GMTruckGuy74

well, A Chevy salesman from another truck forum told me that GM/Chevy is not incentivizing the leases of Avalanches because it's their last year being offered (he worked out a 39 month lease and a 60 month finance for a customer recently and the finance deal was cheaper than the lease). I was willing to consider a 36 or 39 month lease of an Avalanche because I know at some point I could then get my Sierra. But to be tied to the Avalanche for a long time (6-8 years), I'm not sure I'm ready for that committment (to a non-GMC truck). Silly, I know, but I think going with the finance of the Av would cause regret within a year for not waiting for the Sierra. I went to the Chevy yesterday to check out the Blue Topaz Metallic LT Av. While it has many, if not more, of the features I'm looking for on my next truck purchase, ultimately I know I would be happy now but not likely this time next year. After looking at the Av I checked out the '13 Silverados and realize I do want a pickup and not a SUT. I will likely hold out on the Av (unless Memorial Day sales incentives make it a ridiculous-to-pass up deal! )

Three "cons" for the Avalanche that I can think of off the top of my head: 1. It's a Chevy (I am a huge GMC enthusiast, and while it may seem odd I would regret not owning a GMC-branded vehicle) 2. Too monochromatic... I like chrome bumpers (trucky) and some separation of color (one of the issues I have with my Envoy - it's too white!) 3. While being a crew cab, it is more SUV than Pickup (not sure this is a strong objection though) The plan for next year is to order the exact Sierra I've always wanted and keep it for the long haul (right now I'm going on almost 38 months with the CPO'ed '06 Envoy, which outside of my wife's '08 G6 is the longest I've owned a vehicle since I started leasing in May of 1999). This means at least 8 years with my next purchase. However, I was thinking yesterday that I would at least consider a lease on the Avalanche. This way if I truly pine for a GMC Sierra after they hit the roads in the next couple of months, I know that in 36/39 months I can then consider purchasing one then (2016/2017). Maybe by that time a MCE will be released or a new model. I'm still mulling this over right now.

Happy belated Birthday, caddycruiser!! Hoping your day was a great one

If I were to go with the '14/'15 GMC Sierra, this is likely what it would look like:

Here's my current dilemma... since we went "window shopping" at some new car lots last weekend, I've been thinking a lot about the 2013 Chevy Avalanche I saw. Now I'm not currently "in market" for a new vehicle, as I was waiting until next spring to get a 2014 or order a 2015 GMC Sierra Crew Cab pickup (which I'm in love with). But thinking about it the Avalanche offers me everything I'm looking for in a "crew cab" truck - LT-trimmed model gives me most of the features I was looking for on my next truck (rearview camera, heated leather seats, hard tonneau cover, power folding/heated/turn signal exterior mirrors), and the All-Star Edition gives me the upgraded 20" polished rims I love on these GMT-900 trucks, plus chrome grille insert, chrome mirror caps, and chrome door handles. A $46k truck that I can also likely get for a tick under $40k to boot. A new '14 or '15 Sierra, most likely a cloth trimmed model with slightly less features, will cost me in the low-to-mid $40s (and I'm sure discounts and deals won't be as plentiful). But don't get me wrong, I'd love for nothing more than to own the all-new GMC Sierra. The big downside for me is that it is a CHEVROLET branded truck, and I'd much prefer to own a GMC branded truck. However, I have always liked the styling of the Avalanche/Tahoe/Suburban from this generation and being a final year model of a unique niche, I could live with the gold bowtie. Here's the Avalanche 1500 LT 4WD I am considering (Blue Topaz Metallic with Ebony Leather): Link to dealer's website: http://www.lucaschev.com/VehicleDetails/new-2013-Chevrolet-Avalanche-4WD_LT-Lumberton-NJ/1879448143 So either I can bite the bullet now (assuming financing, discounts, and trade-in values all work out in my favor!) and go for an Avalanche or wait another year for an all-new K2xxx Sierra.

I had to Google the CTS wagon as it wasn't coming up in my memories. Not bad on teh CTS wagon, now I can't wait to see how GM/Cadillac make this work ont eh Escalade.

