I just bought an Envoy

[Fairweather Pure]

I got a really good deal on a loaded, used Envoy. We got the extended version, V8, with a 3rd row of seats and a DVD player in it for the upcoming addition of more children. It's black and beautiful. I'm really happy with it so far. So, I went from a 2 seater Honda Del Sol that got 36 MPG to a earth-raping SUV that gets low 20's under perfect conditions. The difference was a bit overwhelming at first. My wife is still a bit nervous about parking it in the garage, where we have about 1 ft total free space between the wall and the garage door

I love it, even though every other car around me is either an Envoy or a Trailblazer!

Just wanted to share my news in the appropriate forum!

[Aslanna]

Grats on new vehicle!

Treekiller.

[miir]

Is the US government still giving massive tax breaks to people who buy gas guzzling, 6000+ lb SUVs?

[Chidoro]

Grats on the purchase.

Curious, how many children do you have?

[Fairweather Pure]

Grats on the purchase.

Curious, how many children do you have?

1 right now, planning on another within the next year or so. Two will probably be our limit, but you never know, we may eventually have a third.

We wanted something with "room to grow". Also, as my sister in law pointed out, you won't just be hauling your kids around. You have to keep thier friends and all the crap that entails too. My parents alo have a trailer for hauling general stuff, and a camping trailer I can now use at my leisure.

The purchase opened up a lot of options. We're going to the dive-in theater in a couple weeks with some friends to break it in there.

[Chidoro]

It's funny you say that. We only have one and while two may be there at some point, we can't guarantee it because we are both on the latter side of 30. The key is having to haul others around w/ those massive child seats. My wife almost thinks it's mandatory that we get something w/ a 3rd row option because of this. What's sad is that we could fit nearly anything we want into our budget but my wife has reservations w/ regards to fuel usage as well as the concept of purchasing a vehicle over 30k just on principle. So currently, we haul only our child around in either a '98 civic or a '01 civic. But who knows, my wife likes the new MDX, Rav 4, and XC90. She still hasn't seen the R-class yet but I know she would love that as well. And yet, just one toddler to our name heh.

Edit: I should have saide on the latter side of our 30's. We're both 37 w/ my wife turning 38 late this year

[Fairweather Pure]

I just turned 32, and the wife and I would like to be done having children by 35.

I'm glad we got something a little bigger than what we were originally looking at (CRV and Saturn VUE). After test driving those, then going to the Envoy, they felt very boxy and cheap in comparison. Hell, they couldn't even tow anything. Add to the fact that those vehicles were about 3k more expensive, and base package only. I much perfer the solid stability and full features of the Envoy.

Gas is pretty expensive though. It eats into my personal spending money a lot. I may have to go back to pirating games instead of buying 3-4 a month like I've grown accustomed to! I'm also a bit more picky about my DVD purchases. My collection is getting a tad out of control.

[Marbus]

We had a standard Envoy that we purchased back in 2003 and we really loved it. It had the straight 6 but had more than enough power. However with 2 kids it didn't give us a lot of room and at 3 years it was starting to have some problems, even though we only had 18K miles on it. (problems include the ignition locking up 3 times, the air twice, and a couple of other major things). I just didn't want to keep it after the warranty ran out.

We went looking for a minivan and quickly decided on the Honda. However after looking at all of them for a couple of months, talking with other oweners etc... we purchased a fully loaded Dodge Grand Caravan. I had always sworn I would never own a Chrysler product but everyone we knew with one loved it, the insurance was cheaper, we liked the stow and go etc... the big thing was though that I got it cheap... really cheap. Sure it won't hold it's value like the Honda but so far (knock on wood) it's been great. It's got the DVD etc... and gets a little better gas mileage than the Envoy. The fact that we now have 3 kids it's definitely a necessity. I could have never imagined how great those power doors and lift gate would be.

In closing though I will say that I think you will love the Envoy and since you got the V8, you got a rock solid engine and all the parts are the same ones they put in the full size trucks... If we had one of those we would probably still have it.

Marb

[Fairweather Pure]

Gas is 3.15$ a gallon right now, looking to hit 4$ sometime this summer.

Not a great time to buy an SUV.

Marbus, we got the extended, so we should have plenty of room for quite awhile. I envy your automatic sliding doors though. That was the main reason we looked at mini vans.

We went to the drive-in and saw Spiderman 3. The DVD player was a huge hit with the friends while we waited.

[Fairweather Pure]

3.30$ now.

I may use this thread as a point of reference for gas pricing.

[Chidoro]

How big is the Envoy's fuel tank and what has been your mpg now that it's broken in some?

[Fairweather Pure]

My average MPG is around 19. I drive country roads to work, and do very little city driving. Even when I do, it's in a smaller city, so there is no "stop and go" traffic to contend with.

It has a 20 gallon tank. It's interesting that while my previous car got such great MPG, I filled it about once every 6-7 days. The Envoy, while costing more to fill, has to be filled about every 9-10 days. That little difference in how long I can go before refueling makes a pretty big impact on how much the higher fuel costs hit my pocket book.

So, it costs more, but I have longer inbetween fueling. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, I love it even more now that I've gotten used to driving it. I do miss my convertable though, with all the nice weather we're having

I drove a co-workers Envoy, which had a V6. I was completely surprised at how much of a difference there is between her V6 and my V8. Mine rides so much better, is quieter, and has a shitload more get up and go than hers. I knew there would be a difference, I just didn't expect it to be so profound. We also get virtually the same MPG. We utilized the Driver Information Center in our vehicles to do some testing on gas consumption. I read online somewhere that that has to do with having such a large engine in a mid-sized SUV. Once you get going, it's easier for the larger engine to propel a lighter weight vehicle? Sounds like salesman talk to me, but other than that, I have no explaination why we would get the same MPG.

[Marbus]

I think you are right on that. Ours was getting about 14 in town most of the time, of course my wife has a lead foot and rarely got on the interstate.

The Van gets about 16 in town and about 20 with a mix of highway and town. Yes those doors are really nice, especially the power rear lift gate, the kids love them and the big doors.

The other thing I would say though is that you got the extended and we only had the regular. If we had the bigger one, again we would probably still have it because we would have had enough room.

Marb

[Pherr the Dorf]

I sell for GMC as well, the Envoy is a decent vehicle but it will probably go bye bye soon as the Acadia has done a much better job filling that niche. Right now the used SUV market is soft soft soft, wholesale book less 20-25% is standard for trade in value. My opinion on all that is simple, if you are keeping the car, who gives a fuck, if you like to roll into a newer car every few years you are going to find yourself highly upside down.

GMC's V6 is far too underpowered and works too hard to get decent gas mileage, the 8 cyl has lower resale because it is perceived to get worse mileage, catch 22.

FYI, I can pull auction numbers for anyone shopping a used car anywhere in the nation, it will give you a good starting point for negotiations on any used car.