"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
03/18/2015 at 09:33 • Filed to: None
6
27|
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
03/18/2015 at 09:33 • Filed to: None | 6
| 27 |
This weekend, my wife and I decided to take our first trip alone, since our 2-year old was born. We hit the road and left her and the cat with a big bowl of food, a big bowl of water, and instructions to poop in the box while we were gone. Just kidding, of course, she got to spend the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law.
We also decided to treat ourselves by renting something more comfortable for the trip. Since rental companies only let you reserve categories, instead of actual cars, I waited until the morning of the day I wanted to pick the car up. I phoned my local Enterprise office directly, and asked them, "What do you have in a big, comfy car?"
"We have a Charger, and the redesigned Impala."
"Perfect, put me down for the Charger."
So I made my reservation. I figured worst care scenario, I get a comfy wrong wheel drive Impala. When I arrived a few hours later, I was informed, "Well, we have a Tahoe and a Yukon."
I was pissed, and while I didn't yell or anything like that, I made my displeasure known. I wanted a car. They offered me the Corolla that the guy in front of me had just dropped off. They laughed when I said, "I'd rather slit my wrists than drive a Corolla 700 miles." I relented and took the Tahoe when they offered to give me the nearly full tank of gas in it. I figured at least we'd be comfortable.
It was a two wheel drive LT, with heated leather seats, and 35k miles on it. 35 thousand rental miles puts some serious wear on a vehicle, and the interior showed it. The carpet was stained, and it smelled like old milkshakes and kid sweat. Much Febreeze was dispensed.
Exterior: 7/10
I think the Tahoe looks pretty good. It is perhaps a bit boring looking. Not much else to say about that.
Interior: 6/10
You can tell this model was introduced in 2006, and the design and materials really show that age. However, it is seriously comfortable and roomy in there.
Power: 7/10
The version of the 5.3 in this Tahoe is a real honey of a motor. It doesn't suffer any of the low end laggy-ness that the 4.8 in my '06 Sierra and the 5.3 in my old '00 Sierra suffer from. The current 5.3 has a nice flat torque curve, with plenty of grunt available everywhere you need it. I'm sure the 6-speed trans, as compared to the old 4-speed helps that out quite a bit as well. The Tahoe is obviously not fast, but it's power is plentiful and pleasing.
Braking: 6/10
The brakes were totally fine for the job. I never really noticed them one way or another, bad or good.
Ride: 9/10
The Tahoe rides very smoothly, so much better than my '06 Sierra. I barely noticed the gnarly train tracks near my house. The crappy highways of Illinois and Wisconsin normally get my wife car-sick in my truck. No such problems in the Tahoe.
Handling: 7/10
Realize that I'm judging it on what it is, a big comfy highway cruiser. If the Tahoe was a sports car, I'd give the handling 1/10. The steering is almost as light as the 2000 Deville I inherited several years ago from my grandmother. The much shorter wheelbase makes low speed maneuvering so much easier than in my truck. I found a nice curvy stretch of B-road, and my butt never puckered once. It wasn't fast, but it was predictable.
Gearbox: 8/10
I never noticed the 6-speed auto doing it's job. I contend that this is exactly what you want from an automatic. As I mentioned earlier, it does a good job of keeping the engine in it's power band. It also has the shifter on the column, which is where an automatic's shifter damn well should be!
Toys: 8/10
Power (almost) everything, back up camera, blue tooth, steering wheel controls, good iPod integration, with a USB connector in the center console, and it all worked well. It was not missing anything that I give a crap about. GM cost company reared it's ugly head on the seat adjustment. The bottom was power adjusted, but the seat-back angle was manual. The seat was super-comfortable, though, and that's the most important aspect of a car seat in a highway cruiser.
Audio: 5/10
It had the Bose system, but it didn't sound very good. To be fair, I never bothered to adjust any of the levels, so I may be a little too harsh here.
Value: 4/10
According to Cars.com, a 2wd 2014 Tahoe LT went for $48 k. That's a lot of cheddar!
Total: 69/100
Conclusion:
I begrudgingly accepted the Tahoe for rental, and my wife was less than thrilled when I pulled in with it. I have to say though, that the Tahoe completely won us both over. The Tahoe is an excellent highway cruiser, it is supremely serene and comfortable. I had no trouble maneuvering it in either tight parking lots, or in the heavy traffic we were met with on our return home. The current model is rated to tow 8,300 pounds with the Max Trailering Package, so it's plenty capable of doing some real work, too. We were so happy with the experience of driving it, that we are considering getting a Tahoe when it comes time to replace my truck someday (not soon). Although, I about shat myself when I looked up the price of the current model. $48k gets you 2wd and cloth seats. Want leather and 4wd? That will be a whopping $56k! Needless to say, if we do decide to go that route, we're going to have to save up one hell of a down payment.
Engine:
5.3 liter naturally aspirated V8
Power:
320 HP/335 LB-FT
Transmission:
Six speed column shifted automatic
0-60 Time:
8.3 seconds
Top Speed:
It's a Tahoe, who cares?
Drivetrain:
Rear wheel drive
Curb Weight:
5467 pounds
Seating:
7 people
MPG:
15 city/21 highway
MSRP:
$47,640
jkm7680
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 09:46 |
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They're pretty nice, the price of them is a little bit excessive though. I'd say that $35,000 would be acceptable for a base model with cloth seats.
E92M3
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 09:56 |
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Wow, after reading the review I was shocked at the last part. I never expected you to say you'd consider looking for one.
OPPOsaurus WRX
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:02 |
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how high did you jump it?
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shop-teacher
> E92M3
03/18/2015 at 10:09 |
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I was kind of shocked myself by how much I liked it. I totally understand now, why these are so popular. It's so freaking comfortable and easy to drive.
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shop-teacher
> jkm7680
03/18/2015 at 10:11 |
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I agree 100%
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shop-teacher
> OPPOsaurus WRX
03/18/2015 at 10:12 |
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My wife is pregnant, so sadly I could not beat on it as hard as I would've liked. I did do a couple donuts in an empty gravel parking lot, though :)
Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:12 |
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if you are serious about finding one look into police used examples. The back is basically toddler proof with vinyl seats and whatnot
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shop-teacher
> Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
03/18/2015 at 10:18 |
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Tempting! I do love old cop cars. Might be a tough sell with my wife, but maybe if it's cheap enough ..
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Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:25 |
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There's a dealer in chicago that specializes in used CPD cars and suvs when I was looking into them they had the generation you rented with anywhere from 70 to 100k miles for around 12 to 15 grand
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shop-teacher
> Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
03/18/2015 at 10:33 |
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I've heard of that place, but I feel like CPD cars would be especially beat-up. I'd much rather get one from a nice suburban department. I think that would be worth the extra money.
Skater Dad
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:34 |
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My co-worker's wife has one of these. The dash material reminds me of cheap basketball rubber.
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shop-teacher
> Skater Dad
03/18/2015 at 10:36 |
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Yeah, that sounds about right. The new ones are a whole lot nicer ... and a whole lot more expensive of course.
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Skater Dad
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:39 |
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Very true, they're a lot nicer to look at in the current facelift. Hard to justify the price anymore, but if you need a gigantic, comfortable vehicle, and don't want a van, it's worth a look.
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shop-teacher
> Skater Dad
03/18/2015 at 10:47 |
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Yeah, the price is the only real problem I have with it. I find minivans to be quite uncomfortable behind the wheel, so they aren't an option for me personally.
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jkm7680
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 10:52 |
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Like I just can't really imagine them costing as much as $47,000. Like that's almost $50,000 for cloth seats.
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shop-teacher
> jkm7680
03/18/2015 at 11:02 |
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Yeah, price is the only real problem I have with the Tahoe. And yet, I find myself still wanting it, and still considering it. This surprises nobody more than myself.
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jkm7680
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 11:06 |
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Try a CPO Tahoe? The only problem is that kids love to trash those things the second that they leave the dealer.
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shop-teacher
> jkm7680
03/18/2015 at 11:08 |
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My CPO experiences have not gone well. Two clean low mileage cars. Two total shit boxes., with no lemon law protection.
DasWauto
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 11:47 |
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The top speed for that generation of Tahoe/Yukon is 99mph, electronically limited.
The previous generation was 109 mph, also limited.
<.<
>.>
Allegedly.
Tapas
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 12:28 |
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You should go down DeMuro's road and get yourself a nice used Range Rover from CarMax.
Here's one for $45k.
http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/…
Throw in another $3k for the warranty and you have a $80k+ car for the starting price of a Tahoe. With actual off-road ability and maybe even more comfort.
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shop-teacher
> DasWauto
03/18/2015 at 12:30 |
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A friend of mine once witnessed a GMT-400 Police Tahoe tear past the gas station he was working in, at some huge speed. He said the sound was the most incredible part. He described it as, "A brick ripping a giant hole in the time-space continuum."
A guy in my neighborhood just picked one of these up. I am insanely jealous!
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shop-teacher
> Tapas
03/18/2015 at 12:34 |
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I don't go off road, there's nowhere near me to do so. If I decided to take up that hobby (which does look insanely fun), I'd get an ATV.
More importantly, I do not have the time or the patience to deal with an unreliable daily driver.
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DasWauto
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 12:35 |
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I suspect the Police versions operate with a more lenient limiter or without one entirely. These trucks can move. Both the GMT-800 and GMT900 are very composed at their top speed and need surprisingly little road to reach and slow from that speed safely.
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shop-teacher
> DasWauto
03/18/2015 at 12:41 |
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Yeah, I doubt the police versions have any limiter. I didn't approach top speed, but this beat-up rental was solid as could be at 80 mph. I have no trouble believing it would be totally composed at 99. The power delivery was excellent, too. I forgot to mention in my review, that the exhaust note had a very satisfying growl to it, under acceleration.
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Tapas
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 12:43 |
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Fair enough :)
However, I would consider CarMax and CPO deals before looking at a new car, personally.
I think they tend to be better deals.
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shop-teacher
> Tapas
03/18/2015 at 12:50 |
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Yeah, I know that's true financially. However, I personally have only had bad experiences with CPO cars. I've owned two of them. They were both really nice low mileage vehicles, with no accidents or anything like that. They both turned out to be steaming piles of poo. With no lemon law protection on used cars, I dumped them both at a loss within a year. I'm sticking with new cars and old beaters from now on.
I offset the initial purchase price and depreciation hit, by keeping my vehicles for a long time. I've owned my '06 Sierra since new, and I have no intentions of getting rid of it anytime soon.
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Tapas
> shop-teacher
03/18/2015 at 13:55 |
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Wow, sorry to hear that man!
If I had bad experiences, I'd do the same...