Went car lot "window" shopping yesterday, wife was curious what Ford Fiestas were stocked in at the local Ford dealer. Dodge/Ram/Chrysler/Jeep & Chevy dealer are next door, so took a stroll through those lots too. Wife really likes the Bordeaux Red color offered on the new Fusion sedan, and likes the car to boot. I wanted to look at some Suburbans and walked away with sticker shock The LS 2WD model was priced in the mid-$40s... most of the others were LTs (low-$50s) or LTZs (high-$50s/low-$60s). Same with the Tahoes, mid-to-high $50s. Surprisingly the Avalanches were more affordable... a base LS 4WD was $42k and several LT 4WDs were $46k (there were several LTZs in the low-to-mid $50s though). I walked away really liking the silver LS 4WD model, and checking the website later at home the Blue Topaz LT would be about $3k more (not too harsh). They had a new 2014 Impala LTZ in Silver Ice there. Got to say seeing the car out in the real world is much better than seeing it inside a car show. I was very impressed with the look of the LTZ and it alomost got me rethinking my decision for a truck. Visited another local Chevy dealer and their Ash Gray Impala LTZ was unlocked. Was very impressed with the gadgets and gizmos... I'm diggin' the new Impala for sure Pictures:

politicians

Travelling to work yesterday morning I passed a late model Honda Civic coupe, dark blue in color with pink, yes pink, trim, rims, and eye lashes It was driven by a young female. It looked similar to this: On the way home from work yesterday a '65 Cadillac Sedan Deville on a flatbed wrecker, looking completely restored with a white top and a medium blue lower paint scheme.

Mosquito

supersize combo

Cool collection!! I have one really big curio cabinet with a majority of my displayed collectibles: one shelf is dedicated to cars (Tuckers, Pontiacs, Chevies); the remaining 6 or 7 shelves have my truck collection (pickups, commercial trucks, big rigs, SUVs, vans), tractors (Caterpillar & John Deere), and my Walt Disney World (light blue stripe) and Disneyland Monorails. A few years after my aunt passed away I inherited her three small Hummel curio cabnets (stacked on top of each other) that contain my fire trucks, smaller Tonka trucks, and Hallmark car, truck, Star Wars ornaments. I have two acrylic 1/25th wall units that are not being used but I will be needing them soon. Overflow of 1/25th & smaller vehicles will go in them to make room for larger scale models to go into the big curio.

The L18 8100 (8.1L) V8 was introduced in 2001 and was discontinued in 2007. It was an optional engine on the 2500/3500 series pickups, 2500 SUVs (Suburban/Yukon XL), 2500/3500 vans (Express/Savana) and the Avalanche 2500. The 2003+ Kodiak and Topkick models also featured this engine.\ I think balthazar has the 8.1L V8 in his Silverado 2500 Crew Cab, and I believe Camino did too in his his Silverado 2500 Regular Cab.

South Beach

Yes, if the Sierra had a six-speed auto trans than it had the 5.3L V8. The 4.3L V6 and the 4.8L V8 engines are only available with the 4-speed auto trans. That's changing with the 2014 models (all get the six speed now).

Boats and Ho's

The 4.8L V8 is finally done with after 2013. GM had the 4.3L V6 and the 5.0L & 5.7L V8s in the GMT-400 pickups, so they continued that tradition with the all-new pickups for '99 (but with new displacements - 4.3L V6 stayed the same but now there was the 4.8L and 5.3L V8s). The 4.8L V8 was in a lot of vehicles between 1999 and current models. Most of the rental trucks you see (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz) stock them with the 4.8L V8 and four-speed auto trans. However, as notes here the 4.8L V8 is not that great of an engine when compared to the 5.3L V8 and will be dropped at the end of 2013 (I assume this engine has not been made lately). The new K2xxx pickups will feature the all new trio of engines (with familiar displacements) - 4.3L V6, 5.3L V8, and 6.2L V8.

sand castle

bikinis

for a very , Walt!!

marks

I'm keeping my eye on this one, though I feel it will not drop in price to my range ($1,000): http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/3694531938.html

Well, time was not my friend and I lost out on what I wanted to go see on Sunday. It was a 1986 GMC Sierra Classic K-1500 Shortbed, project truck but all there for $1,000. If I didn't have plans with the family I would have gone on Saturday to see and maybe purchase it. As it was, notified by text early Sunday morning that it had sold the day before. Here's the CL ad, which is now deleted: