by "Monkey B" (monkeyb)
Published 01/26/2017 at 19:22
by "Monkey B" (monkeyb)
Published 01/26/2017 at 19:22
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STARS: 4
I have a beater 02 Subaru Outback with 235k on it and good service history with the important things like the timing belt done. It’s ok, everything works and it does what I need but I had no intentions on keeping it past March...at this mileage there is always some repair looming. Perfectly fine car for it’s purpose which was to my side job twice a week, the occasional need to grab a big item here or there and have a car to drive in foul weather....but since getting a doggo usage will go up a little to keep his clumsy claws out of her 3 series.
One of the benefits of doing work for car dealers is tripping over very nice cars when not even looking...how I find most cars I buy. Yesterday I asked about a car for a friend in a band at my Wednesday account. Was told about this one owner Montana that was in excellent condition. Later in the day it found it’s way to the lot after going through the recon process so I took a look for said friend.
I was pretty well shocked at it’s condition. I see used cars every day and I couldn’t find anything wrong with it aside from 1 dime sized door ding...and finding imperfections is what I do for a living. It could easily pass for a 20k mile car. Owner was 87, traded it and a Mazda 626 (that one of the employees snapped up) for a Maxda CX5. At this point I’m thinking it’s perfect for her and she should buy it....then I saw the Versatrack AWD badge and thought this would make a nice car for what I use the Subaru for.
So, I inquired and they gave me a price just a little over what they had into it so it was a no brainer. It’s an 05 Montana SV6, 120k, AWD with every available option you could put on one from factory remote start, DVD, heated leather to backup warning park assist. Extremely clean, garage kept by an elderly owner who maintained it religiously at the dealer. Did I want a Montana, no! Of course no...it’s pretty ugly IMO. But you just don’t find cars this nice on the cheap and it fits the bill for doggo taxi/shitty weather ride/occasional hauler of things etc. that’ll get driven 5-6k a year. 2 of the dealer employees tried to buy it this morning before I picked it up.
It also runs and drives as if it only has 20k on it.
"CB" (jrcb)
01/26/2017 at 19:27, STARS: 3
#keepoppoperfectlyadequate
How much is it going for?
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
01/26/2017 at 19:32, STARS: 0
They’re OK, just don’t have an accident in it.
GM still sell them in China as Buicks.
"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
01/26/2017 at 19:35, STARS: 1
As much as I dislike these, especially the looks, that’s a nice colour combo, and I drove an Uplander the other day and didn’t hate it. The interior was appalling, but it was about twice as quick as I would’ve expected, and has a ton of room. That said, I haven’t driven any other minivans to compare to. It has a truckish, floaty feel like my Blazer did, which I enjoy.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
01/26/2017 at 19:40, STARS: 0
Weren’t these also notoriously unreliable?
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
01/26/2017 at 19:57, STARS: 1
I’ve read the 3.4 was problematic, this is the 3.5 which I’ve heard better things about. Surely not a car noted for being issue free, but I’ve seen it’s entire service history and this one appears to have been one of the good ones so far. With the limited usage it’ll get, how clean and well cared for as it’s been it’s a decent gamble to be fairly good to me. The one thing I expect may be problematic would be the power sliding doors, but nothing in it’s history suggests they had been to this point. For what I paid I could make a few bucks on it, and will most likely still be in that position in a few years. As cheap cars go this is probably as good as you can get...and when older and cheap I tend to ignore the complaints from those that paid far more when new with higher expectations.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
01/26/2017 at 20:06, STARS: 1
This is CaptDale-Powered by Pontiac and I approve this message
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
01/26/2017 at 20:08, STARS: 0
they can fetch $5-5500 at a franchise dealer used car lot in this condition, probably $4500 private party. I paid far less...a perk of being in the business. Most lots would probably price this one at $5995. And while I could flip it and pocket some money, it’d be bad a business move for me since the dealer is a valued account and they could have gotten a lot more by selling it to someone off the street.
"CB" (jrcb)
01/26/2017 at 20:10, STARS: 2
For a family hauler, that’s not a bad price.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
01/26/2017 at 20:13, STARS: 1
I also think it’s ugly! This is when minivans started to lose appeal and they tried to make them look like SUV’s...which they almost do aside from the sliding doors. They were also the Saturn Relay, Chevy Uplander and the Buick Terazza. I don’t think GMC branded one.
"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
01/26/2017 at 20:41, STARS: 0
The two tone really helps though, it looks much better than an solid colour one. Less slab-sided
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
01/26/2017 at 23:27, STARS: 1
Maybe the AWD models got the cladding, hard to say since I usually see Uplanders or Relays. Hardly see Montana’s of this ilk...even when I serviced a Pontiac dealer. I haven’t seen one of these things in years.