these two vehicles will be available around the Fall of 2008, we *should* be seeing their introductions at one of the three major auto shows, right? I'm excited to see what the H3 pickup is going to look like. I'm also hoping there's an interior upgrade that comes to the entire H3 lineup too. Thanks for the news! thumbsup:

The GMC Yukon and Yukon XL have the SLT1 and SLT2 designations as far as options go. The Sierra line-up, regardless of it's size (1/2, 3/4, 1 ton) only comes in SLT (Work Truck 1SA, SLE1 3SA, SLE2 3SB, and SLT 4SA are teh opton package RPO codes). You ordered a SLT 4SA equipped truck. You will be getting these seats in your truck: AN3 Seats, front bucket, includes 10-way power driver and front passenger seat adjusters including 2-way power lumbar control, power bolsters, heated seat cushions and seatbacks, 2-position driver memory, adjustable outboard head restraints, floor console and storage pockets I'm also seeing that the US9 Audio system (AM/FM stereo with MP3 compatible 6-disc in-dash CD changer, seek-and-scan, digital clock, auto-tone control and Radio Data System (RDS) *1 - Not available with (U42) Entertainment Package) is an option on the SLT 4SA package and is not standard. The US8 Audio system (AM/FM stereo with MP3 compatible CD player, seek-and-scan, digital clock, auto-tone control, Radio Data System (RDS), speed-compensated volume and TheftLock) is the standard radio on all trim packages (Work Truck, SLE1, SLE2, and SLT). Unless you upgrade to the US9, UVB or U3U radio systems, you get US8 standard. I think your salesman is confused between the Yukon/Yukon XL and Sierra option package designations. I'd call him out on it and let the sales manager know that this sales member is not very knowledgable about the prouct he is selling you for the money your spending there (see if it gets you anything free, like an oil change visit or two!). Ask away if you have more questions. I'll be back on later tonight

Happy <belated> Birthday! It's nice to see that I'm not the only Christmas baby here!

That's one nice looking Trailblazer. Wish GM designed more of their trucks to have a two-tone option available. That may be one of GM's last trucks to come in two-tone. Best of luck to you!

Congrats on the G6 purchase! I'm glad your family was happy with the overall purchase experience. My parents were looking at the Civic sedan in the summer of 2006 to replace my dad's problematic 2002 Sunfire SE coupe. After an unhappy test drive and dealership experience at a Honda dealership, I suggested that they look into the G6 (dad still liked his coupes, my mom wanted a 4-door for all the grandkids). They both fell in love with the G6 upon their first test drive, and the MSRP and features you got at that price (compared to the Civics they were looking at) sold them. They ended up with a 2006 G6 V6 sedan in August of 2006 and my dad still loves the car very much to this day. I know that your family will be just as happy with theirs. Here's to many trouble-free miles with their new Pontiac!

Well, RED wouldn't have been my first choice, but what the heck... it's a free Sierra, so who cares!?!? When will it show up in my driveway??? Thanks K.C.!!!

Well thank you very much guys! I appreciate the birthday greetings. Today, as with most of my birthdays, was pretty much an uneventful day. The wife allowed me to sleep in a little, and then there were some housekeeping chores and stuff to do to get ready for Christmas. We were suppose to go to HersheyPark yesterday to take the little guy to see the "Christmas Candy Lane" decorations throughout the park, but with rain expected and colder temps, we decided not to take the 2 hour ride out. So a little bit of what I was expecting all week for my birthday celebrations didn't happen. We did go out to a late lunch today to one of my favorite little Mexican places, and it was a great time. The wife needed to stop by the mall (Cherry Hill Mall, for those that know of it), and needless to say I now know why we finish our Christmas shopping before the 23rd!!! My family and close nieghbors came over for cake this evening and I got some nice presents (a new Fossil watch <I really like Fossil watches - I'm addicted to them!>, the GM Futurliner book I posted about in the Merchandise thread, some new clothes, and the never-returned gift - CASH!). So in the end it was a nice day and I now get to enjoy my 33rd year of existence on this planet. Again, thanks for thinking of me today!

Reg, I too like the Hummer H3 and can't wait to see the pickup version, hopefully sometime in 2008. You are wrong on which GM platform they share - it's the GMT-355 platform (GMC Canyon/Chevy Colorado) that it's based on and is built alongside of those pickups in Shreveport, LA (ocnblu pointed this out already). I like their look and don't remember much about my seat time in one at last February's Philly Auto Show. I know that I would like to keep the H3 lineup in my radar when I replace my AURA lease around or before November '09. I really want a Sierra, but don't need a full-size truck. While the Canyon is nice, its downgraded interior and me-too "Colorado" look turn me off (the H3's interior is different just enough). If the H3 is what you really like and can live with, I say go for it. I see tons of them on the roads in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Well, according to that article, the '09 NA GMC Terrain is going to share a lot with the all-new Equinox, but have it's own interior and exterior. Now the question is how much of the new Equinox is shared with the Saturn VUE? This will answer how much more different the Equinox and NA Terrain will be from the Saturn VUE. I'm betting that the Equinox & Terrain will not be clones of the VUE or ME Terrain; however, do any of our insiders care to comment on that theory??? :AH-HA_wink:

Here are the months/shows I look forward to each year: February - Philadelphia International Auto Show March or April (depends on date of Easter) - New York International Auto Show May - Mount Holly Classic Car Show, Mount Holly, NJ (local) June - ATHS Truck Show & Allentown MACK Truck Plant Tour, Macungie, PA June - All-GM Nationals, Carlisle Fairgrounds, Carlisle, PA August - Das Awkscht car show & toy show, Macungie, PA August - All-Truck nationals, Carlisle Fairgrounds, Carlisle, PA August - Central Jersey Chapter of the Antique Truck Club of America Days of the Past Truck & Tractor show, Washington Crosssing Park, NJ October - AACA Fall Meet, Hershey, PA Those are pretty much the "definite" shows I attend each year. This year (2007) I made a vow to attend more shows than usual, so I searched various websites and found more car & truck, MACK truck, collectible toy, and cruise night shows than in the past. I marked most of them down so that I would remember to check them out for 2008. Which means I should probably do my research in January and line-up all the shows I want to go to and put $$$ aside so the wife doesn't complain that I'm spending money we don't have in the summer!

So, do any of the new Sierra All-Terrain owners care to give an update on their ownership experience to date?

No, I'm going by the 2008 Envoy brochure I picked up a couple of months ago. Of course I didn't verify on the website or online order guides, but the 2 Envoy Denali's at my local GMC dealership I saw yesterday both had the 5.3 V8 in them. It sucks that GMC is restricted with the 5.3 L and 6.0L V8 options.

I went to the dealer yesterday and not only had the problem diagnosed, but fixed on the spot too! Talk about service The culprit? It was a bad idler pulley. As soon as the service writer opened the hood and had me start it, he said "yeah, that doesn't sound right." He checked the power steering fluid first to make sure it wasn't low and that the noise was coming from the power steering pump. Plenty of fluid in there, so he called a mechanic over. He poked around and said "I think it's the idler pulley", and hey went to see if they had any in-stock. 10 minutes later, the service writer comes out, says they have the part and will take it right back. Now here it is, 3:55 PM and the service dept closes at 4:30 and they're taking my truck in. Another mechanic comes to pull it in the shop, says he wants to hear the noise to make sure it's what was diagnosed and upon hearing the noise, says "yup, it's the idler pulley - won't take me long and we'll have you back on the road in no time." Joe, the service writer, says that if the pulley exploded, you'd be stuck whereever you were at and this is not the time of the yea to be stranded somewhere. What treatment! 25 minutes later the work was done, I was on my way home and the noise was gone. Now this is the local Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership where I live and didn't lease the truck from (although I've been using them for regular service for a while now). While the dealership is a small-time place (I noticed on the sales board in the manager's office that they've delivered 20 new vehicles and 11 used to date), the treatment I've received from both the service and sales departments will definitely bring me in there when the time comes for a new GM vehicle. GM will definitely get this positive feedback when I get my warranty evaluation/survey in the next couple of weeks.